Alba
524 E. 6th St., 244-0261
Tuesday through Saturday:
5 p.m. – close |
Alba
Half a century ago, people flocked
to downtown Des Moines auto dealerships
to ogle Detroit’s latest models
before taking in a movie. The
car dealers and cinemas moved
to the suburbs long ago, but downtown
is again the place to see the
hottest new models and trendiest
designs. This century, they come
from the culinary world, and Alba
is its tangerine-flaked, streamlined
new baby. The café’s showcase,
in a Deco era Ford dealership,
is dashingly appropriate. A major
architectural success, it provides
bold embellishments without detracting
from the now established premise
that chefs and food are the new
stars of the downtown night. On
first glimpse, Alba seems to defy
the conventional, minimalist style
of the East Village café
scene — with African orangewood
tables, fishbowl windows, huge
tree paintings, antique door ceiling
tiles, curved walls, a door-less
“private” room and oversized,
Tiki lounge of a bar. However,
the focus of that faux lava-walled
bar room is an open kitchen with
a chef’s table. It is all about
the food.
Owner-chef Jason Simon knows
a thing or two about star power
— he was an offensive lineman
on Iowa Hawkeye football teams
in the Tim Dwight era. He also
knows how to train an assembly
line kitchen staff. Even on a
busy night, I never saw more than
four chefs turning things out
for two busy rooms seating more
than 100 people. There’s always
a show going on. Simon and company
accomplishes this with a sensible
menu of merely 21 items. Appetizer
plates looked as arty as the venue:
A hamachi (rare tuna) duo was
beautifully served tartare and
alongside a bright colored duo
of paprika aioli and mango paste,
with micro greens and blood orange
segments. The yellow fin flavor
was a bit lost in the busy plate;
scallops, perfectly seared yet
delicate, were served on a saffron-colored
cauliflower puree with nuts and
parsley; and thick sliced, Kobe
beef carpaccio was rolled and
served with a five pepper Ranch-like
sauce, scallions, bulls blood
beet sprouts and more blood orange
segments. It sacrificed the essential
texture of thin, raw Kobe for
heftiness and good looks.
The simplest plate of the night
stood out — deviled egg salad
with gold and red beets, pickled
squash and more blood orange.
A winter squash soup ranked with
the best in this squash soup town,
tasting of five spices and smoky
bacon. A fairly simple truffle-flavored
gnocchi with shrimp in a light
marscapone sauce also impressed.
Entrees were strong too. A rib
eye was slightly over cooked but
compensated with a superb foie
gras sauce. A catfish filet was
better, wrapped in double casing
of prosciutto and magnificently
plated with Brussel sprouts, potatoes
layered with cheese and tomato
and a surprisingly sweet parsley
pesto. A poorly seared burger
with aged cheddar and fried egg
would be the only entrée
I wouldn’t order again. Braised
veal breast with leeks and tomato
petals will be the first entrée
I re-order.
Desserts were not as good as
the earlier courses. Is Café
di Scala the only place in town
that serves a soft textured panna
cotta correctly removed from its
mold? This is something our best
cafés get away with that
would be unacceptable in San Francisco
or New York, or even Minneapolis.
Alba’s ambitious panna cotta layered
some fruit jelly between espresso
flavored cream and a third layer
of cream. It was served in its
mold, had the texture of Jello
and was topped with yet another
segment of blood orange. A chocolate
cake was better but included precious
little crumb stuffed with erupting
chocolate sauce. The menu promised
buttermilk ice cream but mint
ice cream was paired with it and
didn’t work. The best dessert
was a simple trio of three tiny
scoops of homemade ice creams.
Bottom line — dazzling Alba deserves
its instant star status, but showmanship
and presentation overwhelm other
aspects of the kitchen arts.
Side dishes
The Embassy Club’s “Whole Hog”
dinner will be held in their 801
Grand’s main dining room on May
2. $85. Call 244-2582. ... Gateway
Market’s anniversary gala dinner
($85) will be Saturday in the
Hotel Fort Des Moines ballroom.
Call 243-1754. CV
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