dsmWeekly: October 4, 2023

I spy with my little eye ... an adorable creature on this pot pie. Photo: Mulberry Street Tavern

FOOD AND DINING

Mulberry Street Tavern's new executive chef

Writer: Karla Walsh

For nearly seven years, or about 1,800 dinner shifts, Jeremy and Leslie Brittain welcomed diners to Dino’s Bar and Grill in West Des Moines. As the married duo watched their two young kids grow, they realized they didn’t have much time for their own dinners as a family. So in August, the Brittains announced that they’d sell the Dino’s brand.

But Jeremy (pictured) hasn’t hung up his apron. Instead, he’s found a more balanced schedule and a home away from home at the Mulberry Street Tavern in the Surety Hotel, at 206 Sixth Ave. The new role “allows me to continue to be a part of the culinary community while also having the chance to spend time with my family,” he said.

He joins food and beverage director Rae Doyle to create the menus — “unique yet still true to Des Moines,” Jeremy said — at the tavern, on the patio and in the hotel’s coffee bar and lounge.

Jeremy graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and has previous experience at Centro, Django, Johnny's Italian Steakhouse and Olde Main Brewing Co. in Ames. Now that he’s landed at the Surety, diners can expect the menu to stay steady, for now, with “larger changes as the seasons change around the holidays,” he said, and ingredients from as many local purveyors as possible.

He listed a few of his favorites on the current menu, including: a seasonal pot pie with confit chicken and roasted sweet corn, housemade tagliatelle with duck and peach ragu, and Brussels sprouts with a creamy 6-minute egg and pecorino fondue.

Mulberry Street Tavern serves dinner every night, along with brunches on the weekends and occasionally special events with themed menus. Follow @suretyhotel and @mulberrystreettavern to be among the first to know about them, as well as the updated menu for the holidays.

Detail of "Kitchen" (1991-1996) by Liza Lou (American, born 1969). It's made from glass beads, plaster, wood and found objects and is nearly the size of an actual kitchen. It's on loan to the Des Moines Art Center from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, which received it as a gift from Peter Norton.

BEST BET

In this new exhibit, home is where the art is

The Des Moines Art Center’s next big show, “Transform Any Room,” opens with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, and features what the museum calls “subversive, politicized and sometimes glamorized” touches of home decor. Turns out, you can learn a lot about people from the things they choose to fill their homes — rugs, blankets, pillows, lamps, tchotchkes — and what they reveal about culture, class, labor, globalization and more.

The exhibition runs through Jan. 14 with a full slate of gallery talks, teen workshops and related programs. First up is a lecture at 1:30 p.m. Sunday from the Los Angeles artist Liza Lou about the five years (1991-1996) she spent creating “Kitchen,” a nearly life-sized recreation of a kitchen, entirely covered in shimmering glass beads. The project launched her career, earned her a place in the art history textbooks and eventually landed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, which loaned it out for the Des Moines show. (“It was a ‘Hail Mary,’ but they said yes,” senior curator Laura Burkhalter said. “I couldn’t believe it. … I’m just over the moon about it.”)

Friday’s reception is free and open to the public. Sunday’s talk is free, too, but guests should register online.

THE WEEK AHEAD

“Beetlejuice” (7:30 p.m. today through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday): The musical adaptation of Tim Burton’s 1988 hit movie retells the twisted tale of a quirky teenager’s encounter with a couple of wannabe-spooky ghosts and the title demon, who can be summoned by saying his name once … twice … and thrice.

First Friday at Mainframe Studios (5 p.m. Friday): The nonprofit Momentum Arts Studio anchors this month’s Mainframe open house, which focuses on a theme of “growth and recovery.” Momentum provides artists with various disabilities a safe space to work with free access to equipment, supplies, training, mentorship and community. As always, the free event includes live music, food and drinks – and a chance to roam five floors of creativity.

Grace Potter at Hoyt Sherman (8 p.m. Friday): The Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter performs songs from “Mother Road,” her newly released album that unpacks a transformative cross-country road trip and her childhood experiences as a runaway.

Banned Books Festival (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday): Beaverdale Books hosts a free event to celebrate the written word with a day of activities at Franklin Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave. The schedule includes talks, panel discussions, a trivia contest, a story time for kids and more.

Worldwide Food Truck Tour (noon to 10 p.m. Saturday): Now, here’s a traffic jam we like: Food trucks will take over the Court Avenue Bridge. The event starts right after the Downtown Farmers Market (October hours: 8 a.m. to noon) and features live music, kids’ activities, games and more. Tickets are $10-$25 online.

Maui Benefit at xBk (2 p.m. Sunday): The local dance group Aloha Wind celebrates Hawaiian culture with music, dance and chants. Performances by Teri Underhill, Nalani Proctor and others will highlight the connection between Iowa and Hawaii and help raise funds to help folks who are recovering from this summer’s wildfires in Maui.

COMMUNITY

Center Street commemoration: UnityPoint Health joins the Polk County Housing Trust Fund and various community partners to honor the historic Center Street Neighborhood during a free event from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center, 1200 Pleasant St. During the ceremony, which starts at 4:30 p.m., leaders plan to unveil a new historical marker to commemorate the neighborhood’s once-thriving hub of Black culture and life, which was displaced by the construction of Interstate 235 in the late 1950s and ’60s. The event is free, but registration is encouraged.

ARTS AND CULTURE

Swedish symphony: Direct From Sweden, the ABBA tribute band that helped the Des Moines Symphony attract a crowd of more than 6,000 to Water Works Park on Labor Day weekend is coming back to town for another concert with the orchestra, this time at the Des Moines Civic Center on Oct. 14. The program will replace the originally scheduled event, “Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles,” since the Eagles band had to cancel. Tickets are on sale now.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Fun raising: The nonprofit Primary Health Care Inc. recently launched a fundraising campaign called "Building Healthier Futures" to support the renovation and expansion of its University Medical Clinic, at 1200 University Ave. To support the cause, PHC is hosting a community event on Thursday at the Stine Barn in West Des Moines, where guests can enjoy a spread from the Tangerine Food Co., live music and a wine pull. Tickets are available online.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Sages Over 70: dsm magazine is pleased to announce the 2023 Sages Over 70 honorees: Wayne Ford, retired state representative and former executive director of Urban Dreams; Joe Gonzalez, retired lieutenant with the Des Moines Police Department, executive director of the Latino Heritage Festival; Tom Koehn, chairman of the board of the Waldinger Corp.; Linda Koehn, retired teacher and philanthropist; Pat Schneider, vice president of Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services; Martha Willits, retired president and CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership; and Doug West, retired financial consultant and branch manager for Wells Fargo Advisors. A reception will be held Nov. 7 at the FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 S.W. Prairie Trail Parkway on the DMACC campus in Ankeny. Tickets are limited, so secure your spot today.

A rehearsal for "The Cadence of Life" at Drake University's Anderson Gallery involved, from right to left: Cadence Lowry-Hart, Sarah Hymes, clarinetist Dana Sloter, and Kaitlyn Wood and Sarah Hymes, hiding the table. Photo: Nathan Felix

ARTS AND CULTURE

At Drake, opera fans choose their own adventure

Writer: Michael Morain

Depending how you feel about opera, the phrase “immersive opera” may excite or alarm you. So the composer of a new show that premieres Thursday at Drake University wants you to know you can immerse yourself as much – or as little – as you’d like.

“Come in with an open mind,” said Nathan Felix, in town from his home in New York. “It’s OK to take risks. You can decide where you want to stand, where you want to listen and see the action.”

Tickets for the opera, “The Cadence of Life,” are already sold out. But those who attend will gather at 7 p.m. at Drake’s Anderson Gallery before the hourlong drama spills into the lobby of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, at 1310 25th St., and possibly even outside. Audience members can follow along or linger in the gallery with “Freehand,” a freewheeling exhibition of multimedia prints and drawings by the upstate New York artist Judy Pfaff, which remains through Oct. 15.

Felix is known for what he calls a “guerilla style” approach to classical music. He’s presented chamber concerts and operas worldwide – in Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Japan, Mongolia, Portugal, Spain and Sweden – often in unconventional spaces. In his native Texas, he premiered both “Headphone Opera” and “Opera on a Bus,” where audiences jumped aboard two buses, each with its own storyline, and had to decide halfway through whether to stay on their original bus or transfer to the other one.

“I like to stage these types of events because, personally, I don’t want to sit and watch anything for three hours,” he said. “I love experiences where I’m close to the actors or singers or musicians. I love the aural perspective that’s really activated by the space.”

This spring Felix premiered an immersive opera, aptly named “The Great Flood,” at the University of Iowa’s Stanley Art Museum. It was built to replace the university’s earlier art museum, which flooded in 2008.

The Iowa City performance prompted Felix to reach out to Drake, where Anderson Gallery Director Lilah Anderson (no relation) invited him to make use of its cozy 1,800 square feet. Isaiah Feken, who leads Drake’s opera program, enlisted nine singers and seven instrumentalists.

The story centers on the teenage daughter of a wealthy political family who secretly falls in love with the oldest of three siblings in an orphanage. The twist: The orphans are suing the girl’s family for allegedly stealing land years ago from their late father.

So how does it end? You’ll have to ask someone who's fully immersed.