dsmWeekly - May 1, 2024

At the Downtown Farmers Market, you'll find these pastries at Uncle Wendell's booth near Second and Court. (Photo: Uncle Wendell's)

FOOD & DINING

Kouign-amann: The best thing at the farmers market

By Michael Morain

It’s time. The Downtown Farmers Market reopens at 7 a.m. Saturday along Court Avenue. If you live anywhere in Central Iowa, you already know that. You also know where to find the list of 300-some vendors. Maybe you’ve already heard about this year’s new offerings, including Asian waffles (from Little Birdee), carrot-based pasta (Humbl Roots) and consumable hemp goodies (HW Premium CBD).

But even if you’re a die-hard market fan, even if you’ve shopped every season back to 1976, have you tried its very best thing? I’m going to let you in on the secret for two reasons: 1) You’re a devoted dsmWeekly reader, and 2) I’ll be there bright and early, before they sell out.

In one hyphenated word: kouign-amann. It’s a small, hockey-puck-sized pastry at Uncle Wendell’s, near the corner of Second Street and Court Avenue. It’s easy to miss between the lemon tarts and mammoth cinnamon rolls, but it’s worth seeking out.

The pastry originated in Brittany, in the northwest part of France where they do magical things with butter and mysterious things with consonants and vowels. Its name comes from the Breton words for cake (kouign) and butter (amann) and is pronounced “queen a-mahn.” Food historians attribute it to the pastry chef Yves-René Scordia sometime around 1860 when he found his pantry stocked with butter but short on flour. So he rolled out a laminated dough like a croissant, padded each layer with butter and sugar and then rolled the whole thing into a tight spiral. He cut the log into discs, like cinnamon rolls, and nestled them into a pan to bake.

The result is a golden-brown miracle. In the oven, the sugary butter oozes out from the layers in some sort of caramelized alchemy that makes the center tender-flaky and the outside crispy-crunchy.

“It’s like a puff pastry, but it’s a yeast-raised dough,” “Uncle” Wendell Garretson told me over the phone from his nonretail bakery in Madison County. He tosses in some sourdough starter to give the flavor more depth. “And, yeah: There’s a lot of butter.”

He started prepping 3 pounds of butter on Tuesday and will start folding it into 7 pounds of dough this afternoon or evening. Over the next few days, the dough will rise and rest and chill. Garretson himself will rest (a little) and rise early to tuck the trays into the oven around 2 a.m. Saturday.

When I discovered the rare kouign-amann at the farmers market a few years ago, it tasted so good I almost had to sit down right in the street. I started urging anyone within earshot to try it, like a sudden religious convert or a self-appointed carnival barker. I texted a friend of mine from Brittany, who encouraged me to take an extra one home and microwave it for precisely 12 seconds. So I did. And he was right.

Amen and amann.

Running of the bols: Participants pull parachute-like kites (bols) in a race to the finish line. (Photo: City of Johnston)

BEST BET

Kite festival in Johnston is flying high

This Saturday, the city of Johnston will host its 11th annual Kites on the Green festival. The family-friendly event includes inflatable obstacle courses, a candy drop, tours of the 1902 Simpson House Museum and, of course, kites. You'll see flying kites, racing kites and giant kites in a sky-high show. You can even make a kite of your own.

Along the way, kite fans can break for lunch or a sweet treat from six food trucks and enjoy live music. Local performers will also take the stage with stunt and magic acts, alongside a visit from a few Star Wars characters. May the Fourth — and the wind — be with you!

The Week Ahead

A Quiet Night Out (5-8 p.m. Friday): The East Village’s Gravitate and Storyhouse Bookpub open their doors for a cozy night of crafts and mocktails at this quiet celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month.

Cinco de Mayo (noon-10 p.m. Saturday): Head to Valley Junction for the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration, which honors the neighborhood’s Latino history and growing diversity.

150th Kentucky Derby, (5:57 p.m. Saturday): The “greatest two minutes in sports” marks its sesquicentennial this year. But if you can’t make it to Churchill Downs, fasten your fancy hat and head out to Prairie Meadows, where the annual derby to-do has become a tradition in its own right. Check out the website for a full list of goings-on Thursday through Sunday.

Safe Space Prom (7 p.m. Saturday): LGBTQ+ students from local high schools can dance up a storm at the Des Moines Art Center, which is co-hosting the party with the Queer Youth Resource Center.

Napoleon Douglas (7 p.m. Saturday): The local singer anchors two nights at Noce in May, first with Broadway tunes and then with the Nate Sparks Big Band on May 25.

Des Moines Choral Society (7:30 p.m. Saturday): The choir and a chamber orchestra present their annual masterworks program in the splendor of St. Ambrose Cathedral.

"Who’s Live Anyway?" (7:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday): Quick-thinking comedians visit Hoyt Sherman Place to play a few of the improv games that became famous on the long-running TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

Puppeteer Brant Bollman plans to take a few friends to the Drake neighborhood for Art Week Des Moines. Photo: Jen Stillions Photography

COMMUNITY

Art Week Des Moines preps for its 10th year

Editor’s note: Our print publication incorrectly credited this article to a different writer. We regret the error and are proud to feature the work of Dan Ray.

By Dan Ray

In June, a new resident is moving into the Drake neighborhood: a 14-foot tall glowing blue lady.

She’s part of the 10th annual Art Week Des Moines, June 9-15. Her creator, Brant Bollman, drew inspiration from the mysticism of the moon to design her giant face out of clay and thermoplastic, which will glow like stained glass. She’ll require five puppeteers to move.

Bollman leads the theater department at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and owns the Uplifting Puppet Co. He grew up on public television puppetry like “Sesame Street” and “Fraggle Rock,” but his passion really took off the summer after fourth grade when he saw “Return of the Jedi” at the movie theater.

“When I saw Jabba the Hutt on screen, it was right in my wheelhouse,” he said. “I knew that was a puppet and there were people manipulating it, but he’s so different and amazing. That really was the catalyst of wanting to be in creature design and puppetry.”

Bollman is one of several Iowa artists who’ve been chosen to lead neighborhood projects during Art Week, which is billed as a “genre-blending celebration of local art and artists in the Des Moines metro.” Each artist has designed projects that encourage participation and build a sense of community.

On Friday, June 14, Bollman and other Drake neighborhood creatives will host a night market featuring local art and cuisine. Around 9 p.m., Bollman plans to lead his blue moon lady in a parade of lanterns and drums from Drake Park to the night market, outside King Au’s studio at 28th Street and Kingman Boulevard. During the week leading up to the big night, locals will have a chance to decorate their own paper lanterns to show off in the parade. (Everyone is welcome to walk in the parade, even if they don’t decorate a lantern.)

“I want people to experience joy and awe,” Bollman said. “Little kids do this. It’s natural to them. They can draw something on a piece of paper and imagine it coming to life. I want to offer big people a chance to use their imagination and to be transported into that kind of dream space.”

Other featured Art Week artists will liven up other neighborhoods around town:

Jo Allen in Highland/Oak Park

Allen plans to lead a few workshops to help folks make mosaics, which the artist will install on a few buildings around the intersection of Sixth and Euclid avenues. They’ll be part of a scavenger hunt, with prizes for those who find each one.

Brittany Brooke Crow in Columbus Park
Crow plans to create photographic collages on community-approved walls. Community members are invited to attend workshops to learn how to install the collages with wheatpaste, a temporary adhesive, and submit their own photos for the final work. Visit the Art Week website for instructions to submit digital or printed photos.

Jacob Kuperman, Tone the Movemaker and Heather Whittlesey in Beaverdale
The artists will lead a street party that incorporates co-created "blockades" to expand and insulate the Beaverdale Farmers Market on June 11.

For a full schedule of Art Week events, visit artweekdesmoines.com.