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August 18, 2015

Restaurant Week and More

During Restaurant Week, Table 128 is offering braised short ribs plated with crispy onions, a potato puree and vegetables. Photo by Duane Tinkey.

We're just about to hit the halfway point of Restaurant Week, which continues through next Sunday, Aug. 23. Don't let the week pass without taking advantage of the great deal: $25 for two lunches or one dinner at 37 participating restaurants. Click here see the menus that await you, and follow the event on Facebook and Instagram, #DMRW15.

Although the week of feasting will come to an end, the fun decidedly won't. Join us next Tuesday, Aug. 25, as we unveil the September/October issue of dsm magazine at Kitchen & Bath Ideas (130 E. Third St., just south of the East Village). The event gets underway at 5 p.m., with a short program at 6 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Photo Essay of Historic Rehabilitations by Silent Rivers
Our special expertise in sensitive rehabilitation is demonstrated in four different projects that helped these homes reclaim their original charm.

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Trivia Smackdown

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Calling all book and Trivial Pursuit lovers: You won't want to miss a new collaborative fundraising event, called "Trivia Smackdown," that will benefit the Des Moines Library Foundation and the Des Moines Social Club. The event, Aug. 28 at the Social Club, will consist of eight rounds, five questions per round. The questions get tougher with each round. (Say, do you know where the world's biggest mall is located?*)

The cost is $150 for teams of two to six members. Individual tickets cost $20 if you want to watch and cheer on your team. The event begins at 7:30 p.m.; arrive at 6:45 for drinks and registration. To register, contact Dory Briles at dbriles@dmpl.org or 248-0402, or visit the foundation's website. Watch this fun video to find out more.

*China.

Chef Clayton Chapman to Lead Culinary Classes

By Wini Moranville

Chef Clayton Chapman

If you can tear yourself away from Restaurant Week this weekend, here's a chance to make your own home cooking more chef-inspired: Take a class with Clayton Chapman, chef-owner of the nationally acclaimed restaurant the Grey Plume in Omaha.

This Friday, Aug. 21, the James Beard-nominated chef will lead a class on local and sustainable food from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Des Moines Social Club's Culinary Loft (900 Mulberry St.). The cost is $125 for food and drink.

Then the next morning, Aug. 22, 8-11 a.m., Chapman will lead a class at Kitchen Collage (430 E. Locust St). The event kicks off with a visit to the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market, where Chapman will select the day's ingredients. Back at Kitchen Collage, participants can watch the chef in action as he transforms summer's bounty into his signature style of modern culinary art. This class costs $80.

Chapman attended the culinary school at the Institute of Art in Chicago, and worked at that city's famed Tru restaurant, training under the Michelin Star-rated chef Laurent Gras. After working at a number of celebrated Omaha venues, he opened the Grey Plume, a restaurant that's fiercely and joyfully devoted to the fresh and local movement and sustainability. (See food writer Jim Duncan's write-up on the venue in this dsm Magazine story.)

For tickets to either event, call 270-8202.

Film Screenings

Get ready for "Dirty Dancing" at a screening of the movie Sept. 3. The live show plays the Des Moines Civic Center Sept. 15-20.

As we all know, Des Moines Performing Arts is all about celebrating theater, dance and other forms of live entertainment. And now it's adding even more: As part of its 2015-16 season, the organization is inviting the public to a series of free film screenings at the Fleur Cinema & Cafe (4545 Fleur Drive) prior to engagements of four productions at the Des Moines Civic Center.

The films, which all start at 7 p.m., include "Dirty Dancing," Sept. 3; "Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty," Nov. 1; "The Bridges of Madison County," Nov. 19; and "The Wizard of Oz," Dec. 10.

No RSVP is needed. Find out more at www.DesMoinesPerformingArts.org.

Prairie Beauty

"Little Blue Stem" by Justin Hayworth.

In the mood for a road trip? Stop in Grinnell and check out this exhibit that caught our eye: "A Closer Look at the Iowa Prairie: Photographs by Justin Hayworth" at Burling Gallery in the Burling Library (1111 Sixth Ave.). A Grinnell College photographer, Hayworth specializes in macro photographs that invite viewers to take an up-close look at the prairie plants. The exhibit both celebrates the aesthetics of prairie life and illuminates the unintended consequences of development.

Learn more at a talk Hayworth will give Sept. 2 at the gallery. If you want to try your hand at macro photography--which is the art of producing photos of small objects larger than life-sized--attend the workshop at the gallery Sept. 4.

Call 641-269-4660 for more information about the exhibit or related events.

Wini Moranville, author of "The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Every Day," is a food, wine and travel writer who covers the dining scene for dsm magazine. Follow her at All Things Food DSM - Wini Moranville and catch her food segment on Fridays at 6:40 a.m. on KCWI-23's "Great Day" morning show.