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Review: Top Chef Downtown returns to Iowa City with more options, bigger crowd
See what made my list — and the judges’
Mar. 7, 2024 6:30 am, Updated: Mar. 8, 2024 5:49 pm
IOWA CITY — The annual Top Chef: Downtown returned for its 14th year with more vendors and a seemingly bigger crowd than recent years.
But the real question is: how high did the 31 restaurants, bars and coffee shops aim?
See what caught my attention at one of Iowa City’s premiere annual food gatherings, and which ones won the hearts of the judges.
Drinks
1. “Indulgence” by Wild Culture
There comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to go for that espresso martini. Thanks to Wild Culture, you need not even realize the “martini” in the equation of this delightfully sweet and mellow espresso. Taken with sugar, Havana Club rum and a coffee liqueur, this is a great capital letter to start the night, or punctuation to finish it.
Finish it with their grasshopper creme de menthe gelatin bite, and you’re left on a cloud so smooth and classy that you’ll wonder who made it seem criminal to enjoy caffeine and alcohol at the same time.
This cocktail earned second place from the judges in the Mixology category. After a nod from the judges and attendees last year, Wild Culture is continuing its streak.
Entrees
2. Tuna Crudo by Pullman Bar & Diner
A pleasant contrast of red and green presented a fresher version of Christmas color palettes months after the holidays have concluded. And like Christmas, you’ll feel a surprise of joy with this gift that you didn’t expect.
Fresh herbs lure you in with citrus-heavy top notes that slowly fold in pickled chili before quickly turning up the heat. The sweet flavor, with a tender meat, reminds you that sometimes eating uncooked fish is OK, against your Western instincts.
As the heat enhances the flavor, puffed rice erupts between my molars like fire crackers as cucumber bites quell the spice.
This dish earned first place from the judges for entrees.
3. “South X Southwest X Midwest” by Harry’s Bar and Grill
This restaurant, a newcomer to the downtown scene from Hart G. Epstein, a former co-owner of Bluebird Diner, is here to make a point with this year’s entry: a pork belly with cheesy grits, arugula and wild mushrooms garnished by pickled radishes and shallots.
I don’t ever imagine pork belly and maple as a couple, but this makes sense. The fat of this pork belly is cooked so tenderly that maple syrup and pork are one in a state of fluidity that melts in your mouth.
A little chile sharpens its hatch on the very last notes, but it’s a little shy.
Cheesy grits and arugula add a counter balance to the wholesome warmth that would taste as good on a warm summer day as it would in the dead of winter.
This earned third place from the judges and second place from attendees in the entrees category.
4. Gnocchi Deliziosi by Baroncini Ristorante
Dense spinach gnocchi could appease even the pickiest child with a density that’s as pleasing as the cream sauce’s mouthfeel. I don’t care if you don’t like spinach — you need to try this.
When you realize that there’s still a wine-braised beef after finishing the gnocchi, you feel like you’ve won something extra. Amarone adds a rich complexity akin to a good gravy, but without all the thick mess.
5. Korean BBQ-Bulgogi by LA Wine Bar & Restaurant
A soft cut of prime beef gently waxes and wanes against a fresh red lettuce leaf as onion and kimchi bites me back almost as hard as I bit the beef.
The beef, slightly sweet from peanut butter, smooths over the bickering from sweet and sour pickles.
Overall, this manages to gracefully combine sweet, savory, salty, sour and spicy all into one wrap. That’s not an easy feat.
6. Fried pork chop by ReUnion Brewery
Perfectly fried, this pork profile offers a separate harmony to accompany the pork belly from Harry’s Bar & Grill, ranked No. 3.
The winter berry barbecue sauce tastes a little bit like A1 Steak Sauce mixed with a honey barbecue, but the potatoes are mild to mellow it out.
In contrast to Harry’s dish, the maple in this brined pork is lost in the sauce — as well as the breading, the creamed parsnips and fried parsley.
Desserts
7. Chocolate bourbon pecan pie shake by Hamburg Inn No. 2
An immediate richness commands your attention in a way only bourbon can. But this voice is gentle, and knows that true authority is derived from respect.
Flies go to honey before vinegar. And while there’s no honey in this pie-subsumed milkshake, the liquor knows how to take cues from sweets to achieve a delicious goal.
Combined with an Irish cream, a ribbon of genteel sweetness blends with the crunch and nuttiness of maple pecan pieces generously sprinkled in. This was a dessert worth eating first.
8. “Snickerdoodle Dandy” by Yotopia
I have to admit, I was satisfied enough to stop eating desserts after the Hamburg Inn shake. But then the pie shake’s sibling — the happy-go-lucky one — walks in strutting ribbons of caramel with soft bites of cream-softened Biscoff cookie crumbles. You know, the kind you get on that one “premium” airline.
Each bite was punctuated by dark chocolate pearls.
I am not really into Snickerdoodles. I tend to have an aversion to sweets with cinnamon. But this converted me into a Yankee Snickerdoodle dandy.
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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