Oak Park opened in 2023 in a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired building and under the kitchen of Executive Chef Ian Robertson and his wife Jess Robertson as Executive Pastry Chef. Together they partner with many local farmers and growers to create a modern American seasonal menu. He was a semifinalist for the James Beard Best Chef Midwest award in 2026. The menu was a la carte but there was a chef’s table option however right now it is only available for groups of 4-6. I urged them to consider a communal table so pairs could participate – we’ll see. It had a much larger wine list than other Des Moines places we looked into and that’s a plus in their column. The building looked large from the outside but inside it was divided in a horseshoe shaped set of rooms wrapped around the bar area. White tablecloths drape the nice sized tables that look out the many windows on the walls. The opposite walls were brick and decorated with fun art pieces involving food and drink. Nice jazz music was in the background and the space felt elegant yet comfortable. Our server, Anthony was very informed about the new spring menu that had rolled out last week and helped us design a tasting of sorts, where we split a number of fun plates. It should be on your list when you visit Des Moines.
Set-up
Food
An amuse bouche was a spoon with spring peas in a lemon vinaigrette. It was lovely.
Bourbon candied bacon was pork belly glazed with Oak Park boubon and served with spring peas, radish, bok choy (substituted for celery root), kimchi slaw and cashews. The slaw was slightly spicy and a tasty accompaniment to the glazed pork belly. Not the fattiest of pieces but with the glaze it was good.
Potato gnocchi was served with peas, morel mushrooms, and beurre monté then topped with a potato lace tuile and fresh herbs. The gnocchi were almost too soft – not undercooked as much as couldn’t hold their shape. Even so, the sauce was delicious and it was tasty, just not the texture I expected.
The beet and strawberry salad was made with roasted beets, strawberries, radish, avocado salsa verde, earth-tone crumble and champagne vinaigrette. The strawberries were exceptionally sweet and the beets very tender. A fun tasting crumble topped the plate that had a well flavored avocado salsa on the bottom. A good one.
Lamb Rigatoni was made with braised Jóia Farms lamb leg ragú with fiddlehead ferns, fava bean, peas, ramps, arugula butter and lemon crumble. This was a yummy dish with many delicious flavors of spring and fun textures. A very savory dish.
Columbia River King Salmon was on asparagus and a morel cream sauce. The sauce had some sherrry flavors and was a rich flavor that paired well with the thick piece of salmon.
Frangipane pie was a puff pastry stuffed with almond frangipane alongside mixed berry jam, creme fraiche ice cream and caramel crumble. Good flavors from all the components here.
Chocolate S’mores soufflé was a chocolate soufflé with toasted marshmallow, hot fudge, chocolate sorbet and graham cracker crumbs. Several layers in this soufflé and it was still light and perfect with the crunchy topping. It only took 14 minutes to get, which was amazing.
A parting gift was a package with 2 brown butter financier cakes. They were tasty the next day.
