Decorah, Iowa

Northeastern Iowa is a pretty area to spend a few days. It is off the beaten path for most Chicagoans and so is relatively inexpensive compared to the usual Wisconsin, Michigan, or Galena destinations. The landscape is rolling (the glaciers didn’t scrape the land down here), the canoeing on the Upper Iowa River is beautiful, and the town of Decorah is a nice destination. The town attracts more tourists from the Twin Cities than from Chicago. It has some artists’ studios, small shops, and an excellent museum of Norwegian-American life, Vesterheim. Heavily settled by Norwegian immigrants, Decorah is pleasantly and surprisingly free of nostalgic Norwegian nonsense such as trolls adorning everything. Unfortunately, we were able to find little in the way of Norwegian food, something of a disappointment to us on our recent visit.

The Dayton House Café used to offer more Norwegian specialties but now serves mostly American fare heavy on fish and seafood. The lunch menu still has a few Norwegian dishes, but we had dinner there. The food was well prepared and well priced. I enjoyed locally grown lamb chops, and my husband had one of the day’s fish specials, opa, which was excellent. My son had a sirloin steak with bacon butter; I found the bacon butter too strong a flavor, but he loved it. The pastitsio served as one of the starch choices was pretty poor, rather like bad macaroni and cheese. Bare brick walls in an old storefront with an open kitchen made for an attractive and comfortable spot. It’s completely byob. Recommended.

Rubaiyat is a bit more upscale with more pretensions—a wine bar and restaurant. Its hip look was a bit diminished for me by the apparent necessity of posting a large sign in the window explaining how to pronounce the restaurant’s name. (I know I shouldn’t be too big city snobby.) My entrée of flat iron steak with crab meat, asparagus, and béarnaise sauce was probably a mistake—it was a bit in Calvin Trillin’s La Maison de la Casa House style—and I should have known better. The smoked Iowa pork tenderloin with blood orange puree and blackberries that my husband had was better. The soup of the day, a fresh tomato dill, was fantastic. The “bruchetta” appetizer was okay. Service was good and they comped us our appetizer because it took so long—they explained the woman at the salad station had a death in the family. All in all, Rubaiyat is pretty good and cheaper for what it is than you would find in closer resort or tourist areas.

For a quick breakfast or diner dinner, Family Table Restaurant is fine. It’s an ordinary diner that serves breakfast all day. Quick and cheap.

Dayton House Café
516 West Water Street
Decorah, IA 52101
563-382-9683
http://www.daytonhouse.net/index.html

Rubaiyat Restaurant
117 West Water Street
Decorah, IA 52101
563-382-9463
http://www.rubaiyatrestaurant.com/

Family Table Restaurant
817 Mechanic Street
Decorah, IA 52101
563-382-2964
http://www.familytabledecorah.com/

Thanks for the post. I haven't been to that part of Iowa since a million years ago when I was a student at Wartburg College and we'd come over to Decorah to play Luther College.

LikestoEatout wrote:Thanks for the post. I haven't been to that part of Iowa since a million years ago when I was a student at Wartburg College and we'd come over to Decorah to play Luther College.

You're welcome!

I forgot to mention the Whippy Dip ice cream stand in Decorah. Wonder if it was there in your day? It was the hottest spot in town. Every time we passed it, day or night, there were people waiting for their soft-serve ice cream. I didn't try it but my husband and son found it quite good. Great name and great old-fashioned ice cream stand look; I actually took a picture with my new digital camera but haven't uploaded it yet anywhere. One of these days....

Whippy Dip
130 College Dr
Decorah, IA 52101
(563) 382-4591

Sorry, it was 40 years ago or so! I really do need to go back to that part of the world and see the changes, maybe I'll be disappointed?

LikestoEatout wrote:Sorry, it was 40 years ago or so! I really do need to go back to that part of the world and see the changes, maybe I'll be disappointed?

Yeah, I don't like to think how long it's been since I was in college either! It's still a pretty part of the midwest to visit, I think.

You missed Mabe's pizza!

Abouna wrote:You missed Mabe's pizza!

Next time, I guess.

So, a work trip took me to Northeast Iowa recently, and I could hit some places I had only read about in the paper back in Des Moines. Fist things first, this is Bluff Country. You can't just see the water tower with the name of the next town from 10 miles out on the freeway, the roads actually bend around curves in the hills that hide rustic farms or ugly quarries. This is not usual for driving around Iowa.

First stop was to get photo's during the day of McCaffrey's Dolce Vita just outside Decorah. I had to return later to try the food.

This is on a dirt road outside the main intersection that leads into Decorah, it feels farther away than it really is. The owner of this place decided to make a custom-built brick oven for pizza baking on the site of the family farm he grew up on.


Jim McCaffrey had already written a book on creative ways to cook corn, so what made him invest so much time and money on a high-end pizza place outside of such a small town? I don't pretend to know the answer, but I would guess he likes living where he grew up, and working with his family. His wife was working the bar and seating tables, and the website says his kids work there with him. He told me about traveling through Iowa eating at each pizza place in mid-size regional towns, where pizza was only available after men returning from war demanded it back in the fifties.

Sausage and mushroom pizza, sorry for blur but the place was dimly lit:

Close up with better focus:


McCaffrey's Dolce' Vita & Twin Springs & Bakery
2149 Twin Springs Rd
Decorah, IA 52101-7811
(563) 382-4723
http://www.mcdolcevita.com

The next day I had set aside my lunch time for some place really out there, Schera's North African Restaurant in Elkader.


Elkader (population 1,465), county seat of Clayton County, is named for Abd al-Qadr, the anti-colonial military leader and national hero of modern day Algeria. I'm not sure how many people realize how many towns or places are named for Muslim or North African historical figures, but I suspect its more than just Elkader. This fact drew a multicultural couple to visit the town on while travelling to Cedar Rapids, one was the son of a former Algerian diplomat. The two fell in love with Elkader to the point of starting a restaurant with Algerian and American food in a large building on main street.

Picture of al-Qadr next to christman tree:


The humble storefront:


The Chicken B'Stilla appetizer, this one is a Moroccan recipe with shredded chicken in phyllo dough with cinnamon on top:

Sliced open:

The Breaded Pork Tenderloin, this is what they recomment to new visitors wanting American food, next choice is usually the gyro or cheeseburger. The topped it with romaine lettuce instead of the usual iceberg stuff, with chopped onions. The didn't overdo the spices or anything unusual like that:

Close-up:


Buffalo Fries:


If you visit their website, you can read their story, along with how they stayed in business after a flood forced them to renovate the entire place and start all over again:

Schera's Restaurant & Bar
http://www.scheras.com
107 South Main St
Elkader, IA 5204

So whats next, maybe another North African restaurant in Tripoli, Iowa? Google tells me there is a town named Cairo as well. How about Phillipino food in Manilla? I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for the update on the area and an excellent post, Tyrgyzistan.