Oak Park, Des Moines' most anticipated new restaurant of the year, opens on Oct. 17 on Ingersoll
At Oak Park, a flurry of activity takes place inside. Ian Robertson, the executive chef, works on the menu in the immaculately spotless kitchen. Jess Robertson fills Bismarcks with cream in her area of the kitchen.
At the hostess stand, women put green leather-bound menus away.
Over in the solarium, where diners will eat, every table is set with a gold charger plate, silverware, a napkin and wine glass, awaiting the first customers to come through the doors.
General manager Damon Murphy keeps a watchful eye on bottles of wine that can finally be collected from vendors and stored in the wine cellar. Wine program director Sam Tuttle ensures that everything he ordered arrived. In the basement, the wine cellar fills with the 7,000 anticipated labels. Of those, about 1,000 will live on the main floor, filling the private dining room.
Billy Dohrmann, the director of operations, appears and disappears, pulling a random weed in the garden behind the restaurant or straightening a table arrangement.
Local businesswoman and neighborhood advocate Kathy Fehrman is ready to show off her restaurant that she spent the last two years developing.
Oak Park, built from the ground up at the corner of Ingersoll Avenue and 39th Street in Des Moines, is ready to open.
Now diners can book their reservations at the 98-seat restaurant that brings a spin on new American fare that uses French techniques.
Oak Park plans to open on Tuesday, Oct. 17. Reservations opened on Exploretock.com. The restaurant plans to be open Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.
What is the architectural style of Oak Park?
The restaurant, built from scratch, features a Prairie style, a nod to architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Fans will recognize his influence, from the long flat roof, the rows of windows looking out on the neighborhood, its horizontal lines and organic patterns. The restaurant takes its name from the Chicago neighborhood where Wright built his first Prairie-style home, the Frank W. Thomas House, built in 1901.
Inside, the flowing lines make it easy for diners to move from one room to the next.
What's on the menu at Oak Park?
This summer, the restaurant held several dinners in its test kitchen space at the Temple for the Performing Arts in downtown Des Moines. The lucky few who received a ticket to the dinners tried dishes such as a beet duo as an amuse bouche, a king crab and English pea soup, potato raviolo with pan-seared wagyu and potato and truffle bouillon, pan-seared halibut with asparagus and a passionfruit Bismarck for dessert.
For the opening, the menu, which will change frequently, includes dishes such as skate meunière and duck fettucine, as well as three styles of caviar services. A Josper grill cooks the filet mignon, bacon-glazed chop and salmon. Vegetarians should look for the carrot Wellington.
Where to find Oak Park
Location: 3901 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-620-2185 or oakparkdsm.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Oak Park in Des Moines accepting reservations opens Oct. 17
