http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/dining/2015/10/22/what-seasonal-produce-eat-right-now-des-moines/74223844/

Susan Stapleton

Kelly Foss slowly walks down Court Avenue on a late September Saturday morning, greeting vendors of the 200-booth strong sprawling Downtown Farmers’ Market just as the weather has tinged chilly. A band plays ’70s rock songs here, a Scottish bagpipe whines over there. Shoppers in short sleeves to winter coats start straggling into the market to load up on fresh produce for the coming week.

The director of the farmers market Foss points out the pumpkins and gourds that dot Rinehart’s Family Farm’s booth with its four tractors, wheels spinning, anchoring the roof of the tent.

Westrum Produce is showing off its beets with their purple aura just waiting for the right salad.

Timeless Prairie Orchard shines up some Honeycrisp apples, prize winner at that, while Lee’s Produce lays out some deep purple eggplant and acorn squash, both waiting to be the perfect ingredient.

Blue Gate Farm’s peppers dazzle in the colors of the autumn spectrum while Mai Vang’s Fresh Produce & Flowers tempts with paper baskets of ground cherries, just ripe tomatillos and different varieties of okra.

Fall produce at its finest, just waiting for the right recipes to come along, is ready to change menus from the lighter domain of summer to the heartier fare of fall.

Just like those estimated 20,000 weekly shoppers who load up their bags and wagons with fall’s bounty at the farmers market, so do the chefs of Des Moines.

There’s a calmness in the air at Le Jardin, the rustic French bistro in Beaverdale, right before the harvest dinner from chef and owner Tag Grandgeorge is ready to hit tables on a Wednesday night. This monthly dinner showcases locally sourced ingredients in each of the four dishes coming out to diners in waves.

Diners start to dot the stark white tables set against a concrete floor and Des Moines artist Chris Vance’s mural that symbolizes a garden overlooking a city that dominates one wall of the 44-seat restaurant. Over there, the restaurant sous chef’s grandparents sit at one table. Old friends greet each other as they straggle in. Old and young alike fill the space as the afternoon turns to evening and the glow of the Edison bulbs hanging overhead give the restaurant a warmth appropriate for the season.

Here, a Maxwell Farms roasted butternut squash greets guests as they arrive, an amuse-bouche, or gift from the chef. Apple sticks lend a crunch to the spoon while toasted coconut soothes the heat of the Aleppo pepper.

Then Grandgeorge, who runs the restaurant with his wife Megan, sends out his spin on croissants, a savory version made with pumpkins, topped with a salad of arugula, braised duck, spiced honey and a cider vinaigrette, the calling cards of fall.

“I’ve been playing around with savory croissants,” Grandgeorge says as he asks how the dinner is.

Does Des Moines get it? “It’s just what I do,” he replies, not confirming or denying.

A stuffed acorn squash with dried cherries for a tart crunch, fried sage and a spaetzle, a German dumpling, bathed in a parmesan cream sauce comes out. That dish arrives on the newest rendition of the menu that just rolled out for fall.

Grandgeorge loves to play around with his brulees, and his latest concoction for fall is a riff on pumpkin pie with that delicately crispy glaze on top, a cinnamon-vanilla meringue tinged with a blowtorch right before serving and pie crust crumbles dusting the surface. Guests have a tough time not inappropriately licking their ramekins before they’re whisked away.