Datebook Diner: Proof proves lunch can be quite refined

Mesclun and scallop salad with lemon chicken soup is a featured combo at Proof. (Credit: Eric Rowley/Metromix)

Whenever I propose higher standards for Des Moines restaurants, plenty of people will tell me, in so many words, "You forget where you are - Des Moines is still a pile-it-on, meat and potatoes town."

Fortunately, there are restaurateurs here who hold our city's tastes in higher esteem. La Mie, the Art Center Restaurant and Proof all prove that lunch can be an exquisite break in the day - a meal you look forward to all morning, without regretting all afternoon.

The look: Sleek and chic - but with grace. No art on the walls; instead, storefront windows frame downtown cityscapes from across the greenery of the Gateway Park. That's art enough.

Menu: Salads, flatbread-based creations and grain-based dishes range from $8 to $10. I wonder if the counter staff tires of having to explain the inventive but minimally described menu items. For example, the "Eggplant/Moussaka" brings two falafel-like disks of chickpeas, grains and veggies separated by a sheen of cheese and topped with a slice of eggplant and rimmed with a garlic-tomato sauce.

Best of show: Delightfully light on its feet, the Eggplant Moussaka brought pleasing interplays of textures and flavors. A spring-fresh salad brought warm, rich scallops perched over cool, light greens for striking contrasts, with a lemon-coconut dressing to harmoniously marry the elements. Flatbreads topped with beyond-the-usual ingredients (I enjoyed a vegetable falafel) offered a chance to enjoy the ultra-fresh breads that inspired the restaurant's name - proof refers to a bread-baking step.

Why not four stars? Shockingly mediocre shrimp - for such an ambitious spot - made the paella a deadbeat dish. A Tomato Ginger soup tasted more of chile peppers or cayenne than of anything as fresh and cleanly spicy as ginger, and a heavy creaminess masked its flavors. And the best lunch spots pay attention to desserts. The sole choice - an inelegant and unimpressive Sam's-Club-sized macaroon - just didn't cut it. Even if they served cookies and bars, more refined choices would better match the food here.

Bottom line: One of the very best spots for lunch, and just a tweak or two from greatness.

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