Ever visit a restaurant and order salad, soup, steak and vegetables, only to find out that you’re taking most of it home at the end of the meal?

Paul Trostel has, which inspired the concept behind Trostel’s Dish, a restaurant featuring worldly cuisine, an extensive wine selection and an ambience not often seen in Greater Des Moines.

“I wanted to put something together that was totally different from what everyone else was doing,” said Trostel, who also owns Trostel’s Greenbrier in Johnston and Chip’s in Ankeny.

Trostel’s Dish opened Oct. 11 at 12851 University Ave. in Clive with a menu filled with American, Latin American, European, Spanish and Asian entrees and a cozy atmosphere that resembles those of posh big-city eateries. Though originally designed for the 25- to 55-year-old crowd, Trostel said customers of all ages “appreciate the small portions and variety of tastes.”

“Des Moines has matured its palate to the point that they want to try other things than an Iowa chop or sirloin steak or a bowl of pasta,” Trostel said. “They’re eating much more adventurously.”

The menu consists of more than 40 entrees – there are no side dishes at Dish – served in smaller portions with unique presentations in a manner that encourages sharing, with prices starting at $4. General Manager Jeff Duncan says a group of two or three people would likely order three to six entrees of a variety of ethnicities. The restaurant has extended the concept with popular cheese flights, wine flights and dessert samplers.

“Our focus was to add items that Iowans and people in general are familiar with and comfortable with and present them in a new way and with some different combinations and different flavor profiles,” says head chef Aaron King. “It definitely makes a statement.”

King, an Urbandale native, studied at the Culinary Institute of America and previously worked as a banquet chef in San Jose, Calif., under an award-winning chef. But, he says, “I had wanted to come back and make a name for myself where people knew me, too.”

Creating Dish’s first menu – it will be changed along with the wine menu every three to four months – was challenging for King as he tried to combine flavor profiles from several different regions.

It also allowed him to be creative even with the tried and true entrees from his repertoire, such as the grilled sherry Portobello mushrooms and Iowa lollipop lamb chops, which he simply divided into two separate entrees to keep with the restaurant’s concept of small portions to be sampled and shared. King calls the lamb chops a signature dish and one of his first creations as a chef.

For the Greenbrier fans, Dish’s menu includes some of that restaurant’s biggest hits, including the havarti shrimp and boursin mushrooms.



But customers will find many new samplings that have quickly become favorites among restaurant guests. Among the most popular are the truffled chicken macaroni and cheese, with braised chicken, elbow pasta, asiago and Maytag blue cheese finished with white truffle oil, as well as the tuna tataki, spicy beef egg rolls and shrimp enchilada.

Trostel said the artichoke “popsicle,” fried baby artichoke hearts stuffed with Northern Prairie Chevre cheese and served with curry aioli, as well as the Guinness-marinated skirt steak, grilled sliced steak with red peppers and espresso-chipotle sauce, are two that he is proud of, and that have received rave reviews from customers.

As buzz over the restaurant builds locally, its reach has extended beyond Greater Des Moines. Trostel has already received interest about opening additional locations in other cities.

“I certainly have the depth of staff that we could do that in the future,” he says.