‘Open Circuit’ Dinners Pop Up

Above: Chef Jacob Demars is taking his distinctive cuisine on a new adventure, with intimate pop-up meals in unexpected places.

By Wini Moranville

When Marlene’s at Sevastapol Station closed in February, quite a few food enthusiasts lamented on my All Things Food DSM Facebook page that they hadn’t had a chance to try a tasting menu created by chef Jacob Demars.

Well, folks, now’s your chance. Demars will begin hosting pop-up dinners later this spring as a continuation of Open Circuit, a dining series he produced while living in Chicago. The first two Des Moines-area dinners have been scheduled for May 7 and May 21, from 6:45 to 9 p.m., and will be held at the Yellow Door Gallery, an art gallery and performance space in a ranch home on Des Moines’ south side. The cost is $85 per person, including tax but exclusive of gratuity. It’s a BYOB affair, with no corkage fee. Moving forward, Demars plans to offer about two events per month, in locations to be determined.

Yes, the May dates seem a long way off, but keep in mind that a very limited number of tickets will be sold.
“Open Circuit dinners have always been limited to 12 diners,”  Demars says. “That way, we can focus on doing more artistic plates and offering better service.”

What’s for dinner? You likely realize by now that with seasonally driven, farm-to-table, highly imaginative chef-driven New American cuisine, the menu will not be available this far in advance. Let’s just say that if a dish of truffle asparagus, arugula, warm pear, pecorino and coconut milk sounds like your kind of fare, this might be your kind of dinner. You can also check out a menu from past Open Circuit dinners for a hint of the style of dining to expect.

Tickets are available via universe.com. Yellow Door Gallery is at 2121 Wakonda Drive. For more information, contact Info@OpenCircuitDining.com.