Last month, chef Lisa LaValle announced she was retiring after a decade-long career as the chef at Trellis Cafe, the plant-based restaurant inside the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden in Des Moines.
Now comes word that Suman Hoque and his wife Dr. Cynthia Hoque are bringing their own brand of farm-to-table fare to the botanical garden when they open Flora in the space in December.
What does HoQ serve?
The Hoques are the minds behind HoQ , the 12-year-old farm-to-table restaurant in the East Village that’s also on the essential restaurants list at the Des Moines Register .
HoQ claims that 90% of the ingredients used on the menu come from Iowa farmers and lists their names on the menu. The ever-changing menu explores lighter fare such as quinoa bowls and Mediterranean bowls topped with tandoori chicken, or go for a more leisurely meal of wild Alaskan salmon, grass-fed beef or a vegetarian dish with spiced veggies wrapped in rice and lentil crepes.
More: The 27 essential restaurants in the Des Moines metro: 2024 edition