Table for Two

LeShawn (Shawnnie) Smith took a leap of faith when she left the corporate world to start a boutique bakery in Cedar Rapids’ Newbo City Market.  She quickly made her mark in the local food scene with toffee butter cookies and lemon pound cake. With her Mama Pearl at her side, she invested both financial and sweat equity into her dream.  However, her dream was nearly squelched by the pandemic.  Because she was a new business, she didn’t qualify for any assistance. When nearly all hope was lost, help came from the unlikeliest of places—late night talk show host Stephen Colbert who featured Shawnniecakes as a “deserving small business to support” during COVID.  That led to shout outs from other celebrities including Gayle King. Online orders kept her business alive and today she’s back on a growth path, ready to expand to a larger location and the addition of breakfast and lunch service.

Award winning chef George Formaro has been speaking the language of food since he was child.  He had the good fortune of being raised in an Italian American home where every dish had a story. But the culinary artist behind Des Moines favorites Centro, Gateway Market, Malo, Zombie Burger, and more doesn’t need a gourmet meal to evaluate a chef.  Chef George says he sees everything he needs to know by the way a chef makes a cheeseburger. Today, he is investing in the industry’s future by mentoring young talent, both in his restaurant kitchens, and high schools across the state.

Five-time James Beard nominee and 2022 Iowa Chef of the year Joe Tripp takes a seat at the Iowa Restaurant Association’s Table for Two. The owner of Harbinger, Little Brother, and Basic Bird speaks with Jessica Dunker from one of his busy restaurants about ghost kitchens, hyper local ingredients and fare, and the surprising synergy of fusing fresh Iowa ingredients and comfort food concepts with Asian culinary techniques and flavors. Chef Joe also sheds light on how he keeps his third-party delivery orders profitable for his restaurants. The two sound-off about the consistent overlooking of Iowa’s stellar culinary talent for national honors and Chef Joe even spills how one of his first cooking attempts ended in the evacuation of his college dorm. 

The Iowa Restaurant Association is proud to present Table for Two. Join our President and CEO, Jessica Dunker, as she sits down with some of Iowa's award-winning restaurateurs, chefs and hospitality professionals to talk traditions, trends, tastes and tactics. Be sure to subscribe to Table for Two on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow our social media pages so you never miss an episode.