Dining elevated.

Cuisine

We don't cut corners in the kitchen. Our chefs work hard every day to create their dishes from scratch using fresh, local ingredients like prosciutto from La Quercia and fruits and vegetables from Loffredo Produce. Our West location even has a garden onsite.

Your dining experience is meant to suit your needs as well. Forget being squeezed in so tightly you don't know who might be listening over your shoulder. Our dining room is comfortably spaced so you can be easily heard by your guests. And we are always open to special requests (think vegan or gluten-free).

Lunch

Both locations feature a choice of a formal menu or a buffet with plentiful hot and cold options.

Dinner

Choose from a casual small plates menu or a formal menu with tableside cart service. Our Downtown location features a Prime Cuts steakhouse menu, while West offers a Prix Fixe menu of seasonal items with suggested wine pairings.
 

Chef MATT UITERMARKT

Matt Uitermarkt is Executive Chef at one of Des Moines Embassy Club Downtown. His career portfolio boasts a myriad of high-profile events, including serving the likes of President Ronald Reagan, Vice President Al Gore, Prince Fredrik of Denmark, and musicians Johnny Cash and Alice Cooper.

His career in fine dining began in an unexpected way: as a foodservice sergeant in the Army. After ten years at his post, Uitermarkt exited the military with a passion and real skill for service. He enrolled at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute where his training focused on the French culinary arts. After his return to Iowa upon graduation, he ran kitchens in various casinos and country clubs before taking on the role of Executive Chef at the Des Moines Embassy Club Downtown (then the Des Moines Club) in 2000.

Chef Uitermarkt has a passion for meat and wild game, going so far as to travel to a Cheyenne reservation in South Dakota where bison are raised to collaborate with ranchers. Recently, he has brought his talent for butchering to the Club with a "choose your own ounces" steak and lamb offering.

When he is not using his culinary skill to delight Members of the Club, Chef Uitermarkt is cooking for his church to raise money for an orphanage in India.


CHEF RANDY BROWN

Randy Brown is Executive Chef at the Des Moines Embassy Club West. He began his work at Club in 2011 under the mentorship of then-Chef Michael Bailey. Previously, he had spent years in many Des Moines-area restaurants before graduating from DMACC’s Culinary Institute, eventually coming to own a pizza place: Main Street Pizza in Elkhart. Chef Brown became Executive Chef of the West kitchen in 2017.

"I’m a chef because I like the fun and creative aspect of it. I can’t always stay within the lines."


Chef Brown gathers his inspiration from themes, what’s fresh and available. The onsite garden at the West Clubhouse allows him to serve the absolute peak fare to Members—some of the items on their plates may have been harvested that same day. “I let the ingredients select themselves for the most part,” he says, “Anything fresh, local, in-season is what I focus on.”

Outside of the kitchen, Chef Brown enjoys fishing, bike riding, and jogging. Some of his most memorable experiences were a 2015 tapas competition in Spain and a 2019 culinary competition in France. “I was inundated in European cuisine. I have a lot of respect for their food.”