New dining spot showcases Iowa flavors

Enjoy the crumpet benedict on the breakfast menu, featuring a fresh poached egg over crispy pork belly. (Photo: Watermill Kitchen + Bar)

A sparkly new restaurant serving modern Midwest comfort food is now open in the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Coralville. The Watermill Kitchen + Bar is named after the historic mills that once ran across the nearby Iowa River, a stone’s throw from the back patio.

The menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner honor classic Iowan dining with some fresh twists and upgraded flavors sourced from local farms and producers. You’ll find fresh ingredients from Amana Meat Shop & Smokehouse, Dan and Debbie’s Creamery, Kalona Creamery and Farmers Hen House, among others. Dishes like the braised short rib, cherry-smoked pork belly and Iowa corn cakes feel nostalgic, but the connections go deeper. Barbara’s Orange Cake with a Grand Marnier drizzle, for example, is an ode to executive sous chef Tony Zinn’s mother, Barbara, who used to bake him mandarin orange birthday cake when he was a kid.

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