Bonjour, friendly folks. This week I had the pleasure of experiencing, without a doubt, one of the most unique restaurants in Ames.

Ken’s Cafe and Grill opened only three weeks ago at 212 Main Street, but already seems to have a good reputation. (Seems it’s mighty difficult to get a table Friday or Saturday night without a reservation.)

OK, two words immediately come to mind when describing the new place — homemade. You see, Ken’s Cafe is the compilation of many years of travel and experiences across the globe.

As soon as I walked into the small, paint-splattered room, all of my senses were stimulated. The Enya music set the stage for mismatched chairs, fresh flowers and a wide array of art made by school children.

With the hanging lights and museum-ish atmosphere, it could easily pass for a Paris cafe.

Not only is the decor incredibly original, the menu is unique as well. Where else in town can you order anything from fresh shark to ostrich steak — from Lava Cake to stuffed Halibut?

But back to the homemade theme. The menu changes on a daily basis to enable them to utilize the freshest and finest ingredients in the marketplace. (Apparently Ken does not believe in the canning industry.)

Another novelty of Ken’s Cafe was that our waitress got down on her knees when talking to us. (No, I’m not into a domineering, power trip thing … it’s just nice she was at our eye level.)

When given a choice, I usually go with the soup of the day, but at Ken’s it was turkey and turnips … OK, guess I’ll go with salad.

Now, it’s no secret that I don’t eat my veggies and have never cared for salad, except for the croutons, so I didn’t expect anything different here.

Well, when our waitress named off all their homemade dressings and came to sour cream and dill, I had to ask her to repeat it. By gosh, it was worth a shot … I actually ate salad (with salad dressing no less) — and liked it!

For dinner I ordered Rigatoni with Cilantro Marinated Pork Tenderloin for $14.95. This followed suit of the salad — very delicious.

Next to the salad, the best part was the dessert. I tried Chef Ken’s Sinful Selection for $4.50.

Presentation is very important at Ken’s Cafe. The four mini-desserts were served on a piece of plate glass dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with a strawberry.

I tried the strawberry sorbet (served cold), chocolate lava cake (served warm), a raspberry tort of some sorts and a taste of caramel cake. Stick a fork in me ’cause I’m done!

Now, you know you’re at a fancy place when the chef wears one of those super-cool hats and talks to each guest during their meal.

When Ken came to our table, I learned that no two tables are exactly alike; Ken and his wife made over 3,500 tableware items themselves. (Now there’s a surprise …)

The glasses, for example, are the bottom halves of Southern Comfort bottles.

Although very pricey, Ken’s Cafe and Grill is definitely worth the experience. In my opinion, it’s Ames dining at its finest, folks. Did I mention they serve great salad?

5 stars out of five.

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Kim Zangger is a senior in advertising from Mt. Vernon.