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Chances are, that old guy on main street on his riding lawn mower doesn't have grass to cut. He's running errands.*
A Guide For Newbies and Out-Of-Staters.
THERules

Content Copyright 2006-2007 essentialiowa.com Privacy Policy
By Criss Roberts / October 21, 2006
Chef Peter Harman left the sunshine of Florida 10 years ago, arriving at Martini’s in Burlington with an attitude that life should be way cool. Not cool in a label-of-the-week sort of way, but cool in the know-thyself sort of way that Iowans respect.

And what Harman knew was how to make food fun AND good, grabbing bits and pieces of favorites he’d served in his career and adapting them to Iowa.

He laid out a menu which relied on excellent steaks, a stupefying array of martinis, and Chicken Lips, the perfect upscale bar food with the
questionably-tasteful name. While on the menu as an appetizer, they’re big enough for a meal and spicy enough to need something cold to wash them down. They are a destination food.

Lips come from an existing chicken part – the breast – and are a dressed up version of Buffalo wings. Harman, who has always been generous with his recipes and includes a Lips recipe in his podcasts and cookbooks, uses the breasts, cut into thick strips and bathed in a buttermilk batter and deep-fried. The pieces then go into a impossibly rich, impossibly hot butter-based sauce and are served with his Budweiser blue cheese sauce (made with Iowa’s Maytag blue; Harman supports Iowa products where he can.)

Lips have been very, very good for Harman, who was so delighted by his new hometown’s acceptance that he established the Chicken Lips Foundation. A percentage of annual sales from the Lips help support an annual fund-raiser for area charities.

Two years ago, Harman moved his base of operations from the Pzazz Best Western, which is now being rebuilt as an inland casino, to the riverfront RiverPlace in the former Mercy Hospital. He and wife, Kim, run the restaurant and cooking school on the building’s fourth floor, with its
panoramic view of the Mississippi River.

The Lips have taken on a life of their own, with a franchise operation
opening storefront Lips-only Lips To Go sales in Burlington and Macomb, Ill. (A similarly named store in Muscatine does not offer Harman’s Lips.)

Martini’s Grille, 610 N. Fourth St., Burlington, at (319) 752-6262. Website: www.foodguru.com They’re open at 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis, although diners can call ahead on weekends to put their name on a wait list.
HOT PLATE
Specialties At Some Of Iowa's Best Restaurants:
Chicken Lips keep hungry diners coming back for more
Fiery Chicken Lips At Martini's in Burlington
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