WFIM Features: Katie Frederick

From LA to IA — on dirt road anthems, the best bar in Des Moines & getting a city fix.

In the summer of 2021, friends and I were in Joice, Iowa, celebrating Leah’s birthday at her family’s farm. We had reservations at a spot a few towns over — I thought needing reservations in a place like Fertile, Iowa was excessive but alas! I was wrong.

On a quiet — the quietest — little road stood a chic restaurant. By 5 p.m. on a Friday, tables were full.

Our server was a woman named Katie, whose husband, Josh, owns the restaurant. That night, she hung out with our table and kept glasses filled with natural wine— in rural Iowa, no less. I’ve made it back to Mir a handful of times since, and if you’re headed south on 35, you should too!

After that evening, I followed Katie on Instagram and have loved watching her tasteful dirt-road, Iowan life unfold — all while living in the wildest house. At the end of last summer, I asked Katie if she’d let me feature her on WFIM!
Full disclosure: the interview happened late summer, so some of her answers skew warm and sunny… but consider it a small reprieve from these single-digit temps.

Welcome, Katie!

JB: Tell me — how did you end up living in Iowa and more specifically, in your house?! What’s the history there?

KF: I’ll start with how I ended up in Iowa. Without getting into the boring ‘meet cute’ details of meeting my husband, basically I moved back to MN from Los Angeles in 2019, met Josh a month later, and he whisked me away to the fields of Iowa not more than six months later (perfectly timed that I moved down here just as COVID reared its ugly head).

Josh was already living in the house when I met him! It was built by a bunch of hippie contractors (including his dad, who has an octagonal house next door to us, lol) in the ’70s.

It has its constructional quirks (they were contractors, not architects), but it is absolutely a unique style of home, especially for around these parts.

I felt very lucky to have married into this space and land.

JB: In the best way, your space feels like it transcends time & trend which speaks to your style — how would you describe your style? What are the things that make you drive miles for a craigslist or facebook marketplace pick up?

KF: Aww thank you! That is truly the highest compliment, as that is our intention when curating the space. Luckily, Josh and I have kindred styles when it comes to interior decorating, so it’s really been a collaborative process since I moved in, making the space a home by filling it with pieces that speak to our style and personalities.

The space is much smaller than it looks through the little squares of social media that everyone sees, so we have to be very intentional when we purchase something or really love it. We’re constantly playing Tetris with wall art or knick knacks on shelves, etc.

My style I would say is ‘eclectic mid-century maximalist grandma??’ haha! The things I would travel far and wide for on marketplace are statement furniture pieces (our couch was a marketplace find! Couches are SO hard, and we lucked out and had to take two separate four-hour round trips to get the whole thing), truly special/rare art, or film cameras!

JB: What are a couple of your favorite things around the house? There’s got to be some good origin stories.

KF: Ohhh man that’s a hard one. I love our bookshelf at the bottom of our staircase, which does come with a bit of a story... it was actually a beer mug shelf at our small town local bar that recently closed and auctioned off their inventory (we happened to coincidentally go there the last night they were open). It wasn’t EXACTLY what we wanted, but Josh is luckily a fantastic handyman and he modified the shelves so they could fit books nicely and put a dark mahogany finish to match our wood beams in the house. Now it’s truly a special focal point, and I can’t picture our place without it.

Another is our set of 4 orange Gunlocke Company teak wood mid century chairs that I scored on marketplace in a nearby small town for FORTY DOLLARS. 2 of them go for $1200 on eBay, etc. Wild find. I felt like I was stealing. A case of “they don’t know what they got,” and I benefited from their naivety.

JB: Based off of my internet judgement, you are queen of the gravel road hot girl walk — and look cool as hell doing it. What makes a perfect dirt road HGW? There’s a country song in here somewhere.
KF: HA! The gravel roads are all I got, so I’ll humbly accept that title! A perfect dirt road HGW consists of, yes… a killer playlist… specifically the ‘Strut’ one included below (there are more for other moods of course), and yes it absolutely includes some OG 90s country (Chicks and Shania, obviously).

Sometimes, depending on the time and day, I’ll have a lil cocktail or a coffee in hand and a trail of my animals behind me (cats included). Hopefully someday that trail will expand to a cow, some goats, and a donkey??

JB: What do you do when you need a city fix? Any favorite spots to recommend for the midwesterners in the room?

KF: When we need a city fix (that is not Cafe Mir) we go to the city. I hate to say it, but there isn’t really anything close enough to home to fill that void for us. The Twin Cities are my roots and only a 2-hour drive north, so we scoot up whenever we’re feeling a lil stir crazy or make an excuse to make a day of it around an errand, etc. We also go to Des Moines sometimes, which has truly been a fun place to explore the last few years! There are some great cocktail bars down there (shout out to our fave Bartender’s Handshake! It’s a must).

When we go to Minneapolis... some of our faves are Little Tijuana for great cocktails and solid late-night food options (THAT BURGER), Meteor Bar, we recently went to Gus Gus in St. Paul for the first time and LOVED it, Colita in south Minneapolis, Mizu in White Bear Lake is THEE BEST sushi with great cocktails and it’s on the lake! It’s slept on because it’s ‘in the burbs,’ but trust me... don’t rule this one out.

Minneapolis has a wealth of incredible bars and restaurants and things to do! A few places on our list we’re dying to try soon, too, are Vinai, Diane’s Place, Bucheron, and Marty’s Deli. I also need to shout my favorite dive bar, DUSTY’S IN NE! We love a dive bar here in the Midwest. I miss them down here — weirdly rural Iowa doesn’t have many?

JB: When you’re not home, you’re running the best restaurant in Iowa with your husband. How did Cafe Mir come to be — in Fertile of all places!

KF: Aw that’s so sweet of you to say! My husband has truly put his heart and soul into this place over the last 8 years of its existence, and I am so endlessly proud of what they created here. Josh is from here (Forest City), but moved to LA in 2008 to become a sommelier and eventually ended up a beverage/wine director at Gjelina in Venice Beach for nearly 10 years.. his cousin Nathaniel, also from here, lived out there at the same time as well. Life brought them both back to their roots around 2016, and that charming little building was for sale in Fertile for basically pennies, so Nathaniel bought it, and they decided to start up a family-owned farm-to-table restaurant, which was the beginning of a labor of love!

As you can imagine, running an eclectic farm-to-table restaurant in rural Iowa has its challenges, so we’re just super grateful that we’ve been able to cultivate the community and loyal regulars we have over the years to still be here (post COVID and all!). Josh and his cousin owned it together up until this year; Nathaniel has since decided to embark on his own personal endeavors and relinquished his part of ownership to Josh’s sisters—so very much still family owned and operated. :) His influence and impact will always remain present at Mir! Come visit us!!

JB: What does a day in your life look like with the restaurant? Best parts?

KF: Uffdah! Where do I start? I juggle restaurant duties on top of a part (nearly full time) remote marketing job and serving at the restaurant, so my days are always a bit chaotic! My day starts with COFFEE, and then fielding any reservation requests (via text or call because we’re masochists and haven’t committed to a resy-esque system), so everything is done through actual human contact/communication — for better or for worse!! On open days, I’m usually running to the grocery store for last minute things Josh forgot he needed before I have to get there to serve or running to local producers to pick up fresh greens, veggies, etc.

The best part is getting to see the dishes Josh creates literally change people’s palates in front of my eyes. We get lots of people around here that aren’t used to adventurous “flavor” or interesting spices on their food, so it’s fun to see people so mind blown. It’s also really cool to have customers (such as yourself!) come in from major cities who tell us Mir holds up to any restaurant they’ve been in their city or on travels abroad, etc., or tell us “this place makes me feel like I’m back in x, y, z city.

JB: As a tastemaker and visionary person (making my own judgements here), where do you get inspiration? How are you selecting wine makers, making design choices, getting dressed, etc!

KF: Oh gosh I don’t see myself that way, but truly flattered! My inspiration comes from being out and about in the cities or my travels, following other creative folks like yourself on socials, etc. Living in rural Iowa means I’m always getting my inspiration from outside sources lol (not that I hate to my new homeland but.. you know). One person that comes to mind immediately when it comes to fashion, lifestyle, design inspo is @abbyontheinternet! Highly recommend following her (she’s very authentic to her personal style and cool af). Also Pamela Anderson?!? Have you seen her Instagram lately? She’s living her ethereal garden lady in the woods dreams and I’m loving it.

I’m really not cool/hip in the clothing/fashion department. When I AM getting dressed for anything other than work or just being at home, it’s shopping my stash and trying to find new ways to wear clothes I’ve had in my closet. The majority of my clothes are thrifted these days, and it’s a constant (sometimes frustrating) challenge to find ways to make my clothes feel fun and new by coming up with new ways to wear them. I feel like I’m still trying to find my “true style” though. I’m honestly ready to purge/donate my whole closet and start over most days. Know any good person style consultants?

I love looking at film photography books or finding vintage mid century design books for home inspiration, as well as following accounts on social media for home inspo (arch digest, bishop studio, etc). As for wine makers, Josh being the sommelier and a lover of natural wines has found I believe the only 2 distributors in the state that have cool wine lists (shout to Abu Nawas and Meadowlark!) he’s always keeping an eye on great wines on the list at restaurants we check out in the cities, etc.

JB: Time for some quick-fire questions!

What is something in your theoretical cart right now?
KF: This is so boring but a Garmin watch, lol and some vintage odds and ends on Etsy (always) specifically these dope sunglasses. A flight out of this country?!?

What is on repeat for you currently?
KF: ABBA honestly?? And a feel good record that just always hits is When The Lights Go by TEED (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs)

Last thing you read and enjoyed?
KF: I’m SO late to the game on this but..Crying in H Mart.

Go-to summer snack? We can dream!
KF: Mango popsicles (it was soo hot the last stretch of summer), Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream with toasted almonds and sea salt on top, cucumbers with cottage cheese, sea salt and chili flakes! Are verdita mezcal margs considered a snack?!

Yes, they are considered a snack no matter the temps.
Katie! Thanks for your time, photos, and stories. I neeeeed to find myself at the restaurant in 2026!!