Eatin' in Lincoln

Favorite Sandwich?

2010-01-29T13:51:00.002-06:00

Lincoln seems to have a severe shortage of sandwich places so where do you go to eat a sandwich?

Lately I've been addicted to the grilled pork banh mi at Vung Tau at 27th & Y. Even if I get a big bowl of pho or noodles I usually get a sandwich to go for later. You can't beat it for $2.75.

CheeseSteak Grille

2010-01-05T18:56:00.004-06:00

This isn't going to be a full review since they just opened yesterday and I just sort of stumbled across it while I was out running some errands.

CheeseSteak Grille next to the gas station on the NW corner of 16th and Old Cheney. I had noticed Mi Guadalajara closed awhile ago so the new sign grabbed my attention. I drove up into the parking lot for a closer look and surprise, they were open.

I went in and ordered a cheesesteak combo with a 20 oz. soda and fries for $5.95. You can get the sandwiches with either chicken or steak. Besides the regular cheesesteak you can get your sandwich with optional sauces including Thai, Teriyaki, Fiesta (enchilada sauce), atomic and BBQ.

My sandwich was better than I was expecting to be honest. A lot of places make sandwiches with cheese and steak on them and call them cheesesteaks but they're dry and bland. This sandwich was moist and cheesy all the way through. It was served on a nice fresh, crusty grilled hoagie roll.

It seems to be a family-run place which I like. The young woman who took my order confirmed that it was not a franchise. I should have asked more questions but I'll leave the bio and background for the LJS.

For some reason this location has been bad for restaurants. In the past two years Doozy's and Mi Guadalajara have been there with no success. Considering the proximity of Fiserv-ITI, Design Data, Time Warner Cable, Black Hills Energy and several other employers there are probably at least 2000 people working within just a few blocks on a daily basis.

One of the challenges for restaurants in that location has probably been the lack of separation from the gas station. There was never a wall or door, just a low divider. Former co-workers of mine would scoff when I told them to eat at Mi Guadalajara because they said it felt like they were eating in the gas station. That's no longer the case. There's a full wall with a glass door separating the two now. It definitely made the place feel more like a restaurant.

It's definitely a place worth checking out.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

2009-12-11T15:55:00.005-06:00

There's a law of the internet, Godwin's Law, which states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." In my limited experience in online food and cooking forums something similar applies in that any discussion of regional fast food restaurants will eventually turn into a Five Guys vs. In-N-Out flame war, which is just another variation on the East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry that has raged for decades.

Five Guys, of course, is no longer just an East Coast phenomenon now that franchises are opening in places like west Omaha. There was quite a buzz around the opening and if you take a look at their press page that buzz was well-deserved. Five Guys restaurants don't have freezers. All the burgers are made from fresh, never-frozen ground beef and the fries are prepared from potatoes on-site from the cases of potatoes you can see stacked all over the store. I was on my way home from the airport the Sunday after Thanksgiving and decided to stop in and see what it was all about.

The Five Guys in Omaha is located in the strip mall anchored by Hy-Vee just north of 132nd and Dodge at 697 North 132nd Street. At 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon the place was absolutely packed.

The first thing you see when you enter is the giant box of peanuts in the shell which you're invited to snack on while you wait for your food. An unnecessary gimmick in my opinion but for those who can't even wait 5 or 10 minutes for their food those peanuts must hit the spot.

Ordering should be simple since the menu consists of burgers (regular or little) either plain or with cheese and/or bacon, hot dogs, a veggie sandwich and fries. What complicates the ordering process is the toppings, all of which are free. The toppings include:

* Mayo
* Relish
* Onions
* Lettuce
* Pickles
* Tomatoes
* Grilled Onions
* Grilled Mushrooms
* Ketchup
* Mustard
* Jalapeno Peppers
* Green Peppers
* A-1 Sauce
* Bar-B-Q Sauce
* Hot Sauce

As tempted as I was to create the biggest, sloppiest burger I could I decided to create a "Western" burger instead, ordering a regular bacon cheeseburger with grilled onions, mustard, pickles and Bar-B-Q Sauce, along with a regular order of fries.

The wait was 7 or 8 minutes. You can stand at the counter and watch the workers assemble the burgers which is a pretty impressive process. Nothing sits longer than it takes to add the toppings and bun so your burger is still hot when it goes in the bag without the use of any heat lamps.

Five Guys states that their burgers are cooked well-done AND juicy. My burger was pretty good, nice and beefy, but it wasn't very juicy; a little on the dry side to be honest. I was a little disappointed but the toppings covered up the dryness to a certain extent. The fries were really, really good, nice and crispy and golden with decent seasoning, though I wish they had a size smaller than regular which is enough for two people. One complaint with the the fries is that they put them in a cup so the ones at the bottom get soggy from the condensation. This wasn't a problem in my case since I couldn't eat them all anyway.

People should be aware that the regular-sized burger is a double burger. If you only want one patty, order the "little" burger.

Five Guys' website states they're opening 200 stores in 2010 so I wouldn't be surprised to see one show up in Lincoln this year. I'm sure it would do well though I can think of four or five local places I'd rather go for a burger.

Hey Lincoln!

2009-11-19T23:46:00.003-06:00

I have lots of restaurant reviews stored up from the last 18 months or so. Most of them are timely and concern Lincoln and Omaha restaurants.

There'll be posts covering what I eat, which is currently kashi and/or quinoa with vegetables, or sardines with just about anything.

Let's see how this goes again.

The Boiler Room

2009-01-10T11:04:00.002-06:00

No, not that room under the Westerburg High School gym and not that place where Ben Affleck berates Giovanni Ribisi with Glengarry Glen Ross quotes, but a new restaurant in Omaha. Sadly, it does not appear to be a Brazilian steakhouse.

From the press release:

Master Sommelier and Nebraska native Jesse Becker has joined Chef Paul Kulik in his newest venture, The Boiler Room Restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska. Becker returns to Omaha after working as a sommelier in some of America’s best restaurants, including Michael Chiarello’s Tra Vigne, Charlie Trotter’s, and NoMI at the Park Hyatt-Chicago. He spent the last two years at the James Beard Award winning restaurant Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, during which time he passed the rigorous Master Sommelier exam, making him one of 168 people in the world to achieve this distinction.

The Boiler Room is a collaboration between Chef Paul Kulik and the Mercers, the visionaries behind the Old Market arts and dining district in Omaha. Chef Kulik, also an Omaha native, returned recently from working in Berlin and Paris and has previously partnered with the Mercers as former chef of La Buvette.

“I am thrilled to be back in Omaha and to have found colleagues like Chef Kulik and the Mercers,” says Becker. “They have done an amazing job with the space [a former boiler room in the old Bemis Bag factory] and we share an aesthetic for pristine ingredients, prepared without flourish, and wine service that is simple, excellent, and unassuming.”

The Boiler Room will be an ingredient-driven restaurant inspired by “chalk-board menus” where plates will vary constantly, and with a preference for organic produce and meats. The wine list will focus on French country wines and will open with 80 to 150 selections.

The Boiler Room, in the Old Market, 1110 Jones Street, Omaha, Nebraska www.theboilerroomrestaurant.com

L'Ortolan

2008-11-30T20:26:00.004-06:00

Jesse sends this photo in response to my last post. L'Ortolan doesn't actually serve ortolan. That would be illegal.

I bet if Jesse knew the secret handshake he could get a face full of ortolan under his napkin.

By request - Tastee Inn

2008-11-26T14:29:00.003-06:00

Jesse and Elizabeth are still in Europe, probably somewhere near Avignon by now, but they've apparently grown tired of horse meat, forcemeat and Ortolan. Jesse emailed this morning requesting a Tastee Inn review and since I was going to be in the north 48th area anyway, I was happy to oblige.

The only rule of Tastee eating, and this must be observed, is you have to get your loosemeat sandwiches to go. Either use the backwards drive-thru or go in and get them. Do not eat them in the restaurant. This cannot be stressed enough. Tastees need a good ten minutes in the bag before they're ready to eat. Go ahead and eat your onion chips while you're waiting. That's what they're there for.

While waiting for 10 minutes is good, the best way to judge when your Tastees are ready is to hold the bag about a foot above a table top or counter. If your sandwiches fall through the bottom of the bag, they're perfect. Don't remove all your sandwiches from their wrappers at once. Spending more time in the wrapper only enhances the taste so your last one will be, at minimum, at least 40% tastier than the first assuming you eat at least three.

I haven't had a Tastee in about three years and I really didn't realize how much I missed them. They're so simple - ground beef cooked until it breaks into little granules, a thin layer of mustard on the bun, and a dill pickle chip - and so delicious. They're not as greasy as you'd expect since most of the grease is either cooked out or at the bottom of the bag, but the buns get nice and soft from what they've soaked up.

Most of the recipes on-line call for extra seasonings and mustard and ketchup mixed in with the beef but I prefer the Tastee way, beef, salt and pepper. Anything else crosses the line into sloppy joe-hood, which is a different, but still delicious sandwich in its own right.

My only complaint about Tastee Inn is the price. At $1.45 each, those little sandwiches are a tad pricey. Of course, much more labor goes into preparing Tastee meat than in making a regular old hamburger. As a firm believer in rewarding good labor, I'm willing to accept the increased cost.

Hungarian Beef Stew

2008-11-02T18:46:00.003-06:00

I borrowed this recipe from the December 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated. According to their experts this dish, aka Goulash, was originally made with just three ingredients, beef, onions and paprika so I went with that. I did follow the recommendation of the magazine and blend the paprika with some roasted red peppers to cut the grittiness of using so much paprika (this doesn't really interfere with the integrity of the dish since paprika is merely finely ground dried red bell peppers).

1 3 lb. chuck roast cut into 1 inch cubes
6 cups of chopped onions (about 5 medium onions)
1/3 cup of sweet (Hungarian) paprika - the regular store-brand paprika will not work. Open Harvest has good, fresh Hungarian paprika available in bulk.
12 oz. roasted red peppers
2 tsp. white vinegar

Preheat your oven to 300°. After chopping the beef, salt it evenly and set aside and blend the paprika, red peppers and vinegar in a food processor until smooth. Cook all the onions (chopping this much onion will definitely have you reaching for your hankie and taking many breaks) over medium heat with just a little oil in a Dutch oven (I used my extra big antique cast-iron skillet) until soft but don't let them brown (about 10 minutes). Add the paprika mixture and stir for a couple of minutes then add the beef cubes and stir until the meat is coated. Put the lid on your Dutch oven/big pot and put it in the oven for about 3 hours. Enjoy with potatoes or egg noodles. Add other veggies or sour cream if you must.

What's amazing about this dish is how so much liquid is produced from the beef and the onions. The Cook's reciped called for adding beef broth late in the cooking process but it wasn't necessary.

I remember the "goulash" served in my school cafeteria on a semi-weekly basis. It was just hamburger and tomato sauce with overcooked elbow macaroni. That had kind of colored my perception of goulash for years. It's still made dozens of different ways with many additions to the basic recipe which will always include cubes of beef, onions and paprika. Mine is below. I added some delicious little canned white potatoes (the most underrated canned veggie available in every grocery store) after snapping the pic.

You might notice that this goulash looks eerily similar to the chili I made a little over a week ago. There's not that much difference. Tomatoes and spices. One could argue chili is just a busier version of traditional goulash. If I had a lot more time to research the issue I might even find a connection.

Really, meat stewed with various vegetables and spices is probably one of the most universal dishes on earth. Once Neolithic man figured out how to make a fire and keep it going it was only a matter of time until he discovered applying the heat from that fire to the tough raw meat he had been eating made it more tender and added flavor. It must have occurred, once boiling water was mastered, that adding meat to liquid over heat cooked it, made it even more tender and could keep cooking for a long time as long as the fire was kept alive. Every culture has its own version, from the beef stew of our western European ancestors to east Asian beef and potato stews flavored with ginger and anise to Goulash to west African peanut and chicken stews to lamb vindaloo.

The one thing about stew of any kind, it's easy and it's always good.

Tennessee

2008-11-01T22:56:00.003-05:00

Spent a week in Tennessee, not anywhere near Memphis or Nashville but in a small group of towns (when you're in the hills all the towns sort of run together due to the limited space) about an hour northwest of Knoxville right in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Here are a couple of pics from my hotel room balcony:

As far as food goes...everyone in eastern Tennessee can do a good dry rub BBQ. I knew that from previous visits to the region so ribs weren't an issue. A couple of nights I just got salad and sandwich stuff from the grocery store because no matter how much I like Krystal I can still only eat there once on each trip to the South.

One thing that was kind of odd: In this almost 100% white sort of backwoods county in the Smoky Mountains there were 3 Japanese restaurants. I scoffed at first but then realized Knoxville is no more remote via airplane than Lincoln is. Knoxville has a way nicer airport, too.The word from the locals is that Japanese food is a recent fad and that most of the restaurants serve sweet and sour gummy gloppy Chinese food to pay the bills.

Speaking of the Knoxville airport...It's the first airport with a Ruby Tuesday in it complete with salad bar. The manager told me there are others going in around the country. I had some time to kill so I had lunch there on Friday and they actually use the same menus they do in their regular restaurants. The prices are even the same. I had a 22 oz. glass of Stella and the bartender told me it was $4.99. I told him that glass of beer would cost me at least $8 in Dallas or Chicago or Minneapolis. He said it was Ruby Tuesday corporate policy to charge the same prices in airports as their regular locations.

That's all well and good considering that was the only Ruby Tuesday in an airport in the world. I wonder if they'll stick to that policy when they try to compete with the awful Chilis and Applebees franchises that infest every other airport?

Chili and cinnamon rolls

2008-10-26T18:52:00.003-05:00

As the weather made its irreversible turn toward winter this past week everyone I work with started talking about making chili and cinnamon rolls for dinner on Tuesday or Wednesday night. Pretty much everyone I know who grew up in Nebraska instantly thinks of the chili/cinnamon roll combination but I've found that people not from Nebraska have never heard of the concept, considering it weird, or foreign, or even gross.

In my 13 years in a Nebraska public school you could count on chili and cinnamon rolls being on the lunch menu at least every other week during the fall, winter and early spring. Just about everyone I know who went to school in Nebraska says the same thing. The meal of chili and cinnamon rolls isn't just something we all have because we like it. It's also a reminder of childhood and simpler times.

Why is Nebraska peculiar in this manner? Did the state dept of Education have some sort of deep connection to the chili mix and cinnamon roll dough industries?

Anway, Yesterday I finished the chili I made on Wednesday evening. Here's the last bowl.

Since coming under the influence of a mean band of Texas chili fascists a few years ago I only make my chili the correct way, with no beans. Beans can be added later, as with the Cincinnati 3,4 or 5-way. Vegetarian chili, which I used to make often when I was a vegetarian, is simply spicy bean soup.

My recipe:

Spice measurements are approximates since I don't measure.

1 eye of round roast (any cut will do, longer cooking negates the need for a tender piece of meat from the start) - cut into small cubes
1 large onion - chopped
2 yellow chili peppers - diced
2 fresno peppers - diced
1 large bell pepper - diced
2 tbsp cumin
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - chopped
1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
1/2 bottle of good beer, preferably brown ale or a decent lager like Sam Adams

soften all peppers and onions over medium heat in a little oil while browning the beef in a separate pan. Add beef, chipotle peppers and sauce, beer and tomatoes to pepper and onions and add seasonings. Bring to boil and then simmer for awhile. Put it all in a crockpot and cook it as long as you'd like. The beef gets more tender the longer you cook it.

Sometimes I lose track of where I've been

2008-10-23T23:36:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Gary for reminding me of my recent trip to Northern California, Yuba City/Marysville in particular. Driving from Sacramento north to Yuba City was sort of like driving from Grand Island to Kearney on Highway 30 except if you squinted really hard to the east you could sort of make out the Sierra Nevadas through the smog.

The main thing I wanted to do was return to In-n-Out Burger for the first time in about 7 years. I've heard so much hype since my last visit that I figured I must have missed something the last time.

Luckily for me, there was one across the parking lot from my hotel which meant I didn't need to waste time driving around to find one. Which was too bad since I'd been upgraded to a V-8 Mustang by Avis and I really enjoyed driving it although too much extra driving around could have resulted in a speeding ticket so in the end the closeness of this burger joint was a good thing.

I forgot how small the menu was - burgers, fries, sodas, shakes. I ordered a Double Double (a double cheeseburger) with mustard, pickles and onions and fries. The burger was pretty good, definitely better than the usual fast food. I'd put it on par with the double cheeseburger at Don and Millie's although Don and Millie's has better fries. The In-N-Out fries were soggy and flavorless, possibly undercooked or cooked in oil that was too cool.

The next day I was reminded of the secret menu including the popular "animal style." I'm not sure this would have improved my opinion of the burger since this style includes extra secret sauce and I'm not a fan of secret sauces on burgers at all. The mustard-cooked beef patties sound good though.

Yuba City also has one of the largest Sikh communities in the United States so there are plenty of choices for Indian food. Several people recommended Taste of India which turned out to be a few blocks from my hotel. This was seriously some of the best Indian food I've ever had. Two words: Paneer Pakoras. Fried cheese, Indian-style. The Lamb saag (lamb with spinach) was also amazing. The lamb was falling apart in the creamy, buttery spinach sauce.

Finally, when you order calamari in California they don't serve you those rubbery little rings but give you big chunks of tender, breaded squid. I'm developing an obsession with tentacled sea creatures and this only made it stronger.

I'm hoping to post on a couple more things (The peculiarly Nebraskan love of cinnamon rolls with chili and dinner tonight at Sakura Bana (formerly Sushi Ichiban) in Omaha) before Monday when I leave for Knoxville which will include a 3-hour layover in Cincinnati so a real Cincinnati chili 5-way is probably on the agenda.

This Week

2008-10-05T20:01:00.002-05:00

I'm off to Northern California in about 7 hours. I'm on the waiting list at The French Laundry for next Friday. I'm also scheduled to fly back to Omaha at 6 am on Friday so if the Laundry calls I'll have to do some fast flight changing and hotel reserving but it'll be worth it.

Shadowbrook Salad Company

2008-10-05T19:13:00.002-05:00

Shadowbrook Salad Company, out at 56th and Pine Lake Road, has been around for a couple of years now. I'd been there once before but recently met my mom there for lunch this past week. If you haven't been there yet Shadowbrook Salad Company offers a big salad bar, 6 soups, some hot offerings and about 30 flavors of gelato which cost extra as of this past June.

Besides the salad bar with the great Shadowbrook Farms greens and enough toppings to way outdo the Ruby Tuesday salad bar there are at least a dozen prepared salads each day. These are hit and miss, as prepared salads are. Your tolerance for mayonnaise will determine how much you like these although there are usually three or four that I like.

What's best though is the soup. My favorite is the roasted red pepper and gouda and this last trip there was a great beer cheese soup with ham. The broccoli cheese was a little too greasy for my taste but the vegetable beef was delicious. Another soup I love that wasn't available on my last visit was the chicken pick a noodle which is basically chicken soup and then there are several kinds of cooked noodles on the side.

There is also some great sourdough bread available. I think it might be Le Quartier but there was no way for me to tell.

The hot offerings are hit and miss. The pizza I had last week was not good but the baked potato bar I had on a previous visit was a nice addition. That's not really why you'd go to Shadowbrook though so consider it a bonus if the hot food is good.

The food is a little pricey. Lunch for two was about $16. I forgot about my company 10% discount, too. The ingredients they use are worth the cost I think and it's really one of the only places that gives you the ability to eat a completely healthy lunch with lots of choices.

Dinner on Wednesday: Farmers' Market Tasting

2008-10-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

For a couple of weeks I'd had a dinner scheduled with a couple of friends for last Wednesday night. I had all this great stuff from the farmers' market and a new (to me), functional kitchen with an island facing the dining table so I thought I'd do a dinner of small plates made up of all that great stuff.

Here's what we had:

Branched Oak Farm quark and basil Le Quartier ciabatta pizza - Quark and chopped basil mixed together and spread on halved ciabatta loaves and toasted under the broiler. I mixed a little good balsamic vinegar in with the cheese and basil mixture, too. Pretty tasty and a nice appetizer.

Roasted tri-color beet and carrot salad - I bought a bunch of beets on Saturday that came in red, golden and candy cane colors. I also had red, white and orange carrots. I roasted those for 30 minutes then tossed them in a simple vinaigrette and let the whole thing macerate overnight. You really can't go wrong with beet salad and even better if the beets have been roasted instead of boiled.

Warm spinach salad with cippoline onions, black radishes and toasted sesame seeds - I was kind of surprised at how well this turned out. I sauteed the onions for a few minutes then added the radishes then a few minutes later I added the pile of baby spinach leaves from Open Harvest. I cooked that all down then tossed in the sesame seeds. The radishes took on a really nutty flavor with a little heat and the combination of flavors gave the impression there was a vinaigrette on the salad when there was not.

Roasted turnip and parsnip puree with star anise - I've made this before but I added some star anise to the roasting mix and a little cayenne pepper to the puree to give it a more Chinese flavor. Again, this would be better if I used way more butter and cream but I tried to keep this somewhat healthy.

Baby fingerling potatoes and garlic scapes with reduced balsamic drizzle - I had some tiny potatoes and garlic scapes which are the shoots from the tops of garlic bulbs that have usually been harvested to encourage bulb growth. The flavor is lighter than regular garlic and a little sweeter. The flowers are really tasty. I parboiled the potatoes then fried them while I steamed then sauteed the scapes in another pan while I was reducing some good balsamic vinegar in another pan over medium heat. This was a great little dish although the balsamic was too reduced. It had taken on a little of the chocolate sweetness that happens when you reduce balsamic vinegar to the level where it's good with fruit. Oops.

Italian sausage with whole-grain pasta and fresh basil - I had some Italian sausage from the farmers' market so I decided to inject a little meat into the meal. I sliced the sausage then sauteed it while the pasta boiled then tossed it with a little olive oil and a bunch of basil one of my guests chiffonaded for me with my new knife.

Branched Oak Farm Krista's Little Camembert with sauteed pear slices from my parents' backyard - This was a perfect finish to a great meal. It's not just common wisdom that soft ripened cheeses go well with warm pears it's almost written as law. The Branched Oak Camembert is really, really awesome. If you love soft cheeses like brie or St. Andre, pick some up.

A great meal and a lot of fun. It took about 2 1/2 hours and 3 bottles of wine.

Breakfast at Russ's

2008-09-22T22:42:00.003-05:00

I moved back to the old 'hood over a month and a half ago. When Jack Jackson suggested breakfast at Russ's Market (the original at 17th & Washington that I still usually refer to as B & R which means either Bums and Rummies or Bugs and Roaches depending upon who you ask) before he drove me to the airport so I could go pick up my new car I was a little skeptical.

I've had breakfast at Russ's at least once a weekend since I've been in the neighborhood and it is always perfect. Nothing costs over $5 although I did note this past Sunday morning that a few items had gone from $3.99 to $4.59.

My favorite is the chicken-fried steak breakfast with two eggs, hash browns and two slices of buttery rye toast. A couple of weekends ago I tried to branch out and had the chicken tender skillet. All the skillet meals are served with two eggs and toast along with enough fried potatoes and gravy for two people. The hearty breakfast features two slices of bacon and two sausage patties along with the hash browns, two eggs and toast.

You really can't go wrong with breakfast at Russ's Market and it's kind of fun to sit there with all my fellow cranky old men reading the newspaper and cursing Wall Street.

The best thing though, is that no matter how you order your eggs, they're always perfect. I'm an over-easy guy myself and I just can't do 'em like that at home. I've also tried them poached and scrambled and they always do it just right.

One of my pet peeves about breakfast places is that many of the cooks think scrambled eggs means cooking the eggs as fast as you can and then chopping them up so they look scrambled. Scrambled eggs take time, more time than any other breakfast egg prep if they're done right and the cooks at Russ's do them right.

I'll probably continue to make Russ's breakfast a weekly ritual. Since I eat yogurt and fruit for breakfast every other day of the week I think it's a good trade-off.

Trout

2008-09-22T18:57:00.004-05:00

I picked up some nice trout at the Farmers' Market on Saturday. I don't recall the name of the vendor but they also sell goat although they were fresh out. Maybe next time.

Disapproving little buggers, aren't they? They were in great shape after a day in the fridge. I could actually put my nose about two inches away from them and not detect any fishiness at all.

The nice thing about trout this small is that any pin bones I may have missed in the cleaning process kind of melt away with a little heat. I gave them a light fry on both sides in a non-reactive pan after whipping up a little bacon vinaigrette out of some bacon, shallots, lemon juice and tarragon. I also sauteed some yellow squash and baby spinach and served it alongside a toasted quinoa and almond pilaf. This is one of those plates that tastes best when you mix everything together.

Pork Carnitas Tacos a la my favorite taquerias

2008-09-21T15:37:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning after hitting the farmers' market I grabbed a bag of pork rib ends at Super Saver and threw the whole thing in the crock pot with a chopped onion, some fresh garlic, salt, pepper and lime juice for about 14 hours. There are only so many pulled pork sandwiches one can eat (although that is a very high number for me) so for lunch today I made some tacos carnitas.

Sunday Dinner: Rustica

2008-09-14T21:12:00.003-05:00

Spelt Spaghetti (pronounce it "Spa-gheeee-ti" like Giada and it tastes better) with a cannellini bean ragout.

Does anyone know where I can find bulk, dry cannellini beans? They're so much better than navy or great northern beans. It seems like Progresso is the only game in town when it comes to cannellini beans.

I'm off to Madison, WI, until Thursday night. I may post from the road if I remember to take pictures of Ella's.

Saturday Dinner: Lunch at Piezano's

2008-09-14T08:56:00.002-05:00

I rarely eat dinner on Saturdays, especially when I eat a big lunch like I did yesterday. Piezano's recently started doing a daily lunch buffet so I met Jack Jackson and a couple other folks there to check it out.

When we arrived around 12:45 there were a few other people in the restaurant but only a couple of slices of pizza on the buffet table. We hit the small salad bar while we waited for more pizza to appear. It was comforting to find out the reason for the delay was a shortage of pizza sauce that was only being remedied as we arrived. They didn't lose their can opener or anything like that. They were actually making the sauce in the kitchen.

I've never been as enthusiastic about the pizza at Piezano's as most people. I think it's too thick. When the fresh pies hit the buffet table I was pleased to find the crust was crispier than I remembered. Of course, this could be because I usually eat Piezano's pizza delivered. The only times I've ever eaten at the restaurant were for Sunday night spaghetti.

Overall, the buffet was worth the $6 price but there were a few things I'd change. First, the whole thing appeared a little slapdash. The buffet tables were just plain tables. The salad bar was not a traditional salad bar but just a bowl of lettuce with the toppings and sides set out next to it in round serving containers. I'd also like to see some marinara sauce for the cheese sticks and maybe a pasta option.

Friday Dinner: Unplanned

2008-09-12T23:01:00.004-05:00

I had to work until 8 tonight and as I was about to leave there were a bunch of people in another department working on some kind of afterhours software emergency. They had a bunch of of Sam & Louie's pizza. Since I'm a big fan of their pizza I couldn't resist a couple of slices.

I had intended to make some spelt spaghetti and toss it with garlic, olive oil, parmesan, a chopped boiled egg and some white beans. Maybe on Sunday.

Thursday Dinner: Odds and Ends

2008-09-11T21:25:00.003-05:00

I had a couple of Raisin' Canes chicken tenders tonight at the Light the Night walk for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society so afterward I just put together a small salad plate from stuff I needed to use.

The edible portions of a couple of heirloom tomatoes I'd been saving for too long, sprinkled with fleur de sel and a little cracked black pepper; the last of my baby spinach; more watermelon radish and some wheat germ bread from Open Harvest, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with fleur de sel and black pepper and broiled until toasty.

Wednesday Dinner: Amsterdam Falafel and Kebab

2008-09-11T02:35:00.004-05:00

I headed up to Omaha after work tonight to see two of Will Johnson's bands, South San Gabriel and Centro-Matic at The Slowdown.

Since I had plenty of time before the show I called Jack Jackson to see if he wanted to grab some dinner. We decided on Amsterdam Falafel and Kabob on 50th between California and Underwood in the heart of Dundee.

Amsterdam Falafel follows the idea that if you're only going to do a few things, do those things well. There are two sandwiches from which to choose, falafel or kabob. You can also get fries and hummus. The sandwiches come with a choice of sauces - garlic, herb or spicy - and are served on toasted leavened bread in the European manner. The fries are dusted with curry powder.

I can safely say this was the best falafel I've ever had. It was nice and crispy but not dry on the inside and greasy on the outside. The kabob meat was unique too in that it contained a higher percentage of lamb than beef. Most places serve kabob meat that is much heavier on beef. Both sandwiches come topped with a tabouleh-like mixture and marinated red cabbage and chickpeas.

Kabob

Falafel

Centro-matic

Tuesday Dinner: Salad Week

2008-09-09T21:01:00.004-05:00

It's officially salad week at Chez Swoof.

Baby spinach and more watermelon radish from Open Harvest; Brussels sprouts leaves shed from chopped sprouts on Sunday; tomato from parents' garden; a chopped boiled egg from Phil's Fresh Eggs; diced chicken breast from Sunday night's bird; marinated cauliflower; a chopped dill pickle; dressed the same as last night.

I wonder how long I can keep this nightly meal posting up. My bet is through the weekend.

Monday Dinner: Leftovers and Almost Unused

2008-09-08T20:34:00.003-05:00

What better way to enjoy 7 straight hours of pro football than by devouring a big salad.

Chicken leg meat from yesterday, diced and sauteed; little fritters made of last night's parsnip-turnip puree; tomato from my family's garden; green beans I bought a week ago found in the back of the crisper drawer flirting with the Dark Side, blanched; salad mix and watermelon radish from Open Harvest; dressed with a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, seasoned rice wine vinegar and dijon mustard.

Eatin' in Tulsa

2008-09-08T19:26:00.002-05:00

I was down in Tulsa for a week in early August when it was over 100° every single day but I found some decent food which made up for it. At first glance, Tulsa appeared to me as Omaha with a slight twang and a nicer airport, where the money flows from oil instead of insurance.

Tulsa has a few things you can't get in Nebraska although there's no reason for it. First, Tulsa has a Brazilian steakhouse. I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this but if Tulsa can have an all-you-can-eat grilled meat emporium, why can't Lincoln or Omaha? The one in Tulsa was called the Gaucho and seemed to be an independent operation which was interesting since if you find a Brazilian steakhouse it'll usually be one of the two chains, Texas de Brazil or Fogo de Chao.

The grilled meats were just as good at The Gaucho as they are at either of the chains and the parmesan chicken, a staple, was better than I've had at the other places. What sets the chains apart from The Gaucho is the salad bar. At Texas de Brazil or Fogo even a devoted carnivore can get a full and satisfying meal without even eating the meats brought around on swords. The salad bar at The Gaucho was just a salad bar.

I had a couple off lunches at a place called Sushi Train which is a sushi place with a big train with about 30 flatbed cars that goes round and round the sushi bar in the middle of the restaurant. The cars are loaded with color-coded by price plates of nigiri, rolls, salads, desserts. It's a familiar concept as there are many places like this around the country although usually the transportation is boats in a moat. I think I ate three squid salads for lunch one day topped off with some flying fish roe and toro.

I also visited the new Whole Foods in Tulsa during its grand opening week. What was interesting about it was that it was not a gigantic fortress of fine food like the Omaha Whole Foods but a smaller store in an old strip mall. It would be like if Whole Foods moved into the space occupied by Sun Mart at 48th & Van Dorn or the old Russ's space in Bishop Heights. There was plenty of everything there but it wasn't overwhelming. I wonder if this is a new Whole Foods strategy to cut costs and combat their most famous nickname by leasing smaller, older spaces and reaching more markets.

Tulsa: like Omaha but richer and meatier.

Carmela's Bistro and Wine Bar

2008-09-08T18:23:00.002-05:00

I'd been meaning to get out to Carmela's for over a month but hadn't really had the opportunity until last Friday night when two friends to whom I owed dinner for helping me move at the end of July finally took me up on the offer.

We didn't make reservations figuring if we showed up late enough we'd get a table since Lincolnites are typically early diners. We arrived around 7:45 and and were told we had about a 40 minute wait. We took seats at the bar, which you have to walk through the main dining room to reach, ordered drinks and wound up being seated in about 20 minutes at a tiny table in the smaller dining area separated by a wall of wine racks from the main room.

If I had a choice I would have requested to be seated in the main room. First, the smaller dining room had a big TV on the wall which is fine for sports bars but really takes away from the "fine" dining experience people are looking for in a bistro. Plus, the table we were seated at was barely big enough for two people, especially considering the entrees are served on huge platters over a foot wide a la 90's nouvelle cuisine. The three of us could not help but pity the table of four next to us we watched them make use of every single square inch of their table.

As we finished our cocktails we ordered wine and entrees. I was impressed with their wine list which I think rivaled what can be found at The Lodge or Venue. There were some nice New Zealand whites by the glass and a couple of terrific wines from Chilean producer Montes. One of my favorite wines, Pio Cesare Barolo from the Italian Piedmont was also available by the bottle but I didn't feel up to Barolo at restaurant prices. If you feel like bringing your own bottle, the $15 corking fee is very reasonable.

For entrees, I had the Napoleon Chicken, which was chicken breast stuffed with (allegedly) smoked gouda, ham, and sun dried tomato pesto, and drizzled with Bechamel sauce. I didn't taste or feel any texture that would suggest the presence of smoked gouda. The pesto was made up of big chunks of marinated sun dried and very little else. The dish seemed like it had sat for awhile and a quick glance at the congealed Bechamel confirmed it.

My friend Dave ordered the sea bass which I completely forgot was batter-dipped from reading the LJS feature. The fish was good but batter dipping and frying a good piece of sea bass seems a waste. The pairing with cheesy risotto and a Thai-inspired sauce was also puzzling. I'm all for experimentation with fusing different cuisines but the risotto with the Thai flavors seemed a little off. What was even more mysterious was the cup of curry-flavored sauce that came with the dish as what I was guessing was intended to be a tartar sauce. It reminded me of when I would mix mango habanero salsa and sour cream together.

My other friend Neal had a thick sirloin which was perfectly cooked to medium rare, which is to say, red and warm in the middle.

The service was also an issue but it seemed to be limited to our server who must have been new. He read us the special, instead of having it memorized, and a very ordinary special it was - chicken, basil fettucini Alfredo, reeking of Olive Garden. We also had to ask for bread, while it was brought to the table next to us right away, and water, which should also appear at the table immediately.

Overall it was a very ordinary dining experience. I'm glad the place is doing well. Keeping the room small is a good idea for a restaurant like this in Lincoln. I was hoping to see more Italian-style dishes on the menu instead of enchiladas and more Bechamel sauce than I've seen on any menu in a long time. From what I've heard and experienced the steaks are probably the way to go there, which puts it on par with about a dozen other restaurants in Lincoln.

Catching Up

2008-09-07T20:26:00.002-05:00

Late last week a friend emailed me asking about Tokyo Steak and Sushi and lamented that I didn't blog anymore. I replied that it had been a month since my last post but I was still blogging. Of course, he didn't know I had resumed blogging last winter. Still no Tokyo post either way, but his email did provide the impetus for me to write something.

I have a few more new posts in the works including stuff Carmela's, breakfast at Russ's Market and eating in Tulsa but for now check out the new link in my blogroll to JesseandElizabeth.com. Jesse and Elizabeth are friends of mine who are about to embark on a three month European wine tour. It's not a recreational visit though. They are both what you could call beverage professionals and Jesse is one of about 160 odd Master Sommeliers in the world so they're going to be working and studying and visiting what seems like about every wine producer in Europe. Take a look at their itinerary.

Sunday Dinner

2008-09-07T19:48:00.003-05:00

It's been a little over a month since I moved from our old house and into an apartment and today I finally finished unpacking and organizing the kitchen. The counter tops are cleared of the detritus of moving and the boxes are all broken down and put away until I move again. Oddly, my new kitchen is bigger and more functional than the kitchen in my house. What better way to celebrate the new, fully operational kitchen than by making a complete mess of it?

Tonight I made a pan-seared chicken breast with spinach and garlic sauce, puree of roasted root vegetables and caramelized Brussels sprouts, garnished with slices of watermelon radish.

Brussels sprouts take on such an amazing deep smoky flavor when they're sauteed until brown. I used a tablespoon of butter with a little olive oil to bring the smoke point up a bit. They're even better when you do them in a pan in which you just fried up some bacon.

The root vegetable puree is way too labor-intensive to do very often but I felt like going all out since I had a new, clean kitchen. I started out by cutting a couple of parsnips and a couple of medium-sized turnips into small chunks, tossing them in olive oil and roasting them in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes. I put the roasted chunks in my food processor, added a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of light sour cream and a couple tablespoons of milk and processed until smooth. As the chicken breast and sprouts were cooking I formed the puree into a mound, slid it onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and put it under the broiler until the top was browned. Of course, this would have been way better with more butter and heavy cream instead of light sour cream and milk but I was trying to keep things somewhat healthy.

The spinach garlic sauce is part of my experimentation into almost calorie free sauces in the manner of Bernard Loiseau. It's basically a puree of spinach, celery, garlic and a little bit of water. Since there's no cream or oil being used it's important to really concentrate the flavors being used. That also means using more salt than normal and refrigerating it for a few hours before use to let the flavors mingle.

Today felt like a chicken-in-a-crockpot sort of Sunday but I only used one breast tonight. I'll use the rest of the chicken in pasta and as chicken salad as the week goes by.

Braised eggs with tomato shittake ragout

2008-08-10T19:03:00.005-05:00

I've been trying to incorporate eggs into my cooking more lately, using them for things other than breakfast.

For example, last Saturday for lunch I toasted about a cup of orzo in my cast iron skillet then added enough water to steam it to almost al dente. Then I tossed in a handful of fresh peas and sauteed it all with some garlic, salt and pepper until the peas were hot and the orzo was done. I put that mixture in a shallow bowl and topped it all with two over easy eggs. It was great the way the egg yolk oozed down into the peas and pasta. Simple and delicious.

Today I had my bounty from the dollar aisle and decided to try braising eggs. I saw a recipe for braised eggs (not technically braised since there's no searing involved but it sounds better than steamed and it definitely isn't poaching) somewhere, I think in one of Michael Ruhlman's books, but couldn't find anything like it on the web so I just sort of went with what I remembered and worked it out as I went along.

First I sauteed half a diced onion, two cloves of chopped garlic and my can of 50¢ shittake mushrooms with a generous teaspoon of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper in my cast iron skillet over medium heat until lightly browned. I then turned up the heat and deglazed with a couple glugs out of a bottle of sau blanc I had open. I added about half my big can of tomatoes, drained and chopped, and my little jar of peeled grape tomatoes, also chopped, and cooked that mixture down for about 20 minutes.

I then turned down the heat to a couple clicks below medium and formed the ragout into a hill (more like a mesa actually) in the middle of the pan, making two indentations in the top into which I cracked two eggs.

I put the lid on the skillet and let the heat and steam coming up through the tomatoes do the work. I checked after about 5 minutes but the whites were still to runny so I let them go for another five. If you like your yolks runny I'd turn the heat off after about 7 or 8 minutes.

Two more pics: half of the dish served in a shallow bowl and a cross section so you can see how creamy and golden the yolk looks nestled in the ragout.

The Dollar Aisle

2008-08-10T18:56:00.004-05:00

Today was the first time since being back in the old neighborhood that I've had a chance to really check out what's new at my old favorite grocery store, Russ's Market at 17th & Washington aka Ghetto Russ's. I've already become a big fan of the dollar shelves at the back of the store near the dairy section.

Here's what I picked up there today:

The sliced mushrooms, black beans and peeled grape tomatoes (glass jar on the left) were all 50¢ while the 28 oz. can of tomatoes and the tuna were a buck each. The dollar section at Russ's is way, way better than Sun Mart's. I'm going to experiment later this year and see how many tasty, good-looking meals I can put together just using stuff from dollar aisles.

Signs of Inflation

2008-07-29T17:32:00.001-05:00

I grabbed lunch at Don & Millie's today and noticed their 99¢ Bud and Miller bottles are now $1.49 Bud and Miller bottles.

Road Food: Texarkana - great Italian food if you can find it

2008-07-28T20:56:00.004-05:00

Texarkana is a sad and soul-diminishing place on both sides of State Line Avenue in AR and TX. State Line Avenue is obviously the state line between Texas and Arkansas and the main street of Texarkana unless you count I-30. The county on the Texas side is dry, meaning no off-sale liquor, beer or wine. The Arkansas side is not. The Arkansas side of the street has a full service liquor store with drive-thru about every other building from 4th Street downtown until you hit I-30 about 50 blocks north.

Despite the hangdog look of the city they did seem to have an inordinate amount of federal highway money building overpasses and such that we couldn't quite figure out where they were headed or why they were needed. Everything looks pretty good along I-30 but if you go downtown, where I spent every day, it was like some TV ad where a guy is outside shouting about cheap sandwiches in black and white and he finally realizes he's the only guy there. He sits happily down to a sandwich but sadly breaks his jaw on a bit of rubble and weeps.

There were a few decent places to eat in Texarkana should you find yourself in such a fix you couldn't make it to Dallas or New Orleans or Little Rock or even Shreveport. The BBQ is good. It's about all they eat down there. I had some complaints after a couple of stops but if you limit yourself to getting the smoked rib tips you'll be really happy.

Shockingly, the best Italian food I've had in quite awhile happened to be in Texarkana. My colleague liked to get out and smoke and walk around downtown and on Wednesday we saw a place called Via Roma in one of the very few storefronts in Texarkana's downtown that looked open for business.

I finally pushed him into going there for lunch the next day and he was happy I did so. Via Roma is a little Italian place in downtown Texarkana. It is real Italian, not Olive Garden or Grisanti's or even Vincenzo's or whatever. There was an old Italian guy in the kitchen running his family restaurant in freakin' Texarkana.

First thing, the server dropped a basket of warm garlic bread in front of us. No big deal until he set the tapenade next to it. I've made tapenades and loved tapenades but I've never been to a place where the tapenade was free. It was made of olives and garlic and anchovies and capers and it was freakishly delicious. I could have made a meal of the bread and tapenade. My friend and I polished it off pretty quickly but a refill was always coming.

We did order entrees. I had the linguini with puttanesca sauce (garlic tomato sauce sauteed with anchovies, black olives and capers) and shrimp. My friend had the special which seemed to be the local special, tilapia, and it was really really good but nothing compared to my linguini puttanesca.

We were both so happy about our lunch we decided to go back to our hotel room and think about it for awhile. That night as we were taking our last tour of Texarkana looking for something to do we drove by Via Roma and it was obvious they were doing well.

Why can't there be a small, authentic Italian restaurant in Lincoln? I've eaten dinners in about 30 different cities in the past year and Lincoln always pales in comparison to any town half its size when it comes to this kind of food.

I'm really, really glad that Lincoln has the great Vietnamese and Mexican food it does for a city its size but I've never had an Italian meal like I had in Texarkana.

Shrimp cocktail

2008-07-27T19:48:00.003-05:00

Sarah loved a good shrimp cocktail. She loved a bad shrimp cocktail, too. Whenever one of those shrimp rings with the cup of cocktail sauce was on sale at the grocery store we'd wind up with one in our cart. When we went to some party/reception/function with a table of hors' d'oeuvres she'd judge the food by whether there was shrimp available and by how good the shrimp was (not too spongy and watery, firm, no trace of poop vein).

It was only fitting that the reception after Sarah's memorial featured the best buffet shrimp cocktail I've ever had. I understand she specifically requested a "pile of shrimp" to be served at her memorial reception. I hope she noticed how plump, firm and poopless those shrimp were.

I need to find out who the caterers were because they were terrific.

Gluten Loaf

2008-07-24T19:57:00.002-05:00

A long time ago a few months after Sarah and I first met, when we were just "hanging out" and going to see Pulp Fiction at the Starship more often than was probably healthy for anyone's mental state Sarah showed up at work with a little paperback cookbook she'd found in her parents' collection of stuff. It was printed by some dirty hippie commune in the early 70's and it was all vegetarian. We were both vegetarians then so we decided we might as well try it out.

Most of the recipes were pretty boring and then we found the section on DIY meat substitutes and its fulsome praise of gluten. You could make anything out of this magical substance; ribs, loaf, burger, whatever. Might as well try that, we thought.

Since we were still "hanging out" and not dating we made our own gluten recipes and called each other on our land lines to talk about the process which was identical to the Wikipedia entry which says

Legend attributes the discovery of gluten to Buddhist monks in 7th century China who sought meat-like ingredients for use in their vegetarian diet.[2] With easily available wheat flour and water they made a dough which they submerged in cold water and kneaded. The water dissolved the starchy components of the dough and left behind an insoluble, gummy mass, 70% to 80% of which was gluten.

I kneaded flour under water for hours, changing the water when it got too cloudy and wound up with a perfectly insoluble, gummy mass. The next step was seasoning and baking. I made gluten loaf and Sarah and her best friend, Sara, made gluten ribs. Later we met up to share our dishes. I think we all took one bite and decided soft pinto burritos at Amigos weren't as bad as we thought.

Sarah - Updated!

2008-07-20T23:25:00.005-05:00

Just a couple of months ago I introduced you to a great new food blog, Great Plains Foodie. For those of you who didn't know it, Sarah and I used to be married and spent 11 wonderful years together. Although we weren't very close the last couple of years she's still the best friend I've ever had.

Sadly, Sarah lost her battle with leukemia this morning in her private dining room with the lovely view of East Lincoln. Her friends, family, colleagues and the hundreds of students whose lives she touched at LNE are going to miss her dearly.

Sarah's memorial service is scheduled for 3 pm on Friday, July, 25th. It's at First Plymouth so there will be plenty of room. Even if you only knew her on the internet or just sorta knew her I'm sure there'll be room. Plus, it's going to be a great, fun service just as she would have wanted. If you just want to drink beer, the wake is at O'Rourke's on Friday afternoon at some point after the memorial service.

My dinner tonight

2008-07-08T22:05:00.003-05:00

Maybe the simplest thing I've ever made but one of the best.

I had a big, beautiful portabello mushroom with stem. I cut the stem, slathered them both with olive oil, black pepper and garlic (no salt since salt leaches moisture and I wanted my mushroom to be moist) then put them on an oiled sheet pan. I put a pan of water in the oven beneath the sheet pan to add some moisture to the atmosphere then let the mushroom roast/steam for an hour at 250°.

At the end of the hour I pulled the cap and stem, sliced them both then laid them on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce and topped it with kosher salt and cracked pepper. The hot mushroom added a little bit of wilt to the lettuce but I didn't add any dressing at all. The liquid from the mushroom, garlicky and peppery, coated the lettuce beneath it enough that dressing was unnecessary. The mushroom itself was one of the best I've had. I've grilled them (always too dry) and roasted them (also too dry) and sauteed them (boring and flavorless) but the addition of the pan of water and lack of salt made the difference.

Cooking Shows: Kitchen Nightmares

2008-07-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

I'm about 2/3 of the way through the first season of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I don't like Hell's Kitchen at all, though. Cooking competition shows like Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef are pretty unrealistic, designed to entertain, but might be accurate in the pressure felt by the cooking line on a busy Friday night service. Still, there's a lot of artifice involved. For a great story about the ultimate cooking competition (which most restaurant chefs disdain) check out Michael Ruhlman's The Soul of a Chef. The first section covers the Certified Master Chef exam, a grueling 8-day cooking test that has a 30% pass rate.

But back to Kitchen Nightmares. I didn't like Gordon Ramsay's schtick on Hell's Kitchen but I think it's well-suited for this show in which he goes to failing restaurants and tries to turn them around (the word is he's more toned down in the British version though).

The first couple episodes made me sort of afraid to ever go to a restaurant again after seeing the rotten food the places were serving and the bugs and broken coolers. The next few were more focused on the strife between the personalities and the resistance to change despite the obvious failings of the current menu.

What I find funniest is when the chefs at the restaurants balk at Ramsay's menu suggestions, claiming he's a fraud and they're much better chefs than him. Ramsay may come off as an ass but he's got three Michelin stars to his name and only 68 chefs in the world can claim that. Well, 67, since Thomas Keller has six stars.

Guest Review: Mama's Pizza (Omaha)

2008-07-07T19:01:00.003-05:00

It didn't take long for the aforementioned Gary to return to Eatin' in Lincoln. Below is a review he submitted yesterday.

My son and I went to the Slowdown in Omaha last night for a show, so we left a little early so we grab something to eat in Omaha. We settled on pizza and decided to give Mama's Pizza a try. I'd heard good things about this locally owned restaurant, so we stopped at the Saddle Creek location [715 Saddle Creek Rd.--ed.] once we got into town.

I was surprised and a little disappointed when we pulled up and saw a building that was a lot nicer than I expected. My mental picture was of an older building that would be somewhat dated. My concerns were alleviated when we stepped inside. While they have obviously stayed on top of maintaining their building, the inside was old-school pizza joint. Clean, open and easy to navigate, but old school.

They have rows and rows of long tables pushed together. You step up to the bar to place your order, they give you a number and your beverage and you pick up your pizza when they call your number. You also pick up your own plates and utensils. It's a complete self-service approach, which I think is cool. They even drew a funny-looking guy on our ticket when we picked up our pie, which was a nice touch. I have no idea how they had time to doodle on our ticket while cooking all those pies.

The pizza is, obviously, homemade. I liked the crust, not too thick and not too doughy. I'm not a fan of thin crust pizza, and this was a nice medium thickness. I like that they don't ladle on the sauce too heavy, and the sauce itself definitely stayed in the background. Not too tangy or zesty.

We kept it simple and ordered a hamburger pizza. The meat, like the sauce, was not heavily seasoned. I would have preferred a little more seasoning in one or the other, but it was still good. They could have used less meat on the pizza and I would have liked it better. They were generous with the cheese and it was cooked to a brown bubbly crust, which was awesome.

Overall I liked Mama's and would go back but if you want good locally-owned homemade pizza, you can get it here in Lincoln. The Isles is my favorite, but Big Sal's/Patty's Pub is a strong second place for me. You should really try Piezano's if you haven't had it yet too.

Whatever happened to Gary?

2008-07-05T19:31:00.003-05:00

I've been going through archives and Gary commented here a lot a couple years ago. He wasn't any Gary I knew, and I knew one or two Garys. Gary is missed.

Yang's Cafe

2008-07-02T21:29:00.002-05:00

Monday I was out running errands. I had the day off so I finally got around to renewing my car registration which had expired a month earlier. While I was in the neighborhood, and since it was payday, I thought I'd get lunch. I'd been to Raisin' Cane's recently and thought of going there again because those chicken strips are damn good but then I realized I was in the Yang's Cafe neighborhood.

I googled Yang's Cafe and found this review on this very site written by Sarah about 2 1/2 years ago. I hadn't been there in about 3 years, so I figured it was time again to write about how awesome Yang's Cafe is.

The location, between TJ Maxx and America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses, has always seemed sort of otherworldly for me. At least 10 years ago, before it was Yang's Cafe, I remember eating Chinese-style shrimp curry there on a Sunday afternoon in October and hearing the guy behind the counter saying into the phone "Giants -5, 49r's +7, Broncos -4" and feeling this little thrill because I was in a Chinese restaurant doubling as a sports' book. It was like I was in New York or Chicago or something.

Fast forward 10 years and it's still like that in the sense that it doesn't seem like I'm in a Chinese/Korean restaurant in a strip mall in Lincoln. It's not that they take bets on Royals games but that the inside of the restaurant is so claustrophic and loud and everyone is so friendly. When I walked in around 1300 on Monday the place was about half full. A woman was seated at a table in the middle of the room making crab rangoon, slathering slightly crabby cream cheese on won ton wrappers.

Lunch is buffet time though you can order from the menu. I had the buffet which has inflated to $5.15 in the years since our last review. Yang's Cafe has continued its policy of keeping a small buffet with about a dozen items on it including soup and I think that's a wise choice. Any chef will tell you the more things on the menu, the more likely things are going to go bad. I can vouch for that rule as applied to Chinese buffets.

The buffet featured my favorite Yang's dish, spicy potato pork, which is shoestring cut potatoes fried quickly to make them soggy but not crisp so the potatoes take the place of noodles when they're stir-fried with the pork and chilis. The classic beef and broccoli also took on a different and delicious flavor as the beef was stir-fried in a spicy, garlicky red sauce. The big winner on the buffet was the tofu. It was crisp on the outside and luscious and creamy inside. I actually think this was some of the best fried tofu I've ever had.

Their menu is also worth trying and I'll need to get back their soon to try some of the specials and Korean dishes. They have a pork bulgogi I'd really like to check out which is similar to the standard beef version but is made with pork belly, which I was introduced to via Iron Chef about 12 years ago but since then has made its way into high-end kitchens all over the country.

The service at Yang's was also top-notch even after the place had filled up. My glass of iced tea was always over half-full no matter how fast I drank it.

Look for a dinner review of Yang's as soon as I can get there again.

Cincinnati Chili

2008-07-02T18:17:00.004-05:00

On the way to work this morning I noticed FOX Neighborhood Grill was advertising Cincinnati Chili as their Thursday night special. For those of you not familiar, Cincinnati Chili was created by Greek immigrants in Cincinnati in the early 20th Century. This origin means it's spices are also Greek-influenced. It's also much thinner and less tomato-y than what we think of as chili and It's usually served over spaghetti or on coney dogs.

Chili five-ways (chili served over spaghetti and topped with chili, cheddar cheese, onions and beans) used to be one of my favorite easy-to-make dinners and I'm wondering if that's how FOX is going to be serving it and if they made it themselves or brought in a couple frozen batches of Skyline or Goldstar Chili.

Coincidentally, I was in the Cincinnati airport last Monday and saw cans of Skyline Chili at one of the newsstands and couldn't help but buy one since I'd been wanting to try the real thing for years after making my chili five-ways with everything from homemade chili to Hormel to Wendy's chili picked up in the drive-thru on the way home.

Tuesday afternoon I made chili four-ways for lunch since Skyline doesn't contain beans and I didn't have any canned kidney beans around. First I heated up the chili while the pasta water was boiling. It was immediately clear in a way I couldn't tell from the many Food Network spots about Cincinnati chili that I was dealing with something completely different.

It's very thin and the beef is so fine that much of it has dissolved into the chili. A quick taste confirmed the differences. It has a much more subtle flavor than tradition chili con carne. It's not hot spicy but I appreciated the more aromatic spices used in this chili. I detected cinnamon, cloves, allspice and maybe a little bitter chocolate (which I also use a little of when I'm making traditional chili). While I would consider it more of a meat gravy akin to Bolognese sauce I'm sure the 100+ chili parlors serving this stuff in Cincinnati would disagree.

To be more healthful I used some whole-grain spaghetti; something which has come a long way from it's gummy, gritty predecessors I used to try and eat years ago. I also used green onions since that's all I had. I tried to approximate the amount of cheese I've see on top of the dish on TV and on the web but I stopped at 4 oz. which still wasn't enough.

The key is eating from the bottom up so you get all four layers while allowing the cheese to melt into the rest. The chili was thin enough to seep into space between the noodles which was nice since I'd been used to having to stir the dish thoroughly to get the optimal blend of flavors.

I got nothin'

2008-06-27T20:35:00.003-05:00

I went away for a week to the Raleigh-Durham area and suffered one of my periodic restaurant burnouts. There were dozens of terrific restaurants waiting for me just 20 minutes up I-40 in Raleigh but I just didn't have the energy. Maybe it was the pressure of choosing.

Some of the places on my list were:

The Irregardless Cafe - An irreverent long-time Raleigh classic using fresh local organic ingredients.

ShabaShabu - A trendy Thai/Japanese place that serves Shabu Shabu-style meat and veggies.

An Cuisines - An upscale Vietnamese place infused with European traditions.

Jibarra - A trendy Mexican place that serves ceviche, duck tostadas, rabbit taquitos and Mexican-influenced terrine of foie gras among other delicious things. I probably regret not going here the most.

Dalat - A Vietnamese place with more menu items than animals on the Ark.

Tuesday and Thursday nights I just went next door to the Food Lion and bought stuff like baby spinach and prosciutto and fresh mozzarella with grape tomatoes (leave it to a grocery chain in the south to put parsley in their caprese salad instead of basil) and made dinner in my hotel room.

I did however have the third best burger I've had all year after the Led Zeppelin at Kuma's Corner and the Christian's Bisro Kobe burger with bacon and swiss at the Cleveland Draft House, a sport bar-type place in Garner, NC, with an amazing selection of microbrews I've never heard of on tap.

I walked from my hotel to the Draft House on Wednesday night since all pints were $2.50, even the $5 stuff. After an IPA (Foothills) from Winston-Salem and an amber ale (Red Oak) from Greensboro I ordered the Hurricane burger. Whether it was named after the local hockey team or the annual weather systems that sometimes strike North Carolina doesn't matter. This was an 8 oz. burger topped with American cheese, chili and pickles. Delicious but nothing special, right?

The thing that made this burger outstanding was that it was actually served to me medium rare, just like I ordered. That is exceedingly rare. Even Kuma's overcooked my burger to medium. When a restaurant pays this much attention to its burger cookery, it has something going for it.

Amigos lunch specials

2008-06-18T20:56:00.004-05:00

Today I went to work without lunch since I had pretty much no food to speak of in my house, especially food that is somewhat portable that can survive in my circa 1980's cooler with a homemade ice pack for several hours. Lunch time still came and I was starving. I recalled that Amigos had cheap lunch specials and headed there with the three bucks I figured I could afford to spend.

The Wednesday special is 2 soft tacos for $2.49 or one Deluxe burger for $1.99. How about a latte for $1.49 or three glazed donuts for $1.59 since the Amigos near my work is now fully Kopeli-ized and Winchell-ized? Maybe coming soon as Amigos continues to try and make itself relevant in a far different market than it saw 10 years ago.

I ordered the two soft tacos which I figured would be just enough to fill me up until I went home early to clean gutters and hang drywall. Probably one soft taco would have been enough, but one is $1.84 so why not get two at those prices? Maybe I've never ordered a soft taco at Amigos or maybe they're bigger than I remembered. I'm talking soft pinto burrito-sized in girth and weight stuffed with ground beef, cheese, tomatoes (Amigos claims their supplier is from Florida and clean) and that damn hot lettuce.

Hot lettuce is probably my biggest food pet peeve and Amigos is the biggest offender. I used to like getting soft chicken tacos from there before they became as precious as gold price-wise (just goes to show how much more costly canned diced chicken is than really cheap ground beef) and they always nuked the things to near surface of the sun-like temperatures with lettuce in them. Getting a tongue burn from a piece of searing ice berg lettuce is no picnic. Plus, the hot lettuce has a taste that now reminds me of Amigos just like Subway sandwiches, no matter how hard they try with the toaster, still have this flavor that can only be described as Subway, and it's not a great flavor.

Luckily I was dining in so I had the Amigos ranch bar at my full disposal. Dousing the hot lettuce with ranch, salsa, pico and scorching cheese sauce (is there an ingredient in that stuff that raises the boiling point to 300°?) served to mitigate the hot lettuce taste but it also meant I couldn't finish both tacos so disgusted I was with myself. I once saw a man in the UNL Student Union drinking(!) the Amigos ranch from its little plastic cup. I don't want to be that guy.

The point of all this is this: Ask for no lettuce on anything described as "soft" at Amigos.

Metal Meat goes West Coast

2008-06-16T20:24:00.003-05:00

My visit to Kuma's Korner this past weekend has garnered the attention of the famous pork snorklers at 3 Bulls!. More talk of Goblin Cock at Delish or Degust.

More Chicago Food: Lula Cafe

2008-06-15T22:11:00.003-05:00

You can get this stuff in probably dozens of places around Chicago but the few times I've eaten at Lula Cafe have never given me a reason to try someplace else. Plus, it's just a few blocks from my friends' place and they use as much locally grown and raised food as they can.

I had the Moroccan Chickpea Sweet Potato Tagine. Maybe a little heavy on the cinnamon but refreshingly light after the Led Zeppelin from the night before. The arugula was especially peppery and crisp.

My friend had one of the brunch specials, smoked housemade kielbasa hash with sunny side eggs and baby mustard green salad. The Kielbasa was some of the best I've had but I've really only had the Hickory Farms ring kielbasa so what do I know? All I can say is, that Kielbasa sausage performed. The baby mustard greens were amazing.

Chicago: Kuma's Korner

2008-06-15T21:17:00.003-05:00

Ever since I was in Chicago last summer for the Pitchfork Music Festival I've been wanting to go to this place and I finally made it this weekend. Kuma's Korner is a heavy metal burger place that serves great beer and terrific food and seems to me like the burger equivalent of Hot Doug's. The place is rather small and has a tiny kitchen so the wait on a Friday night can be long, like an hour or so, but you can easily pass the time enjoying a beer and checking out the decor, both on the walls and on the workers and patrons.

I went on a Friday evening with three friends and we were seated in about 45 minutes. The pressure was on. All the burgers are named after heavy metal bands and they all sounded delicious from the Pantera (Roasted Pablano Pepper, Bacon, Cheddar Cheese and Monetary Jack Cheese Ranchero Sauce and Tortilla Strips) to the Lair of the Minotaur (Caramelized Onions, Pancetta, Brie, Bourbon Soaked Pears) and everything in between.

One of my friends has a punch card that he has to fill out by eating a different burger every time he goes. He went with the Yob (Smoked Gouda, Bacon, Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Garlic Mayo).

Another of my friends ordered the special, the Acid Bath, featuring a 10 oz. burger topped with crawfish, jambalaya and shallot mayo (Acid Bath was a metal band from New Orleans in the early to mid 90's). Unfortunately I do not have a photo of this burger. The gentleman sitting next to me, widely known as a finicky regimented eater, ordered his burger plain with onions and pickles. The lack of mustard packets at Kuma's Korner did not seem to faze him, however.

I spent at least 15 minutes agonizing over my decision, even considering the Goblin Cock (Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, ¼lb. Vienna Hot Dog, Tomatoes, Onion, Neon Green Relish, Sport Peppers, Pickles, Celery Salt Mustard), basically a Chicago-style dog on top of a burger but finally went with a classic, the Led Zeppelin (Pulled Pork, Bacon, Cheddar, Pickles). There's really nothing like topping a huge burger with two pork products. Later this same evening I finally figured out how to get my new camera to take good pics in dim lighting without using a flash but it was too late to really show the Led Zep in all its glory.

You can also get one of these heavy metal delicacies made with a chicken breast, a Garden burger or chicken strips. In any case, they all come served on a delicious pretzel roll. I need to find where I can buy these things. They are GOOD.

If burgers aren't your thing, word has it the steamed mussels are amazing and the mac and cheese sounds terrific as well. The main thing is, don't let the dark interior or artwork on the servers scare you. The staff was very friendly and helpful and the burger was probably the best I've ever had.

Dinner: Sushi Thaime

2008-06-13T07:43:00.002-05:00

Tako Su - Marinated octopus, seaweed, ginger and cucumber. Delicious.

Lunch: Pikante

2008-06-10T07:25:00.003-05:00

Sunday cookery

2008-06-08T15:34:00.009-05:00

Thanks to my diligent use of my debit card as a Visa I found myself with a $250 Best Buy gift card which I blew on a new camera. What this means is the self-indulgent food photography index of this blog is about to go through the roof. I'm still learning how to get the new camera to do what I want it to do so some of these photos of my late Sunday lunch aren't as nice as I was hoping.

I started out with a wet rub of two finely chopped ancho chilis, the juice of half a lime, a teaspoon of kosher salt and a half teaspoon of garlic powder. The ancho wasn't quite dry enough when I chopped it last night so I let it dry overnight then gave it another good chop before making the paste. Next time I'll go a little lighter on the lime juice, too. The rub was a bit tart for my liking.

I then generously applied the rub to both sides of a couple of thin turkey breast cutlets. Why turkey breast cutlets? Well, I hadn't cooked meat at home for a long time so when I went to the store on Friday I was thinking pork chops but then these little things caught my eye. I guess they kind of look like pork chops.

While the cutlets were hanging out in the fridge post-rub I got to preparing one of my sides. I've been reading books about chefs lately so I decided to get kind of fancy with this preparation. I had an avocado and an Ataulfo mango that were about the same size. I diced the mango while keeping one half of the peel intact. While I was letting the mango macerate in a little lime juice, a pinch of salt and a half-teaspoon of sugar I sliced the avocado in half and removed the pit. I put one half aside and seared the other half on high heat in my cast-iron skillet for about a minute. The fat content kept the avocado from sticking but it got a nice caramelization. I then removed that half avocado from its skin, slid it into the mango peel and filled the pit cavity with the diced mango.

Then I seared the cutlets on very high heat for about a minute on each side. Since the cutlets were so thin this was enough to cook them to a safe internal temperature without drying them out. I then sliced the other half of the avocado and put those slices between the two cutlets.

The finished plate, avomango and ancho-lime seared turkey cutlets with avocado served with some spicy cole slaw I made a couple of nights ago, and the magazine close up are below.

FOX Neighborhood Bar and Grill

2008-06-07T08:47:00.000-05:00

FOX or F*O*X (I'm not sure whether to pronouce it "fox" or "eff oh ex") Neighborhood Bar & Grill recently opened in the space formerly occupied by Slapshotz way down south off of 14th street just south of Pine Lake. The address is officially 1245 Libra Drive. Fox is probably appropriate since they are affiliated with the grand old Red Fox out on West O.

I'd been to Slapshotz a few times after work last year. When Slapshotz opened they were proudly smoke free and then the Lincoln smoking ban went into effect so the purpose of Slapshotz was moot. They hung around for awhile but of all the places claiming the smoking ban as their downfall, Slapshotz probably has the best case.

Well, that and the fact that the interior of Slapshotz was like a machine shed or small airplane hangar. And they didn't do much on Friday afternoons to get people to show up.

I had a late lunch at FOX on Friday. I was amazed by what they had done to the interior. The aircraft hangar atmosphere has been replaced by something approaching cozy thanks to a big false ceiling made of exposed timber. Putting in real booths was also helpful. Just breaking up the space made a big difference because the previous place was just full of random tables.

I stopped in on Friday for a late lunch, late enough that happy hour was just about to start. The two guys who came in after me had beers served in 32 oz. glass chalices. They also enthusiastically shot tiny hoops at the machines there. Too bad I had another four hours to work.

I ordered the cheesesteak with everything which had a catchy name I can't remember. It had onions, peppers, mushrooms, jalapeños, and diced tomatoes on it. I've eaten plenty of cheesesteaks in Lincoln and this one was close to the best since Chartroose Caboose. I've also eaten plenty of cheesesteaks in Philadelphia and the leg up that that the really good cheesesteak places in Philly has is the grill and the cheese and experience.

The cheesesteak I had at FOX was better than what I've had in Lincoln because the cheese was melted into the meat so much that each bite was meaty and cheesy. The fries with my sandwich were the batter-dipped type like you get at Amigos.

The menu was basic sports bar stuff but it had a few unsuspected things like shrimp scampi as an appetizer, probably due to FOX's affiliation with the Red Fox.

FOX, if you live in the SW part of Lincoln, might be a cool place to hang. Being within walking distance of where I work, it's a good option for lunch and Friday evenings.

Tomatoes? or just another member of the deadly Nightshade family?

2008-06-05T01:16:00.003-05:00

I'd heard a little about the new salmonella outbreak earlier this week but nothing that gave me pause. Apparently tomatoes have stricken across at least 11 states and hit hard in Texas.

I talked to my friend at the USDA tonight and she told me a small batch of Mexican tomatoes imported into Texas were the culprit. The bad thing is, no one knows what type of tomato or from what producer. She sees this as a really, really bad year for tomatoes. Produce wholesalers in Texas have been getting their tomato shipments sent back out of fear. The sandwich shops in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have already stopped putting tomatoes on their products.

If you have a garden or a few tomato plants in pots, enjoy. It looks like I'll be on canned tomatoes for awhile.

The Making of a Chef

2008-06-03T23:36:00.002-05:00

You might have seen Michael Ruhlman on both of Anthony Bourdain's teevee shows, A Cook's Tour and No Reservations and you might have seen his most recent book The Elements of Cooking, patterned on the The Elements of Style. Years before all of this, he, as a fledging writer and journalist, made his way into the Culinary Institute of America determined to not just write about it but experience it as a student. The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute was the result.

A friend of mine loaned me the book last week and I just finished it up tonight. Just skimming it, I thought it would be a quick read; guy goes to cooking school and writes about it. It can be a fast read if you want it to be that way but there was so much information packed into it, especially in his opening chapters on the Skills class and later in the Baking, Garde Mange and service chapters, that I spent a lot of time digesting what he was learning.

It wasn't just the methods and techniques but the chemistry and physics involved that made me read slower than I normally would. It sort of felt like I was reading an abbreviated graduate course for Alton Brown scholars.

Parts of the book were less interesting, like when he was flying through numerous courses without having time to record much detail. Those are the chapters that flew by faster for me.

What this book has really done for me is gotten me excited about cooking again after about a year of not caring about it as long is it was cheap, easy and filled me up. For so long I've cooked with the notion that one pot was enough because I didn't want to have to clean the dishes and the kitchen that same night. Now I don't care. I'll do those dishes and wipe down the counters at night or in the morning before work if it means I had a terrific meal I made myself. Cooking something that you've put your care, love, taste and yourself into is worth the trouble.

Ruhlman has written a ton of books on cooking, but not necessarily cookbooks, since this one came out. I'm hoping the public library has those available so I can take them with me to Chicago next week.

Mangoes

2008-06-02T23:41:00.003-05:00

Has anyone else noticed the small, yellow, wrinkled mangoes in stores recently? I did and called my friend who monitors mango, lime and watermelon imports from Mexico for the USDA to get the scoop. She proceeded to give me a 10-minute dissertation on Ataulfo mangoes and why they're awesome. They have almost no fibrous texture, the seed pit is tiny and they are sweeter and juicier than the big red mangoes we're used to. They aren't ripe until they're all wrinkly so don't let their ugliness put you off. I picked up a couple and they were so easy to chop up and eat. Apparently it's also common to just cut the top off and squeeze all the juice out. Best mango I've had in a long time.

Quick Hits

2008-05-31T02:59:00.002-05:00

I hit Parkway Lanes on Thursday night with Beer OrKid. My bacon cheeseburger looked pretty much like his but since my photo came out all blurry, look at his. The bacon was awesome but the burger was just above average. I still prefer Don & Millie's for burgers.
I had lunch with my aunt on Friday at Sam & Louie's (in the strip mall on the SE corner of 14th & Pine Lake). It's still good. Big floppy foldable slices.
I hadn't been to the track for over a year until tonight. The place was packed; busier than I've ever seen it. The food selection is even better, too. A new BBQ stand has appeared since my last visit but I still went with the 3 tacos for $2 deal. They're good-sized and the taco meat is so salty that you can't help but drink an extra beer or two afterwards.

Food costs

2008-05-28T21:22:00.002-05:00

I've been out of town for pretty much the last ten days so I haven't had to go to the grocery store yet but I'm dreading it. As I wrote a couple of months ago the price of gas is creating an upward pressure on food prices that can't be ignored.

A more recent example of this is the rising sales of Spam. I'm at a loss here. Whenever I looked at Spam at the grocery store I always thought it seemed kind of pricey for what you were getting but apparently people are eating it up as a cheaper alternative to something else. I wonder what the price of Treet is right now?

Seriously though. Food prices are going crazy and besides Spam people are finding ways to make it work. Talking to my dad recently he said people in his little square of rural Nebraska are reverting to a barter economy in some ways. Eggs, milk, pork and beef and the like are being traded back and forth like it was 1770.

When I shop for groceries now, I buy potatoes, eggs, whole wheat pasta and frozen veggies. I'd love to buy baby bok choy, fresh fish, and prime rib but my grocery budget is even smaller than it was a few months ago. No wonder I don't review restaurants in Lincoln much anymore.

Phoenix, AZ

2008-05-27T17:50:00.002-05:00

A funny thing happened when I got to Phoenix Saturday evening. It wasn't hot outside. In my experience a summer "cold" snap in Phoenix is about as perfect as weather can get; 75-80 with low humidity. It was way too nice outside to spend time in restaurants. It was more "pack a cooler with beer and sandwiches for a trip down the Salt River" or "pick up some chicken, cole slaw and potato salad and hang out in the park" sort of weather.

We did sit out on a patio and drink beer at Rock Bottom Brewery which turned out to be a huge brew pub chain with 40 locations from CA to MA. As far as chain restaurants go, that's a pretty good concept. Each location has a real chef and a real brewmaster which is going to guarantee some local flavors and character that come along with brewing beer on-site. Plus, it creates more jobs for dudes who like to brew beer. I'm sure there are strict controls in place to make sure the signature brews are as close to the same as possible but the brewmaster seems to have some freedom in creating other beers.

I had a terrific mug of cream stout that wasn't too sweet or too malty and the pale ale was subtly spicy with nice citrus overtones. The brewmaster's choice was a Vienna-style red lager that wasn't too sweet and still crisp on top of the maltiness.

I'm sort of sad we didn't make it to the Pink Taco but as much as I love restaurants with dirty names, it probably wouldn't have been that good. The photo of Ron Jeremy posing with a pink donkey at their L.A. Grand Opening kind of makes me feel like I missed out on something, though.

Road Food: Monroe, LA

2008-05-23T21:59:00.002-05:00

I'm not going to go into detail about what I ate in Monroe this week since it's not Lincoln and most people probably don't care much about where to eat in places they'll never be. Suffice it to say that it sure was nice to be in a place where fresh oysters, shrimp, crawfish, soft shell crab and the like were cheap and plentiful. Finding un-fried veggies was kind of a challenge, though.

One local dish worth a mention: green bean wraps. Take about 8 or 9 fresh par-boiled green beans, wrap a strip of bacon around them, poke a toothpick through the bundle and throw on a grill for a minute or so on each side. It's a great twist on the traditional green beans 'n' bacon side dish.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Phoenix for a few days and if I have a chance to eat at any local restaurants there I'll probably write about them since some of you might wind up in Phoenix someday, even if it isn't for another 30 years.

Mi Guadalajara

2008-05-15T19:55:00.002-05:00

I stopped in about 1115 today and there were quite a few people there already. The interior of the restaurant has been changed as much as possible since it was a Doozy's. It was cleaner, better lighted and the colors were much brighter. The booths between the gas station and the restaurant are still in place and a few were occupied. The counter opposite the kitchen was lined with stools and several were already taken by people eating. The kitchen was busy. At least six people moved back and forth behind the counter taking and preparing orders.

As I approached the counter to order the man running the cash register and taking orders (the owner, I'm guessing) shoved a tray at me and gleefully shouted "On the house!" On the tray was a basket of hot, fresh corn chips and a cup of salsa and a chicken tostada. I placed an order for a carnitas taco and took my food back to the counter.

The salsa is quite good; very fresh tasting with lots of cilantro. The spice was just about right for me for a dip-chipping sauce but may be a little much for some people. I predict the restaurant will develop a milder, but still fresh, salsa before too long. It would also be nice if they eventually had some hotter freshly made sauces to put on the food. The bottles of Cholula at each table were a welcome sight though.

The chips were about as fresh as you can get; still warm but not too oily, and very crispy. The tostada came on a standard-sized shell (obviously freshly made), covered with shredded chicken and onions cooked in a mild chipotle sauce that wasn't as overpoweringly smoky as you get at many places that have lately jumped on the chipotle bandwagon. What I really liked about the tostada was how well the shell stood up. I was able to eat the whole thing while holding it in my hand. Sometimes you get tostada shells that shatter into a blizzard of fried corn and meat after one bite. Not here.

Soon my taco was ready. For $2.50 I was expecting more than I usually get when I order tacos at an "authentic" Mexican restaurant. I wound up pretty happy. The warm corn shells surrounding the meat were of the usual size but there was quite a bit more meat than I've come to expect. On top of that, there was a nice heap of guac and pico in the corner I could use to dress the taco or for my chips. The carnitas were really good; big chunks of roast pork shoulder with a good crispness from a later frying. It seemed like something that might come out of my crock pot at home. Next time I'll ask for cilantro and onion for the taco. I'm sure they have it back there.

The little paper menu I picked up on Monday isn't their full offering, though I think they were hoping to stick to that menu for the opening. Inside the restaurant they had large colorful plastic menus with many more dishes.

They've got a good location, surrounded by several of Lincoln's biggest private employers. Hopefully they'll make a better run than the Doozy's and Godfather's that closed within weeks of each other earlier this year.

Mi Guadalajara is at the NW corner of 16th & Old Cheney next door to the BP station, just south of Heidelberg's.

Coming Soon

2008-05-12T21:23:00.002-05:00

Mi Guadalajara opens on Thursday in the old Doozy's location next door to the gas station near 14th & Old Cheney. It's fitting, too. Thursday is my second to last day working within walking distance of it for several months, and Thursday is payday.

I grabbed a menu today and it's fairly small with an emphasis on huevos alongside the usual fare. A couple of the tostadas sound pretty good. Sadly, no tacos antojitos on the menu. Free chips & salsa, though.

Free Food Tip

2008-05-11T20:59:00.002-05:00

Go and sign up for the Sam & Louie's mailing list. Tell them your birthday. They'll send you a coupon for a free 12" pizza when the month of your birthday rolls around. It's good pizza but it's expensive so a free 12" is worth about $900 or 2 Euros.

The only Sam & Louie's in Lincoln is in the strip mall at the SW corner of 14th and Pine Lake.

Columbia, MO: Chris McD's

2008-05-09T19:43:00.003-05:00

Columbia isn't quite Lincoln. It's only half the size but with a much better downtown and more local restaurants. The abundance of wineries around Columbia probably helps that a lot. Unlike many of the places I write about here, many Lincolnites might find themselves in Columbia on occasion, especially every two years in the fall.

I met an old friend I haven't seen in about 12 years at Chris McD's on Tuesday night for dinner. The restaurant is in the Schnook's strip mall on the east side of Forum Blvd. just off Stadium Blvd about a mile west of the University of Missouri. It would be a nice place to stop for dinner or drinks on the way to or from Faurot Field or the infamous Plaigarena.

My friend had a glass of the featured Malbec to start with while I had a Schlafly Pale Ale. The beer was very fresh and crisp, but not too carbonated. I would have liked it to be a little hoppier though. When I read tonight that Washington University in St. Louis gave an honorary degree to Phyllis Schlafly I found myself wondering if the Schlafly brewery was related to her at all and if my buying that beer had given her a few pennies. The brewery FAQ addresses this question by stating, "Phyllis Schlafly is Tom Schlafly's aunt. She is the widow of Fred Schlafly, Tom's father's brother. She is not involved in the business."

I started with the warm spinach salad with walnuts, Stilton, thinly sliced apples and bacon sherry vinaigrette. It was simple but so delicious. The spinach was slightly sauteed but still had structure. The walnuts were toasted but not obnoxiously candied like you get at so many places. The vinaigrette was subtle but still imparted a slightly smoky bacon flavor over the whole salad that was complemented nicely by the Stilton. My friend had a grilled salmon salad that looked great but isn't on the menu. With our salads we were served fresh, hot wheat and sourdough bread with a small bottle of seasoned olive oil for dipping. The lemon wedges in the oil bottle added a wonderful, but slight, tartness to the oil.

After our salads, we ordered a couple of the small plates which were larger than the tapas-like plates I've gotten at a few other places. We had the Ahi Poke Napoleon and the Pepper-Crusted sliced Sirloin. The Ahi was wonderful, like the ahi tartar I used to like to make. It was marinated in a soy vinaigrette and served on wonton chips stacked on the plate garnished with a sweet soy drizzle. The sirloin came with a great marinated tomato and cucumber relish that would have made a nice salad by itself, and dollops of Gorgonzola cream. The star of the dish was the meat, of course, seared to a perfect medium rare, which is to say, a warm, red center, but not so done to be pink. It was fork tender and went so well with the Gorgonzola cream.

My friend ordered a chocolate mousse for dessert which was pretty good but I don't really know from chocolate mousse since it all seems like fancy puddin' to me. There was a cranberry walnut bread pudding on the dessert tray that looked delicious but I didn't partake.

Chris McD's seems to be kind of a Columbia institution since it's been around for 17 years now. My friend told me Norm Stewart is one of the owners. It's definitely a worth a visit the next time you're in Columbia.

Paul's BBQ, 2008

2008-05-03T11:23:00.001-05:00

I haven't been to Paul's since I took my dad there exactly a year ago while my mom was in the hospital. I've been trying to eat lunch with my aunts every Friday when I'm in Lincoln and they wanted to go to Paul's this time and I was all for it since it had been so long. I've been exposed to a lot of BBQ in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas since the last time I went to Paul's so I was interested in doing some comparing.

We met at 11:30 because I knew the lunch rush would be huge. By noon the place was packed. I had the brisket sandwich and a couple of ribs. I think I've always had the pork sandwich when I've been there before. Like good BBQ is intended, the meat doesn't really need any sauce. The beef was tender and smoky, but not overpowering, served on a Kaiser roll.

The option to add 2 ribs is pretty neat. Normally I don't order ribs because there isn't enough meat to justify the cost, and they usually aren't that good. These ribs were perfect. No need for sauce. The meat pulled off the bone cleanly and the flavor was out of this world.

I advised both my aunts to get sweet potato fries and they sounded skeptical but they were pretty happy with that recommendation. I used to think the sweet potato fries at all the local restaurants came from the same place and maybe they do but Paul's cooks 'em up better than anyone else. At most places, like Wilderness Ridge for example, the fries are overcooked, dry and flavorless. Paul's were crisp but tender, and they were hot.

My one gripe with Paul's is that the sauces they offer, although you don't sauces there, are too sweet. I'd love it if they added a third sauce that was more vinegar and mustard based but still spicy.

I drove by Paul's around 1800 on my way home from work and it was packed again. I'm glad a real BBQ place can exist and thrive in Lincoln. I just wish they'd make a sauce that's spicy but not so sweet.

Where not to eat

2008-04-27T19:55:00.003-05:00

Brookfield, Wisconsin, is Milwaukee's big suburb to the west. Brookfield is west Omaha without the attitude. No sushi, no Indian, no tapas. Brookfield is where everyone works but then goes anywhere else to eat. I ate lunch at places like Panera everyday but there was no place I wanted to go for dinner. I ordered veggie burgers and fries from room service for dinner every night.

Pacific Wok - I was driving I-94 between Brookfield and Schaumburg, IL, on Thursday and I was really hungry. I finally pulled over at the last Kenosha exit. I passed by Texas Roadhouse (coming soon to that space near Lowe's) because I didn't want to fill up on peanuts and BW3 because I'd had wings for lunch in Wisconsin once before.

Pacific Wok sounded fresh and Asian and just what I needed for lunch. I was just looking for healthy food at this point and that they had. I got a bowl of chicken and rice and it wasn't good but it wasn't bad either; kind of like how all Japanese food except for miso is.

Then I was presented with this thing called a Steamroller. It was all wrapped up in plastic wrap. It was a steamed whole wheat tortilla filled with traditional eggroll filling. In other words, I had a tube of glue. Gross. It's no wonder Pacific Wok only has two locations and neither are within 20 miles of Milwaukee, Chicago or Madison.

New posts at teh otro bl00g, too.

New area food blog

2008-04-25T17:43:00.002-05:00

My old friend, Sarah, just started a food blog - Great Plains Foodie. She just has a couple of posts up right now but she has lots of time on her hands so it should be updated fairly regularly, I'm guessing.

Good News for the Southside

2008-04-17T18:27:00.002-05:00

I stopped at the BP near 14th & Old Cheney during lunch today and when I went in to pay for my gas I noticed someone is moving in to the space vacated by Doozy's a few months ago. The sign standing between the convenience store and the restaurant space said "Mi Guadalajara Coming Soon. Authentic Mexican food."

I can only hope by "authentic" they mean like the food at El Chapparro, El Comal, Super Taco, etc., and not the "authentic" food at that awful place in Bennett or the Tex-Mex they serve at places like La Paz, Mazatlan, et al. The size of the place, which would be a mostly takeout business, suggests the former.

Madison

2008-04-11T23:02:00.004-05:00

I'd like to thank Wisco for the recommendations for my week in Madison although I only ate at one of them. Madison and its suburbs have about 400 restaurants and a staggering number of them are not big chains. If the weather had been better I would have gone out more, but as it rained hard (two rivers under I-94 between Madison and Waukesha looked about to run over the highway on Friday morning) Tuesday through Friday I didn't even make it down to State Street and Williamson Street.

I went to Lao Laan Xang on Monday night, the Atwood location in the Barrymore Theater building because it was closer to my hotel. I ordered a couple of fresh spring rolls with tofu as an appetizer which were perfectly fine if maybe a little over-stuffed so that they fell apart. For my entree I restrained myself from ordering the laap (chicken or beef salad) and had the tam mak houng instead because I haven't had green papaya salad in years. I ordered it with 3 out of 4 stars of spiciness and I was really impressed by how the chef was able to heat the dish up to a point I haven't experienced in a long time without making me sweat. It came with a piece of fried chicken but the shredded green papaya, red and green cherry tomatoes, lime, and fish sauce along with the huge basket of sticky rice were enough that I didn't even eat the chicken.

Tuesday night I ordered pizza from Glass Nickel because it was raining so hard I didn't want to go back out after getting back to the hotel. I had the Socre Bleu which obviously has Blue cheese on it but also has walnuts on request. Walnuts are the most underrated pizza topping ever so I couldn't pass it up. I replaced the salami and Canadian bacon with extra spinach which seemed more appropriate with bleu cheese and walnuts. The toppings were good but the crust was nothing special at all so I can't say that Glass Nickel was better than any other place. Pizza crust is the key to making great pizza and not many people do it well.

Wednesday I drove out to Sun Prairie because there's a Peruvian restaurant there called Red & White that supposedly has great ceviche and lots of Peruvian potato dishes. Only thing is, they were closed. There was a guy inside sitting at the bar but the doors were locked. I booked it back to Madison and drove down Washington until I came to Ella's Deli which I remembered seeing the last time I was in Madison on my way to Chicago from Winnipeg.

Ella's is a kosher deli and ice cream parlor. To truly appreciate the place, you have to be there. Check out the "displays" link on the website. The handmade mechanical castles, clocks, and other animated decorations are really amazing. What I was interested in, though, was the possibility of a big bowl of matzo ball soup. I got that. The matzo ball was huge and didn't disintegrate in the broth at all, but it wasn't too heavy, either.

Thursday night the rain was falling like crazy so I stopped at La Bamba and grabbed a burrito on my way back to my hotel. I'll write more about La Bamba later since there used to be one where Oso is now so it's connected to Eatin' in Lincoln historically.

Lunch on Saturday and ? for Wisco

2008-04-06T00:13:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately. I'd like to get to some of Lincoln's more upscale places but my budget doesn't allow it right now. I'd definitely like to get to that place where Baciami used to be before it closes.

In any case, I'm eating lunch next Saturday at Super Taco at 56th and Holdrege. It's my favorite Mexican restaurant in the whole world so if anyone would like to meet me there, send me an email or leave a comment here.

Wisco: I'm going to be in Madison next week. Any recommendations?

Mas Mexican

2008-04-05T23:43:00.002-05:00

I should note that I stopped at Tina's Mexican Food a few weeks before Le Korb gave us a decent background on its owners. One thing that really impressed me was the cleanliness of the place near 9th & Van Dorn. I can't remember ever seeing that place as clean and neat as it was when it was a Taco Inn.

Cleanliness is usually a good sign because that means the someone cares about the food being served. The salsa bar was also a plus. The refrigeration unit was new and it kept everything on the salsa bar (salsas, curtido, etc.) cold, fresh and safe.

I had a chorizo torta and I got a couple of beef rolled tacos to go. The torta was pretty good although after getting chorizo tortas at other places that serve breakfast, like D'Leon's, I'd recommend against it. The chorizo always has lots of egg mixed in, which gives a different texture to the meat but in the end it is not chorizo.

I still hold Super Taco above all others when it comes to tortas because their tortas (last time I checked) c0me with queso blanco and jalapenos and slices of avocado instead of really mushy just about to turn brown guac. I should probably check out how they're doing. If anyone wants to join me at Super Taco next Saturday for lunch, send me an email or post here.

Last Friday, after being on call for a week, I got a chance to go to Mr. Leno at 72nd & O which is far outside of where I can go for lunch on a normal day. Their drive-thru is open 24 hrs and I almost stopped there one Monday morning at 4 am on my way to catch a plane in Omaha but was afraid of how long it would take at that hour. Chances are I would have made it but who doesn't love sleeping at Eppley for 30 minutes or so?

The menu board at Mr. Leno was strikingly similar to the menus at D'Leon's and Tina's. I ordered a torta, carnitas this time to avoid the egg, and a chorizo taquito. The taquitos at Mr. Leno's aren't deep-fried tubes but the standard little tacos on white corn shells I love so much. At Mr. Leno they're $1.19 which beats any other place in town.

The carnitas was really, really good if you like juicy, fatty pork (who doesn't?). I was disappointed with the toppings though; just lettuce and some thin guac. No queso, no peppers, and the salsas, roja y verde, were nothing much. The salsa roja was smoky but aren't they all these days? I doused my sandwich with it and couldn't really taste it.

Eatin' in Milwaukee

2008-03-25T21:16:00.002-05:00

I spent last week in downtown Milwaukee and managed to get home on Friday despite the foot of snow that fell that morning. While I was there I tried a few local eateries of note.

* Mader's - Often considered the best German restaurant in the country, it's been open for 106 years. The photo wall of famous visitors rivals that of any restaurant in the country. JFK, Reagan, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Paul Newman, to name a few giving you an idea of how long Mader's has been a place people go when they're in Milwaukee. The place is decked out with lots of dark, manly wood and real Frederick Barbarossa era weapons and armor to give you an even more Teutonic vibe.

One thing I always forget about real German food since I only have it every 5 years or so is that I really don't like it that much. It's too sweet, for one thing. I had the sauerbraten with spätzle and red cabbage. Sweet gravy was served over the meat and topped with dollops of sour cream and raisins. Even ignoring the sweetness I thought the beef was really tough for something that was supposedly marinated for 12 days and cost $25. It wasn't any better than a rump roast left in the crock pot about an hour too long. I did like the spätzle which appeared to have been pan-fried after cooking to give it a little bit of crispness and extra flavor.

* The King and I is a relatively old Thai restaurant, Zagat-rated and all that, just a few blocks south of Mader's. I used to alway order Pad Thai at Thai restaurants because I love it and I like to see how it varies and compares regionally but lately I've taken to ordering larb gai everywhere I go. The larb gai, which is basically a chicken salad seasoned with chili, fish sauce and lime juice, was the best I've had. I asked for it medium spicy and it was just spicy enough to make me sweat but still be enjoyable to eat. What set it apart from others I've had was that it contained the coarsely ground toasted rice that is supposed to be essential to the dish but is commonly left out.

* I was working in one of the biggest Mexican neighborhoods in the country so one day for lunch I asked where I should go for the best tacos and by tacos I meant the little soft corn shells topped with a wide variety of meats, onions and cilantro. The unanimous answer was Los Comales. It is actually somewhat of a chain since there are numerous locations in Chicagoland as well as the one in Milwaukee. I didn't know that until I googled it though, because when I walked in it was packed at 11:30 and I was pretty much the only person in the place with English as my first language and they didn't take credit cards. It's a good thing ordering food is one of the first things you learn in a Spanish class.

I had five tacos, two al pastor, two barbacoa and one lengua. The pastor and barbacoa are similar to what I've had at Super Taco, La Mexicana, El Chaparro and El Comal, but the lengua was out of sight. I've only had lengua served in little chunks but the lengua at Los Comales was sliced, long and thin, and very tender.

There were two bottles of salsa on the table. The green tomatillo salsa was fairly mild and not too exciting but the red salsa was smoky like I like and spicy without being overpowering. What was really cool was that each table had a huge tub full of curtido, fresh pickled jalapenos, carrots and cauliflower that you pay $3 a jar for at the grocery store.

If I ever go back to Milwaukee, which I wouldn't mind at all, I'll probably hit at least one of these places again. For you bikers out there, I drove by the Harley museum everyday and it looks like it'll be open by late summer. It's a pretty impressive building.

New blog

2008-03-16T02:38:00.002-05:00

I finally coughed up a new non-food related blog to post about books and movies because I want to talk about the stuff I read and watch but most people I know aren't interested. Check in and tell me I'm wrong about the truth behind the monoliths.

The Peacock

2008-03-15T23:46:00.003-05:00

This past Friday I met Mr. Wilson and Mr. T and BeerOrKid at The Peacock for lunch. Mr. T might post some photos since he took a few after an awkward moment with the owner in which he tried to explain why he wanted to take pictures of food. I'm not sure how well pictures of Indian buffet would look anyway. We'll see.

As for the restaurant, I've been there for lunch a couple of times since they opened in late December but not for a couple of months. In December the lunch buffet was $10.99 much to my chagrin. I wasn't expecting that since the place was new and the buffet and the whole operation seemed pretty haphazard. In late January I went there again and lunch was $7.99. That seemed more reasonable considering it's lunchtime and most Indian food is made of some of the cheapest ingredients you can buy. On Friday the lunch buffet was again $10.99. We were all pretty surprised, especially after I'd assured everyone that it was less than that. That was probably the last time I eat lunch at The Peacock. $10.99 for a lunch buffet in Lincoln, NE, is pretty outrageous.

Their buffet is still poorly laid out even after three months. There are shelves of random plates and bowls off to the left and slightly below the buffet. Would it kill them to set up a small table with the plates and bowls on it right there at the buffet? Even Acapulco has figured that out.

The food, despite everything else, was pretty good and the buffet featured a few dishes you won't get at Lincoln's other Indian restaurants. You won't find mulligatawny on the buffet here but you will be able to grab a bowl of sambar which is perfect for dipping idli (a steamed lentil and rice patty) or vada (spicy lentil donuts). There was also a spicy cabbage dish (no name so no link) that was really good and a fish curry I thought was terrific. The other guys said it was too fishy but I didn't notice that at all. It was a basic curry sauce with pieces of white fish. I think what impressed me about the fish was how tender and firm it was - not overcooked and not mushy.

The standout dish this time was a creamy saag (spinach and/or mustard greens) preparation with green beans. I thought of the creamed spinach you can still get in old-fashioned steakhouses but it was better with the Indian spices and the tamarind rice as a base. Other than that, there was tandoori chicken (wings and legs only), a chicken curry that was really heavy on the cinnamon (not good or bad, just different compared to what I've had before) and something I've never, ever seen before - Indian quesdillas - very finely chopped veggies (carrots, peppers), spices and cheese grilled between pieces of naan.

There was also a nice dessert that I'd never had and I don't recall the name and I can't find it on the internets. It had the flavor and texture of baklava but it was orange, and made of little tubes of dough shaped into spirals. It was super rich like I was almost eating straight ghee with a little sugar and almond flavor.

I really want to like The Peacock, and I mostly do, but I can't justify spending $10.99 for lunch there unless it's a special occasion which doesn't come up at lunchtime very often. It would be nice if they made the dosa portion of their menu available for lunch. Oh, well. Based on the lunch crowd, they're doing pretty well but I wonder for how long.

UPDATE: Mr. T. calls me a fat john and explains the price difference. I guess The Peacock now considers Friday a weekend day since they're closed on Sundays. If tandoori chicken is the difference it's a pretty poor excuse for a three dollar price hike. I'd expect to see mint chutney and samosas on the buffet along with everything else for eleven bucks.

Links

2008-03-11T21:30:00.002-05:00

I need to clean up the links over on the right side of this blog. Some of them were jokes and some don't exist anymore. If you read this blog or have a blog and know of a blog that you think would contribute to the sorry experience that is "Eatin' in Lincoln" put them in the comments below.

How are you eating?

2008-03-11T20:35:00.003-05:00

This blog wasn't ever intended to be strictly about eating at restaurants. In the beginning I'd planned on posting recipes and pictures of food I'd prepared at home since it still fell under the general title of "Eatin' in Lincoln." That only happened a couple of times as you can see if you go back through the archives and now I'm at a point where I'm not eating in Lincoln so often that I rarely buy groceries.

The last couple of times I've gone to the grocery store and bought bread and pasta and vegetables and fruit I've been bowled over by the prices compared to what they were a year and a half ago when I still cooked dinner at home five nights a week. Then I read this story in yesterday's NY Times which lays out some of the reasons for why groceries are expensive although I don't think it went far enough.

Number one is the rising global demand for staples like wheat to make bread. There are more people on this planet at an increasing rate and more people mean more mouths to feed and those people are looking to basics like flour. That means an increase in the price of those staples worldwide. Of course, the increase in the price for oil that increases the price of diesel that powers the tractors that reap the wheat is another force on the upward rise in food costs.

What I'm wondering about (and what I thought was glaringly missing from the NYT article) is something that is controversial here in Nebraska. It's no secret that more Nebraska farmers are planting corn to sell to ethanol producers to make a tiny, tiny dent in the cost of gasoline. Continuing to grow only corn is clearly unsustainable according all the things I learned growing up in an agricultural community. At what point do farmers (who have it as good as they have had in decades) abandon the short-term gains of ethanol for the prospective long-term gains of rotating various crops in high demand? Will it take a Manhattan Project-like government emphasis on finding sustainable alternate fuels? Or will the demand for food outstrip the demand for fuel since everyone on earth eats but a much smaller percentage drives?

I guess that was a roundabout way of asking you if you've felt any financial pressures from what you've seen at the grocery store. I've definitely noticed it but since I don't buy that many groceries I don't feel it, yet.

Road Food: Mutt's BBQ

2008-03-08T20:11:00.004-06:00

When you go to anyplace near Chesapeake Bay you get crabs...or eat oysters...or both. In Wisconsin you drink beer and eat cheese. In Vermont or New Hampshire you drink beer and eat cheese. When you go to upstate South Carolina, you eat BBQ.

Tuesday lunchtime, in the middle of a warm, spring rain in Easley, SC, (just east of Greenville/Spartanburg) I was starving and one of the guys I was working with took me to the perfect place to take care of that South Carolina spring hunger.

Mutt's has a lunch buffet and there were dozens of men in line when we arrived. It didn't take long for us to get through the line though as the buffet at Mutt's is routine for anyone who's been there and I had a guide.

The meat was standard Carolina pulled pork, chicken (fried and pulled) and ribs, with three kinds of shrimp (sauteed in butter, fried, and peel and eat). None of these were better than I've made at home or had at Paul's but the sides were another story.

If you ask me the sides are the reason to eat there because you can get the same meat anywhere in the Carolinas. The cole slaw was creamy but not too saucy. It had a crunch that suggested it was made fresh the night before. The mac and cheese was perfect for a buffet though Patti La Belle would probably object.

Two of my clients asked me if I tried the sweet potato crunch and I did and it was awesome. I usually hate sweet potato dishes that are too sweet but this stuff was awesome. The crunch came from fried sweet potatoes layered on top that were so fried they crunched and the rest of the sweet potatoes beneath the crunch were creamy but you could still pick them up with a fork.

There were a few places in Easley/Greenville/Spartanburg I didn't get to and I didn't go to any of the numerous sushi places (I've gotten so tired of eating at the same restaurants I've been getting veggies and hummus and cheese at local grocery stores). What really struck me was the Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC, Friday papers (both smaller than Lincoln) had really vibrant entertainment sections that featured local people weighing in on food, movies, theater, parks, etc. Ground Zero needs a makeover. Asheville looked especially fun.

IAH Terminal B

2008-03-08T19:54:00.002-06:00

If you fly Continental heading south most likely you're going to wind up in Houston's Terminal B. If you have a layover there forget finding anything other than fast food. Usually that's OK, but I've been on a mission lately to find good, unique, prepared food for travelers who aren't crossing oceans. So far MSP is the winner.

The international terminals always have the best food and IAH is no exception. There's a food court near the security gate of Terminal B with standard food court food. The terminal map lists fancy sounding places like White Magnolia as dining options but the truth is White Magnolia is a counter where you can buy prepackaged salads and sandwiches. Each pod in Terminal B has the same place with a different name.

I've flown in to IAH before but I've always ended my flight there. Houston has all the horrible delay problems any big airline hub has. Monday we sat on the runway for 3 hours before taking off. Great naptime! Friday, when I was on the way home, the plane's crapper broke and it took 2 hours for the brave Continental (no pun intended) mechanics to make the plane safe for poop and pee.

Acapulco

2008-03-02T20:46:00.002-06:00

Remember that old Onion story about the "Area Man Confounded by Buffet Procedure?" That was me Friday around noon at Acapulco near the Ramada on Center Park Road off south 14th St. I drove by because I was kind of curious to see if they were still open nearly a year after the last time I'd been there. The sign out front said they had just reopened and now had a weekday lunch buffet. I hadn't yet decided on where to have lunch so figured I might as well give it a try.

I walked in, sat down and was quickly greeted by a young woman who took my drink order. I then spent a couple of minutes scoping out the buffet. It was laid out in an L shape with plates situated between the two buffet tables. The shells, taco and tostada, were at the far right end of buffet near the salad and fruit. The beans, rice and meat were to the left of the plates.

I finally grabbed a plate and then walked to the end of the table to grab some shells. This is where I was first disappointed. There were 3 kinds of fried corn shells but no soft shells of any kind. I picked one taco shell and one sort of hybrid taco/tostada shell that was more like a little bowl. The shells did not stand up well to teeth, pretty much falling to pieces after one bite so I wound up eating variations on taco salad.

The beans and rice were pretty standard for a Mexican restaurant - soupy, refried pinto beans and orange rice. The meat selection was pretty good but nothing was hot. It was like the buffet table wasn't warmed up yet. There were two types of chicken - chunks cooked in a green sauce and shredded white meat cooked with peppers and lime juice. Neither were very good. The chunks were kind of tough and didn't really hold the flavor of the green sauce. The shredded chicken was on the verge of disintegrating it was so soft. There were chunks of pork simmered in something that didn't give any flavor to the meat beyond pork. It was very tender though. The steak fajita meat was also quite bland. There was also some grilled fish I didn't try and some cheese enchiladas that seemed to be mostly filled with air.

Luckily, Acapulco has several terrific salsas to spice up and add flavor to the meats. One was kind of spicy and heavy on the smoked paprika I love so much. Another was super thick, almost like spaghetti sauce, and the spiciest of the bunch although not hot enough to satisfy the hot sauce warriors out there. There was also a really nice fresh-tasting mild salsa. In fact, all the salsas seemed like they'd just been made.

As good as the salsas were, they couldn't really make up for the rest of the buffet. I'm not sure what I was expecting from a $5.99 Mexican buffet but hot food and good tortillas would have been at the top of the list. I'm tempted to try it again in a couple of months if they're still open just to see if they've improved since their recent reopening.

EWR C Terminal

2008-02-23T21:35:00.002-06:00

I spent two hours at Newark Liberty on Monday afternoon and another 4 hours this afternoon and in between all 139 gates in the Continental terminal there is not one decent place to eat a sit down meal. An ExpressJet pilot told me the good food was in the A and B terminals but by "good" I think he meant Chili's and Friday's. That's definitely not something that's going to make me choose to go outside security if I don't have to (for some reason EWR doesn't have secure connection points between its various terminals like every other airport does).

Additional Continental tip: If you're on a meal-time flight they'll give you a sandwich, some baby carrots and a candy bar. The last time I flew Continental I chose the turkey sandwich so today I tried the tuna salad. Don't get the tuna salad. It was like a schmear of wet cat food.

The only bright spot was purely nostalgia-related. Down near the gate C130 there's a Steak Escape which I haven't seen since the one in downtown Lincoln closed several years ago. No Chartroose Caboose in Newark, though.

This past week's travel food was pretty dismal save for a nice Thai place in St. Johnsbury, VT, called Kham's Thai Cuisine. I'll post a review when I get a chance just in case you are ever in the area skiing, gawking at colored leaves or visiting Robert Frost's vacation home.

Hopefully this week I'll be able to get over to the new Mexican place the Korb featured in the Journal-Star on Friday, as well.

9 South Chargrill

2008-02-17T21:29:00.002-06:00

I finally made it to the 9 South Chargrill last week. I was really impressed with what they've done to the old building on the northwest corner of 9th and South. What was it before? A used car lot? Or had it just been abandoned for a decade or so?

I beat my friend I was meeting by a good ten minutes so I had plenty of time to pore over the menu. When faced with 18 sandwiches that all sound good what does one order? One thing that stood out was the Certified Angus Beef® mark in the description of every single menu item made from dead cows. It's becoming a pet peeve of mine because with the marketing push by the American Angus Association and the involvement of Hardee's, McDonald's, and numerous other fast food chains, the appellation has become almost meaningless. True, to be "certified" a beef must be at least 51% black Angus and have a decent degree of marbling along with other more obscure characteristics but it's mostly hype. It really doesn't matter when you're eating a burger or a Philly anyway, but if you're ordering a Certified Angus Beef® rib-eye or tenderloin and it seems like a deal ask the server if the cut is prime, choice or select (this observation comes from working in a restaurant that sold lots of rib-eye specials that were choice for about $13 less than the prime rib-eye on the menu).

Maybe it was the Angus backlash that caused me to order the grilled tomato sandwich, but seconds after I ordered it I was kicking myself for ordering a tomato sandwich in February. Those bruises were for naught. It was served double-decker, like a Big Mac, on marble rye. The tomatoes were crusted with parmesan and grilled and the asiago was melted between the tomatoes and bread. After I'd ordered I was expecting basically a grilled cheese sandwich with some pink mush for filler. 9 South must have a good tomato source because the tomatoes actually tasted like tomatoes and they weren't mushy or mealy, even after the grilling. The waffle fries and cole slaw that accompanied the sandwich were great as well, especially the fries.

That's another thing I like about 9 South. The sandwiches come with two sides. I'm one of those people who can't resist ordering fried potatoes when offered so it was a bonus that I was able to get a little roughage too.

I'd been meaning to get there forever but was wondering if I'd ever make before the inevitable. The fact that they managed to stay open through the South St. construction and the normal growing pains of opening a new restaurant is a good sign for independent restaurants in Lincoln. Judging from the lunch crowd at noon on Thursday, they won't have much trouble staying in business.

I'll be spending a few hours tomorrow and Friday at Newark Liberty International airport so for anyone who ever flies to NYC or points beyond via the tiny Continental jet out of Omaha, I hope to have some food tips for you next weekend.

Road Food: Christian's Bistro

2008-02-11T20:34:00.000-06:00

If you ever find yourself smack in the middle of Wisconsin trying to find a nice, cozy little restaurant after nights of eating fried walleye at the roadside bars that seem to be more numerous than the trees, see if you're anywhere near Christian's Bistro in Plover right off I-39 about 90 minutes north of Madison. I spotted it out my hotel room window about 100 feet away on Monday. It was closed that night. Tuesday night they were booked solid thanks to Fat Tuesday. Wednesday night I didn't eat dinner but I finally made it over on Thursday.

I chose a seat at the Chef's Bar, a long polished granite counter facing the kitchen so you can watch the action. The service was top-notch. Better than I've seen at any restaurant in Lincoln. They even looked good. No stained yellow polo shirts like you might find in a certain "fine dining" establishment around here. My server, John, knew exactly when to approach and exactly what I needed each time.

Christian's has a nice, accessible and varied wine list featuring all styles by the glass (including a German red). I started out with a glass of Malbec and a Wisconsin cheese plate featuring three selections from the six choices on the cheese menu. I went with a fontina, an aged cheddar and a terrific manchego served with grilled toast points, toasted walnuts and apricot preserves. I was initially surprised by how much cheese I got for the price because I've been places locally where the cost was twice as much for less. The fontina was creamy and more pungent than I expected and went down nicely with the malbec. The cheddar was OK by itself but the sharpness of its aging paired very well with the mellow nuttiness of the walnuts. The manchego ruled as manchego usually does.

Sitting at the chef's bar pays off in other ways than just being able to watch. I was seated near where the executive chef put the finishing touches on dishes and he engaged me in conversation about the cheeses. When I expressed some interest and knowledge he spent about 10 minutes scrounging around in the kitchen for this really great cheese he wanted me to try. It turned out to be Taleggio a semi-soft Italian cheese I'd never had before. It was really great. What struck me was the texture, stretchy almost like taffy, even when cold, and very fruity. It was terrific with the earthy malbec I'd been drinking.

I was on somewhat of a budget so for the main course I went with the Kobe beef burger topped with locally produced bacon, swiss cheese and a generous slice of portabello mushroom served with the best steak fries I've ever had. There were only about six of them but they were all cut from very large potatoes and seemed to have been fried, dried and refried a couple of times. The best thing about the burger was that it was cooked exactly as I had ordered it, medium rare, which is so hard to get anywhere these days with the patties being so thin. I watched the line cook as he did it and he had the technique of not overcooking a thin patty down pat. Not too much time all at once on the grill.

At the end, after I had John box up half of my burger for the next morning because I could not take anymore Hampton Inn powdered eggs, the chef whipped me up a mini creme brulee on the house.

This place, in the middle of Wisconsin, hours away from Madison or Milwaukee or Minneapolis, seems very successful. They've been open for a year and they were busy every night I was there in the middle of winter. My whole meal was around $25 and that included an $8 glass of wine. Why shouldn't this work in Lincoln?

The Dog House

2008-02-11T20:30:00.000-06:00

I finally made it to this place for lunch a couple of Saturdays ago - the takeaway/delivery hot dog joint where Paul's BBQ used to be. It was a nice day out after all and what better way to spend a little bit of it than devouring a 1/2 lb. of processed meat. I had fully intended to get the Junkyard Dog, a half-pound hot dog covered with chili, beans, onions, coney sauce, sauerkraut, wing sauce, jalapeños, cheese, blue cheese dressing, catsup and mustard, but as I thought about it, it reminded me too much of the legendary Rochester, NY, staple food, The Garbage Plate, and I was certainly not going to eat a garbage plate on such a wonderful day.

One of the owners suggested the specials, either a huge beer brat cradled between two strips of bacon and topped artfully with a mysterious yellow sauce dubbed "Critter Sitter" or a a massive red spicy hot dog disturbingly dubbed "The Pelini Wienie." Good taste alone drove me to the brat, made by Cetak Meat Market in Ord.

The St. Bernard (huh?) Bacon Beer Brat was much spicier than most brats you'll encounter. A look into its mysterious meaty interior revealed flecks of red pepper and bits of red chili. The bacon seemed superfluous because the spice of the bratwurst completely hid the bacon flavor. I for one expect more from my bacon so the whole package was a bit disappointing even though the bratwurst itself was great. The sauce, too, was overpowered by the pepper flavors so I really have no idea what it tasted like. Don't get me wrong though. The brat wasn't Super Taco red sauce hot but the other flavors added weren't enough to overpower the spice of the meat.

I wish they'd add a traditional Chicago-style dog to the menu. They have a kosher-beef dog available but they lack most of the toppings (no tomato, no dill wedge, no fluorescent green relish). Still, it's a nice little place for lunch if you need a post-lunch nap.

I Like Ike's

2008-02-11T19:41:00.000-06:00

Being stuck in an airport for a couple of hours with only a Chili's or food court available within reasonable exploring distance is no way to spend that completely free and unredeemable time although that usually is how it winds up for me. C Concourse at MSP is one of the worst for food along with every place in ORD that doesn't have the Billy Goat Tavern (which is in Concourse C).

Last week I found myself with idle time, hunger and a connecting flight right off the main Lindbergh Terminal in Minneapolis. I passed by so many places I hadn't seen before hoping for that big score and was about to give up and turn back when I was standing in front of Ike's Food and Cocktail's, a cavern of dark wood, meat and comfort stark against the bright lights and sterility of the main airport terminal.

I, like many single travelers, took a seat at the bar which was fairly empty at 11:15 but it soon filled up with more arrivals. The menu is a scattershot of classic American food with some appealing quirks like the prepared-at-your-table guacamole and tapas-like "little plates." The meat of the operation is the glass-enclosed carving station at the front of the restaurant within view of passerbys in which a man decked out in classic chef's garb slices off chunks of prime rib and turkey and pork for the sandwiches that are so popular there.

The bartender was quick to take my order but seemed disappointed that I didn't want to see the wine list but come on, it's Monday before noon and I still have to drive two hours once I reach my final destination. At this point in my travels (Monday lunch) I was fully intending on maintaining a healthy diet all week (not so successful as you'll see later) so I ended up ordering the ahi tuna sandwich. The tuna was done perfectly, meaning not at all except for some searing on either side. Most times when I order a tuna steak, even if I say "rare," it comes out dry and flaky. This piece of tuna was one of the best I've had in awhile; soft, buttery and moist. I slathered it in wasabi and even as I was enviously eyeing the plates of my fellow diners who had ordered Thanksgiving dinner (a huge plate of turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy) for lunch on a February Monday, I didn't regret my choice.

If you find yourself stuck at MSP waiting for awhile to get on to where you're ultimately going (and cursing Northwest for the last time as you've sworn never to fly them again), stop in to Ike's. If you're coming home and don't have anymore obligations that day, definitely check out their wine list.

And now...

2008-02-03T17:09:00.000-06:00

I have a couple more reviews of places I've been to recently in the works but I'm going to be in northern Wisconsin trying to find something for dinner other than bratwurst until Friday.

I'm wondering if anyone has an answer to a question that's been bugging me for awhile now. Why doesn't Lincoln or Omaha have a churrascaria restaurant? I've seen Brazilian steakhouses in cities smaller than Lincoln and they're huge hits. Who (except for vegetarians) wouldn't like an eat-meat-til-you-can't-move experience of beef tenderloin, pork loin, ribs, lamb chops, chicken and sausage, especially here in Nebraska?

In that same vein, why doesn't Lincoln or Omaha have an Ethiopian restaurant? I guess I've been to a Sudanese place in Omaha that serves similar fare but it's more of a neighborhood hangout that serves the Ethiopian-style fare alongside the ubiquitous kebabs and gyros.

Dim Sum!!

2008-02-03T15:13:00.000-06:00

A couple of friends and I decided to try the new dim sum offerings at Peking Palace for Sunday brunch today. We're all big fans of assorted Chinese dumplings served in little steamer baskets but the closest place to get dim sum until now has been Kansas City. I think after today this might become a regular Sunday brunch thing.

What was the name of the golf-themed sports bar that used to be in this building on the south side of 83rd & O? Knickers? Well, the oddly rasta-influenced colors of Knickers still decorate the facade but just trust me that there's a really good Chinese restaurant (a Lincoln oxymoron) in there .

We arrived around 11:30 and the place was about half-full. We got seated in a raised area which appeared to be a detriment since the dim sum cart can't climb stairs but I think it was better for all of us in the end. We could only get two or three items at a time instead of grabbing everything off the cart at once. Since we had to wait a little longer none of us got grotesquely full but just pleasantly overfed. Of course, this might have a little to do with the fact that staff seemed a little short. By 12:30 they were running out of things and I think they were supposed to be serving dim sum until 3:00. I felt bad for some of the late arrivals but we were happy and full by 1:00.

Now the food. We grabbed three things right off the bat - Shaomai (wonderful little pork dumplings) , Lo mai gai (sticky rice stuffed with meat and mushrooms and steamed in banana leaves) and a little cup of Chinese beef stew which I first saw made on the original Iron Chef years ago. The pork dumplings were a huge hit and I really liked the lo mai gai. The beef stew was just as I imagined; a rich beef broth with chunks of tender brisket and tendon (which looked really tough but just melted in my mouth) and potatoes delicately flavored with star anise and ginger.

We also had fun guo - little dumplings of pork, shrimp (our server said "assorted meats"), peanuts and mushrooms; har gao - very simple shrimp dumplings; and char siu baau - BBQ pork cooked inside light fluffy cake-like buns.

Of course, we were content to sit and sip tea while we waited for more food to come around. We had some battered and fried shrimp balls and some shrimp balls with no coating at all. There was also a mysterious green-tinged dumpling that I can't seem to find anywhere on-line that was stuffed with shrimp, fish and mushrooms. I'm sure I'm missing something. I wish I would have tried the chicken feet. Maybe next time.

For dessert we each had one of those golf-ball sized hunks of sesame seed coated dough stuffed with some kind of fruit paste that taste like they must each be worth about 1000 calories.

If you go, don't let the sullen attitude of Jason, the 12-year old host and cashier, get you down. Just give him some grief back and it'll be more fun.

D'Leon's

2008-01-26T21:44:00.000-06:00

D'Leon's has been a Lincoln establishment for several years now, going from their West O late-night drive-thru location to stores on N. 27th, S. 14th near SW high school and N. 48th in the old Taco John's building.

I've picked up drive thru food at the N. 27th location a few times over the years and always found myself thinking that the drive thru might be good for people at 3 am on West O but for people used to driving thru a McDonald's or Wendy's and getting their food in 5 minutes or less, especially during a lunch hour, this wasn't the way to go.

I went at least two years without going to D'Leon's at all. I had become a Mexican food snob and D'Leon's couldn't serve me little tacos with various kinds of pork, chicken and beef served with lime wedges and radish slices like Super Taco, La Mexicana and El Chaparro could. I'd written off D'Leon's as a Mexican restaurant trying to be a more authentic Amigo's.

Working in the SW quadrant of the city eventually led me to the D'Leon's store off 14th and Pine Lake behind the Popeye's. I don't eat out for lunch very often but when I do I try to avoid the places my co-workers visit on a disturbingly frequent basis (Chipotle, Noodles & Co., Popeye's, Red Robin and Famous Dave's). I'm definitely not saying the food at D'Leon's is any healthier than the food at the chains because it is most definitely not but as a once every couple of weeks treat, it feels better.

When I hit D'Leon's for lunch I always time it to be either before or after the LSW lunch rush but even then at 11 am or 1 pm there are plenty of people there. I don't mind waiting 10 minutes for my food when I go in like I would if I were in the drive-thru. A lot of that care-free time is no matter attitude is because of the salsa bar.

The salsa bar has three different salsas; a fiercely hot orange smoky sauce, a mellow green jalapeno based sauce and a hybrid of the two. What's best about the salsa bar is the whole roasted jalapenos, the onion-radish relish soaked in vinegar with peppers, the lime wedges, the radish slices and the hot carrots. There's practically enough garnish and sauce there to make a meal in itself.

I usually accompany my salsa-bar selections with the five rolled fish tacos special for $3.99. You get 5 taquito-like rolls filled with white fish and then covered in lettuce, queso blanco and the most wonderful white sauce you've ever had. It's not mayo and it's not tartar sauce. I'm not sure what it is exactly but it makes everything taste better.

I also recently had the nachos which were priced equally with the classic Taco Inn nachos but were so much better it seemed ridiculous I'd worshiped the Taco Inn nachos for so long. First, they were topped with real chunks of steak that had a flavor I'd never seen from nacho meat before. The chips were made of corn rather than flour and they were crispy as if they'd just come out of the fryer. The whole thing was laced with subtly spice guacamole, sour cream and more cheese, onions and refried beans.

I've definitely come around on D'Leon's from a few years ago although I wonder how the salsa bar looks at the other locations because that is a key.

Sam & Louie's New York Pizzeria

2008-01-26T15:23:00.000-06:00

I hadn't intended to have my review follow so closely on the heels of Korbelik's biographical feature on the restaurant's owners but I was out of town the week after it opened and didn't get there until now. Le Korb's feature did spur me to head down to Sam & Louie's at 1501 Pine Lake Road (that strip mall with the Zesto, Subway and Juice Stop) on Friday during my lunch hour.

The first thing that struck me is how dark the place is. Pulling up outside I was wondering if it was closed. There were no lights in the windows and even upon walking in I got the impression I was interrupting a work in progress. The place is cavernous, broken up by a fake brick wall that bisects the restaurant, and the dim bulbs hanging from the ceiling don't do much to cut through the vast space.

The menu is huge for a pizza place. In addition to the pies you can get ten different salads, stromboli, calzones, pasta, sandwiches, burgers and a number of appetizers. Since this is supposed to be a New York pizzeria I ignored all the menu filler and ordered two 1-topping slices and a drink, one of the lunch specials ($5.99). How a pizza should be judged starts with the crust so I got one slice with only cheese and one with Italian sausage.

The slices came out in about 10 minutes which meant they baked each slice separately which usually means they won't be as floppy as they should be. I suppose if they limited their menu a bit they could have ready-made pies of all the popular toppings but people in South Lincoln like their variety as long as it comes from a fast casual restaurant. With that in mind, I was impressed that the slices didn't have that all-around, half-burnt crispiness that Yia-Yia's slices usually do.

The slices, as Le Korb mentioned, weren't really foldable although I don't think that had quite as much to do with the size as with the fact that the outer crust was too thick and almost brick-like. The slices were pretty big and the crust beneath gave little support, which is a good thing. Despite the floppiness of the crust there was a nice crunch to each bite which is what a good thin-crust pizza should strive to achieve. It's almost a paradox , really, but it's the greatest achievement in pizza making. A thin, floppy crust that is still crispy.

I don't know how well that thin crust would hold up to some of the multi-topping specialty pizzas they sell but none of them boast a huge amount of toppings. The Thai Pie has a spicy peanut sauce base with red peppers, broccoli and chicken or steak. The BBQ Chicken has BBQ sauce, bacon (it's a little pet-peeve of mine when a menu says "smoked bacon" since by definition bacon is almost always smoked. If not, it would be pancetta), cheddar, chicken, bell peppers and mozzarella. There are many pizzas like this which takes away from my impression of the restaurant as a New York pizzeria. I'll have to try a few to be sure but it seems like there is too much to do everything well, especially when you consider the burgers and sandwiches on the menu as well.

I scoped out the beer selection just to see if they offered more than Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Busch Light, and they did although I recoiled a little bit when I saw they had "Git-R-Done Light Lager" on tap alongside the standard light beer, the ubiquitous Boulevard Wheat and an Empyrean offering. The retired couple in line ahead of me ordered margaritas with their 11:30 lunch.

In the end the pizza was definitely worth eating since there aren't really any other places like it in Lincoln. However, I'm not sure it'll be a place I go for lunch very often as I don't consider spending $6 for two slices of pizza to be worth my money except on very rare occasions. There are about a dozen Sam & Louie's locations in Omaha and I'd never even heard of it until I saw the storefront on Pine Lake in November. When I eat pizza in Omaha it tends to be Zio's. Speaking of, I heard a rumor at least a year ago that Zio's was looking to expand into Lincoln. Was that just my imagination?

Anybody listening?

2008-01-21T20:20:00.000-06:00

I think I'm ready to start doing this again. I had originally intended to spiff the place up with a new address and design but I just don't have the time for that right now so the easy Blogger will have to suffice.

I haven't eaten much in Lincoln lately although a couple weeks ago I made a long overdue trip back to Super Taco and had the Peacock lunch buffet on New Year's Eve. Last week I ate a lot of food in and around Philadelphia. There were a few places that made an impression.

I had lunch on Wednesday at Fioravanti's in Downingtown, PA. It's a small byob bistro with a Zagat rating and a fiercely loyal clientele. For lunch I had a bowl of the seafood chowder (shrimp, clams, crab and a silky smooth sinful cream broth). At this point in the trip it was the best creamy seafood soup I'd ever had but that was eclipsed later. I followed it with a salad of asparagus, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, shrimp and greens.

The night I arrived in the area I went out driving like a normally do, just to get a feel. I was getting hungry and wasn't seeing anything that grabbed me. Then I turned into a mall parking lot and drove by all the storefronts and saw Devi which turned out to be a completely vegetarian south Indian restaurant. Many of the dishes on the menu were unfamiliar although I've seen a few on the lunch buffet at The Peacock in south Lincoln.

I ordered a bowl of rasam, a very spicy and sour soup with lots of black mustard and coriander seeds topped with one of the lightest, crispiest papads I've ever had. I wanted to try as much as I could so I got the appetizer sampler to go with it. It came with one big vada (a deep-fried lentil donut), an idly (a big ground rice cake, also deep-fried), a vegetable cutlet (cauliflower, potato and onion, ground with spices, battered and deep-fried), a standard samosa, and a bunch of cabbage, cauliflower and onion pakora. It was like what one would order in a Indian sports bar while watching an interminable cricket match. The best part was the sauces. In Lincoln you get one kind of chutney, the standard mint-jalapeno yogurt mixture. I got that but the appetizer platter also came with coconut chutney, tamarind chutney, onion-mango chutney, tomato chutney and a small cup of sambar. I wanted to try more on the menu but the appetizer plate and soup filled me to bursting. I intended to go back but wound up driving to Atlantic City on Wednesday night and couldn't leave without eating the stupid Trump Taj Mahal buffet.

Thursday was the best all around food day I had in suburban Philly. For lunch I hit the The Blue Cafe which was next door to a natural foods grocery. The Blue Cafe is a sort of hip coffee place that serves food you'd expect at a place like the old Crane River. I had an amazing bowl of crab chowder with big chunks of crab, not just little shreds. It was perfect with a few generous dashes of tabasco. I followed that with a greek salad with grilled shrimp added. The kitchen somehow forgot to put feta on my salad so I had to send it back but once it returned it was great. I was amazed at how many shrimp were on the salad for an extra two bucks.

That night I headed up to Ludwig's Inn and Oyster Bar, originally established as an "eating house" some time in the 1840's. I went because on Thursday nights they have freshly shucked oysters on the half-shell for a buck each. It was only five minutes from my hotel on most nights but Thursday afternoon was the first measurable snowfall in the Philly area. Once I got on the highway there was no way to turn around as it was bumper to bumper and no exits for miles. It took me a good 90 minutes to get there. The culprit was a big hill that a number of cars couldn't make it to the top of.

I wound up having 18 oysters of various types. Some were big and plump and sweet, some were small and salty, some were medium, sweet and a little salty. I found myself wishing I knew more about the different types of oysters found on the East Coast from South Carolina to Newfoundland. Since 18 oysters are only worth about 180 calories I also got the 3 soup sampler, a 6-ounce serving each of crab bisque, lobster bisque and Philadelphia-style snapper soup. The lobster bisque was absolutely amazing. Perfect creaminess and almost too sweet but not quite. The snapper soup had the look and consistency of chili but was unlike anything I've had. I'm still unclear on whether it was made with turtles or red snapper since the server told me red snapper but the internet tells me turtle. It was served with a shaker of what looked like vinegar but a quick taste told me it was sherry. Apparently you're supposed to shake a bunch of sherry into your snapper soup. It definitely enhanced the flavor of the soup but I had a gross sherry aftertaste for the rest of the night.

New Update

2007-07-22T03:38:00.000-05:00

I'm entertaining the idea of relaunching this blog soon at a different domain when I have the time which won't be until late August at least. It will probably also include some eatin' outside of Lincoln since I'm traveling a lot for work and I'd like to be able to help people from around here find good food when they're on the road for vacation or work.

Update

2006-11-26T19:28:00.000-06:00

If you haven't guessed, this blog is closed. I'm bartending part-time at a local restaurant and I don't think it would be ethical for me to review other restaurants at the same time. Thanks for reading and remember, there is good food in Lincoln, you just have to be willing to try something new every once in awhile.

Non-Food Post

2006-08-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

Through a link to this blog the other night I came across a blog by a Nebraska and UNL grad national guardsman currently in Iraq - Half a World Away. He found this blog by searching for Don and Millie's (home of the best double cheeseburger in Lincoln, at least) because he used to work there.

I'm pointing this out on a food blog because his writing is very entertaining and gives a nice look into what Nebraskans are doing over there right now. I'm not going to comment on any political issues because this isn't the place and he doesn't get into that much either even if he could.

Planet Sub

2006-08-30T22:47:00.000-05:00

When Planet Sub (Flash Warning) opened downtown next to BW3, The Coffee House and Bison Witches, the initial reaction from the lunch crowd was that it took way too long. Stories of 30 minute waits (at least) were common. Even a month after they opened a co-worker went there for lunch and got the last sandwich before they ran out of bread.

Well, I've still never been to Planet Sub for lunch but I've been there several times in the evening in the last couple of months and it's been terrific every time. So far I've had a Pesto Bello Combo, Buffalo Chicken, Yellow Sub, Pastrami Melt, and Turkey Club and they've all been some of the best sandwiches I've had outside of M & N Sandwich Shop and Manhattan Deli's Rachel (a pastrami Reuben). Plus, Planet Sub has daily $3 specials, $1 off coupons on their website, and late night specials for people looking for an alternative to gyros, Wiener Envy, Lazzaris or Amigos after the bars close.

As far as the sandwiches go, the Pesto Bello Combo was delicious but very sloppy. The toppings include Cheddar, Mozzarella, Roasted Portobello Mushrooms, Fresh Red Peppers, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Tomato-Garlic Pesto and then you can add two meats. I chose Italian Sausage and spicy Capicola. With that much on the sandwich, it's going to be defiantly sloppy and that should be expected. The Buffalo Chicken was much better than other Buffalo flavored chicken sandwiches I've had elsewhere. I had the Pastrami Melt last weekend and it totally hit the spot and several places on my shirt as well. I'd like to see them replace the pepperjack with Swiss on that sandwich though.

So, I like it a lot but I haven't tried to eat there for lunch. Does anyone have any insights about Planet Sub's lunch service?

El Rincon

2006-08-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

There are more authentic taco joints opening in Lincoln than a person can keep up with anymore. I noticed El Rincon on the way back home after the first day of the bar exam and decided I'd try it after the second day as a reward.

Inside it's pretty stark. The burger-dressing counter from the old Sam's Gutbombs is still there covered by a tablecloth though. I walked up to the counter to order and was invited to sit down so someone could take my order. That threw me for a loop because in most of the simple taquerias - Super Taco, Tacos del Pueblo, El Chaparro, El Comal, etc. - you order at the counter. It didn't make much of a difference though, since I ended up waiting for my food about the same amount of time at El Rincon.

The menu is very similar to the abovementioned restaurants but a little bit simpler. The basics are there - tacos, burritos, tortas, combo platters - but not much else which is fine for a place like this. One thing I did find intriguing, though I did not order it, was the option of having a chile relleno taco or torta. Maybe next time. I ended up getting what I usually order at a new taqueria which was a selection of tacos. At $1.25 each they were a pretty good value as they were noticeably heavier on the meat than the tacos at similar places. I ordered one each of chorizo, carne asada and carnitas. Lengua, pollo and cabeza were also available the day I was there.

Starting with the best, the carne asada was fresh, hot and juicy. Probably some of the best carne asada I've had on a taco in Lincoln. Oddly, it was topped with lettuce and tomato while the other two tacos had the standard cilantro and onion topping. The chorizo was flavorful but the texture was a little softer than I like; the meat was looser than I'm used to. Finally, the carnitas was in bigger chunks than you usually find which allowed the crispiness of the pork to be more noticeable. However, the meat was a bit too dry.

Hot sauces were served in squeezeable bottles. The salsa verde was very heavy on tomatillo and jalapeno and spicy but not too spicy. The salsa roja was very smoky, tinged perhaps with the Mexican smoked paprika I like so much, slightly spicier than the green sauce but again, not too spicy. Hot sauce passionistas will not be blown away.

I was also served a basket of hot from the oil corn chips and a bowl of salsa while I waited for my food. The chips were great but the salsa was a real disappointment. It was very fresh but about the only thing I could taste was tomato along with cilantro. Definitely ask for the hot sauce bottles to spice up the chip salsa.

A secretary where I work is from Mexico and she seems to know everybody who runs a Mexican restaurant in town and has an opinion on their food as well. El Rincon is not high on her list. She placed it below all the restaurants I've mentioned here and singled out the carne asada for particular criticism which definitely differed from my experience. It seems consistency might be a problem at El Rincon. Given they've only been open since early July that's understandable. Still, El Rincon is a nice addition to Lincoln's growing selection of taquerias, especially given it's location.

El Rincon
2100 N 48th St, Lincoln, 68504

Back! Get it?

2006-08-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

Now that the bar exam and the requisite recovery period are over it's time to get back to writing about eating. I'd like to thank people for not abandoning us during the prolonged absence. Gunscribe and shells even left comments on what appeared to be another of the 1,000,000 dead blogs clogging the Stevens pipes.

In fact, site traffic seems just a tad higher now than it was two months ago. Maybe I should stop blogging completely and cover the page with ads.

Friday afternoon I'll have a short review of El Rincon, the latest entry in Lincoln's growing taqueria population. I finally ate at Doughboyz during the dead period and I'll have a few words about them too. Short preview: pizza - great; menu and atmosphere - not so much. There are a few others rattling around, too, but I'll have to get Sarah to help me refresh my memory since it is still clogged with legal minutia that will slowly trickle away.

Fast Food on the Road

2006-05-25T17:18:00.000-05:00

NY Times food critic Frank Bruni recently took an 8-day drive across the country eating only from drive-thrus and only in his car.

Until I hit an In-N-Out Burger in Torrance, Calif., on the eighth day of my trek, all of my fast food was consumed, as fast food often is, in the car, which smelled worse and worse as the trip went on and on. Like an obtuse houseguest or a Supreme Court justice, the scent of a White Castle slider lingers.

While he skipped the midwest instead opting for a tour through the southwest, probably just so he could get a Whattaburger, it's a pretty entertaining read. He did rate a burger he had at a Culver's in Dallas as one of the top ten meals on his trip. He also discovered what the real fried potato connoisseurs already know, the Sonic tater tot and McDonald's hash brown are the best in their respective meal categories..

The fries at Hardee's were better — crisper, more substantial in feel and taste — than the fries at McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and Jack in the Box.
But the tots at Sonic, a chain prevalent in the South, were the sultans of spuds. Since all of these potato variants are about exterior crackle, not interior vegetable, the tot configuration, with more crests and buttes and ridges, won the day.

The runner-up, for much the same reason: McDonald's hash browns, sculptured by unseen Michelangelos of fast food into what is essentially one mammoth, oblong, scrumptious tot.

It's an entertaining read and sounds like fun for a day or so.

Hot Beef in Lincoln

2006-05-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

Harold’s Pantry (nee The Pantry)
v. Fred & Ruby’s Grill

Hot Beef Plate

By Jack Jackson

I hadn’t eaten at the Pantry at the Van Dorn Plaza in years, and that’s no exaggeration. It must’ve been at least fifteen years ago when I had eaten there last, probably with several family members who are now no longer on this planet.

From what I remembered, nothing much has changed. Harold’s Pantry is still a place for old white people, much like a Cracker Barrel. There were several elderly people eating peacefully, slumping from irretrievable calcium deficiency, hunching over their plates of food, depicting a very real memento mori.

But apart from this somewhat depressing gerontological atmosphere, the place is very clean, the service is very friendly, and it’s quite nice to eat there. I ordered the hot beef platter, which is oddly enough served on Tuesdays across the street at Fred & Ruby’s Grill in the Parkway Lanes. Both are excellent.

There are many similarities in the two hot beef plates: open-faced slices of Wonder Bread-styled white bread, then thin and lean real rump roast beef, add a decent scoop of real mashed potatoes, and cover it all with beef gravy. Normally I don’t like Wonder Bread-styled white bread, but it is somehow the perfect type of bread for this old standard.
The differences are that you usually get a small helping of corn on the side at Fred & Ruby’s grill, and the gravy at Fred and Ruby’s is clearer, most likely thickened with corn starch instead of flour. Both taste just fine, though.

So if you’re in the neighborhood and in the mood for a hot beef platter (add a tossed salad at Harold’s Pantry, too) [Maybe a smoothie, too?—Eds.], you really can’t go wrong at Harold’s Pantry or at Fred & Ruby’s Grill. Just remember that the hot beef platter is only served on Tuesdays at Fred & Ruby’s.

Jerusalen Bakery and Restaurant

2006-05-23T19:25:00.000-05:00

I woke up Sunday morning (okay, well, early afternoon) with a hankering for empanada's. It's been too long since I'd tasted that delicious little pie at Julia's Empanadas in DC. Steve had heard that a place over by N Street Drive In had cheap empanadas, so off we went.

Long story short, Jerusalen Bakery and Restaurant ended up being much better and much worse than I expected. Better: the empanadas are only 2 for a dollar. Worse: they didn't have any empanadas at the restaurant that day. Better: the bakery in the back actually had empanadas. Worse: they only flavors they had were pineapple and pumpkin.

Steve ordered the chicken tekka, which he found underwhelming: the poor man's version of Ali Baba's Greek chicken.

I got the grilled steak lunch, which was just... nasty.

Considering we went there on a Sunday, we don't feel like we got the real experience and we kind of want to go back. The food was made right in front of us by a very nice woman. They had a cool grocery store and bakery right there as well. Basically, we're looking for someone to redeem this place for us. If you've been there, leave a comment and shed a little light for us.

Christo's Pub

2006-05-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

Gary goes to the beautiful old Norwest building and eats lunch (and channels Jack Jackson).

I took a friend of mine out for his birthday lunch on Friday. He chose Christo's Pub (formerly BC's or something like that) at 12th and O streets. This was a very nice looking restaurant and it looks like it may have potential, although the kitchen must be incredibly small.

The poor waitress was forced to serve every table in the place by herself, in addition to serving as the bartender and ringing out paying customers. Words cannot convey how understaffed they were for lunch. Our waitress performed admirably under these conditions but the food was slow to arrive to the table.

I ordered a cheeseburger. The cheese was barely there on this large pre-formed patty that was not at all good and not at all recommended. Bland taste and no seasonings. I requested ketchup and received a condiment cup of it rather than a bottle for the whole table. I asked for mustard but they were out of mustard. The bun was a fresh roll, something that is, unfortunately, a rarity in many Lincoln restuarants.

This is not a place I will return to, which is too bad. It's a great location and a beautiful setting. They just appear to be mismanaged. The people who were there and working were great, there just weren't enough of them. Whoever purchases for the kitchen, go with homemade hamburger patties. The preformed patties are awful, even though they are huge. Give those employees who worked last Friday a raise, they deserve it for not caving in under the pressure they faced.

Recipe-- Frittata

2006-05-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

Frittata

The Frittata is a great way to use leftovers and feed yourself at 4 am

Ingredients:
1-2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small onion, diced
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of diced vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, bell peppers, green onion, artichoke hearts, spinach...)
1/2 cup diced meat (ham, bacon, sausage...)-- OPTIONAL
1/4 cup diced fresh dill-- OPTIONAL
8 eggs, lightly beaten with 1/4 cup water
1 cup shredded cheese

Put oven on broil. Heat a cast iron skillet with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil. Add onions and cook until golden brown. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add other veggies and cook until soft. Add meat. Spread mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan and pour egg mixture over the top. Cook for a few minutes until the bottom starts to set. Put under broiler and watch carefully until the top is just starting to set. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and watch until cheese is starting to get golden and bubbly. Take out and let sit for about 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and enjoy.

Late night food

2006-05-07T04:26:00.000-05:00

It's after 4 a.m. and I'm about ready to hit the sack without food, but a very fresh Google search that hit this site was wondering about food in Lincoln after 3 a.m. I can think of the Hiway Diner and it's smoking bus...er, Freedom Flyer, but other than that I suggest cruising by a 24-hour grocery store and grabbing some eggs, onions, cheese and as many other veggies as you find palatable and making a frittata. If you can't wait for some great home-cooked egginess, there's alway the 24-hour McDonald's drive-thru or D'Leon's.

Other suggestions?

Vote

2006-05-05T06:48:00.000-05:00

I let the nomination process run a couple of extra days because there are only about 5 or 6 categories that have multiple nominations for more than one restaurant. This was the easiest category to tabulate. The rest will be posted later.

&amp;lt;a&gt;Take the poll&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a&gt;Free Poll by Blog Flux&lt;/a&gt;

&amp;lt;a&gt;Take the poll&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a&gt;Free Poll by Blog Flux&lt;/a&gt;

Take the poll

Free Poll by Blog Flux

Take the poll

Free Poll by Blog Flux

Take the poll

Free Poll by Blog Flux

Take the poll

Free Poll by Blog Flux

Kabuki

2006-05-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

When Kabuki first opened, I was elated. A sushi bar? Five minutes from our house? !Vive maguro! Unfortunately, the place was dead, the service sucked, the drinks were WAY overpriced, and the sushi was mediocre at best. Since then, I've been getting my sushi fixes on vacations to larger, more water adjacent cities (with a few trips to Shogun and Wasabi here and there to supplement).

Since that time, we've heard enough scuttlebutt about how good they are to give them a second chance. So last night Steve and I headed over there to celebrate his final, er... final of law school. When we walked in, everything seemed eerily familiar: the cool driftwood decorations, the dirty fishtank, and the sparse staff and even more sparse clientele.

We decided to sit at the bar so we wouldn't be awash in a sea of empty tables.

We ordered a nice selection of items: squid tempura, cucumber, tuna, and shitake mushroom rolls; and albacore, yellowtail, and saltwater eel nagiri. Steve got a Buddha, which was, as Jackson would call it, a boozy mess. I was actually almost done with my beer by the time Steve recieved his well-deserved Buddha, because the only guy in the place who knew how to make them busy making food in the back. We waited for our food after the Buddha arrived as well, but we passed the time by watching the sushi chef work.

When we finally got our sushi we were surprised. We had been watching the chef fill up one of those big wooden boats with a beautiful assortment of nagiri and rolls, but we assumed it was for someone else, since we hadn't ordered that much (or so we thought).

Long story short, the sushi was fantastic. I contend that all the fish in Lincoln is pretty much the same (they get their fish from the same place), so the way to judge a sushi restaurant is their rice. After all, doesn't the word "sushi" mean "seasoned rice"? The rice is what makes or breaks the meal for me-- that's why I don't like the sushi at Chinese buffets, that's why I don't like the attempts at sushi I've tried at home, and that's why Marz has the worst sushi I've ever tasted. It had the right balance of salty, sweet, and vinegary flavors; it wasn't crunchy or mushy; it wasn't too skicky; it was really the perfect sushi rice. Whoever makes it is a talented person. Bra-vo.

I see myself eating lots more sushi from Kabuki in the future... but I'll probably get take-out.