Continue reading→ Best-ter-est of Omaha Restaurants Award Winners - 2014

The United States is often called the melting pot of the world. Many cultures living together under one roof so to speak. Yet outside of places like Berkeley CA, the diversity in most cities is segregated into little cloisters. Out of these enclaves come neighborhoods that get labels like Chinatown, Little Italy and Spanish Harlem. And of course in each of those, you'll often find the best of that region's cuisine.

24th Street - Omaha, NE

In Omaha, 24th street not only connects South Omaha to North Omaha, but it also connects many cuisines to one another. You can take a culinary tour around the world by starting at one and working your way towards the other. And that's what we did.

With the company of Paul Kulik (Executive Chef; The Boiler Room) and Nick Strawhecker (Executive Chef; Dante Pizzeria Napoletana), we started just South of the South Omaha Main Street Historic District and ate our way up past the Near North side. We sampled Mexican, Thai, Ethiopian, Barbecue and Soul Food with some good old Midwestern fried carp and beef jerky thrown in for good measure - all in about 4 hours.

For some people, wandering into a random ethnic restaurant and ordering something unfamiliar is a bit terrifying. I'm here to tell you to just let go; don't be afraid. If need be, ask for help. As long as you avoid your allergens, nothing is likely to kill you. And if it tastes gross, so what. It's just food. Order something else. The point is you don't have to travel to eat exotic foods. My bet is that there's something on a menu in town that you've never had before. It could be something as simple as a Mexican mole to something as exotic as bird's nest soup. Just get out there and explore what your city has to offer.

Continue reading→ Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Around the World in 80 Blocks

About a week ago I was contacted by the producers of "Food Wars" on The Travel Channel. They wanted to do an episode in Omaha and considered focusing on either The Reuben Sandwich, or steak. Though the steak won, it piqued my interest tremendously to determine what happened to the rich heritage of the famous sandwich and who claimed the crown from the Blackstone Hotel (purportedly the origin of the Reuben Sandwich) for having the best in Omaha. [Side Note: This *will* be a category in next year's Best-ter-est of Omaha Awards.]

I'm not sure there's a clear answer for who the successor is. Our poll was very inconclusive, however, when combined with the data from Yelp, UrbanSpoon and other resources, it looks like The Crescent Moon might have the best Reuben Sandwich in Omaha. At least as far as restaurants go...

While doing my research, I stumbled across a thing of beauty. Thick, moist, tender looking corned beef atop a dark rye bread and a nice line of sauerkraut across the top. To make things even better, there was a story behind the photo. The grandmother of the person making this work of art claimed to be the sister of a waitress who worked at the Blackstone Hotel! And to do one better, her sister: Fern Snider; the lady who can probably be credited for bringing national attention to the sandwich. Anyway, you can read Shannon's grandmother in his own words on Flickr.

I also asked Shannon if I could re-publish his photo and recipe to share here. His recipe is really more of some guiding principles, so I've condensed/paraphrased it a bit, but you can always check out his original instructions to check my accuracy. If you're a Flickr member, take some time to thank him over there.

Continue reading→ RECIPE: Omaha Reuben Sandwich