Adventures in Food: Local
I love food. I seriously love food. It gets me in trouble sometimes when my clothing stops fitting. But, I love food. As a part of this, I also love trying new things and new places in my adventures with food. The people around me know this and last week I posted this article from the New York Times about the food scene in my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Someone mentioned that I should give advise on local restaurants for people to try out. I thought that was a fantastic idea. This is my first installment of, "Adventures in Food." Guaranteed to be a guide to my favorite places to eat - no chain restaurants allowed!
My second trip was with my husband and friend, Debbie. This time we ordered the fried cheese curds to start with, my stomach thanked me. Then, since I was already going down the low cholesterol path, I ordered the grilled cheese and added the bacon jam, because, you know, I needed to make sure I had my protein. While I am very partial to my husband's bacon jam recipe, this one was also quite tasty and a great compliment to the good old fashioned american cheese delicacy. I will say - the trick to a great grilled cheese is not necessarily in the amount of cheese or combination of cheeses, but in the way the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. I found this to be a perfect representation of how to do grilled cheese right. Of course, this came with a side of delicious and harmonious frots.
My latest (definitely not my last) trip was with my friend Debbie again. She arrived before me and practically forced the light and crispy fried cheese curds down my throat. I decided that even though I wanted to get the grilled cheese again - I would get their classic Local Burger. This is a simple burger made out of Nebraska beef, cooked to the chef's recommendation of medium (please, please, ALWAYS cook your meat to the chef's suggestion), served with your choice of cheese (I chose gouda... because it's so good-a) on a brioche bun. There is something so satisfying about a simple burger, made without a lot of fuss. And served with those perfect frots.
All in all, Local is now on my lunchtime rotation. Everything I have tried there was delicious. The atmosphere is relaxing and not too fussy, much like the food. If I make it there on a weekend or evening I will need to try out their bar features. While I am not much of a beer drinker, their draft beer menu features selections from 18 different breweries in the area, and each menu item has a drink pairing recommendation. From what I hear, their Sunday brunch is just as wonderful!
Located just east of 10th Street right on Dodge Street, this is a great lunch place for all you downtown workers and a great hangout for events going on at Century Link and TD Ameritrade. Check it out!
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I have now taken three trips to this restaurant since they opened their doors on May 1, 2015. And what I can say is that Chef Ryan Kingkade likes food *almost* as much as I do and has a lot of fun with it! I like a chef who knows that food is not to be taken too seriously.
My first trip, I asked my waitress what she would recommend and after rejecting her first choice (B.P.L.T. - the P is for Pastami and I'm just not a fan in general), I went with her second choice of Fish and Frots! Frots are when french fries and tater tots put aside their differences and the consumer is all the more lucky for it. The fish was perfect. Not too much breading, a good chunk of Cod and not too greasy. Quite tasty! I ended this first trip by hitting up the giant Connect 4 games on the wall and claiming a victory against my friend, Dave from Secret Penguin, the company who did the branding for this industrial, modern, and rustic space. They also came up with the idea of having a post card mailing service - just fill out one of the postcards provided at every table (blank or mad-lib style) and drop in the mailbox at the door on your way out and your postcard is delivered to your recipient of choice.
My second trip was with my husband and friend, Debbie. This time we ordered the fried cheese curds to start with, my stomach thanked me. Then, since I was already going down the low cholesterol path, I ordered the grilled cheese and added the bacon jam, because, you know, I needed to make sure I had my protein. While I am very partial to my husband's bacon jam recipe, this one was also quite tasty and a great compliment to the good old fashioned american cheese delicacy. I will say - the trick to a great grilled cheese is not necessarily in the amount of cheese or combination of cheeses, but in the way the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. I found this to be a perfect representation of how to do grilled cheese right. Of course, this came with a side of delicious and harmonious frots.My latest (definitely not my last) trip was with my friend Debbie again. She arrived before me and practically forced the light and crispy fried cheese curds down my throat. I decided that even though I wanted to get the grilled cheese again - I would get their classic Local Burger. This is a simple burger made out of Nebraska beef, cooked to the chef's recommendation of medium (please, please, ALWAYS cook your meat to the chef's suggestion), served with your choice of cheese (I chose gouda... because it's so good-a) on a brioche bun. There is something so satisfying about a simple burger, made without a lot of fuss. And served with those perfect frots.
All in all, Local is now on my lunchtime rotation. Everything I have tried there was delicious. The atmosphere is relaxing and not too fussy, much like the food. If I make it there on a weekend or evening I will need to try out their bar features. While I am not much of a beer drinker, their draft beer menu features selections from 18 different breweries in the area, and each menu item has a drink pairing recommendation. From what I hear, their Sunday brunch is just as wonderful!
Located just east of 10th Street right on Dodge Street, this is a great lunch place for all you downtown workers and a great hangout for events going on at Century Link and TD Ameritrade. Check it out!
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