Omaha: The French Cafe

So, here I am in Omaha and have discovered that its a beautiful city with some great green spaces downtown and wonderful sculpture [I am particularly fond of the herd of bison and flock of geese: http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/52978517.html]and interesting architechure. Who knew! And, an area called Old Market that is about three blocks of restaurants and clubs in the old market area that was alive with people on a beautiful summer evening. Among all of the this is The French Cafe, a real find of a French bistro in an old brick warehouse. Nice bar space, large dining room and a cool patio as well.

And on to the food. I started with Coquilles St Jacques which was described as seared scallops in a tarragon cream sauce with crimimi mushrooms and creme fraiche. Well, maybe. The sauce was flavorful and had a nice consistency, but the 'seared' scallops showed no signs of being near a saute pan, and there weren't many in the dish. The dish was served in the traditional puff pastry case, which was the main problem. The pasty was flaccid [yes, I said flaccid] at best and I discovered the reason: they covered the plate on its way from the kitchen to the table . . . so what probably started out as crisp, got steamed on its journey from the kitchen and the dish was ruined. For the entree I had a really good roast chicken, served on a bed of lentils with a roasted garlic and green peppercorn sauce. The chicken was perfectly cooked, moist and flavorful and I love lentils . . . so it was a good match. The lentils were well cooked as well, not to soft, and the garlic mustard sauce brought everything together. After the entree I had a small salad with a perfect vinaigrette.

This place is know for its mussels and has an entire section of the menu devoted to "les moules" with ten different preparations. I wasn't in the mood for mussels this evening, but saw several orders come out of the kitchen and they looked and smelled very good.

One thing that can elevate the experience is the staff, and in this case Kyle the bartender and Michael the manager were good company and kept the evening enjoyable. Even in the face of a completely drunk and abusive regular . . . arguing over a tab that he walked out on . . . they maintained both their composure and sense of humor. In spite of the misstep with the appetizer puff pastry, this was an enjoyable evening and I will return the next time I'm in Omaha.

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