The Cup

One thing I love about moving around as much as I do is discovering new favorite places in every city.  A few months ago, while catering the appetizers for a 80th birthday party I was treating to an amazing strawberry cupcake.  It was moist and flavorful without being sticky; the icing was thick and creamy.  The ratio between icing and cake was just right.  The styling was simple and elegant, smooth creamy swirls of icing with just a touch of the strawberry colored cake showing on the edges.  A deep red parchment wrapper to match the pink cake and off white icing.  I've always appreciated it when a chef goes the extra mile with a little detail like color coding the packaging to the food inside.
These cupcakes stuck with me for months.  I constantly had the thought in the back of my mind, if I drive by this shop I will stop in and get a second taste.  However, I've never came across this delicious bakery on my own.  Finally I reached my breaking point and set out on a specific trip to fulfill my carving for these cupcakes.  I learned that I've never found this place on my own because it is in one of Lincoln's more historic areas.  Sweetly nestled inside and old bottle factory covered in lush green Ivy is The Cup.  A bakery / coffee shop / local artist haven / foodie heaven.  My soul was instantly soothed as I stepped out of the muggy Nebraska summer heat into a cool, dimly lit little shop.  The exposed brick walls covered in eccentric prints by local artists, the colored light bulbs that reflected off the high ceilings and most importantly the sweet smell of cake batter and a warm oven.
There were several varieties of goodies for sale in the display case, I skipped over the muffins and cakes and focused solely on my mission, cupcakes.  There were four flavors in the case so I took one of each.  I decided to gift them to my dad as a father's day present, which he was more than pleased to accept.  I did take a vanilla bean strawberry for my own and it did not disappoint.  My memory served me well, these cupcakes are to die for.  Anyone in the Lincoln area looking for a good cup of coffee and a perfectly sized couple bites of deliciousness, The Cup is where you need to be.  Correction, where we need to be.  I would not pass up the opportunity to sample some more flavors from this bakery.

Vanilla Bean with Strawberry Icing

Mocha with Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and Pecans

The Cup

Simple food, fair trade coffee and tea, organic baking

643 South 25th Street #7, Lincoln Ne

402-475-0494

www.thecuplincoln.com

My Top 5

As the new year approaches everyone talks about what they expect or anticipate for the coming year.  I think it's a better idea to focus on the good things from the previous year.  So here are my Top five places to eat in my home town, Lincoln Nebraska for 2010.

1. The Green Gateau- great atmosphere, amazing food, friendly knowledgeable staff, great menu variety.  Overall my best dinning experience this year.

2. The Bread and Cup-  fresh, fresh, fresh.  Simple and basic food, cooked with amazing skill and technique.

3. Ramo's Pub and Pizza- I'm not a pizza person but this place has me coming back time and time again.  The pepperoni and cream cheese pizza is a staple in my junk food diet.

4. Vung Tau- This place doesn't look like much but it is.  Best spring rolls and pho in the area. 

5. James Arthur Vineyards-  Not a large food selection but the view is un-matchable and staff is friendly and helpful.  And the wine helps too. 

The Bread and Cup

I really love living in Lincoln.  I catch a lot of guff for it from my friends in bigger cities.  Sure I miss cities like Chicago with an endless arena of food choices; new chefs and new concepts at every corner.  But there is a huge downside to that. In an over saturated market it can take weeks to find a good (and affordable) spot to eat.  And once you find it you have to keep your fingers crossed that it will still be there the next time you have a craving.  Lincoln, however, is small enough that it isn't hard to find a great spot to eat and if it truly is a great spot its going to stick around.  The Bread and Cup was established in 2007 and is still going strong.  Located in the historic Haymarket district the scene is perfect for the concept of this restaurant.  Located in an old warehouse the entire restaurant is a open concept loft.  As you walk in you see strait into the kitchen, the bread ovens and work spaces are all visible to the dinners.  The dinning room is also very open and inviting.  Off white walls free of clutter, small simple centerpieces and a flickering candle on each table top leave you with nothing to focus on outside of your company and the food. My company was my great friend Amanda and our choice of food was simple.  We started with the house charcuterie plate and we both ordered the fall vegetable risotto.  This was a big step for me because The Bread and Cup is most famous for its soup, and everyone knows how much I love soup.  But the meats for our charcuterie platter were all cured in house which sparked my interested and risotto is a dish that I just don't have the strength to turn down.  The charcuterie plate gets a 4 out of 5 stars.  We got a three meat selection and the house made sausage was a little on the waxy side however the prosciutto was divine.  It was silky smooth and melted in my mouth.  The sampler also came with a wonderfully chewy loaf of bread and a honey mustard sauce that Amanda loves so much she would probably eat it with a spoon.  In other reviews I've read for the restaurant I've seen a fair amount of complaints about the small sizing of food portions.  This was not our experience at all.  We ended up needing a to-go box for our appetizer, not pint sized at all.  The risotto was platted beautifully.  Not in a bowl like most places but on  a plate, a sure sign of a good risotto.  Thick enough to hold its form but still 'giggly' when the plate is shaken. I'm very well aware of the fact that when menu's have non-descript items such as 'fall vegetables' it is the chefs way of using up whatever he or she has excess of in the kitchen.  Kevin Shinn is not most chefs.  He believes in sustainable cooking.  That is, using local ingredients, fresh produce, no freeze dried, preservative filled ready made stuff.  It's a way of live and a style of cooking he really believes in.  To find out more about him, check out his blog, http://breadandcup.blogspot.com/ Keeping this concept in mind, I knew that our 'fall vegetables' would not be just the bottom of the barrel left overs.  What we got was onions and brussel sprouts.  I tend to fall in line with the majority of the population when it comes to brussel sprouts, no thank you.  I've had several chefs try and change my mind.  A former restaurant I worked for swore that their horseradish and cheese sauce would convert the pickiest of eaters but I was not swayed.  I even tried Julia Childs recipe and got the same resulting taste; dirt.  I always taste dirt.  The risotto, however, tasted earthy.  No dirty after taste, I ate every brussel sprout in my dish.  But the true star was the onions, gently sweated and translucent, I found myself digging through the dish looking for them.  It took awhile and I left feeling more full than I was comfortable with but I couldn't leave any of it behind.  The rice was cooked perfectly, the bechamel was to die for and the raspberry drizzle and Parmesan sprinkle was the perfect way to top it off.  I was very pleased with my trip to The Bread and Cup.  It defiantly ranks in my top five places to eat in Lincoln.  Give it a try, or better yet, give me a call and I will go with you.


The Bread and Cup
440 N. 8th street suite 150
Lincoln, Ne
402 438 2255

James Arthur Vineyard

I apologize for the delay since my last blog. Man, life can get hectic. August was a struggle for me but why focus of the busy and the bad? I had a few great evenings in August and that is what I care to share with everyone. If you ever find yourself in a bad spot and in desperate need of a relaxing evening, James Arthur Vineyard is just the place your looking for. A short drive down a couple of country roads and you are out of the city and in a little paradise. The vineyard soothes all your senses, first with the lush colors. Deep green vines, grass and leaves complemented by the royal purple of the grapes and of coarse the bright blue sky which slowly fades in to shades of orange and pink. Although the temperature is the same as the rest of the city it feels just a degree or two cooler. This trip to the vineyard was the only night in all of August that we were pleased to sit outside. The night was filled with friendly chatter but we were also lucky enough to have some outdoor music provided by the staff. The vineyard hosts live bands on their patio Friday nights during the summer. And of coarse the wine! Something for everyone's tastes. Reds, whites, blushes, meads, the list goes on and on. The vineyard also hosts special events where you can blend and bottle your own personal wine. The other really cool thing about the vineyard is that you can bring your own food. They do sell cheeses, breads and meats to complement their wines but they allow you to bring in snacks of your own. This particular trip to the vineyard was for Theary's going away. I was not excited to see her go but was thrilled to spend the evening eating and drinking with good friends. To my surprise one of Theary's good friends brought some homemade butters to snack on the bread with. Her inspiration? My blog! She used my original recipes for two of her butters and then created one of her own. A delicious spread with smoked salmon and green onions. Overall it was the perfect setting for Theary's going away. Just the right balance of music, food, wine and good company.

Green Gateau

So I've been hearing about this restaurant ever since I moved to Lincoln. Most people calling it 'my favorite restaurant' or 'the type of place I like to go for birthdays or a special occasions'. So I of coarse insisted that someone one take me there. My great friend Amanda was more than happy to accompany me to her favorite eatery and we both agreed we couldn't make the trip with out of favorite photographer, Theary. So the three of us set off on a Monday night for an amazing dinner at The Green Gateau. The restaurant describes its food as American Contemporary but they definitively have a French influence. The building itself is beautiful. Even if the food wasn't amazing I would still go back for the atmosphere. The outside was a distressed brick with climbing green vines and wrought iron gates. Once inside I felt like I stepped back into small town England. Wood floors, large wine cellars, ornate coffee machine, stained glass, low light and wood carvings in the ceiling and railings. The best thing about their menu was the dinner meal deal. A soup, salad, entree and dessert for $25. Even though we were all sure it would be more food than we could consume we couldn't pass the opportunity to try as many dishes as possible. I was really hoping that french onion soup would be on Monday's menu, sadly it wasn't. (the french onion soup is one of the selling points people used to convince me of how great this place was) Instead we were treated to a roasted red pepper with smoked Gouda, a Jamaican black bean and a classic lobster bisque. I ordered the bisque even though it is one of my least favorite soups. I was curious if it was prepared correctly and how much lobster it would actually have. I've seen this particular soup made incorrectly in so many different establishments I've made it a general rule to just not order it. Before you ask I will tell you this soup is made incorrectly so often because it is an expensive soup to make. More often than not it's just to easy to use a base, imitation meat or some other kind of filler or means of stretching the soup. I'm glad I went against my rule because this bisque was wonderfully prepared. If The Green Gateau is using a 'cheat method' with this bisque I wasn't able to detect it. HOWEVER, I'm still just not a fan of lobster bisque. Lucky for me Theary was so we switched soups. Which left me with the roasted red pepper and smoked gouda. Great flavor, beautiful color and very rich. It was a rather inspiring soup, I found myself thinking about all the different dishes I could make with that particular flavor profile. I was glad I had the small cup and not a large bowl because it would have been to much for one sitting. The third soup was my favorite. I would have traded for it if I could convince my vegetarian friend to give up her only option. The Jamaican black bean was full bodied, satisfying and had just the right kick of spice. Our Salads arrived next and wow, what a presentation. I sometimes forget the simple things that I was trained in culinary school are not common knowledge. I had to giggle to myself as everyone at my table (and the table behind us) marveled as to what 'the cool curved thing' was that the salad was plated on. A Parmesan crisp. Delicious and very delicate. It takes skill not only from the kitchen but from the wait staff to pull of a plated salad like that. On to our main coarse. Theary was hungry for seafood, first the lobster bisque and then the crab cakes, a dish she had never tried before. Feeling a bit risky from my rule breaking bisque I ordered a pork dish (something else I rarely do). Brandied peppercorn pork to be exact. My dinner came with a heaping mound of smashed potatoes and a small side of julienne zucchini and yellow squash. My only complaint was that the side of vegetables was so small compared to the serving of pork and potatoes. My pork medallions were pounded thin and breaded which made them perfectly suited to soak up the rich brandied peppercorn sauce. Overall a rich, hearty dish sure to satisfy the hungriest of bellies. The crab cake plate came off the lunch menu and looked like the perfect lunch time treat. At first sight the dish didn't appear to be much, pretty yes, but nothing spectacular. Until you took a closer look. On top of the cakes was a dabble of tomato in a fine brunoise (1/16 of an inch). Impressive. The sauce was a little heavy on the horseradish, to tangy for Theary. I found it to be a nice complement in a small dose. How do I know? Once again Theary and I switched dishes. It just goes to show, you should always stick with your first instincts. Neither dish was a disappointment by any stretch of the imagination, just a matter of following your personal preference. And Amanda did just that. She ordered the manicotti, a dish she's had and enjoyed several times. And the tastes she let Theary and I have didn't disappoint either. At this point in the night we felt as if we had ate all we possibly could.....then the dessert cart came by. As a part of our four course meal, we were entitled to a sweet treat at the end. Always watching our lady like figures, the three of us decided on sharing two desserts instead of one each. I couldn't pass up the traditional creme brulee. I was offered my choice of brown or white sugar and the dish was bruleed (sugar burned) table side. For those of you who have never had creme brulee before it is a custard dish that is capped with sugar and then the sugar is caramelized on top. When it cools you 'wack' it with the back of your spoon and the caramelized sugar cracks into a beautiful broken mirror effect. Our other dessert of choice was nicknamed 'death by chocolate'. The menu called it chocolate oblivion. Incredibly rich, it had the taste and texture of the inside of a truffle. YUM! It was a smart choice to split this one between the three of us. Well technically four. Up until this point I haven't mentioned the little gentlemen that was dinning with us. Theary's son Jackson. Who after taking one bite of Amanda's chocolate oblivion looked her strait in the eye and asked "you, me, dinner, ten thousand flying monkeys?" Little Jackson was in L.O.V.E. And I must say so am I. With The Green Gateau.
If you feel like trying it for yourself they can be found at 330 S. 10th street, Lincoln Ne. To make reservations please call 402-477-0330.