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Valentine Day
Ring in 2012 with the romance of V. Mertz or Dante
NEW YEAR’S EVE DINING
Ring in 2012 with the romance of V. Mertz or Dante
By Sarah Baker Hansen
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
New Year’s Eve often is about romance.
It’s a holiday rife with expectation.
So it makes sense that couples will look for a romantic spot to eat, drink and enjoy each other while welcoming 2012.
We decided to explore two ways to ring in a romantic new year: the classic — V. Mertz, in the Old Market Passageway — and the contemporary — Dante Pizzeria Napoletana, in west Omaha’s Shops of Legacy. They’re on opposite sides of the city and opposite ends of the price spectrum. One offers the sort of old-school romance that never gets stale. The other offers a sexier take on food and décor. Either way, diners can celebrate with a bit of romance, reliably tasty food and atmosphere to spare.
Dante Pizzeria Napoletana
Chef Nick Strawhecker is dubious about his restaurant being dubbed “romantic.”
Romance, he said, wasn’t on his mind when he opened Dante Pizzeria Napoletana.
But the lighting in his restaurant is the sort of warm glow that makes everyone look good.
And the wallpaper in the ladies room is printed with parted bright red lips.
At least one couple eating dinner near me and my husband on a recent Friday night held hands and touched knees through the better part of their meal.
So even if the romance at Dante wasn’t planned, it’s there, in both the contemporary atmosphere and the sensual plates of Italian food that come out of the Strawhecker’s wood-fired oven.
“I think anything can be romantic,” Strawhecker said. “You could be at O’Leaver’s at 2 a.m. with a girl and some Jameson and a PBR and that could be romantic.”
But he does say Dante has lots of parties of two. That it attracts lots of couples who sit at the bar and share a bottle of wine. And that many of its regular guests come there for weekend “date nights.”
“There’s been guests that have been making out in here at their table,” he said, chuckling, “So I guess it must be romantic.”
Though most of the customers aren’t quite that zealous, there is something about Dante. It feels cozy in spite of its strip-mall location. And especially in the winter months, when it’s dark early and cold outside, it’s easy to forget where you are.
The lighting is low, and each table has a glowing candle. Classic jazz plays quietly. Chalkboards cover the walls and the restaurant is decked out with holiday décor. The air smells like fresh bread and pizza crust.
We decided to start with the mussels appetizer, a dish that Strawhecker told me later is one that lots of couples share.
The tomato-scented mussels come topped with a huge slab of buttery bread that we tore in half to share, and each shellfish is cooked to chewy perfection. Bits of pancetta and garlic float in the delicious broth; it’s perfect for dipping bread.
Strawhecker cooks pizza, to be sure, but he also cooks delicious Italian specialties in a traditional way. There’s nothing here that reminds you of a chain Italian restaurant. It’s not about thick red sauce: It’s about artisan meats, homemade pasta and thin, bubbly pizza crust.
The meat on my Cortona pizza was sopressata, a better, more authentic version of pepperoni. A runny egg on top melts through the pie and over the toppings: Kalamata olives, roasted mushrooms and melted globs of fresh mozzarella. It was great, and it’s more than enough for two to share.
My husband tried the orchiette pasta topped with the housemade Dante sausage: a tasty, fennel-laden link stuffed inside a thin casing. It makes the dish. He liked it, but prefers the homemade pappardelle pasta topped with a house Bolognese he’d had during another visit.
Dante is wildly affordable. Most of the pizzas cost less than $16. Pastas average $14. And on New Year’s Eve, Strawhecker will offer what might be the best deal in town: a three-course pre-fixe menu that’s $29 a person. For an additional $15, you can pair your dinner with Italian wine.
Strawhecker said the menu will include a special pizza and a short rib braised in red wine and balsamic vinegar, cooked in the wood-fired oven, then served with polenta. He’ll also serve the mussels appetizer we tried.
He said he expects lots of couples and at least a few large groups on New Year’s Eve.
“Maybe subconsciously I was planning the whole romantic thing,” he said. “I didn’t expect it. But we like it.”
V. Mertz
V. Mertz is the Hermès handbag of Omaha restaurants.
It’s classic. Expensive. Subtly luxe. And it never, ever goes out of style.
The restaurant has been an Old Market mainstay since 1977, and new manager Matthew Brown said the décor hasn’t changed over the years because it works.
“There’s an elegance and a simplicity to the atmosphere,” he said. “There’s no distractions from the food or the person you’re with.”
Brown and new chef Jon Seymour (and this diner) agree that the classic romantic atmosphere works in a way that nowhere else in Omaha does.
But Brown, who’s been there about three months, and Seymour, who’s been onboard two weeks, plan to change some other things, and soon.
They say they want the restaurant to be less pretentious. And Seymour wants to push the food toward being more approachable, seasonal and creative.
Tradition, it seems, is getting a makeover.
V. Mertz probably has the best location in town, in the secluded lower level of the charming Old Market Passageway. Lights are dim. The restaurant has uneven brick floors and is decorated in a simple black-and-white color scheme. A tall, slim, fresh white flower and a glowing candle topped each white cloth-covered table.
There’s no music in V. Mertz. Instead, the sound of three gurgling fountains across the passageway provides a singular soundtrack. It’s quiet and intimate. Diners instantly feel secluded from the rest of the world: the perfect setting for romance.
The previous chef conceptualized the menu on the evening I visited, Seymour told me later. The dish I had, mahi-mahi, is already off the menu, and the one my husband ate, lamb osso bucco, is one Seymour plans to revamp. The night we were there, he’d subtly tweaked some of the presentation, he said, to make the dishes more approachable.
Seymour will present his first full menu on New Year’s Eve.
It features food people will want to eat in the winter, he said. He plays with texture, taking food from rich and creamy, to smooth, to crunchy. He plays with contrasting flavors: salty and sweet, sour and bitter.
For example, he said, a dayboat scallop appetizer includes leeks both roasted and poached to create different texture and flavor.
Main dishes include things like a roasted duck breast with pureed parsnips, mustard greens, wolfberries (a Chinese berry with flavor similar to a cranberry) and Grana Padano, a hard Italian cheese.
A leg of lamb braised in blueberry is served with pearl onions, baby carrots, cauliflower puree, sprouting greens and garlic confit, which is garlic cooked in oil or other fat until it becomes soft.
“The restaurant has been around for a long time,” Seymour said. “It’s had time to build a reputation.”
Seymour worked at V. Mertz years ago, and now that he’s back and in charge, he has a vision for the place.
“A lot of our clientele is older, and it’s great to have those regulars,” he said. “But there’s a lot of young, hipster foodie kids in Omaha, and I want to get them aware that though we’re an Omaha mainstay, we’re also not a hoity-toity, pretentious place.”
Brown said he expects to see lots of couples looking for a quiet, romantic New Year’s dinner, though the restaurant will loosen up a bit as midnight approaches, with Champagne toasts and special festive decorations.
Seymour said debuting his menu on New Year’s Eve is hectic, and limits what he can do. But he has a plan for 2012.
“It’s just the tip of the iceberg at this point,” he said. “As I get better and as everyone grows here as a team, we can do far more, better things. I guess I just want people to get familiar with good food.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1069, sarah.bakerhansen@owh.com
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The Shops of Legacy
168th & Center
402.932.3078
Mon-Thurs: 11am – 10pm
Fri & Sat: 11am – 11pm
Sunday: Noon – 9pm
