A prima retreat

A newcomer glimpsing its generic red-lettered sign might mistake Prima 140 for an old-fashioned supper club.

But the tidy clumps of basil and chives in the landscaping hint at a fresher story.

And longtime patrons know that the American-European bistro beyond the herbs offers some of Omaha's most intensely flavored and precisely cooked dishes.

Inside, the 11-year-old restaurant is clean and contemporary: bare tables, linen napkins, padded chairs, west-facing windows, a giant two-paneled painting of white orchids, a small bar, and a splash of brilliant yellow above the wide window that links the kitchen and the sand-colored dining room.

Relaxed instrumental jazz plays. Servers in white button-downs and black waist aprons work the space with skill and welcoming ease. And, more often than not, marathon-running, Swiss-born owner Paul Braunschweiler is the chef handing them your dish.

Prima 140 nestles in the valley northwest of West Center Road and 140th Street. The 140 in the name is a nod to the location. And though it's across the street from Oak View Mall and surrounded by commerce, it offers an almost-rural view: From a window or patio seat, you get a surprising amount of uninterrupted blue sky and green grass.

The fare on lunch and dinner visits this month provided a similarly refreshing retreat: fresh ingredients, pure flavors, French technique and true hospitality.

Global tastes and a runner's drive seem to fuel the menu — contained on a single large page that's nearly identical at lunch and dinner, save the prices (a tad higher in the evening). It includes tapas that work as shared appetizers or light meals and a selection of salads, soups, house-made pastas and specialty entrees with influences ranging from New Orleans to Norway, Mexico to the Mediterranean. The ever-changing dessert tray sported nine glistening treats.

Plates on our visits were unfailingly pretty. Deliciousness was in the details.

Start with the lemon shrimp: Four succulent tail-on shrimp in a silky lemon-garlic sauce around a 5-inch-tall haystack of fried shoestring potatoes. A lone leaf of fresh lemon balm and a tiny sprig of dill made the aromas and flavors of that appetizer sing.

A plate of triangle-shaped, intensely flavored crab pot stickers took our taste buds to Asia with a soy-ginger dipping sauce that pleasantly puckered the mouth and a crisp slaw of spiral-cut beets; julienned zucchini, cucumber, yellow squash, jicama and carrot; and shreds of a semi-sweet brown-green sea grass called arame.

A Normandy-style onion soup involved a milky broth of onion- and herb-infused white wine and cream, a lightly broiled lid of Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses and fabulous croutons.

The Prima salad was tossed ever so lightly in a creamy tarragon, basil and sun-dried tomato dressing and layered so that each poke of the fork turned up something new: dewy anise-scented basil leaves, grilled chicken breast, briny pitted kalamata olives, sweet yellow bell pepper and Roma tomato slices, crunchy and earthy beet and carrot curls, loads of lettuces (romaine, butter, endive and more), and sparingly applied and cleverly buried bits of crisp bacon and crumbled blue cheese.

A lean house-ground sirloin burger with diamond grill marks and a juicy red-pink middle had a loose texture that suggested gentle patting with a light and loving hand. The flavor was smoky, earthy and unmistakably beefy. Its eggy yellow bun was fresh and toasted, and the toppings (butter lettuce, fresh tomato, onion, a pickle spear and fresh basil) were artfully arranged on the side. Fries were slender, crisp and not greasy in the least.

I loved the simplicity and comfort of the house-made gnocchi, which nestled in a hot bowl with pleasantly salty Black Forest ham, sweet onions and peas, wilted basil and a light cream sauce. The gnocchi — small pillows of a potato-based pasta, and one of several pastas made from scratch — were unbelievably light and lovely. The dish was topped with a few exquisitely seasoned and perfectly cooked vegetables: a ridged paper-thin slice of carrot, a sweet snow pea and a floret of brilliantly green broccoli.

A whiskey roasted chicken — two thoughtfully deboned breasts with perfectly crisp golden skins and attached wingettes — was the most memorable entree. Marinated overnight (in whiskey and wine with rosemary, oregano, paprika, cayenne and other spices) and roasted on the bone, the flesh was incredibly moist and tender. While the herbs provided aromatic backup, the flavor struck a pure, resounding note: chicken magnified.

That glorious poultry came with more of those perfectly cooked vegetables and a piped pile of mashed potatoes garnished with darkly fried waffle-cut chips of Peruvian blue potato. The mashed spuds, mildly flavored on their own, were stunning with the golden-brown sauce, an aggressively peppered and flavor-packed reduction of the chicken's roasting juices.

The dish reminded me what chicken actually tastes like. Braunschweiler said he modeled it after a version he enjoyed more than three decades ago at a bar in Switzerland.

Desserts were edible sculptures. A housemade chocolate mousse cake delighted with alternating layers of dark chocolate cake and fluffy mousse, and delicious garnishes (raspberry sauce swirled with crème anglaise, strawberry whipped cream, a miniature scoop of vanilla ice cream, a white chocolate candy ornament). A smooth berry sorbet exploded with sweet-tart raspberry flavor.

And a pretty passion fruit torte tasted like a birthday party and a tropical vacation rolled into one: rounds of chocolate and white sponge cake topped with fruity pink and yellow mousses and a gorgeous red gel topping that exploded with sparklingly tart citrus flavor.

The California-dominated wine list offers about 60 choices — most priced at less than $45 a bottle or $8 a glass — and several nice surprises. There's a zinfandel from Chateau Montelena, the little winery that catapulted California onto the international wine scene and inspired the movie “Bottle Shock.” And the Renwood viognier we tried smelled of pear and had a sweet-tart quality that had me smacking every sip.

Of 11 dishes, the only one I didn't love was a white bean soup du jour. (Though it was hot and very nicely seasoned, it wasn't described as a puree, and I didn't enjoy its gluelike consistency.)

We spent about $80 with tax and tip for two three-course dinners and a shared glass of wine and about $50 for a pair of two-course lunches with a shared dessert. And I'm hard-pressed to recall a better full-service meal anywhere else for so little.

I had to wonder why the place, though comfortably busy, wasn't thoroughly packed.

I'm chalking it up in part to the economy, in part to summer vacations, and in part to those bland signs outside the restaurant: They don't do justice to the thoughtful, flavorful and masterly food served within.

Contact the writer:

444-1069, nichole.aksamit@owh.com

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