Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
IT'S A GUY THING
Food Network star and chef Guy Fieri brings his culinary “Road Show” to Harrah's Casino and Hotel in Council Bluffs on Sunday.
So what exactly is it?
The show's promoters say it “marries food and a high energy rock 'n' roll concert with blow-your-mind entertainment.”
Australian-based flair bartender Hayden “Woody” Wood opens the show. James Reber and Christopher Colello, executive chefs for Harrah's and the Horseshoe Casino, will warm the stage with a 20-minute cooking demonstration.
Fieri's “unscripted” performance is to include interactive cooking stations with VIP guests, culinary demonstrations and stories from his travels.
Fieri is perhaps best known for “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” a Food Network program that highlights small eateries across the country.
The show starts at 6:30 p.m. in the convention center at Harrah's. A casino spokeswoman said remaining tickets are $25 for general admission and $150 for “kulinary krew” premium seating (includes a new “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” cookbook and a pre-show meet-and-greet). Tickets are available at harrahslive.frontgatetickets.com or by phone at 888-512-SHOW.
* * *
CLOSINGS
The Hollywood Diner near 90th and Maple Streets closed late last month.
A sign on the door this week said the restaurant had lost its lease and encouraged diners to visit two other metro-area Hollywood Diners, on Abbott Drive in Carter Lake and near 156th Street and West Maple Road.
A relatively new Maid-Rite in Bellevue's Twin Creek shopping center also appears to have closed. The phone number was disconnected this week. Calls to the Maid-Rite corporate headquarters in Des Moines were not immediately returned.
Two other Maid-Rite eateries in the area, one near 156th and West Maple, and another in Blair, remain open.
* * *
DANTE WARMING UP
Dante, a wood-fired pizzeria in the Shops of Legacy, should open next weekend.
Chef-owner Nick Strawhecker said they're warming and stretching the oven with some invite-only preopening parties. Apparently, it's not a good idea to take an Italian clay oven from room temperature to 800 degrees on opening night.
Strawhecker is working toward certification from the American chapter of the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association. But pizza with hand-stretched dough, house-made mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and locally grown toppings is not the only thing on his menu. Look for a small and changing array of Tuscan and southern Italian salads, antipasti (think salami, warm olives, roasted pork belly, meatballs), house-made pasta and gelato.
Strawhecker said the eatery, which will feature an Italian-only wine list and a large indoor bocce court, will be open to the public for dinner next weekend, Dec. 11-13, and for lunch and dinner daily thereafter.
The number is 932-3078.
* * *
12 DAYS OF INDIAN
Indian Oven started its own “12 Days of Christmas” this week. The Old Market eatery is giving away gift certificates toward food and wine purchases Mondays through Thursdays through Dec. 17. Dine-in customers are eligible for the drawings.
The restaurant is also offering $6.99 lunch specials (select entrees with salad, pakora and rice) through the end of December.
— Nichole Aksamit
Got restaurant news, questions or tips? Call food writer Nichole Aksamit at 444-1069, or e-mail nichole.aksamit@owh.com. Dining Notes runs Fridays.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
