Dining Notes

BIG ART, BIG MEAL, BIG LOCAL FOOD DEAL

For months now, Omaha foodies have been speaking in hushed tones about “the silo dinner” — a communal meal for 500 to be served at the base of a mid-city grain elevator as part of an art installation involving giant temporary silo murals.

The installation, called “Stored Potential: Repurposing the Mid-Century Grain Elevator,” is a project of Emerging Terrain. The artwork is to start going up on the silos, northwest of the interchange of Interstates 480 and 80 (near 34th and Vinton Streets), in mid-September.

And the big meal kickoff, set to begin at 2 p.m. Oct. 3, is now fast approaching.

Local growers are supplying the ingredients — everything from fresh produce and dairy to whole hogs. A host of local chefs — among them Clayton Chapman of the not-yet-opened Grey Plume, Paul Kulik of the Boiler Room Restaurant, and Kevin Shinn of Bread & Cup in Lincoln — are teaming up to prepare five seasonal courses. And dinner event organizer Lori Tatreau is working on the logistics of serving family-style to one very, very, very long table.

“It's going to be quite a feat,” she said, noting that the bulk of the prep work will have to be done in kitchens off-site.

On the still-emerging menu: local cheeses, butter, honey, pickles, preserves, bread, salad, vegetable stew, chicken roulades, meat dishes utilizing one or more whole pigs and an entire bison, apple crisp, cake, ice cream, beer, root beer and apple cider.

Tickets are $50 each and include five courses and two drinks. They're available, while they last, at emergingterrain.org/storedpotential/dinner.

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CLOCK TICKING FOR PRIMA 140, SUCCESSOR

Love the fine fare at Prima 140? You've got two more months to enjoy it. Chef-owner Paul Braunschweiler has found a taker for his restaurant space and said this week that he will close Prima 140 this fall. The restaurant's last day will be Oct. 30.

While Braunschweiler plots an eventual move to California, Omahan Kevin Fischer is cooking up a Baja California concept to move into the Prima space at 2523 S. 140th Ave. He aims to open Baja Grill, a casual family-friendly Mexican eatery, by late November.

“It's going to be very fresh Mexican, Baja-style food,” said Fischer, former general manager of Tanner's Bar & Grill in Omaha.

Fischer said he will share the cooking with a kitchen manager and plans colorful, flavorful and affordable plates — think fish tacos, smoked meats and pork chile verde, along with bar staples such as wings and pizza, most under $10.

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'FOOD WARS' UPDATE

A “Food Wars” film crew has scheduled some additional shooting in Omaha next week for the steak-battle episode featuring the cousins who own Eli Caniglia's Venice Inn and Piccolo Pete's, Venice Inn co-owner Chuck Caniglia said.

The majority of the filming — and the steak cookoff — occurred in early June.

Caniglia said the restaurants also have been given a tentative air date for the Omaha episode: Oct. 20 on the Travel Channel (Cox Cable channel 56 in Omaha).

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A BEVY OF NEW EATERIES IN THE 'BURBS

Sina Way opened July 21 at 2211 Capehart Road in Bellevue. It offers drive-through and sit-down Chinese dining, as well as delivery, and is open for lunch and dinner daily.

Adobado Mexican Grill opened in mid-July at 1507 Galvin Road S. in Bellevue. It offers Mexican breakfast, lunch and dinner options from 11 a.m. to at least 9 p.m. daily.

Thai Delicious is in the works at 209 Fort Crook Road N. in Bellevue and expected to open for breakfast, lunch and dinner sometime this month. Owner Lumphrung “Jeannie” Lockhart operated Asian restaurants in the past.

Smashburger is opening a Bellevue location, its third in the Omaha metro area, Wednesday at 3811 Twin Creek Drive.

And in Council Bluffs, Pizza Ranch plans to open a free-standing corporate-owned restaurant with a drive-through at 3505 Metro Drive in the Metro Crossing Shopping Center on or around Dec. 6. The Orange City, Iowa,-based chain has more than 150 franchises throughout the Midwest. The buffet-style restaurants feature pizza, broasted chicken and salads.

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GOOD NEWS FOR SANDWICH FANS

Worker's Take-Out, the midtown sandwich spot that closed in June, is reopening soon in a co-branded location with Scooter's Coffeehouse in the First National Building at 1620 Dodge St. (That's the one north of Dodge Street, not the newer tower.)

Owner Chris Machmuller said that the new space has a full kitchen and that he hopes to open it by this time next week. He's planning 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. hours, weekdays only, at least to start. He said the new Worker's will have the best of the old menu (a few hotdogs and plenty of sandwiches, including the popular pressed Cuban) as well as new items (like soups in the fall).

PepperJax Grill plans to open at 1221 Howard St. this winter.

Mark Burrus, director of operations for the Omaha-based chain, said the new 95-seat restaurant likely will open in February in part of a building formerly occupied by the Keystone Group and Hollywood Candy. The restaurant will have a patio and face Howard Street (not 13th Street, as the candy store did).

The fast-casual restaurant company, founded by Gary and Linda Rohwer, features Philadelphia-style cheese-steak sandwiches, rice bowls, wraps and more. The company operates six restaurants in the Omaha area and one each in Overland Park and Lawrence, Kansas.

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MILESTONES, UPDATES

Pasta Amore is celebrating 25 years at Rockbrook Village with specials this month. Chef Leo Fascianella, just back from his annual trip to his hometown in Sicily, said he and his wife, Pat, will be featuring new Italian and Sicilian wines throughout the month and sprinkling the specials board with dishes they've never served at the restaurant before. Look for gnocchi alla Romana (made with cornmeal instead of potato, and tossed with sage butter and sausage) and melanzane Palermo (baked eggplant with bechamel and fontina), among other fun-to-say treats.

Mangia Italiana began a long-awaited expansion project this week. Co-owner Tony Constantino said his Italian takeout spot northwest of 90th Street and Sorensen Parkway is expanding its kitchen and adding a dining room with about three dozen seats. A patio and a liquor license are also in the works. Constantino said Mangia remains open throughout the construction, which is expected to wrap up in the next two to three months.

You'll soon be able to get your burger fix a little later at Dinker's Bar & Grill. The eatery will keep its kitchen open until 10 p.m., an hour later than usual, Monday through Saturday starting on Tuesday. Manager Kerry Mumm said that with bar closing hours pushed to 2 a.m., patrons have been coming in later for food, too. The bar now has free Wi-Fi access and a new website (dinkersbar.com) and is adding a few ongoing nightly specials to go with its new hours: $1.50 tacos and 40-cent wings on Mondays and Wednesdays, $7.95 flatiron steak specials on Tuesdays, $1.75 cheeseburger sliders on Thursdays, and $7 French dips on Fridays.

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ON THE FOODIE CALENDAR

The American Italian Heritage Society's annual La Festa Italiana, complete with live music and Italian food, starts tonight and continues through the weekend at the National Guard Readiness Center at 116th Street and Rainwood Road. The festival runs from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday and noon to midnight Sunday. Admission is $6.50 for adults, free for children younger than 12, and doesn't include food and drink. For more information, visit omahaitaly.com.

The Market Basket will host a four-course summer wine dinner Wednesday, starting at 6 p.m., featuring produce from local gardens and wines from southern Europe. On the menu: fennel and cucumber salad; wild mushroom bisque; flank steak with polenta, grilled squash, heirloom tomatoes and chard; and strawberry cupcakes with crème anglaise. Cost is $40 per person. For reservations (required), call 397-1100.

The German-American Society plans its annual Oktoberfest from 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sept. 18 at 3717 S. 120th St. This year's fest includes German singers and dancers, live bands, carnival games for children, beer drinking contests for men and women, a raffle for a trip to Germany, and, of course, plenty of German food (served from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.). Admission is $4 for adults, free for children ages 12 and younger and for active military personnel, and doesn't include food or drink. For more information, call 333-6615 or visit www.germanamericansociety.org.

And, oh yes: "No Reservations" host and raconteur Anthony Bourdain is coming to the Holland Performing Arts Center Sept. 11. Find details, our Q-and-A with him -- and interviews with local chefs about him -- tomorrow in Living.

— Nichole Aksamit

The World-Herald News Service contributed to this report.

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.

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