Sarah Baker Hansen / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The restaurant, called Modern Love, will be attached to O'Leavers bar, in the former location of Star Deli, 1319 S. 50th St., which closed earlier this fall.
Moskowitz describes the menu as "swanky vegan comfort food," and she said the restaurant will serve a revolving menu of made-from-scratch dishes. She'll make her own cheese, condiments and soda. She said she's working with local farms, and the food will focus on vegetables. She'll also serve homemade pie.
Vegan chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz will open her first restaurant in midtown, Modern Love Omaha, on June 8, according to the restaurant's website, modernloveomaha.com.
The restaurant will serve “swanky vegan comfort food.” It will be at 1319 S. 50th St., adjacent to O'Leaver's Pub.
Now this part is a rumor, but I have heard they may be a few celebrities at the opening. And I don't mean local celebrities either.
I'm not a vegan but I'm glad this place is opening. I'll probably eat there with my wife and her friends at some point. I just hope we don't have an incident where some meatheads throw meat at the place or something. That sort of thing happens in many cities, but if it happens here we'll be looked down on because of it. When that happens in Chicago or Denver or some place like that nobody cares, but we have to be extra careful about potentially embarrassing incidents.
iamjacobm wrote:That really happens? I didn't know people were so militant against vegans.
Let me rephrase, when I say that sort of thing happens in other cities I don't mean that people in those cities throw meat at vegan restaurants (though I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen), I mean embarrassing sorts of meat-headedness happen all the time in every city in the USA. But if you live in a city that is unfairly stereotyped, it is important that citizens of the city avoid living down to the stereotypes. When that guy was punched by the homophobe last year it was a black eye on Omaha, even though the hillbilly who threw the punch was a Missourian (as I had predicted when the incident occurred). It's not fair that we should have to hold ourselves to a higher standard, but that's the way it is.
In answer to a few questions: we will begin taking reservations on July 21st through OpenTable. We are starting out with dinner only; Tuesday - Saturday 4pm to 10pm. We hope to be open for Sunday brunch shortly after. We do have a liquor license and will be serving beer and wine (plus red and white sangria!) We will also be posting a few chances to preview the menu before our official open date on August 5th, so stay tuned...
I think Star Deli found a nice little spot in Benson and will do well there, more foot traffic that a sandwich shop needs. Modern Love is more of a destination place and can afford to be tucked away along Saddle Creek. I hope they can attract enough business to make this a happening place!
Coyote wrote:I think Star Deli found a nice little spot in Benson and will do well there, more foot traffic that a sandwich shop needs. Modern Love is more of a destination place and can afford to be tucked away along Saddle Creek. I hope they can attract enough business to make this a happening place!
There is a pretty sizable contingent of vegetarians and vegans here, I think they'll be able to keep the place afloat. I'm sure I'll eat there with my wife at some point, I'll just have to be sure to have eaten a double cheeseburger earlier in the day.
Omaha benefits from more original restaurants like this. I'm not sure I will drive 5 miles to eat here very often, but we do try to eat vegetarian twice per week now.
nativeomahan wrote:Omaha benefits from more original restaurants like this. I'm not sure I will drive 5 miles to eat here very often, but we do try to eat vegetarian twice per week now.
I agree that we benefit from people trying to come up with original concepts. Places that come up with original recipes are even better. Still miss these Tabouli pita sandwiches we used to get in Jax. Had enough herbs and cilantro to have a distinct flavor and enough substance to fill you up. Most of the vegan stuff i have had here in Omaha is a nightmare landscape of crappy flavors and a Nixonian carpet bombing of carbohydrates. Really unhealthy. This forces me to eat salads. Which I eat a lot of already, and which A. get tired, and B. need to be eaten with protein (something often in short supply at the Vegan joints.)
Moskowitz, a Brooklyn native, co-creator of the Post-Punk Kitchen web series and website (with frequent collaborator Terry Hope Romero), and author of eight vegan cookbooks—her most recent, Isa Does It, was released in October 2013—relocated to Omaha a few years ago to be with her boyfriend. After consulting in Omaha’s dining scene, she engineered a meatless Monday menu at the Benson Brewery last year.
A venture of her own seemed inevitable.
“There isn’t a vegan restaurant here, or even really a vegetable-focused restaurant,” Moskowitz adds, “and it feels important to create something like that right in the middle of the country.”
And if that wasn’t enough, in February, Moskowitz is performing a one-woman show/cooking demonstration for five nights in four states (two in New York City) over the course of eight days. The tour, titled “Isa Live: A Vegan Life in Four Courses,” finishes at Napa’s City Winery Feb. 8.
For $75, the 300 people in attendance will receive a Caesar salad with Brussels sprouts, a tamale, chickpeas and dumplings, and a chocolate mousse cupcake with wine pairings. Sarcasm and strong opinions aren’t officially on the menu, but as we discovered in a recent email conversation with the Brooklyn native, there’s a better than average chance she’ll tell you why jackfruit tacos are this year’s tribal tattoo and how 40 degrees in Omaha is considered a nice day.
Kind of crazy to think a vegan chef that can sell 300 plates at $75 bucks a piece in NYC and Napa set up shop next to O'Leaver's in Omaha.
The only real vegan meal I have is the occasional tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich dinner (does that count or is cheese off the menu as well?). I can't say I am dying to try this but post a link to the menu and you might get some visits.
U R my Helix wrote:The only real vegan meal I have is the occasional tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich dinner (does that count or is cheese off the menu as well?). I can't say I am dying to try this but post a link to the menu and you might get some visits.
Thanks iamjacobm,
Now I feel like I must go and try this place out. I would like the last item on the menu please ...... I have never had penguin before!
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