*b* list for foodies….

but first, i need to share with you an AWESOME mother’s day gift idea. in fact, i can’t think of a better mother’s day gift. my friend cari

 is making these beautiful pendants. i am encouraging my photography clients to have one made! they are not only beautiful, but affordable too! so if i have EVER taken your family photos, you can have one made. these pendants would make a great birthday gift, or baby shower gift (can you imagine a newborn pendant?), or any other special occasion when you need a truly custom gift. i love mine!

the first photo is jennifer, and the second is me, taken by jennifer. are you kidding me, i can WEAR a photo of my pride and joy grandchildren? i’m all over that!!! email me at bnovacek@aol.com if you are interested. cool story about the pendants. i photographed two adorable children before Christmas and their mom asked about my pendant. she inquired about having a pendant done of her newborn who died of SIDS. cari is working on her pendant now. isn’t that sweet? i think it is so important to honor the memory of the newborn she lost and to keep that memory alive. i do that with my grandparents to anyone who will listen. they were too important to me to be silent.

i love to give good gifts. one of my favorite things in the whole world! there are very few things that thrill me like handing a well thought out gift to a loved one. and you know i love good presentation : )

i also love good food. a lot. when i am traveling and check into a hotel, i always ask about local eateries. i don’t want to eat at the local applebee’s or red lobster (although i do like both!), i want to find the non-franchise locales. i thought it would be fun to share my favorites locally, here in my own little bubble. if you aren’t from the midwest, maybe you’ll travel here someday and you can check these places out! for those of you who live here, i may mention something that you haven’t tried.

*b* list of local restaurant faves:

1. gringos. this is one of our favorites and it’s not JUST based on the food. i love good service and cleanliness and this place would be hard to beat in those areas. we walk in, they greet us with a smile and ask about our grandkids. we also ask about their grandkids. about a year ago, we figured out that the owners live on the backside of our block! it’s a small world. i do believe that anytime you have the owners of an eating establishment involved in the daily operations, you are generally going to have a good experience. so my favorite dish at gringos is their nachos grande. tom and i can split it and easily be filled up. it’s fresh and yummy and really inexpensive. i can’t say enough about how much we love gringos. (gringos is located at 19th or 20th and bell)
2. j’s steakhouse. the atmosphere, the service, the food…it’s all good. we’ve eaten there quite a bit-and the last time we ate there, i had my favorite entree to date. i am craving it right now. shrimp and scallop pesto pasta. absolutely over the top delicious. again, the owners are involved in the daily operations, and you can tell. it has all the character of an old fashioned steakhouse, but it’s definitely current. i highly recommend. (it’s downtown on main street in the kohlmeyer’s building)
3. brass wok. sorta like our “cheers”…where everybody knows your name. the owner, fu, knows us, knows our kids, and knows what we like to order, although i do change it up…because i like so many of their entrees. the atmosphere is not what you go to fu’s for. it’s the food. he has a cool story too. the local paper did a story on him a few years ag0, and it made me like him even more. i’ll see if i can locate the story and link it. tom orders the broccoli beef or almond chicken, i like the vegetable fried rice and kung pao shrimp. we both LOVE the egg drop soup, which comes with any entree. try it, you’ll like it! (located on west 23rd st)
4. zesto. okay, so i’m breaking my own rules. i think zesto may be a franchise? but it’s classic in our little town. the location is perfect….anyone from omaha or lincoln who comes to fremont to boat at the state lakes or comes to town for a ball game or to have their pictures taken will pretty much have to drive right by zestos. it’s on the corner of military and broad. about once a week from april to october, tom and i opt to share a large hot fudge malt for dinner. you can do that when you have an empty nest. it’s fun to share our malt and take a drive, checking out potential photography locations. tom is such a good sport about that. offer to buy a malt and he’ll drive anywhere i want to go!
5. the office. totally old fashioned steakhouse. there’s a reason that every friday and saturday night you wait for a table. it’s consistently good. definitely a must if you want to experience a small town steakhouse. great steaks, great service and SO inexpensive. our city friends freak out over the prices. (located in hooper nebrasaka)
6. andy’s on first. another classic fremont experience. i love andys. andy himself is usually on hand to seat you and let you know what’s good. you can count on the fettucine alfredo, pizza and garlic tomato bread. oh and he also has a hot dog stand with the best hot dogs EVER! you can find him at the corner of 6th and main (half a block from the loft!) i like mine with mustard and saurkraut. yum.
7. upstream. one of my favorites in omaha. i love the soup, the salad and pretty much anything on the menu. tom usually orders the pot roast. i’ve never had a bad meal or dining experience here. another spot i like to take out of town company. located in the old market and in west o.
8. big freds. you know i’ve written about how much we love big freds before. we love it even more now that it’s smoke-free! we never vary our order….phil’s special salad and a side of rings. always good! they’re always busy, but the service is always surprisingly fast. (just off 120th and pacific)
9. charlestons. another favorite in omaha. i always order the roast chicken. it’s like 3 meals….love the leftovers. the salad and croissants are to die for too.
10. m’s pub.  i am in an ordering rut at m’s. i always have the cucumber sandwich for lunch. sometimes if i’m really hungry, i get a cup of one of their amazing soups. recently the local paper  did an article about the sous chef, who is from fremont and went to high school with brooke…her parents own one of my favorite antique stores in town, dime store days (which is right next to the loft!) and her name is brooke too.
11. rumor mill. after taking molly’s 4 year photos on friday, we decided to grab a sandwich at the rumor mill, which is right around the corner from the loft. i didn’t even know it was there until recently. maybe it’s fairly new? anyway, the food was fresh, quick and really good! we’ll definitely add rumor mill to our rotation of lunch spots!
12. mudbugz. i have to add mudbugz mainly based on kelly’s experiences! i’ve only eaten there once and i had a sleeping harper on my lap…so i didn’t order what i really wanted to order-the boiled shrimp. another spot that isn’t much on atmosphere, but the food is really good and inexpensive, and the service is good too. we’ll definitely try it again.

what happened to?

dixie quicks? i think i had one of the best meals ever at dixie quicks. i just never remember to check and see if they are still in business. i loved the quirkiness of the way they did business. but more than that, they had seriously GREAT food. i remember running into the owners several times at the farmer’s market and even sam’s club, buying fresh food. everything was always really fresh. are they still in business?

i miss:

carey cottage: chicken salad, bread pudding, apricot chicken….the atmosphere, the people, the constant inspiration. even though i make a lot of the things we served, i still miss the whole experience of carey cottage. it was such an important piece of my life. it was foundational for me as a cook, hostess (in my own home), and all around when i have people in my home. helen krause taught me so much. about life too.

irv’s deli: reubens, pickles, corned beef on rye. dad and i always stopped by irv’s on the way to nebraska games and picked up a sandwich. such a treat for me. we never ate “out” when i was a kid. maybe twice a year, seriously.

jbrisco:

in the haymarket. i loved their peanut penne pasta. i still crave it.i could go on and on. i just love food!

i need to post some pics! i’ve done lots of shoots in the past week and i need to get to sharing some sneaks.

this is molly. she is turning one and she has the most amazing blue eyes!

she is such a doll! i love that i get to see the growth and changes in the little people i photograph. she was about 6 months old the last time i did her photos. an added bonus is the nice chats i get to have with her mama sarah when i take their photos.

wow. i need to get my workout in. tom won’t be home for lunch today, so i guess i can eat lunch later. although with this food post, i’m kinda hungry already.

have a great day and God bless!