I might as well get the awkward part done at the beginning. Memoir is memorable. My phrasing is a groan-worthy word play on the name of this restaurant, Omaha’s hottest new happening “It-Spot” in Brickline at The Mercantile, situated ideally at the peripheries of the Old Market and the Riverfront. In fact, Memoir was one of the more memorable dining experiences I’ve had in quite awhile. Often when eating out, one of my metrics is if I can reproduce a reasonable facsimile of a meal at home. I’m fairly adept in the kitchen, so usually, I can. Early on during our evening at Memoir, I stopped eating, silverware poised in mid air, and looked meaningfully at my dining companion. “This,” I said, pointing at the dish with my fork for emphasis, “This I cannot do at home.”
As the newest addition to the Flagship Restaurant Group, “The story of Memoir is 20 years of restaurant business,” said owner and Corporate Executive Chef Tony Gentile. “It’s 20 years of recipes, development, and chef collaboration. This is where we all started; we’ve come full circle.”
For those unfamiliar, Memoir is following in the footsteps of such venerable restaurants as Blue Sushi Sake Grill, Roja Mexican Grill and Margarita Bar, Blatt Beer & Table, and Plank Seafood Provisions as well as Flagship Commons food hall at Westroads Mall. Each establishment has its niche, and in a way, Memoir carries the imprint of all its predecessors combined into one restaurant.
The interior is laid-back, yet sophisticated, a restaurant you’d somehow simultaneously expect to find in the heart of Manhattan or tucked away on a twisting, cobblestoned street in Brussels. It’s Old World-quaint meets contemporary-chic: burnished gold, deeply saturated emeralds, graceful arches, flowing plants. This is a place that feels at once refreshingly new but old and comfortable like a beloved neighborhood spot where you might have a regular table overlooking the gleaming open kitchen that provides for a bustling show.
My dining companion and I did a full appetizer and salad sampling, which provided a deep dive into the chef and kitchen’s dizzying capabilities. A glass of Ruffino Prosecco, crisp and cleansing, worked ideally for selection. The overarching theme that emerged throughout was just how playfully inventive the menu selections are. We started with the Tenderloin Beef Carpaccio, served with perfectly toasted focaccia. The razor thin shaved beef was brought alive with lemon and crispy capers. Capers in their natural state can have an off-putting acetone taste, but drying them tempered that and complemented the umami of the beef with a whisper of zippiness while adding a satisfying texture. Salty parmesan cheese added another dimension of both flavor and mouth-feel, completing the dish.
Next, we sampled the Pork Potstickers, Potato Puffs, and Corned Beef Meatballs, a holy trinity of creative culinary takes. Every culture, it seems, has its version of a potsticker, ravioli, or gyoza, and this dish is Memoir’s iteration of the humble dumpling. There’s an overall roundness to this dish that is brought forward by the chili-soy broth and crispy leek topping. Meanwhile, the Potato Puffs served as the restaurant’s rendition of loaded baked potatoes. These golden fried mashed potato mouthfuls featured parmesan, chives, and a teasing chili-bacon aioli that left us wanting a second plate. The Corned Beef Meatballs were a witty nod to Omaha’s legendary Reuben sandwich complete with a surprisingly mild Sauerkraut purée, pickled cabbage, herbs, and a rye crumble. Moist and savory, we enjoyed every last crumb.
For salads, we dove into the Embered Golden Beet Salad, which featured sweet roasted yellow beets perfectly punctuated with the fatty acids of the tangy goat cheese and brought alive with slight heat from smoked chili balanced by a hint of honey. Pumpkin seeds again added a level of textural playfulness that seems to underscore so many of Memoir’s dishes. The Kale & Farro Salad was a lovely medley of kale, its bitterness neutralized by sweet charred grapes and apples, with the nutty farro enhanced by almonds, basil, shallots, and turmeric vinaigrette. A wonderfully firm goat cheese made this salad sing. Memoir also added its fresh spin to the classic Caesar salad with a particularly phenomenal 13-year-old parmesan cheese and crispy fingerling potato chips that were gone a little too quickly.
We also delighted in the Yellowtail Sashimi and Tuna Tartare. The first was alive with citrusy zinginess thanks to the orange enlivened by serrano, cilantro, ginger shoots, and white shoyu. The balance was delicate, letting each flavor shine without overtaking any other. The latter featured a Calabrian chili, lemon, avocado, crispy shallot, and a sesame lavosh. Again, flavors worked together and didn’t compete, making every bite a pleasure on the tongue.
Sushi has its own starring section on the menu, and for good reason. With Blue Sushi’s influence clear, Memoir’s selections, ranging from a California Roll to a vegan option, offered phenomenal flavor pairings that elevated main ingredients. The avocado and cucumber cooled the Spicy Tuna Maki just enough to appreciate the heightened heat contained in the “atomic aioli,” while the spicy creamy sauce and tōgarashi, or seven-flavor chili pepper, lived up to its explosive name. The Bito Vegan Maki was a revelation. The vegan cream cheese, grilled broccolini, golden beets, almonds, Thai basil, citrus, and sweet agave mustard somehow combined to taste like the most delicate seafood.
For our main courses, my dining companion opted for the Roasted Chicken, Memoir’s clever interpretation of that beloved American staple, chicken and dumplings. Roasted to moist, tender perfection, the chicken came with fluffy ricotta dumplings that, my guest proclaimed with a hearty, appreciative sigh, were “like eating clouds.” Served with charred tomatoes and broccolini and garlic chips, not a whisper of this dish remained on the plate. For my part, I went with the Striped Bass, which featured a deliciously crispy exterior that gave way to a melting, flaky interior. Charred tomatoes, kale, pickled red onions, combined with croutons and a chili-hazelnut pesto made this a standout entree. Our wine for dinner was a lovely Trig Point “Signpost” Chardonnay from Sonoma. Ripe and buttery, it complemented both our meals with its light fruitiness without overwhelming them.
The dessert menu offered three simple choices: Coconut Tart, Chocolate Torte, and Berries & Cream. The first, with its burnt lime meringue, was a creamy, not overly sweet confection. The second, which featured hazelnut ganache, crème fraîche ice cream, and raspberry coulis, was a decadent dream. Finally, the third with its vanilla pannacotta, meringue cookies, mint, and verjus simple syrup, provided for a refreshing finish to a complex gustatory experience.
Service was excellent throughout the evening. Memoir clearly trains its waitstaff thoroughly. Our server was extremely knowledgeable about every menu item and was able to offer recommendations based on our preferences. She was warm, friendly, and professional without being obsequious. By the end of the evening, she made us feel like we were valued regulars.
My one quibble is that Memoir presents itself as a restaurant that reinterprets American classics. Sushi, Gentile explained, qualifies as quintessentially American since it’s been so heavily adopted and adapted here, and of course, given Blue Sushi’s long-held reputation, giving sushi a starring place of its own on the menu makes sense. But Mexican and Tex-Mex have an arguably much longer culinary history in the US and Roja has a legacy of its own, so why not add Memoir’s inventive approach here as well? I’d love to see how the kitchen would put their inimitable spin on classics like tamales, pozole, and guacamole.
As Tony Gentile noted, it’s about where Memoir started and the restaurant coming full circle. Given our dining experience, the next turn for this establishment is certain to be one for the memory books.
For more information, to view the menu, and to make reservations, visit ourmemoir.com.
This article originally appeared in the June 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.