Well Fed On the Town

I love finding a new, great restaurant. Even if new means it’s been there for 30 years, award winning for close to a decade, but I’ve only just gotten around to eating there.

This would be the case with V. Mertz. Despite having been a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner every year since 2000 and a Wine Enthusiast Award of Unique Distinction winner every year since 2004, I had never had occasion to dine at V. Mertz. I am delighted to have corrected that oversight.

Located in Omaha’s Old Market district, V. Mertz is a bit off (or under…) the beaten path, in the cellar and passageway joining two old warehouses just off of Howard St. The passageway has a comfortable, old feel to it.

The soft gurgle of a fountain, practically hidden in the dark, recessed alcoves across from V. Mertz depicts the Greek Furies, standing an ever-vigilant guard over the restaurant.

Small, candle-lit tables line the walkway and a graceful, slightly arched brick entrance opens into the cozy, main dining area. Resplendent this time of year with tasteful Christmas lights and decor abounding, it’s somewhat hard to image how it might look without those festive, holiday accents.

Dominating the back wall is just a hint of the breadth and depth of their cellar, which comfortably loops the globe, and back again. Wine Director Matthew Stamp is the only Certified Advanced Sommelier in Omaha, and is only a few years away from testing for Master Sommelier. His dedication and love for his craft comes out in the small, personal notes found in the wine list.

While their tasting menus with wine pairings, were very, very tempting, my lovely dinner partner was anxious to try their Duck, which she had never had, so we decided to order a la carte from their dinner menu.

We had decided, before hand, to share everything that evening, so we started with the Truffle Risotto and Seared Sonoma Valley Foie Gras. The Truffle Risotto featured Oregon Winter Black Truffles with rich, earthy flavors and the perfect creamy texture. The richness was cut with the tart of the huckleberries and adding texture along with salt were chestnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano wafers.

The foie gras was every bit as good. My dinner partner was delighted with her first experience with foie gras, on this, a night filled with firsts. The soft, melt in your mouth, unique texture and playfulness of the decadent foie gras was complimented wonderfully by the sweet and tart pairing of quince and blueberry, with the added hint of hazelnut.

Knowing that she wanted the duck, I decided to try to find an entree that would allow us to share a bottle of wine. So I settled on something beef. Having figured that out, I turned to their extensive wine list and began perusing. While my taste buds were very excited by their phenomenal collection of Grand Cru Burgundy’s, my budget wasn’t quite on board with the plan. However, I did slot that away in my memory, because in my travels through 49 of our 50 states, it’s been my experience that a good selection of Grand Cru Burgundy’s is very hard to find.

Instead I flipped over to “Ye fair Spanish Ladies” to see what was available in a Temperanillo. I set my eye on a 2003 Fince Allende Rioja Allende, however, I asked our waiter to send the Sommelier over for a second opinion. When Mr. Stamp arrived, I explained that with her choice of duck, and my choice of the beef tenderloin, each of which was paired with fruit (raspberry for the duck and Fuji apple for the beef), I felt that the Finca Allende Rioja would be a good wine to sit nicely between those two selections and compliment both.

He agreed and offered some more insight into the flavors of that particular wine, moderate in acidity with dusty tannins and the expected Rioja tastes of tobacco with a leathery finish, it also boldly featured cherry and plumb.

That having been settled, the wine was expertly presented and corked, after a sampling I agreed with his recommendation to decant the wine. Over the course of our meal it opened up very nicely and, indeed, was a superb balance to our two meals.

An admission, for my entree I had been sorely tempted by their “Majinola Farms” Wagyu Beef strip loin, which was offered as a substitute to their Peppersteak, with a house brandy cream sauce and baby potato, asparagus and vegetable ragout accompaniment. However, the beef tenderloin featured Brussels sprouts. I had long had a disagreement with my dinner partner on the epicurean delightfulness of the properly prepared Brussels sprout. Obviously, I was contending that, when correctly prepared, they were amazing little explosive bites of flavor, whereas, I believe her opinion was best summed up as, “Yuck, no.”

Knowing that this would be an opportunity to have her partake of excellent Brussels sprouts, I couldn’t help but order the beef tenderloin (medium rare), with very lightly roasted, crisp julienned Fuji apple and a Fuji apple puree, house-cured bacon hiding among small, tangled nests of red cabbage, and yes, Brussels sprouts (which she reluctantly admitted were quite tasty).

Meanwhile, her duck was a full eight ounces. Canadian Mallard breast that had been seared a nice medium rare and was served with raspberries and a raspberry puree, as well as salsify, black radish and leeks. She was absolutely delighted that every bite was bouncing with raspberry.

Nearly stuffed, but with room to split a little something after, I knew that I intended to select a sweet course from a nearby European Bakery, Delice. So, instead I asked about their cheese course, another first for my dinner partner who had never come across the concept of a cheese course. Fair enough, since it seems to be a dying custom in many circles.

With just a half glass of our Rioja left each, I quickly settled on two selections of their cheese, a Spanish goat’s milk Garrotxa and a Spanish sheep’s milk Zamorano. The Zamorano was very akin to a Manchego and paired wonderfully with the Rioja. Also fitting well with our wine choice was the creaminess of the Garrotxa, resting atop a slice of fresh baked bread with fig and walnut.

The cheese course was a fantastic end to the meal, if not the evening. The evening saw us acquiring our dessert (a white chocolate raspberry torte), then finally settling in at home where we agreed it had been a wonderful night. Shortly thereafter, it was made more wonderful when she, enthusiastically said, “Yes!” to my proposal.

V. Mertz proved to be a great choice for that very important meal and that night of firsts. I look forward to our certain return for special occasions or, no occasional at all, beyond the desire for a great meal.

Photo courtesy of the V. Mertz website.

V. Mertz
1022 Howard St
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 345-8980