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 perfect way to end an outstanding meal.

Photo courtesy of the V. Mertz website.

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

Just getting to Bouchon is something of an adventure. A series of three moving walkways/escalators gets you into the front door of the The Venetian. From there, a jaunt through the Casino, down a long, intricately decorated marble hallway with very high vaulted, painted ceilings, up 10 floors in an express elevator and down another long, marble corridor with flickering, hooded gas lights and large display windows offering a view of the Las Vegas Strip, eventually brings you to a small domed crossroads. Immediately to your right is the open but elegant Bouchon Bistro.

Having reservations, highly recommended, we were seated within minutes. I knew that Bouchon carried a very well-stocked bar. I also knew that a number of my business associates were gin drinkers. Upon hearing my cocktail order, most of the group jumped on board with an “I’ll have what he’s having” response. Cadenhead’s Old Raj gin was stirred in a three to one ratio with premium Extra Dry Cinzano Vermouth and garnished with two Spanish Olives, to make one of the finest Martini’s I have ever had.

Cocktails in hand, we set about perusing the one-page, but far from simple, menu of faire offered that evening. While deciding on what to order, bread arrived. It was amusingly presented as a series of “turnover” shaped (triangular) segments of bread, all connected end to end, so there was a logical place to tear off each piece. After orders were taken, one member of the waitstaff produced a crumber, or Butler’s Knife, to make quick work of the crumbs we had accumulated from the crusty French Bread.

Several of our group started with Soupe à l’Oignon, while I chose to order from the specials menu and went with a Sweetbread Ravioli. I will admit that the French Onion Soup looked superb. Served in a tall, crockery style container, it was crusted with a thick, very melty cheese that was capping a crouton and by all appearances was perfectly prepared. However, I would not have given up my ravioli for even the greatest of soups. Three, delicately prepared, savory, sweetbread stuffed ravioli were sitting on a small bed of spiced, thinly slivered baby carrots, which themselves were resting in a cognac-enriched veal broth. And yes, the taste even beat the description.

Entrees were had by all…well, almost. Sidenote: In many, fine, Prime Steakhouses, sides are ordered a la carte and generally come in a serving portion fit to serve two to three people. This is true of Morton’s, Fleming’s and numerous other Prime Steakhouses. It should be noted that Bouchon is not a Prime Steakhouse and as such, is not in this category. A side order, while a la carte, is really just a side order, intended for one person. So the well-intentioned member of our group who ordered a side of Butternut Squash, hoping to go lightly that evening, was indeed served a small tourine of butternut squash…a very small (in comparison to our entrees), side order portion of squash.

As large, lavish plates were set before us all, we kept coming back to his tiny boat of squash and asking, “Is that all you ordered?” In his defense, he did expect that it would have been larger. At our insistence he augmented his squash (which with great dignity he defended as being perfectly prepared, caramelized in butter and brown sugar) with an order of their Soup du Jour, a celery soup puree with a dollop of Creme Fraiche.

Two members of our group went with the lamb, a few more with the Steak Frites. Since they were all going with red meat, they settled on a nice Syrrah that was warmly received. Being the lone seafood eater that evening, I simply went with a glass of granache blanc, delicate enough for seafood but fortified enough to compliment the bold flavors of my order.

A large, deep oval bowl with a basket in it, was set before me, containing my Moule au Saffron. Along side in a standing cone were my frites. The Moule au Saffron were Maine Mussels that had been steamed in a Saffron Mustard broth, which itself filled the bottom of the bowl and was mixed with the liquor from the mussels. The frites themselves were perfectly prepared, crispy on the outside and silky on the inside. I will admit that after I had depleted my count of mussels, I did employ the French Bread to scoop through the Saffron Mustard broth in search of any mussels which had escaped the terror of my tiny fork.

After dinner drinks and desserts were ordered next. I enjoyed the Creme de Caramel and it was, as expected, exquisite. My after dinner drink was an old standby of mine, though it won’t be found on any drink menus, equal parts Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and Drambuie were topped off with half and half, shaken and served on the rocks in a lowball glass. One friend described this as “dessert in a glass”. The thick, sweet, spicy mixture makes for an excellent after dinner drink. If you can overcome the need to have to describe it precisely to the waiter, I highly recommend it.

While there are dozens of restaurants in Las Vegas that I would love to enjoy some day, if each visit to this desert food oasis involved a trip to Bouchon Bistro, that would be just fine with me. And, if you can’t manage to fit them into your evening dining plans, well, it should come as some relief that Bouchon is one of the few, very fine restaurants in Las Vegas that happens to be open for Breakfast or, on the weekends, Brunch.

Bouchon Bistro
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 414-6200