Darrell Auld, chef at Omaha’s Twisted Cork Bistro, takes pride in a menu that showcases wild salmon, Nebraska beef and wines from the Northwest. Auld and his wife, Laura, opened the restaurant in March 2008.

 

Q. Where are you from?

A. My wife and I are from Seattle. We moved to Omaha about two years ago. Laura’s sister is in the Air Force and she ended up at Offutt (Air Force Base). Her parents moved here and then they pressured us to move — in a nice way.

 

Q. How is it working out?

A. We’re enjoying the four seasons. Seattle has three rainy seasons and one nice season.

 

Q. How did you get interested in cooking?

A. I was running some restaurants and I opened some restaurants. I managed 300-seat restaurants and 100-seat restaurants. After a number of years, it seemed like a good opportunity to try it on my own. ... In my runs as general manager, creating new menus, creating new concepts and tasting wines for new restaurants, I got to the point where I knew which ingredients worked.

 

Q. What’s new at Twisted Cork?

A. As part of our winter menu, we have a Seattle Cioppino: a fish stew with a tomato base, salmon, mussels and shrimp.

 

Q. What stays on the menu because you really like it?

A. Our Duet: a slider of our Twisted Cork Burger and a slider of our sockeye salmon. We serve that with kettle chips from Oregon and a homemade slaw made with apple vinaigrette and Maytag blue cheese from Iowa.

 

Q. Do you have a favorite cookbook?

A. Two books. One is from Hawaii by Alan Wong, “New Wave Luau.” He marries island flavors, Pacific Rim foods and seafood. It’s unique, fresh. The second is “Pure Flavor” by Kurt Dammeier. He was one of the owners of a restaurant where I worked in Seattle. He uses ingredients without additives and preservatives.

 

Q. Anything on your menu from these books?

A. No particular dish. Some spinoffs from the Seattle restaurant. The concept of a special grind for a burger — not just 100 percent beef. Putting cheese and seasonings in the burger, instead of on the burger. A couple of dressings play with recipes from the restaurant.

 

Q. Do you have a favorite cooking technique?

A. We do a lot of cooking with a flat-top grill because it sears in flavor. I like searing a protein, as opposed to charring a protein. It’s versatile, quick and a fun way to cook.

 

Q. What’s next for you?

A. I’m thinking of a second location somewhere in the Omaha area or Lincoln. We have a nice base of customers we’ve come to know and they’ve been supporting us. There are a lot of chain restaurants, but a lot of people tell us they like to support the little guy.

 

 

Contact the writer:

444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com

 

Floors are a bark-colored polished concrete. Walls are washed in winey hues. Dark-stained tables are bare, save for upside-down water glasses, napkin-rolled silver and parchment-colored menus.

The only adornment: Wine bottles and a collection of decorative, wrought-iron clocks that reinforce your decision to have a glass of pinot and a leisurely, clocks-be-darned lunch at this tucked-away place near Ethan Allen.

 

Its small menu - limited to lunch, drinks, and morning and afternoon nibbles - doesn't try to please all comers.

There's no Coke, no Diet Pepsi and no Splenda for your iced tea: They don't do high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners.

But they have great natural sodas, smooth Seattle's Best coffee, bold-not-bitter espresso drinks made from Starbucks' Pike Place beans, Midwestern beers (Empyrean and Boulevard) and a tiny list of Washington and Oregon wines rarely featured in these parts.

And the food on two recent visits, with few exceptions, was exceptional.  Take Twisted Cork's twist on the humble hamburger: Theirs is made from flatiron steak and pork shoulder, ground and seasoned on site, and offered medium or medium-well.  Although mine was cooked through, the hand-formed ¾-inch patty oozed juice and flavor on a toasted bun from Lincoln's Le Quartier bakery. The meaty burger tasted of salt, pepper and a not-exactly-sausage flavor I later learned came from fennel and paprika. Bits of aged white cheddar nestled in the meat. More white cheddar, some pickled red onions and a dab of a citrusy mayonnaise prompted “Mmms” and made ketchup unnecessary.  This fine burger specimen - dare I say the best new burger in town? - came with salt-and-pepper-flecked kettle chips and “apple slaw.”  The slaw, your standard cabbage and carrot mix spiked with bits of Granny Smith apple and a mustard-cider-vinegar dressing, sounded good but struck me as underwhelming. Too little dressing, maybe? Too little apple? Where was the tang, the tartness, the cream-meets-crunch love? My date concurred: “Seems like it's missing something.”

Actually, it was: Co-owner and head cook Darrell Auld later explained that the slaw was to be topped with Maytag bleu cheese, but his cold-dish helper must have forgotten. Well, yes. That probably would do it.

 

A soup-and-sandwich special blended Nebraska (corn central) and the Northwest (salmon central). The boldly seasoned corn chowder, served in a broad-bowled cafe au lait mug, featured sweet yellow and white corn, onions and potatoes in a milky broth that sang of black pepper, cumin and a hint of basil. The sandwich was a thin rectangle of wild sockeye salmon, perhaps 3 ounces, on a small roll with basil and a reddish mayo made with sun-dried tomatoes, lemon zest and lemon. Although it was a tasty partner for the sweet-peppery chowder, it struck me as minuscule for the money.

Auld later said he's added slaw to the plate to make it more filling. And he gave the special a home on the regular menu this week.

 

A vegetarian cracker bread pizza was a little heavy on the cheese and light on artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes for my liking but flavorful nonetheless.  And a bistro sandwich was a nice departure from the standard club:  layered with prosciutto, Granny Smith apple, white cheddar cheese, whole-grain mustard, fresh basil and tomato on very lightly toasted sourdough-walnut bread, plating was clean and unfussy on artful-all-by-themselves white rectangular plates.

 

And the wines? Did I mention the wines?

I didn't love the Sokol Blosser “Evolution,” a white blend from Oregon's Willamette Valley. An offered sample smelled sour and tasted muddled - too many varietals in there, I suspect.  But the Elk Cove pinot gris (from the same region) was a nice mate for the salmon. And the Erath pinot noir (from Willamette, too) had a heady, blueberry aroma and hints of clove and cinnamon that were remarkable with that knockout burger.

 

Twisted Cork isn't too sweet on sweets, although they offer cookies and a few types of house-made muffins each morning.

A few other quibbles: I found cloudy water spots on the bottom of one wine glass, a bit of cork floating in another. A mishmash of boxes stored on overhead shelving sullied the view from one side of the dining room. And although service started well on both occasions - a prompt greeting, a we-don't-have-Coke explanation and a rundown of the specials - a server once completely forgot to bring change and receipt.

 

Overall, though, the Auld's score big by keeping things small, honoring their commitment to scratch-cooking and good ingredients, and bringing a little Seattle breeze to landlocked Omaha.

Now if only they were open for dinner.

 

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Updated Nov. 6, 2008: The Twisted Cork Bistro has changed its hours and are open Monday - Saturday for lunch & dinner.

Hours are 11 to 3,  for lunch, first arrive, first serve and reservations accepted between 5 to 8:30, for dinner