#36 NEBRASKA - Got Out Of Dodge

There was one particular restaurant that I was really looking forward to visiting, probably more than any other stop on the Midwest leg. It had the nicely succinct name of Eat and is in Dodge, Nebraska (population 600). From what I read on the internet, the "executive chef" at Eat (not just "chef" or "cook"!) was trained at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, and spent most of his 20 year career cooking in Napa and Sonoma. Eat looked like it had interesting ambience, residing in what was originally a bank built in 1910. The menu I saw on-line had such intriguing dishes as buttermilk pancakes with toffee gravy and Black Angus corned beef hash. Reviews from the Omaha and Lincoln papers were effusive in their compliments. I was thinking I might even get a good cup of coffee.  

We wanted to get to Eat when it opened so we could beat the crowds. It seemed to be a great strategy because there was not one vehicle parked in front of the place when we arrived. We walked to the front door and were met with a sign: CLOSED TODAY FOR AN EVENT. I started to panic a little as I got on the Iphone to see if I could come up with an alternative. Of course, nothing else in Dodge existed. Fremont, the nearest town of any significant size was 35 miles away. Fremont had three possible breakfast establishments. I randomly picked one which was located just outside Fremont's central business district:   


Mel's Diner
Fremont, Nebraska

AMBIENCE:  Judging from the extremely crowded large parking lot, I thought Mel's held good potential. The outside with its neon lights and large sign screamed classic diner. The inside with its formica surfaces, front counter, and red vinyl booths seconded that notion.  Mel's looked like it was transplanted from Northern New Jersey. In fact, the building once sat in Omaha. It was purchased, taken apart, and reconstructed in Fremont, opening in October 2011. Initially, it was a 24 hour diner. It didn't take long for the owner to realize that the good citizens of Fremont don't party all night so the hours were cut back to 5:30 AM - 10 PM.

Mel's was jam-packed on this Saturday morning and we were told it would be about a ten minute wait for a table. As we stood in the vestibule next to a large glass enclosed cabinet filled with tempting pies, I took notice of a few things. First, compared to other states we had been, Nebraska men, in general, are large. As an example, I took this picture of the counter area.

The gentleman on the right is, no doubt, an extreme case but I would safely estimate that the average adult male in Mel's that morning was over 6 feet tall and weighed at least 215 pounds. I realize that I was observing a limited sample. As I was about to find out, the portions at Mel are mammoth. The food probably attracted big men and at the same time the food made men big.

It was game day in Nebraska with Ohio State coming to Lincoln for a Big 10 Conference football game.  About three-quarters of the customers and almost all of the staff were decked out in red with various logos proclaiming allegiance to the mighty Cornhuskers. Regrettably, later that day, the Cornhuskers were more meek than mighty, losing to the Buckeyes 56-14.

The other thing that I couldn't help but notice as we waited for a table was the Daily Specials board hanging in back of the cash register. Topping the list of specials was a Country Eggs Benedict. I had yet to have Eggs Benedict on our previous 35 breakfast stops and was waiting for the right opportunity to come along in which to give them a try. It seemed like it was as good as time as any with Mel's benedict selling for a very reasonable price.
 
 4 out of 5 stars 

FOOD:  I ordered the Country Eggs Benedict. About 30 seconds after the waitress had left it hit me. 

"Did the waitress just ask me how I wanted my eggs done?" I asked The Healthy One.
"Yes, and you told her over easy" replied The Healthy One. 
"But I thought Eggs Benedict are all about poached eggs", I said.
"That's true" said The Healthy One.
"Uh-oh".

This is what arrived at the table.

That certainly didn't look like Eggs Benedict. It looked more like a giant radioactive fungus. This was a Benedict Arnold; a traitor to the Hollandaise sauce nation.

Spanning the upper wall of the diner were famous short movie lines such as "There's no place like home." and "May the force be with you." Ironically, directly in front of our table, right above another large Nebraska man, the line read "Houston we have a problem."

I cut into this monstrosity.

There was white gravy, there was a biscuit, there were the eggs over easy, and to my consternation there was what I ate yesterday morning, chicken fried steak. Has anyone in their right mind eaten chicken fried steak with white gravy two days in a row? Well I have. I finished the whole damn thing and I found it to be delicious. This steak was really tender and the batter was tasty and not too obtrusive. The gravy had just enough pepper in it to make it interesting. The biscuit was soft, yeasty, and satisfying. And the eggs; I don't remember tasting the eggs as they must have been overwhelmed by the steak and gravy. Despite the surprise, I was very happy with the meal. I guess I'll save the traditional (urban not country) Eggs Benedict for another morning.
 

The Healthy One also ordered from The Specials board. She in fact got the "senior's special" which was called the "2 x 2 x 2": 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and 2 pancakes. She also ordered a glass of milk because she feared her dairy product intake the last few days was below a critical level.  She thought everything was very good, especially the bacon. That wasn't surprising since we were only 25 miles from Iowa and its population of 20 million pigs.  

  

4 1/2 out of 5 stars. 

COFFEE: 

I received one of those here's-a-thermos-of-coffee-so-I-don't-have-to-keep-coming-back-to-refill-your-cup container. Usually this is a red flag warning that the coffee is not going to be great.  I imagine they end up throwing quite a lot of it out. At least I hope they're throwing it out and not reheating the leftover.

Mel's coffee was surprisingly good. It was a notch above the typical Midwestern coffee we had been drinking.

.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  It seemed Mel's had enough staff to handle the busy Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Nevertheless, it was not like anyone was standing around checking their Facebook posts. Every staff person was scurrying around like squirrels gathering acorns in October. Our waitress, Meg was a friendly woman who gave me the feeling that she was no novice when it came to taking orders and serving food. Due to her many tables, Meg didn't spend much time at our table, but what time she did spend was certainly pleasant.

 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT FREMONT:

Fremont is about 35 miles northwest of Omaha. It is the 5th largest city in Nebraska but only has a population of 26,500. Compare that to Fremont, California which is the 16th largest city in the state and has a population of 232,000.

Like most small cities in the Corn Belt, Fremont had a skyline of grain elevators. The main economic engines are agribusiness, food processing, fabricated metal processing and electronics manufacturing. Hormel is one of Fremont's biggest employer. As fate would have it, after having breakfast 4 days ago in Austin Minnesota, one of two cities where Hormel produces Spam, I was now in the other city that produces Spam. Ground was broken in June 2017 for a Costco chicken processing plant just outside Fremont. The plant will create 800 jobs and it is estimated that it will add $1.2 billion annually to the Nebraska economy. The plant will kill, er process 2 million chickens a week. Its more than likely that your Costco rotisserie chicken will soon come from Fremont.

Fremont recently has gained national notoriety for its local immigration policy.  In 2010 voters approved Ordinance 5165 that bans illegal immigrants from renting houses. The ordinance also requires businesses to use federal E-verify software to check on potential employees' residency status. After a number of studies found the economic harm that Ordinance 5165 would do to Fremont a repeal vote was held in 2014. Citizens voted not to repeal the Ordinance by a wider margin than the 2010 approval. Three or four other small cities around the United States also passed similar anti-immigration ordinances which have been struck down by the courts. Fremont's ordinance was the only one upheld by the court, but anti-immigrant advocates argue that it isn't being properly enforced.

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

We drove to Omaha, parked the car, and did some substantial walking. We covered most of the historic Old Market section of the city. The shops and restaurants were crowded with locals, tourists, and hundreds of people wearing Ohio State jackets, hats, and scarves. We then walked over to Pioneer Courage Park and its stunning, five city block, collection of sculptures depicting the city's pioneer spirit. The outdoor 40 foot pioneer sculptures comprise the largest bronze and stainless steel art exhibit in the United States. We also walked across the Missouri River (that's twice in two days we have traversed the river) to Iowa and back on the beautiful Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.

October 14, 2017

NEXT UP: KANSAS