Green Gateau Reviewed in Journal Star

On the Green

L. Kent Wolgamott
Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, May 20, 2005

If you go to the Green Gateau morning, noon, or night, you're going to get a fine meal.

The bistro at 330 S. 10th St. is one of just a handful of Lincoln restaurants that's open from 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. daily, and it offers some of the highest quality food of any eatery that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"We're one of the few places, if not the only place, where you can come in and get a good breakfast and a very good dinner—where you can get eggs in the morning and rack of lamb at night" said co-owner Eric Lemke.

Lemke and Kelli Kerns took over the Green Gateau from her parents, William and Beverly Livengood, on July 1, 2004. Since then the duo has expanded the menu, raised the quality of the food, added outdoor patio dining and begun selling beer and wine.

The restaurant now has an extensive wine list, offering more than 80 wines from around the world by the bottle and 15 by the glass. The wine makes a perfect compliment to the evening meals, a necessary addition that makes the Green Gateau one of the city's finest dining establishments.

During a recent visit, I had the beef Wellington—the only good dish to ever come out of England—and my companion sampled the oven roasted rack of lamb.

The 8-ounce filet mignon was perfectly cooked to medium inside a flaky French crust, the flavor enhanced by the rich Bordelaise sauce on which the dish is served.

The lamb was very good as well. The four medallion-size chops were trimmed and flavorful on a bed of wilted baby spinach leaves and Yukon Gold potatoes, creating a dish that was delicious and filling.

One of the newest additions to the menu is the parmesan crisp house salad, which is terrific. The mixture of greens, sundried cranberries, caramelized walnuts and crumbled feta cheese is served on a large, thin crisp made of parmesan cheese and herbs that has been baked in the oven, then formed.

"I was watching the Food Network, like a lot of people, and I saw a famous chef doing something like that at a restaurant in Las Vegas," said Lemke, who also serves as the restaurant's executive chef. "I changed the shape and downsized it. What's in it, I just guessed."

The Beef Wellington and rack of lamb are among the Green Gateau's top-selling evening entrees, along with the roasted duck breast with apricot and pecans. Ranging in price from $20.95 for the lamb to $17.95 for the duck, they are some of the highest priced entrees on the menu.

But the Green Gateau isn't just a place for special event dining. The evening menu has a full range of sandwiches and a selection of pastas and salads that are, with two exceptions, available for $10 or less. That allows the Green Gateau to function as an everyday eatery—something that is necessary for survival in the finicky Lincoln market that tends to support chain restaurants.

"That's one of the unique things of being locally owned, we're able to present what the community wants" Kerns said. "Our catchphrase is casual dining at its finest. We try to provide that large variety."

The same variety is available at lunch. Earlier this week, I had the Jamaican Jerk Melt, a chicken sandwich in which the meat is marinated in Jamaican Jerk spice then covered with a combination of melted cheddar and Monterey jack cheese. Not as spicy as some jerked dishes I've had, the sandwich had a distinct flavor thanks to the cheeses and is extremely filling. It came with nicely seasoned waffle fries, a delicious lunch combination.

My companion had the quiche of the day, a chicken and cheese combination that had a very flaky crust and a flavor that wasn't too eggy.

At both meals, we had to have dessert. The Green Gateau is a patisserie, after all, and desserts are one of its specialties.

Our evening server recommended the Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte, a flourless torte made with bittersweet chocolate and finished with raspberry Melba sauce. The name is truth in advertising. It is rich and decadent.

The crème brulee was also very good, with a nice contrast between the caramelized brown sugar crust and the egg and cream custard inside. The Green Gateau, a milk chocolate cake concoction with chocolate marquis inside, is also and delicious and decorated to look like a Monet watercolor.

In addition to its regular menu, the Green Gateau has begun offering wine dinners—a six course meal accompanied by four glasses of wine—on the last Saturday of each month. The first such dinner was held last month and featured a French menu highlighted by rack of lamb or beef tournedos. This month's dinner, set for May 28, will feature Italian food and wines. The June dinner will be German. Reservations are required.

The wine dinners are part of the Green Gateau's efforts to create a European bistro in the center of the U.S.

"We always keep playing on the European theme," Kerns said, pointing to photographs on the wall and other décor that reinforces her point. "We're trying to introduce the Midwest to the European feel."

Trying and succeeding. For almost 12 years, the Green Gateau has been one of Lincoln's best restaurants, and it is only getting better.