Faturday Omaha

Get ready to Connect With Food and meet the 2025 inductees into the Omaha Hospitality Hall of Fame Doug Case, Andy Reetz, Chad Hartmann, Jim Major, Loren Koch, and Mike Kelley. Brian O'Malley, the Associate Dean of MCC Institute for the Culinary Arts, and I talked with the inductees in MCC's studio to bring you the voices and the stories behind this years group of honored individuals. Please listen, like, and share and as always Connect With Food!

My heavens get ready, we have a multi-topping hand tossed artisan episode for you. I was fortunate to attend International Pizza Expo 2025 in March and through this was able to connect, learn, have fun, and recap in Vegas to bring expo to you. Additionally I was able to interview Eidref Laxa of the What's Good Dough podcast who competed this year at Expo and is just an all around nice person to slice it up with. This episode also features a new segment from Danell Taylor aka the Omaha Fattie as he reports in from a new opening of Wild Chicken. Hang onto your fork, listen if you’re hungry, and get ready to connect with food!

The doors unlocked at Bohemian Gardens after hours to allow Chef Jamil Bah Traore and Chef Fatima El Qasby to teach you and I all about North African Dolma. Chef Jamil and I have been talking about cooking together for a while and the timing was just right as the House of Bah’s upcoming Indigo Table event at Bohemian gardens is coming up April 26th and 27th and this dish is a candidate for the plate. Listen in on how to get this recipe so you can give it a try! House of Bah Foundation is a non-profit providing a path for immigrant chefs to establish their footing in Omaha and more than that is making far from Omaha flavors familiar to our city’s palate. Hang onto your fork listen if you’re hungry and get ready to connect with food!

Art and Soup March 9th, 2025! How does food help? It nourishes the heart, mind, and body. Art has its impact to the senses and mind as well. Combine the two and you get Art and Soup! This is the "VNA’s 28th annual event supporting nursing services in domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, and maternity homes.” On the show is Carole Patrick who heads up Art and Soup and Chef Brian O'Malley of MCC who leads the culinary side of the roughly 20 restaurants that bring soup for a cause that the public can experience. Oh, I bug Chef for some cooking tips while we’re at it. Hang onto your fork, listen if you’re hungry, and connect with food!

There is a lot packed in this episode, get ready to get an overview of Rotisserie Urban Bistro from chicken to empanada, saffron rice, plantains and more. We are going to talk about one of my favorite cookbooks and two of my preferred recipes therein. I’m going to get personal * GASP * with my cooking journey and I would love to hear about yours as well and we will close out our show with a quick note regarding an event at MCC Institute for the Culinary Arts that resulted in an award winning Chef and a heartfelt evening of family. Hang onto your fork listen if you’re hungry and connect with food!

Ok, ok, I may have been a bit greedy when seeking our guests on the show today. I’ve become quite curious on how cottage food production and pop-ups differ with rules and certifications etc. Additionally, our local food trucks and industry folks brought No More Empty Pots to my attention. We’ve had CEO Talia McGill on the show before to give us an overview of No More Empty pots. This episode also features Alisha Waugh who is the Kitchen Coordinator of No More Empty Pots’ commissary kitchen. She so kindly addressed all of my questions and I look forward to you listening to our conversation and adding new knowledge to your repertoire. Hang on to your fork, stay right where you are and Faturday will be right back. Get ready to connect with food!

Shaheen’s Afghan Cuisine brings the flavors of Afghanistan to Omaha, Nebraska and they now have two locations serving up Mantu (ground beef dumplings), Kabobs, Kabuli Pulao with its basmati rice and lamb shanks and more. Shahen Shah leads this family centered restaurant and grocery. His two sons Omed and Waheed joined me in studio to talk about this flavorful cuisine and about Shaheen’s approach to serving its customers in a way to help them feel welcomed like they would be in Shahen’s home country. I absolutely love our wide variety of cuisines available right here in Omaha, and right here on our show you are in for great conversation so hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

When you hear Jordan Caniglia you might think that there is a good chance he has worked at or owns a restaurant in Omaha and you would be right! Caniglias A Mano has been serving up a thin crust style pizza for about 5 years and made a move to a larger location close to 72nd and highway 370 since their initial start. Jordan joined us in studio to talk about pizza of course, but also challenges, and some of his influences. I like that you can try out the pizza a slice at a time to experience all of the toppings and I hope that you… Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry. You can find Caniglia's A Mano info here https://www.canigliasamano.com/

Cake! Stacey Leick of Buttered Marshmallow has reached quite a milestone for her bakery and for anyone in the restaurant/food industry and that is 5 years! She joined us in studio and per usual there were delicious treats in tow and an as of yet brand new item for a taste test. We are going to talk about her progress, and maybe profiterole, oh and Paris too as Stacey took vacation but rolled that into learning about pastry. Stavcy has a lot of heart and that energy definitely comes through in her cakes, so… Hang on to your fork, stay right where you are and Faturday Omaha will be right back. Keep listening if you’re hungry!

When Chef Jamil Bah-Traore reaches out and says something is happening you know it’s something good. Something good that somehow I was not aware of but we fixed that right up quick and that is Afro Fest! Afro Fest 2024 was held Labor Day weekend and brought food, culture, connection, and happiness to downtown Omaha. To give you the inside info about the start of Afro Fest and where the future is headed we have Chef Jamil of the House of Bah Foundation and Joubel Folly Teko of Afro Omaha. So… Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

It’s a karate studio, it’s a legion, no it’s a BBQ brick and mortar serving brisket, ribs, sausage, mac and cheese, and more. We’ve got James Hawk, owner operator for J’s Smokehouse that you can find at 4725 S 96th street in Omaha on the show. I’ve been following along with J’s journey for a while, but this is the first time we’ve had James on the show. We learn how he seasons his brisket and ribs, how long it takes to make one of those barked brisket beauties and talk about the progression from tent to permanent BBQ location. Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

We have two wonderful guests on the show today from an equally wonderful restaurant. The guests are Usevia and Maricela Bustamante and that restaurant is Tixteco located at 2203 S 16th St in Omaha. The restaurant is a neat building in its own right and there are giant painted golf balls outside which make good landmarks when you tee up a trip there. Inside you will likely fine Usevia making everything from the quesadilla masa, to juices, to the deeply flavored mole that coats chicken and inspires a persons taste buds. Let’s go to Tixteco all you need to do is… Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

Have you ever had a really good scoop of ice cream that just put a smile in your tummy. That might something simple yet refined like a really good scoop of lightweight vanilla or a straightforward decadent round of chocolate or maybe you got something whose flavors floored you due to the taste that resulted in a WOW how’d they do that? Well on this episode we are at Ted and Wally’s with co-owner Jeanne Pittack and ice cream specialist Holly Kerr as they show me how to stuff an entire carrot cake into an ice cream cone! Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry! Find more Ted and Wally's at https://www.tedandwallys.com/