MEMOIR

Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★★

Fine Dining

Perfect For: Date Night; Drinks; Upscale Dining; Lunch

Standout Dishes: Pasta Amatriciana; Potato Puffs; Roasted Chicken; Pork Dumplings

If you’re going to have the guts to name your restaurant “Memoir”, it better darn sure be memorable.

Fortunately, everything about this restaurant, from the awe it creates when you walk in the door to the delicious sensation of your final bites, won’t have you forgetting it any time soon.

A member of the Flagship Restaurant Group, Memoir combines a dining room elaborate enough to wow an interior designer with spotless customer service and a varied menu with inspirations from all over the globe. It all comes together to create a unique space where you’ll find tables celebrating anniversaries, hashing out business deals over lunch, or grabbing a family meal all in the same dining room.

STARTERS

Memoir doesn’t wait for the entrees to arrive to get the good vibes rolling. Its appetizer menu offers everything from raw meat (tuna tartare and carpaccio) to Creamed Kale & Bacon Dip, and plates delivered to the table within minutes of ordering.

The star of the show is the Potato Puffs, which are unlike anything quite like what you’ll find elsewhere in Omaha. With a crispy exterior protecting a pillowy, creamy center, it’s almost as if an egg roll were stuffed with mashed potatoes. They’re well salted, and the accompanying chili-bacon aioli provides salinity and just a touch of heat.

The Pork Potstickers are excellent as well. The homemade dumplings are well-formed and have a delightful chew to them, and they’re packed with savory pork. These supple pork pockets rest in a chili-soy broth, giving them great umami and just a touch of sweetness.

The Corned Beef Meatballs honestly don’t bring to mind corned beef. They instead have more of a Korean BBQ sweetness. It’s the other elements of the dish—pickled onions, rye crumble, and a delightfully punchy sauerkraut puree—that pull this starter back to its Reuben sandwich inspiration.

ENTREES

At first glance, Memoir’s menu appears to lack focus. What other restaurant features French dip sandwiches on the same menu as handmade pasta? Should filet mignon and a cheeseburger share the same table?

This is where the Flagship Restaurant Group’s experience kicks in. With sushi (Blue), Mexican (Roja), seafood (Plank), and gastropub food (Blatt Beer & Table) under its umbrella, the Flagship brand has experience in all kinds of cuisine, and Memoir proves it has mastered fine dining, too.

The expertly crafted pasta dishes suggest that if Flagship wants to open an Italian concept soon, it would be a major hit. Made in house, the noodles are tender but have great texture, and Memoir pairs them with sauces, cheeses, and herbs that highlight the each pasta.

The Pasta Amatricana, for example, employs spiral radiatore noodles, which use their corkscrew shape and dozens of nooks and crannies to trap lots of the sweet, tomato-forward sauce and bits of salty bacon. It’s one of the best pasta dishes you’ll find in Omaha.

And the tangy, rich vodka sauce nestles right into the grooves of the pasta in the Rigatoni alla Vodka, which gets a nice kick from Calabrian chile (even if the stracciatella cheese is a bit heavy-handed).

If you’re looking for something with a bit more steakhouse vibes, Memoir has that too. There’s Prime Flat Iron, Filet Mignon, Ribeye, and a Pork Rib Chop on the entree menu as well.

Chicken be dry and boring, but the Roasted Chicken is anything but. The poultry is moist and juicy, and the ricotta dumplings are plump, gnocchi-like balls of deliciousness. The chicken jus at the bottom of the plate offers a rich, salty broth that ties it all together.

And while the risotto in the Scottish Salmon is a bit toothsome, it’s wonderfully creamy and features a lemon-y acidity to complement the richness of the dish. And the fish is cooked perfectly, as a crispy top gives way to a flaky flesh that gives way with the touch of the fork.

SUSHI

As if there weren’t enough to choose from at Memoir, sushi makes an appearance on the menu, too. And these rolls aren’t a throwaway addition to satisfy happy hour diners. The rolls are well-formed and feature sticky, tender rice, and they’re packed with fresh-tasting fish and interesting accompaniments.

The standout flavor of the Spicy Tuna Maki is indeed the tuna, which is buttery and savory. It pairs well with creamy avocado and the slight heat from the atomic aioli. But the kicker is an addition of fried quinoa on the outside, which gives the roll a pleasureful crunch.

The fresh taste of the fish is what makes the Rainbow Roll an excellent choice, as it pairs silky smooth tuna, salmon, and yellowtail with crab mix and fresh avocado with crunch from sliced cucumber.

ATMOSPHERE

A meal at Memoir just feels special, and it’s clear a great amount of thought went into the look and atmosphere of this restaurant. The centerpiece is an elaborate bar with marble countertops and plenty of barstool seating. Behind that sits an open kitchen that allows you to watch this talented team assemble your meals.

In addition to cozy patio seating, Memoir offers a host of tables and comfy booths. The giant plate glass windows provide excellent lighting, and the overall vibe makes you feel like you’re in the lobby of a 5-star hotel; yet somehow, without the stuffiness of a fancy establishment.

The service is friendly and pleasant, though not overbearing, and they’ll provide helpful recommendations on what to order. They’ll also remember you from visit to visit, a rarity these days.

There’s no shortage of great drinks here, starting with the Men of the West. This cocktail masterfully combines the bitter, smoky notes of High West Bourbon with the vanilla sweetness of sarsaparilla.

Between the ambience, food, drinks, and service, there’s nothing not to like about Memoir. It’s evidently apparent that a lot of planning went into not only the elaborate cuisine, but the overall vibe of the restaurant. That special care has paid off, and Memoir has its place among downtown Omaha‘s finest restaurants.