THE BOILER ROOM
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★★
District: Downtown Omaha
Loft eatery with inspired American fare
Perfect For: Date Night; Drinks; Upscale Dining
Standout Dishes: Morgan Ranch Wagyu Shortrib; Charcuterie Board; Slow Roasted T.D. Niche Farm’s Berkshire Pork Shoulder; Tagliatelle; Grilled Spanish Octopus
The idea of an open kitchen isn’t exactly a novel concept. Restaurants understand that by bringing down the walls of their kitchens, they give diners the feel of being insiders—though they’re not physically inside the kitchen, they think they have a general idea of what’s going on.
The Boiler Room takes this concept to a whole new level. By seating diners on the second floor, this Omaha institution allows them to look down into the kitchen, adding perspective and awe to the experience. You can watch as cooks splash butter onto your steak, put the final touches on your elegant charcuterie board, and move in unison under the calm leadership of Executive Chef Tim Nicholson (a 5-time semifinalist for a James Beard Award).
Of course, The Boiler Room could serve me my meal in an alleyway 15 miles from the kitchen and I wouldn’t care. The food is that incredible.
The menu showcases the finest of local ingredients, taken to new levels by Nicholson and his team. The offerings are a mix of small plates like pasta, croquettes, and crudos alongside perfectly cooked seafood, pork, duck, and steak.
The menu, which changes several times each week based on which ingredients are in season and proteins are available, offers both classicly prepared steaks and fish alongside whimsical dishes likea roasted, hollowed-out delicata squash stuffed with chopped mushrooms and wagyu shortrib. Or a Confit Turkey Torchon, drizzled with an orange soy glaze. Nicholson and his team have endless creativity and the technical precision to match.
PASTA
If all The Boiler Room served was pasta, it could be a successful restaurant. This place serves excellent handmade pastas of all shapes and sizes, such as the Casoncelli (pictured in the header), bite-sized pasta pouches filled with polenta. The creamy cornmeal bursts forth from its tender casing upon each bite, and a splash of Nashville hot oil complements the rich broth.
Or the Tagliatelle, a simple yet delicious dish of perfectly cooked handmade noodles and a brilliantly meaty ragu bolognese that could make Italian nonas weep.
Whatever pasta you choose, you can be confident it’ll be cooked to a delightful al dente, giving you a tender noodle with just the right amount of bite.
SEAFOOD
The Boiler Room also displays a mastery with fish, allowing the fish to maintain their natural flavor while adding seasonings and touches that take them up a level. The menu constantly changes offering you an opportunity to try seafood you might not even know existed. There’s always something new to try, from the thick, steak-like Grilled Florida Swordfish (with a delightful piquillo cream and blood orange gastrique) to the mild Pan Roasted Florida Red Grouper, paired with a tangy sauce puttanesca and some fregola sarda (think a heartier cous cous) for texture.
One of the best examples was a Grilled Mediterranean Branzino. The fish was cooked beautifully, as it had both flaky, fall apart flesh and a crispy skin. The tomato basil sauce brought sweetness and acidity, and the pillowy gnocchi were perfect for mopping up every last ounce of it.
The seafood is great not only as entrees, but as small, shared plates. Scallops are perfectly seared, giving a crust to balance the supple, sweet crustaceans. The Grilled Spanish Octopus is cooked to achieve a delicate, bouncy chew. The tender tentacle is complemented with a tangy dill & potato mousse, a sweet beet tartare, and some toasted peanuts for texture.
Dishes like the rich, fatty Salmon Belly and the light, acidic Baja Striped Bass Crudo couldn’t be more different, but they’re similarly delicious.
PROTEINS
Give Nicholson and his team any protein and they will cook it to perfection. Steak, duck, pork chops, venison, pork belly, lamb… all these proteins require different specifications and cooking procedures, and The Boiler Room nails them all.
The Morgan Ranch Wagyu Shortrib would be one of the best plates I’ve ever eaten if all it came with was the tender, succulent hunk of perfectly-cooked meat, which immediately surrenders to the slightest poke of the knife. But The Boiler Room layers on flavor after flavor: heat and texture from a spicy sesame crumble; rich, creamy yolk from a dug egg; earthiness from sauteed mushrooms; creaminess from polenta; a hint of spice and sweetness from kimchi. There are a lot of components on this plate, but each has a clear role to play, and they work incredibly well together.
The same goes for the Grilled Morgan Ranch Wagyu Flank Steak. As is the case with all Morgan Ranch products, the meat would be a treat if served alone on an empty plate. But what’s steak without potatoes, right? And The Boiler Room adds not one, but two starches to the tender steak: two delightfully creamy dollops of pommes puree, which are topped with crisp, roasted fingerling potatoes. A rich, acidic sauce bordelaise finishes off the masterpiece.
And then there’s the New Zealand Venison Loin. The rich, earthy venison was tender enough to cut with a Fisher Price knife, and it paired beautifully with the luscious risotto. But it was the sugar in the velvety sweet potato puree that really took this dish to another level.
DESSERT
With all the tempting appetizers and entrees, you’ll likely struggle to save room for dessert… but you need to. And if you can’t save room, make room. The restaurant excels in melding flavors and textures that you’d likely never considered previously.
For instance, take the Brown Butter Polenta Cake. Imagine hearty, delicious cornbread. Now add a blueberry compote that blends sweet and tart as if walking a tightrope. Now bring in a thick, creamy sweet corn ice cream, complete with white chocolate nibs for texture. Oh, and top it all off with a bourbon caramel corn. This wildly eclectic yet delicious dish is worthy of song.
There’s also the S’mores Terrine, which takes the humble campfire delight and transforms it into fine dining fare with a layered cake, toasted meringue, and a marshmallow mousse.
Whatever you order, it’s immediately clear that a lot of thought and care went into the dish. There’s a reason Nicholson is a five-time James Beard award semifinalist, and his name consistently arises in conversations with other members of Omaha’s culinary elite.
To fully understand what makes this restaurant special, call ahead and order a tasting menu. You’ll be served five delectable courses over the course a a few hours that showcase The Boiler Room’s precision, creativity, and complete mastery of texture and flavor.
One also can’t help but enjoy the ambience of The Boiler Room. The walls are comprised of exposed brick, and steel posts and girders support the structure. There is at the same time a sense of decay and livelihood: this is an old building, but its new purpose injects it with life and passion.
That dichotomy is where The Boiler Room excels. It takes dishes you’re familiar with and presents them in a new, creative manner. It’s easy to become enamored by the genius that begot each plate, especially when you can simply look down and see the process in action.