OMAHA RED MANGO TO DEBUT AT, MOVE WITH, CWS
The fellow who's opening Nebraska's first Red Mango frozen yogurt bar in the Shops of Legacy in late June has secured spots near the College World Series this summer and when it moves downtown next year.
Bret Cain, an Omaha businessman who bought the franchise rights for the Red Mango chain in the Omaha, Lincoln and Kansas City, Mo., areas, said this week that he will have a booth shaped like a cup of yogurt on 13th Street near Rosenblatt Stadium during this summer's games.
He said he also has secured a lease in a new Bluestone Development building in the works southwest of 13th and Cuming Streets, west of the new downtown stadium. That location should open in time for next summer's games, he said.
Pending the outcome of lease negotiations, Cain also plans to open a Red Mango near the Sur La Table kitchenware store in One Pacific Place in mid-to-late August and another near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in September. He plans a total of 10 locations in the next few years, including several in the Kansas City area.
The Dallas-based chain, part of a “tart yogurt” trend more prevalent on the coasts, offers a tart-tasting nonfat frozen yogurt billed as having high levels of live active cultures and probiotics that aid digestion.
The chain's locations have an urban lounge feel with wireless Internet access and a self-serve setup, a bit like a salad bar with a pay-by-weight approach.
They offer several flavors of frozen yogurt and a host of toppings that skew healthy (freshly cut fruit and granola) or indulgent (Cap'n Crunch cereal, gummy worms, dark chocolate). Diners fill their cups as they like and pay by the ounce, typically $2.50 to $5 a cup, Cain said.
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BAKERY BY ANY OTHER NAME TASTES AS SWEET
Autumn Pruitt, who bought Bickford Bakery and renamed it Uprising Bakery this year, has rechristened it once more to eliminate some market confusion.
The bake shop inside Aromas coffeehouse at 1031 Jones St. now is Bliss Old Market Bakery.
“There are other Uprising Bakeries around the country, so if we ever wanted to expand it could be an issue,” Pruitt said.
“And some people got us confused with Upstream (Brewing Co., the brewpub) or thought we were affiliated. And we're actually concentrating on things that aren't yeast breads, but some people thought we were more about breads because of the name.”
The website is www.blissbakery.com. The phone number, 934-7450, is unchanged. And, yes, they still sell caketinis.
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CATCHING UP WITH . . .
Big Mama's Kitchen & Catering is mixing its housemade desserts with ice cream lately, and not in the sense of pie à la mode. Patricia “Big Mama” Barron has been swirling her German chocolate cake into chocolate ice cream, folding her cherry-green-tomato-rhubarb crisp into French vanilla, and crumbling peach crisp or pecan pie into New York-style vanilla. The ice creams are available at the restaurant, 3223 N. 45th St., for a limited time.
Spencer's for Steaks and Chops has begun showing free movies at 6 p.m. on Sunday nights on the three HD TVs in its lounge, where a $5 “prime time” menu is served. The “Dinner and a Movie” promotion kicked off last week, general manager Brad Marr said. This Sunday's pick: “Avatar.” Next week's: “Caddyshack.”
At long last, the wine lounge has opened at Brix, the spirits-and-more store in the Village Pointe shopping center. It features a tapas-like menu and a high-tech wine-preservation system that allows diners to try 64 wines by the glass. To start, it's open late afternoons and evenings daily, generally from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
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OMAHA BARTENDER'S THE BOMB(AY)
Dean Kroll of Bonefish Grill was named Omaha's most-inspired bartender this week when Bombay Sapphire and GQ Magazine kicked off a 40-city “Inspired Bartender Search” in Omaha, judging cocktails made by 25 Omaha bartenders. Kroll competes for the national title in Las Vegas in August. Find the recipe for his cocktail, the Sapphire Sanctuary, in the "Related News" at the upper right corner of this page.
-- Nichole Aksamit
Got restaurant news, questions or tips? Call food writer Nichole Aksamit at 444-1069, or e-mail nichole.aksamit@owh.com. Dining Notes runs Fridays.
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