We had already gone to dinner and had a drink. I’m fine with going home, I said.

He insisted again. I didn’t get it.

He asked for the same table we’d occupied on our first date. I still didn’t get it.

Then, hands trembling, he pulled a Borsheim’s box out of his pocket and asked.

It was as romantic as it sounds.

That’s us about an hour after our wedding, at the same table .

I felt sad, but maybe not surprised, when I learned yesterday that the French Cafe had closed. I know I’m far from the only person in Omaha who got engaged there, or who has lovely, romantic memories of the place. I remember going there as a little girl and being enchanted by the huge black-and-white photographs on the west wall. I stayed enchanted with them every time I went there, even the last time, for a drink a few weeks ago, when we were nearly the only people in the place. I wondered then what would happen to the French Cafe. I realized then that the city had largely deserted it.

The restaurant in 1980.

I can’t say I went there a lot. I think many Omahans can say the same thing. And even though the restaurant has floundered these past few years, making lots of changes and trying frantically to find itself, I don’t think I ever thought it would be gone.

The French Cafe kick started the Old Market. The Old Market: The first place I drove my red Pontiac Sunbird when I got my driver’s license. An escape that I’ve always returned to, even when we moved out of that one-bedroom apartment on 13th Street. A place where I first felt like I could be myself. A part of the city where I still eat many meals and drink countless glasses of wine with friends. The best part of Omaha. So for that, if nothing else, I will always remember, and appreciate the French Cafe.

It helped to make my Omaha what it is.

Vintage photo courtesy of the Omaha World-Herald. Wedding photos by my friend and OWH photographer Matt Miller.

Clayton Chapman and Paul Kulik

We’re getting there, Omaha.
Two of our own — Clayton Champan, of The Grey Plume, and Paul Kulik, of The Boiler Room — are semifinalists for the 2012 James Beard Awards. Read more here.

I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day, too.

We loved the curated wine rack and chose a lovely bottle of Barolo from the shelf.

Candle-lit cheese plate

Steak frites

Lamb Osso Bucco

Top to bottom: morning snow, crock pot of chili simmering for dinner, hot chocolate thanks to Ben and Stephanie, new vintage mug, today’s footwear of choice. Snow days aren’t too bad every once in a while. Stay warm!

Oh yeah, and I have a little column called art notes that always seems to get lost in the fray.

On Monday, I escaped my desk for a photo shoot for the gift story. Yes, that’s my back at left (and my own hand wrapped gift and front door, I’ll add.)

So those are all the reasons that Omavore has been quiet this week. But I’ll be back on track next week, beginning with a recap of this weekend, which I’m spending in Kansas City with my husband. His favorite band is playing a show Saturday night — can’t wait. Next week I’ll tell you about all the good food we eat and the good things we drink over the weekend.

Until then.

I’ll give you the full scoop in my dining notes column tomorrow in the World-Herald about Chocolatier Blue coming to Omaha. I was lucky enough earlier this week to get a sample box of Chris Blue’s chocolatey goodness. My oh my. Some of these (and yes, I’ve eaten a few) are amazing. Below, I’m sampling my favorite so far, the White Russian (a.k.a “the caucasian.”) I’m saving the cardamom-flavored chocolate for last, because it just sounds so, so good.

To continue on the theme, I’m offering Omavore readers the chance to win a prize in my very first giveaway! The prize is a copy of the brand new just-released book “Adventures with Chocolate” by chocolate expert Paul A. Young. Young is a renowned British chocolatier, and his book recently won the Best Chocolate book in the World award from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Fancy!

The book includes 80 recipes — even savory ones. One that looks amazing to me is chocolate water biscuits that are meant to be served with cheese. This sounds like the best idea ever.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this post and tell me what’s your favorite way to eat chocolate? I’ll pick a winner randomly on Monday. Good luck!

One subject kept coming up throughout the day, a subject that wasn’t on the schedule. Reuben sandwiches showed up on the lunch buffet, and I think everyone started to think about the savory sandwiches after they ate one.

Reubens came up during a presentation right after lunch about the success of Omaha’s Junior League Cookbook, which features a recipe for the sandwich. Then they came up a second time when New York native Isa Chandra Moskowitz started her presentation by saying, deadpan, ”I’m from New York. Where the reuben was invented.” And then the sandwich came up yet again, during a panel discussion about the history of Omaha restaurants.

Anyone from Omaha will claim the sandwich as a local invention. Two legendary stories exist, though, about the reuben. One is that a man named Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian-born grocer from Omaha, invented the sandwich as part of his weekly poker game held at the historic Blackstone Hotel. The hotel’s owner the put the sandwich on the hotel’s lunch menu. It later won a national contest and became famous.

The second story is that a man named Arnold Reuben, a German owner of the once famous, now closed Reuben’s Deli in New York invented the sandwich. The earliest references to the sandwich in print are ones from New York, though many don’t take those as conclusive evidence.

Anyway, the most interesting moment of the Reuben discussion came from Kristine Gerber, who is a publisher and book author and who was half of the duo that gave the presentation on the Junior League book. She said when researching the book, she came across a menu from an Omaha restaurant dating from 1924 that listed the sandwich. That menu would pre-date a New York menu which listed the sandwich in 1926. I’ve asked Kristine to send me a photo of the menu, or let me know where I might see a copy of it, so we can put the debate to rest once and for all (at least for Omavore readers.)

Meantime, let’s talk sandwiches: What Omaha restaurant serves the best reuben? Discuss.

photo source