The French Cafe -- RIP

Old Market, Omaha
thefrenchcafe.com

"Croque Monsieur ($12) A French classic!
Grilled ham and Gruyere cheese topped with sauce Mornay,
served with pommes frites"

Fingers are pointing every which way, trying to determine the guilty party responsible for the French Cafe abruptly closing its doors forever. It wasn't the mayor and his nominal 2.5% dining tax, and it wasn't Old Market parking issues. It was the food and service, which in my opinion were mediocre at best. If you're going to stick to textbook French for over forty years, you damn well better know how to make sauce Mornay. Sadly, the key ingredient on the Croque Monsieur sandwich tasted not like smooth, cheesy velvet, but more like sticking my tongue into a bag of flour. Really, the whole dish was a mess. But thou shalt not speak ill of the dead.

Crusty Roll and Butter

At brunch last week, the warm rolls with fancy whipped butter were absolutely delectable, and I wished I could have avoided the disappointing oeufs dishes and just sat there, in front of the giant tacky photographs of Parisian street life on the wall, and stuffed myself with carbs. Perhaps an informal Euro-style bakery would be a more fitting use of the space, instead of a $30 a plate shit show. It is sad to see an Omaha institution close, but the owners were smart to know when to bow out of the game. Now, I wonder if they'll be auctioning off their flatware...

Omelette au Saucisson with house-made sausage ($12), definitely just "ok."
I think I'd rather have a McDonald's hashbrown than these unseasoned fried cubes. 

Blueberry Pancakes with a Runaway Frite