When I found out Isa Chandra, vegan author and creator of the website Post Punk Kitchen, was creating restaurants after years of testing and tasting recipes, I was beside myself. The Godmother of the Modern Vegan Movement was actually going to build a place where we could come and taste her eats.
Then I found out it was going to be in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Omaha is where they raise a lot of cows. Why would you build a vegan restaurant in this place?
Because Omaha is actually a bastion of vegan eaters. Maybe because of the large University there, and possibly could be a backlash due to the cattle industry. Who knows.
I first went to Modern Love last year, in its old location, after tabling at the Omaha Zine Fest. On that visit we sat down and had dinner with several other zinesters that tabled that weekend.
The new location is much bigger, about 3x the size of the first restaurant. Same color palatte, same welcoming energy.
I parked and walked to the new, beautiful and outstanding restaurant, sitting on the corner of Farnham and Turner Blvd, in one of the busiest shopping areas of this town.
I’ll admit, I was not sitting down to eat. I was grabbing take out to bring home to my spouse, hoping the food would last the 3 hour trip (that turned into five, but that’s another story).
When I first walked in the hosts were so friendly. We were greeted with smiles and asked “How many?”
They were so good and patient as I texted back and forth with my spouse for menu choices. We narrowed it down to the Chickpea Bacon Ranch sandwich for me and the Mac and Shews for my spouse. Dessert was Snickers pie for them and Strawberry shortcake for me. Want to see the rest of the menu?
It took a long enough time for me to look around and soak in the environment, tall windows graced the dining room, with a big beautiful sign that says “Always take a big bite, it’s such a gorgeous sight.” Chandra does have a deep sense of humor.
The bar was small, done in grays and deep reds bordering purple. Only a couple of patrons graced its seat, but that’s ok because this restaurant is really all about the food.
I was smart enough to ask if Chandra was in-house. I missed her last year by like a week. It would just make my day that was already hugely successful. She was, but it was the beginning of the Saturday evening dinner rush, no time to come out and say hi. Kind of crushed my fanboy heart, but I understood. Service comes first, adoring fans, when there is time for them.
The food finally came out, hot, and smelling like I could eat five of anything from this vegan bastion in cowtown. As it was I was going to be driving home smelling it the whole way.
Once home I tried to grab a couple of photos, but they didn’t really come out so well. I’ll leave you with photos of the inside and outside. I’ll leave you wondering about the food.
I will say, the chickpea cutlet sandwich was really outrageous with the mushroom bacon and vegan ranch. Avocado added more creaminess to offset the crunch of the cutlet. Next time I go, I’m going to sit down for dinner in this restaurant that feels like the palace of vegan restaurants.
If you are ever in Omaha and feel like having a sit down vegan meal, come to Isa’s house, Modern Love and get some of those mac n shews!
