Shaheen’s Afghan Cuisine brings the flavors of Afghanistan to Omaha, Nebraska and they now have two locations serving up Mantu (ground beef dumplings), Kabobs, Kabuli Pulao with its basmati rice and lamb shanks and more.

Shahen Shah leads this family centered restaurant and grocery. His two sons Omed and Waheed joined me in studio to talk about this flavorful cuisine and about Shaheen’s approach to serving its customers in a way to help them feel welcomed like they would be in Shahen’s home country.

I absolutely love our wide variety of cuisines available right here in Omaha, and right here on our show you are in for great conversation so hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

Sarah Baker Hansen recently wrote an article for the Flat Water Free Press titled “As food costs rise, local restaurants — and diners who support them — adjust to paying more” At a time when we’ve seen a lot of restaurant closures, this article might just ring true with a lot of owners and diners. Coincidentally, just hours before we went in studio a noted local restaurant that was even featured on Food Network announced it was closing.  We talked about the article, the varied factors affecting restaurants, and more including a local spot serving soup dumplings. 

Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry. !

When you hear Jordan Caniglia you might think that there is a good chance he has worked at or owns a restaurant in Omaha and you would be right! Caniglias A Mano has been serving up a thin crust style pizza for about 5 years and made a move to a larger location close to 72nd and highway 370 since their initial start.

Jordan joined us in studio to talk about pizza of course, but also challenges, and some of his influences. I like that you can try out the pizza a slice at a time to experience all of the toppings and I hope that you…

 Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry.  

You can find Caniglia's A Mano info here https://www.canigliasamano.com/ 

How do you pack all of Naples Italy into a food truck? Well, you can start with a motivated Brazilian with Italian parents who found food was his passion, cooked at several restaurants, moved to the US to learn English then went over to Italy to study VPN pizza.

That person is John Anthony St. Patrick and that food truck is Spacca Naploi. I encountered this hot and fresh pizza and John Anthony when I went out for dinner and we connected afterward to talk all things pizza. Oh and he does handmade Mozzarella and brought some in studio!

Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

Cake! Stacey Leick of Buttered Marshmallow has reached quite a milestone for her bakery and for anyone in the restaurant/food industry and that is 5 years! She joined us in studio and per usual there were delicious treats in tow and an as of yet brand new item for a taste test.

We are going to talk about her progress, and maybe profiterole, oh and Paris too as Stacey took vacation but rolled that into learning about pastry. Stavcy has a lot of heart and that energy definitely comes through in her cakes, so…

You thought Candy Land was cool, well on this episode we’re heading to the candy lab! That candy lab is Sprinkk and the person that created Sprinkk is Tessa Porter and she is a candy scientist, engineer, business owner and she took time out of her day to allow the microphones in the lab.

This episode was a ton of fun to make as I really love to learn and each room of the lab offered that opportunity. This is a sweet episode indeed and you’re going to enjoy where candy and science collide…or smoosh. 

Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

When Chef Jamil Bah-Traore reaches out and says something is happening you know it’s something good. Something good that somehow I was not aware of but we fixed that right up quick and that is Afro Fest! Afro Fest 2024 was held Labor Day weekend and brought food, culture, connection, and happiness to downtown Omaha. To give you the inside info about the start of Afro Fest and where the future is headed we have Chef Jamil of the House of Bah Foundation and Joubel Folly Teko of Afro Omaha.   So…

Take a moment and envision what you imagine you would see on the menu of a cafe in a car dealership…and then throw that right out the window the ‘63 split window. The Corvette Cafe, yes it’s located inside of a car dealership, but the menu is anything but stock. This more like the ZR1 customized version of as it travels the roads from scratch bread, and pizza, to in house made enchilada sauce as well as breakfast. We have Chef Ryan Eckhert and Chef Dan Hoffman on to grant us a license to drive.  So…

Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

It’s a karate studio, it’s a legion, no it’s a BBQ brick and mortar serving brisket, ribs, sausage, mac and cheese, and more. We’ve got James Hawk, owner operator for J’s Smokehouse that you can find at 4725 S 96th street in Omaha on the show. I’ve been following along with J’s journey for a while, but this is the first time we’ve had James on the show.  We learn how he seasons his brisket and ribs, how long it takes to make one of those barked brisket beauties and talk about the progression from tent to permanent BBQ location. 

Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!

Momo, the delicious Nepali dumpling, where’s a person to find one….or 12 in Omaha. That’s Kathmandu Momo station and on the show we have Sagar Gurung the man behind the momo in the Innerrail food hall and now a new location at 16th and Farnam downtown that is co-located with Cattle Call kitchen and cocktails . Additionally Sagar is a partner in Saffron Indian kitchen which has a beautiful interior paired with tasty food. We are going to talk about where Sagar got his restaurant start in Omaha, where his newest venture is going, and of course a whole lot about momo!

Hang on to your fork and listen if you’re hungry!