Ingredient
3201 Farnam St., Omaha (402) 715-4444
As I have discussed before, the service at a restaurant is just as important as the quality of the food. This point was emphasized to me at my recent experience at Ingredient.
I have dined at Ingredient before and found the concept charming and something I was interested in tackling again, especially at breakfast. I called ahead to find out how late they served breakfast and was told they served until noon. Perfect!
My beau and I arrived around twenty or quarter till noon and grabbed the menus by the front door just to confirm the order I already knew I wanted to make. Good thing we checked because much to my surprise, the list of ingredients has changed. Now before you go rushing to the website to check their offerings, I can tell you their breakfast menu, at least, is not updated. Now I was feeling the pressure, we were nearing the cutoff time and the pancakes with specifically chosen ingredients were not an option. I had to make new choices and fast. My back-up choice of a delightful omelette no longer offered the desired ingredients either. Quick! Come up with something! My disappointment was nearly insurmountable, but we managed to make a choice and head to the register to order.
Plates piled high with delicious smelling, large, warm pancakes floated by. Oh! How I love breakfast! A second register opened and with a smile I stepped forward to place my order only to be told “We’re not serving breakfast anymore” just as another plate of pancakes left the kitchen. “But I thought you served until noon,” I replied. The employee was adamant. No more breakfast. It does not matter that it is before noon. The kitchen said no more breakfast.
No more breakfast? Now what do I do? I feel the pressure of people waiting behind me in line. I have to order. Quickly. I throw together a pizza, feeling disappointed and unsatisfied. The service after this was subpar as well. Tables were not cleared or cleaned. We had to wait for a clean table. Our orders were brought out incomplete. Nobody seemed to care.
So… a few comments about the food.
The pancakes “looked” good but I thought raw Granny Smith apple sliced on top is not what I would want if I ordered apples on my pancakes. The pizza was again tasty even if I was a bit sullen while eating it. The Grilled Veggie and Hummus wrap was a surprisingly well balanced combination of ingredients, the vegetables being slightly crisp with feeling to “raw” and the hummus, feta cheese, and tatziki sauce played nicely off each other. The wrap was stuffed full without being over filled.
I was later told that the extensive ingredient was too costly and a bit too much to handle so they had to cut some items. Unfortunately, the more exotic ones seemed to get the axe, which was the best part of having options.
The worst part is that even though the food is enjoyable, if not mind blowing, I do not see myself returning anytime in the near future. With unexceptional service and average ingredients, I might as well go to any salad bar.
