When food is made from scratch, with care, you can taste the difference. Bonus points when many of the ingredients in a dish are from local producers, as they are at the new J. Gorat’s Deli in Elkhorn.
I’ve written about the growth of chef-driven, locally owned fine dining spots popping up in west Omaha, the Elkhorn area, Fremont and Valley. Salted Edge, Pivot Prime and Semo Pasta and Wine are good examples.
But Jeff Gorat’s new spot, near 203rd and Pacific, is paving a new road out west: a locally owned bodega meets sandwich shop with a selection of specialty food and beverage items, a cooler full of Nebraska butchered meat and a shortlist of hot and cold sandwiches and salads.
Gorat, who is indeed related to the fabled Gorat’s Steakhouse founders, is aiming for a daytime lunch audience, competing against the long list of chain sandwich shops that pepper the city’s west side.
“I thought there was certainly an opening if someone were to create a really good sandwich place that wasn’t a chain,” he said. “I think people wanted that.”
So far, he’s been right: On my two visits, the place was packed.
“I didn’t see that coming whatsoever,” he said. “The amount of sandwiches we have served compared to what my projections were, well, it’s not even close.”
Maybe that shouldn’t be surprising. Jeff Gorat’s great-grandparents Louis and Nettie Gorat started the famed Omaha steakhouse that still bears the family name in 1944, and his grandfather Louis “Pal” Gorat Jr. took it over before it was sold in 2012. Both his parents worked there, Gorat said, and he also spent his childhood working there, growing up in the restaurant from around age 14 until after he graduated from college. He did dishes. He bused tables. He cooked. He did anything he was asked to do.
The idea to open his own spot had been simmering for more than a decade, he said, while he was the food and beverage director at Shadow Ridge Country Club and later when he was a partner in Copacabana Cocktail Lounge.
He sat on the idea while raising his family and then, earlier this year, came back to it: a big city-style deli in the Omaha suburbs.
I tried all but one of his sandwiches, including a special one day, along with one of his salads. I also appreciated his well-curated lineup of products in the bodega, where customers can browse while they wait – and you will almost certainly wait.
Both days, we waited between 20 and 25 minutes for our sandwiches, once staying to eat in the small dining room adjacent to the bodega and another time for a to-go order. Gorat told me later that some Saturdays, when the restaurant is busiest, wait times can stretch to 40 minutes. He said he has received a variety of feedback on wait times, but most people understand that the food is being made to order instead of being fully prepped ahead of time, a step the kitchen takes to make sure the sandwiches are fresh, the right temperature and texturally pleasing.
Our sandwiches checked all those boxes.
I really enjoyed the Grinder, a deli classic. Gorat does it right, with a pile of thinly shaved pepperoni, salami and ham, hand-cut provolone, fresh greens and a zingy, spicy giardiniera relish tucked between the layers. The bright acid cuts through the fat of the meat, all of it enveloped in a soft bun with a crusty finish.
The pressed Cuban struck both me and my husband as a legit version of a sandwich we enjoy every time we get to Miami. The sandwich, prepared with a crispy finish, includes slow-roasted pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and Dijon. It’s heavy on spice and flavor, and the meat and cheese melt against each other, cut by the tang of pickle and mustard.
The polpette, stuffed with house-made pork and beef meatballs, tomato sauce, ricotta, Parmesan and greens, is a bit slippery but worth the messiness: It’s hot, rich and spicy.
I also tried a special version of the chicken cutlet sandwich, dry spiced and topped with hot honey, mayo, greens and pickles on toasted ciabatta. It also was well balanced, with kicky hot honey and peppery greens, briny dill pickles and tender, crunchy-edged chicken inside a chewy roll.
Gorat told me later he considers the breaded chicken his signature dish. It’s a version of the classic worth trying even in a sea of crispy chicken sandwich offerings.
He sources his rolls from Michigan-based Ace Bakery and the ciabatta from Ashland’s Fariner Bakery. He chose both producers for their simple ingredients and preservative-free techniques. He said he used the same standards for the products in the store, which include things like Maldon flaky sea salt, Fish Wife tinned fish, gourmet crackers, spice blends and accessories like candles and tea towels. He also carries many local products, like Fat Head honey, locally brewed beers and ciders, Hardy Coffee beans, Volcanic Peppers hot sauce and a wide variety of meat from a Wahoo locker.
“My focus became on finding new products that you don’t see in big stores, or if you do, they kind of get buried on bottom shelves,” he said. “I also wanted to find products that have better, fewer ingredients.” If you’re sensing a theme here, me too.
If you know a person who enjoys food or cooking, the shop would be a great spot to get a locally sourced present or a gift card for someone to come back and shop later. Both times I visited, plenty of people were milling around the shop.
I like J Gorat’s mix of creative products focused on local and high quality. It’s the same focus he has for his shortlist of sandwiches, a list that allows him to pull them off with overwhelming success.
He said that focus: short ingredient lists, local, high quality and thoughtful, has become a philosophy.
“I despise a big menu,” he said. “When I see that, I’m like, Oh boy. You just know most of it’s probably going to be average, or most of it’s just going to come from, uh, our friends at Sysco,” he said, chuckling.
That is definitely not the case at this west Omaha spot, where quality and care take center stage.
The Skinny
Restaurant: J. Gorat’s Deli + Market
Address: 1220 S. 203rd St.
Phone: 402-957-5720
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Sunday
