In a joint venture, Cutchall Management Company and Knolls Management have reached an agreement with property owner Bella Terra LLC to re-open Ironwood Golf Club this year for golf and banquet operations to the public.

Dave Johnson of Knolls Management will run the golf operations and Greg Cutchall from CMC will operate all food, beverage and banquet operations.  Some of the key employees of the former Ironwood Country Club will also be returning, including former Director of Golf, PGA Pro Don Germer as head golf instructor.  Also returning is head tennis pro Mike Henrich and clubhouse manager Nick Korth.

Bookings for weddings and parties will be accepted through 2010 to accommodate holiday parties in December.  “Former Ironwood members will receive priority booking as many bookings were cancelled when the club closed in January.” Said Cutchall.

“We are excited for the opportunity.” said Cutchall.  “Bella Terra’s long term plan for the property will take some time to develop and they saw no reason to leave this premiere facility closed this year.”

“Green fees will be affordable and golf outings and leagues will be welcome.” said Johnson.  “As a private club, many people have not had the opportunity to play this great course, and now they do.”

NEW RESTAURANT BRINGS A TASTE OF REAL, HONEST BBQ AND FUN TO EAGLE RUN AREA

Cutchall Management Company’s newest Famous Dave’s Opens March 1, 2010

Local residents seeking slow-smoked and flame-kissed ribs and a variety of other tasty barbeque menu items and combinations – look no further.  Famous Dave’s, a restaurant chain that is known for its award-winning ribs and regional BBQ favorites, has opened its newest location in the Eagle Run area at 130th & Maple Street.

            “Our customers have been asking us for years to bring a Famous Dave’s location to northwest Omaha.  We were fortunate to find the perfect location at 130th & Maple.” said Greg Cutchall, President and CEO of Cutchall Management Company.

Famous Dave’s of America, Inc. develops, owns, operates and franchises Famous Dave’s Barbeque restaurants, an award-winning chain with more than 175 locations in 36 states.  Having won over 400 awards for everything from best sauce to best ribs to best cookbook, Famous Dave’s has received wide acclaim and praise from guests and critics alike.  Famous Dave’s has been voted Best Bar-B-Que in the Annual “Best of Omaha” contest eight years in a row. 

Cutchall Management Company is the largest Famous Dave’s franchisee, with ten locations in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.  CMC currently owns and operates six different concepts in 6 states with 43 locations, under the trade names of Famous Dave’s, Sonic, Paradise Bakery & Café, Tin Star, Burger Star and Rock Bottom Gold Medal Tap.  CMC was one of only 13 companies to make INC Magazines 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America three years in a row.

If you’d like more information, please call Kari Zahm at 402-558-3333.

And from its Old Market location — two blocks from well-established local brewpub Upstream Brewing Co. — you might suspect the new eatery is banking on potential confusion about “the beer place on 11th.”

Good news for diners: The Omaha franchise of Denver-based Rock Bottom seems to know and appreciate the local competition. And the two-month-old eatery appears to be just as interested in food and service as it is in its own company-brewed beers.

On visits in January, Rock Bottom pleasantly surprised with a better-than-pub-grub menu: Midwestern bar classics, comfort food and bistro-type fare with flashes of Asian inspiration. The kitchen, led by former Upstream chef James Davis, showed care and skill across the board: from soups, sauces and vegetables that sang to all manner of braised, baked, grilled and fried things that rocked.

The space will be familiar to those who knew it as a Famous Dave's. Super-high ceilings, exposed wooden beams and brick walls, and tall banks of east- and north-facing windows give it a rustic rail-station vibe. Bar-height tables and elevated booths with built-in taps surround the long central bar and its bank of high-definition flat-screen TVs. Quieter, lower booths and tables nestle at the rear. And the art's a mix of Old Market scenes and logos for the house beers.

Asian touches showed in a starter of tart pickles and mildly spicy Anaheim pepper: Slices of both, dipped in a light tempura batter and fried, were mounded in a bamboo steamer basket and served with a lime-spiked Thai chili sauce.

Nods to Asia continued in an orange-ginger-sesame-oil dressing that tasted just as good on a salad as on a French fry.

Well-balanced, from-scratch flavors abounded in other sauces, such as the one served with a hearty portion of braised boneless short ribs: an ultra-savory concoction of braising liquid, roasted tomatoes, pearl onions, a whisper of rosemary and a mixture of button, portobello and shiitake mushrooms.

Comfort foods hit the mark. A mac-and-cheese with chicken had a creamy cheese-spiked béchamel at its base and crisp oven-toasted parmesan-asiago panko bread crumbs on top. A chicken pot pie sported delightfully toothsome vegetables and a flaky cover of golden pastry perfect for dipping in its herbaceous sauce. A beer-imbued French onion soup was terrific, its complex flavor owing in part to a good bit of the house stout.

The Rock Bottom patty melt surprised with its flavor, whimsy and size. I needed a knife and fork to tackle the 5-inch cube of grilled-until-golden Italian bread. A crumbly-edged hamburger was wedged inside the ginormous bread hunk, along with melted Swiss and cheddar and Thousand Island dressing. The onions you normally find sauteed inside a patty melt had jumped out of the sandwich: a Milky Way swirl of skinny caraway-scented onion straws held atop the melt with a skewer.

Crisp, middling-thick, house-made malt kettle chips were, for me, a little too heavily dusted with a fine powder of malt vinegar, onion, garlic and salt. But they served as incentive to drink more of the house beer, brewed at Rock Bottom breweries in Colorado and Illinois.

Of the beers in a four-shot sampler for $4.50, I most enjoyed the oaty and complex Terminal Stout and the roasty, toasty, nutty Molly's Titanic Brown Ale. Two lighter brews tasted fresh but were too bitter and hoppy for me.

A towering slice of carrot cake tempted, as did a stout-imbued cheesecake, but I found myself instead eyeing the short selection of smaller desserts. A hockey puck-sized disc of peanut-butter cheesecake, sandwiched between crisp dark-chocolate-cookie crusts, was rich and satisfying. I didn't love the Hershey's-esque chocolate sauce on it, but the $2.50 price was right. And it was nice to get a meal-ending sweet that's not as big as my noggin.

Some in my party found the smaller booths up front too close for comfort. And for me, the stools at the bar-height tables were a little too shallow; even without beer, I felt like I was always slipping forward.

But the roomy booths and low chairs at the back were fine. The servers were friendly, informed and engaged. And I don't recall a single bad bite at Rock Bottom, which seems to be off to a rock-solid start.

Contact the writer:

444-1069, nichole.aksamit@owh.com

CMC CEO - Greg Cutchall cuts the ribbon to offically open the Rock Bottom Gold Medal Tap in Omaha's Old Market District.

Here at Rock Bottom we understand the importance of great beer. The best beer is the freshest beer. Through using the freshest ingredients to handpicking the finest hops in the Yakima Valley - our brewers create their own representations of the world's renowned beer styles that go so well with our flavorful food. We are proud to bring you unique, fresh and handcrafted beer.

On the dining side, Rock Bottom Gold Medal Tap offers a diverse menu featuring on-trend house specialties such as “Firecracker” shrimp, flatbreads, classic mac n’ cheese, build-your-own burgers, roasted chicken, steaks, seafood and a weekend prime rib special, all served up in a polished casual atmosphere.

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