60 Plus Omaha - June

June 2022

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Omaha Magazine publishes stories about interesting people who live next door and fascinating former Omahans. It is the place to read stories about the arts, the food, the music, and the events that are making Omaha the cultural epicenter of the Midwest.

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“WE’D HAVE THOSE [CINNAMON ROLLS] EVERY OTHER MONDAY AT SCHOOL WITH CHICKEN SOUP.” ~RON POPP

Butter, Sugar, Flour RON POPP’S LOVE OF BAKING INSPIRES CAREER

60+ PROFILE // STORY BY DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

he combined scent of butter, sugar, and cinnamon wafts from the kitchen as one walks into the restaurant at 1224 S. 103rd St. It’s the scent, and ingredients, to a confection that owner Ron Popp has known for most of his 65 years.

“We had terrific school cooks,” Popp, originally from Dow City, Iowa, remembered. “We’d have those [cinnamon rolls] every other Monday at school with chicken soup.”

Another early cooking memory is also of sweets—spending time with his four aunts combining sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt with stiff egg whites to make divinity on Christmas Day. “Made right, it’s just one of the best candies,” Popp said.

In the 1970s, Popp moved roughly 60 miles south and west of his hometown to Omaha to attend college, with the intent of becoming an accountant. To pay the bills, he got a job at a brandnew Perkins restaurant. Matt and Ivan Perkins owned the restaurant chain at that time, maintaining, according to Popp, homemade dinners, pies, and gravies that made the chain successful.

Within a couple of years, however, the Perkins brothers retired, and the restaurant model changed.

Popp earned his associate’s degree in accounting and continued managing that Perkins for 10 years before deciding to step out on his own, settling in the former Rockbrook Coffee Shop.

“It was 1,000 square-feet, and 55 seats,” Popp remembered. “It was a small place that everyone went to.”

The coffee shop at Rockbrook became Popp’s Garden Cafe, and he soon expanded around the city, boasting places downtown and in Ralston, among

others. Popp took Matt and Ivan Perkins’ from-scratch ideas from the pre-corporate run Perkins, creating pies, cakes, and breads from scratch alongside potato casseroles, fresh soups, and breakfasts served at any time. Eventually, he turned to venture capitalists to help finance the expanding restaurants, and that’s when he realized he needed to move forward.

“That was a big learning curve,” Popp said.

“You need to be consistently mediocre to do what venture capitalists want.”

Consistently mediocre is exactly what Popp did not want. He wanted good food, made from scratch, that would please customers each time. That is why he branched out on his own in 1985, and it is what would prompt him to go on his own again in 2000. He took over the Garden Cafe on Pacific Street, that aforementioned restaurant at 1224 S. 103rd St., and turned it into Wheatfields Eatery and Bakery.

The emphasis is on bakery. “Our cinnamon roll recipe is the recipe from school,” Popp said. Diners can indulge in those large, fluffy confections with vanilla icing or eat the caramel pecan version, with sticky brown-sugar glaze dripping down the sides of the yeasty sweet bread.

"In Germany I learned a lot about gingerbread."

-Ron Popp On a cool, below-average day in midApril, Popp stood in the kitchen, cranking out 10,000 of those cinnamon rolls for people in preparation of Easter brunches and breakfasts. He started mixing them at 10 a.m., and baked until

6 p.m. He cracked eggs by hand, melted butter over the stove, and combined the right amount of yeast and flour in the mixer time after time.

After more than 20 years at Wheatfields (and many years before that at Garden Cafe) one might think that Popp would get out of the kitchen and visit cities such as Budapest and come back with memories of the art at St. Stephen's Basilica or the thermal-spring baths on Margaret Island. Popp might, but it’s the food that this passionate restaurateur comes home raving about.

“The Strudel House got me to do even more with strudel,” Popp said. “They have this long silver table and they take two bakers, one on each end, and they make it there. I learned a lot about how much there is to stretching the dough. In Germany I learned a lot about gingerbread. There are a lot of different versions in Germany.”

Even a trip to Switzerland gave Popp ideas about a food he had been trying to perfect.

“We went to one place in Switzerland, and they had the cheese sitting out,” Popp said. “It clicked. I had been trying to figure out the secret to a good fondue—it is 100 percent the cheese.”

Back in Omaha, with tweaked recipes for strudel and fondue in hand, Popp returned to the kitchen to work magic with butter, flour, and sugar.

It’s something he has no intentions of leaving soon.

“The thing I ask myself: Do I want to still be making cinnamon rolls in my 80s?” Popp said.

The answer, he replied, is yes.

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STORY BY KARA SCHWEISS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN / DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

ANDMARK ITALIAN RESTAURANT MISTER C’S CLOSED IN 2007 AFTER OPERATING MORE THAN A HALF-CENTURY IN OMAHA, BUT FANS CAN STILL ENJOY EATING ITS SIGNATURE SPAGHETTI SAUCE AND ITALIAN DRESSING 15 YEARS LATER—AT HOME. “CUSTOMERS LOVED OUR SAUCE AND DRESSING AT OUR RESTAURANT. THEY OFTEN TOLD US, ‘YOU SHOULD BOTTLE THIS,’” SAID DAVID CANIGLIA, PRESIDENT OF MISTER C’S WHOLESALE FOODS, INC. In the late 1980s, David’s brother, Larry Caniglia, consulted with local manufacturer Albert’s Fine Foods to develop Mister C’s recipes on a larger scale for retail sale. Products can still be found in grocery stores in and around Omaha or online.

“Since the start, sales have grown exponentially,” David said. “Our sales increased after the closing of Mister C’s…Our wonderful customers kept the tradition alive, serving their families our products at the dinner table. Now, we have a whole generation that has never heard of Mister C’s Steak House but are die-hard fans of our products.”

Omahans with fond memories of Omaha’s sole Pizza Shoppe, which closed in 2017, can drive three hours to visit one of the Pizza Shoppes in Kansas City, where the small chain originates.

Or they can purchase the restaurant’s “Pink Stuff,” an aptly-named, pinkcolored, creamy garlic salad dressing, in local grocery stores or online.

Several active area restaurants who offer take-home products in their restaurants have also expanded to retail. Gus Sgourakis, whose family owns Greek Islands, said the restaurant has sold its branded salad dressings (regular and sugar-free) in-house for around 20 years but began selling through local Hy-Vee grocery stores in 2015. The response has been “superb,” he said, but the team intends to keep distribution small for quality control.

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“It’s important to preserve the integrity of the product,” Sgourakis said.

Amigo’s offers online sales. Its food products are packed with gel packs or dry ice for shipping, but some items—including Amigo’s ranch dressing, salsa, and spicy cheese sauce—have appeared on store shelves in the past few years as well.

Lincoln-based Valentino’s has sold sauces through retail distribution since the early 2000s, president Tony Messineo said.

“There are three different jarred sauces: our original spaghetti sauce; my wife’s recipe from years ago, a sweet basil; and our pizza sauce,” he said, adding that the first packaged products were developed with a manufacturer for Midwest distribution in response to years of customer requests.

“We took about a year and a half for R&D [research and development] to see if we could replicate it, because that’s not easy,” Messineo said. “If I were to give you a taste test of what I’d package from our stores and a bottle of the sauce you’d buy retail, they’re so close they’re indistinguishable.”

The company, which also offers products online, expects to sell 200,000 jars this year. Messineo said distribution remains limited because of the challenges in shipping glass jars, but he’s not willing to switch to plastic containers because it affects the products’ taste.

Valentino’s more recently began selling frozen pizzas at Omaha and Lincoln grocery stores, and are also shipped all over the U.S. “We make those ourselves,” Messineo said. “There is extremely high quality control.”

There’s good news for locals who’ve enjoyed eating a Thunderbird salad in years past at Happy Hollow Club or the Omaha Press Club. Omaha Press Club Executive Director Steve Villamonte Sr.’s father, Chef Luis Villamonte, established the Thunderbird salad as a house salad at various venues. Steve trademarked the Thunderbird dressing and began selling it in 2000 through Villamonte’s Cuisine. Hy-Vee carries the products, which can also be ordered online.

“I share all recipes and the classic Thunderbird salad is on the bottle,” he said. “My Reuben dressing is in demand also and used by Runza for the Reuben Runza...My label has a picture of the Blackstone hotel but it’s my own recipe.

When someone uses it on a Rueben they don’t go back to another dressing.”

Recent supply-chain challenges combined with high demand have made the products scarce at times, but Steve said he is working on solutions that should improve long-term availability. He also intends to make the dressings available through Amazon.

“I have requests and demands from all over the U.S. and Canada,” Steve said.

Ivy Sprague with Hy-Vee’s corporate office said individual Hy-Vee stores are not only happy to carry locally produced restaurant-brand food products, they’re encouraged to, in response to consumer demand. A documentation process is in place to ensure food safety.

“Our stores are run autonomously,” she said. “Any local producer or restaurant owner can approach a store director if they have a product they think customers would like.”

Visit mistercs.com, pizzashoppe.com, tastesofnebraska.com, valentinos.com, thunderbirdsaladdressing.com, or a Hy-Vee to learn more or taste products.

SECTION // STORY BY XXXXXXX // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY // SECTION //

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RESTAURANT FAVORITES LIVE

Uncapping Memories 60+ NOSTALGIA

ON ATOP RETAIL SHELVES

“We took about a year and a half for R&D [research and development] to see if we could replicate it, because that’s not easy.”

Tony Messino, Valentino's

W H E N I H E A R D G U N S H O T S A T H O M E I K N E W M Y D A D O R G R A N D P A W E R E O U T H U N T I N G .

W H E N C A M E R O N H E A R D G U N S H O T S H E R A N A N D H I D . ” J I M

T R E B B I E N

60+ ACTIVE LIVING // STORY BY J.D. AVANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

J I M

T R E B B I E N

U S E S

H I S

P E N

Ju m p n i g

Jim Trebbien has opened a door he can’t close.

The retired chef and chef instructor is now the author of several books. His most provocative works contain stories he collected from people going through a thing he can’t fathom: being Black in America.

These tales have given the 70-plus-year-old writer a different outlook on privilege.

“People come up with a lot of reasons to blame a lot of people, but the truth is, in this society, Black people have never had a fair chance as a group,” Trebbien said.

A S

A

W E A P O N

FROM THE FIRES OF THE

KITCHEN TO THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY

Trebbien’s three books are titled It’s a White Life, Journey to Understanding Race in America, and It’s Black and White. Within them, he contrasts situations and circumstances that have happened to friends and colleagues identifying as Black with his own as a white man.

It’s an interesting concept.

It shouldn’t feel so unique to hear a selfproclaimed ‘conservative kind of guy,’ who referenced overspending liberals and what makes America great, passionately acknowledge Black Americans’ historically unfair position in America.

“Most of my conservative friends say, ‘Well Jim, people ought not to do anything wrong and they’d be fine,’” Trebbien said.

“If nothing else, why is this happening? If all these Black people are guilty, why is it happening? Why do more Black people have to commit crimes? Something is driving this.”

Trebbien admits he wasn’t always mindful of racial issues growing up a mile south of Lake Okoboji in Milford, Iowa.

Attending Catholic school and working on the family farm kept him far away from the tribulations happening further south and in the big cities.

It wasn’t until after Trebbien was drafted into the Army in September 1969 that he witnessed his most memorable account of bigotry. After completing basic training, a simple gesture like letting a fellow Black soldier sit on his bed in the barracks earned him scorn from a white soldier.

“I noticed a white kid that I later learned was from Tennessee jump up and stare with a scowl on his face. After the Black guy left the room the white kid said, ‘Man, what the hell you doing? You let that kid sit on your bed. Where I come from we don’t let Black people sit on our beds,’” Trebbien remembered.

This blatant display of racism stuck with Trebbien throughout his life. He had seen a small example of the intolerance some people had for Black Americans.

It was uncomfortable and unfair.

“I had never thought of that. I wasn’t brought up to be a racist. I wasn’t aware of these problems,” he said.

Treating people with respect, kindness, and dignity is something Trebbien always strived to accomplish.

It came in handy during his stint as dean of the Culinary Arts program at Metro Community College’s Fort Omaha campus in the mid-1980s.

The college’s location in the heart of North Omaha—which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, accommodated nearly 70% of Omaha’s Black population in the 1980s—gave him relationships with myriad people across the racial spectrum. Trebbien’s position kept him mindful of issues regarding diversity and race, but his cognizance didn’t necessarily lead to action.

“Being aware doesn’t mean I don't have feelings for people that didn’t have certain opportunities,” he said.

His duties as a mentor eventually led to a remarkable meeting with a new mentee Trebbien met on a cold, windy January day.

While having lunch at the campus with his understudy—a younger Black man named Cameron—Trebbien asked his new acquaintance about his life and got more than he expected.

“I think he wanted to tell this older white man that sipped tea in the afternoon about his life,” Trebbien recalled.

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JUNE 2022 • 60 PLUS

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60+ ACTIVE LIVING

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Cameron told his new mentor about his loving mother who cried when she was forced to move her family from their home to the downtrodden projects after separating from his father.

The new neighborhood was unsafe for a young boy.

Cameron told Trebbien how an innocent game of cops-and-robbers with friends devolved into chaos when a man came running from an apartment pursued by another man shooting a real gun.

Cameron and his friends hid behind cars during the shootout.

Trebbien was enthralled by Cameron’s tales. They found themselves standing behind a building in the frigid conditions as Cameron continued telling accounts of his past.

“When I heard gunshots at home, I knew my dad or grandpa were out hunting.

When Cameron heard gunshots he ran and hid,” Trebbien said.

Some stories truly hit home, and after meeting with Cameron a number of times, Trebbien approached his mentee with the idea to tell his story in a book.

“I was fascinated, not only by all the crap he’d been through, but [that] I had done a lot of things he had done, only worse,” Trebbien said, recalling a domestic incident with his former wife that mirrored one of Cameron’s encounters. Except Cameron ended up in jail while Trebbien stayed home.

“Police came to the house, asked me a couple of questions and left. Never followed through,” Trebbien remembered. It made him feel like he had some kind of unfair advantage over his mentee.

“It’s like, oh well, straighten up and don’t do anything wrong and the police won’t come by,” Trebbien said. “But, Cameron was a good guy not doing anything terribly wrong that had to put up with a lot of crap in his life.”

Unfortunately, Cameron refused to coauthor or fully lend his likeness to the book, hence the absence of his last name throughout this article.

Former gang ties and a strong desire to separate his family from his past life made Cameron stay far away from those stories from another lifetime. // 76 //

60 PLUS • JUNE 2022

Trebbien decided to interview other Black people he knew about their life experiences for his book.

The officer tensed before ordering Trebbien, “Sit where you are.

Both of you.”

One account told by his former secretary involved her successful brother, who owned a house in a predominantly white area in West Omaha. He was stopped numerous times in his neighborhood by police officers wanting to check his registration—to the point it became embarrassing.

Despite Cameron’s attempts to calm him down, Trebbien pressed on.

This harassment by law enforcement became a disturbing trend in Trebbien’s documents. In the past, he may have chalked up these run-ins with the police as normal events. Those things happen to people, move along.

An occurrence with Cameron after a lunch at McDonald’s, however, broadened his perception.

Following their meal, Trebbien offered to give his mentee a ride to Crossroads Mall. Heading south on 72nd Street in Trebbien’s Ford truck, he remembers going about 10 miles per hour over the speed limit—as was the surrounding traffic—when they noticed a police car heading north.

“Oh man, you’re going to get pulled over in a minute. Wait and see,’” he recalled Cameron saying.

Two blocks from Crossroads they saw the flashing red lights of the police car behind them. Trebbien couldn’t believe it.

Why would the officer stop him amongst a host of other cars speeding alongside?

“How’d you know they were going to stop me?” he asked Cameron.

“Think about it Jim, here you are, older white guy with a young Black guy in the car. What do you think they think?

Maybe we are up to a little mischief. You were stopped for being a white guy with a Black guy.”

Trebbien took his mentee’s accurate prediction seriously. When the officer came to the door Trebbien couldn’t help but ask why he was stopped.

“You were speeding back there,” the officer said. Trebbien refused to believe that reason and felt defiant.

“Oh, OK,” he said. “Since you’re stopping me for speeding, I’m two blocks from dropping this young man off. He’s going to get out of the car in just a second.”

“No, wait a minute. You told me you’re stopping me for speeding,” he said.

“That’s not an offense this guy could have been involved in. He’s two blocks from where he needs to go and he needs to get there. So you give me my ticket for speeding, but he gets out of the car and goes!”

The officer wasn’t prepared for such a challenge. He stood by the door, silent.

“Just get out of the car,” Trebbien told his mentee. He watched Cameron slowly exit the car with his hands clearly in view before quickly walking down 72nd Street towards the mall.

Later Cameron told Trebbien he was becoming aware of how things really are.

“I’d have thought in the past, why don’t people just listen to what the police officer says and do it,” Trebbien said. “[This time] I kept thinking if that was my youngest son and I said my son is going to walk down the street, he would have said go. I don’t know that for a fact, but my past experiences in life lead me to believe that.”

These days Trebbien doesn’t have much contact with Cameron, but his young mentee’s influence was prevalent.

Trebbien’s resolve to openly discuss issues about race continues to parallel a strong desire to see Black Americans treated fairly in the country he loves.

“My testimony about race opened my eyes,” he said. “There are lot of white people that came to America from around the world and worked their butts off here…and got ahead. But I toured a plantation two times and looked at how slaves lived and heard people tell stories of what slavery involved. I think they had to work as hard as, or harder than, any other immigrant and got nothing out of the deal.”

Trebbien’s books can be purchased from Amazon.