Ruhlman’s Steakhouse is the realization of owner Phil Ruhlman’s lifelong dream. He had always wanted to own a steakhouse but thought it would be impossible. Ruhlman paid his way through college bartending at Misty’s Steakhouse and Lounge in Lincoln and graduated with a theater degree.
He would go on to run a chain of video stores in the 1980’s for 11 years for the Seacrest family in Lincoln where they were strong competition for Blockbuster Video. From there, he worked for Gallup as a hiring manager and became their very first Chief Information Officer.
Flash forward to just over a year ago, Ruhlman cashed out his Gallup stock and came to realize that maybe this steakhouse dream wasn’t so far-fetched after all.
Ruhlman’s interior
“I knew that going into the restaurant business for the very first time was very, very high risk,” Ruhlman said. “So, I reached out to a friend and said, ‘I’ve met Willie Theisen several times, but he doesn’t really know who I am. Would you make an introduction?”
Theisen is the founder of Godfather’s Pizza and a legend in the local restaurant community. After the introduction, Theisen agreed to help Ruhlman turn the restaurant fantasy into a reality. Theisen remains Ruhlman’s chief consultant.
When you walk into Ruhlman’s, you’ll see a minimalistic rustic modern décor – dark grey floors and accents of brilliant red throughout. There are few decorations on the walls. Big windows allow natural light to shine in.
Jennifer and I visited Ruhlman’s twice – on Friday and Wednesday. At the time of our visit, reservations hadn’t been implemented (a feature in development). We thought we’d try at 5 p.m. on Friday and found there was already an hour’s wait.
Luckily, we found two seats at the bar and began our journey through the menu there.
Ruhlman’s bar
On our first visit, we each had two cocktails, the bellinitini, Ruhlman’s bacon old fashioned, the palomita and the highway six 75. For a starter, we tried fritto misto. We selected our entrees from the steaks section of the menu. Jennifer opted for the lamb sirloin picanha with whiskey glazed wood roasted carrots and Yukon gold mashed potatoes for sides. I went with the Genevieve with slow-cooked soy braised mushrooms and caramelized creamed Napa cabbage.
Bellinitini
Jennifer’s bellinitini, made with Tito’s vodka, peach syrup and lemon juice, had a nice blend of sweet peach with the natural sour tartness of the lemon. It’s a delicious summer cocktail.
Ruhlman’s bacon old fashioned is hard to beat. The house bourbon is infused with bacon and stirred with brown sugar syrup and both angostura and pecan bitters. Anyone who loves both bacon and a good old fashioned will really enjoy this cocktail.
The palomita is similar to a margarita. It’s made with Pueblo Viejo blanco tequila, lime juice and tattersall grapefruit. It’s not as sweet as a margarita, but the citrus from the lime and grapefruit make this a refreshing cocktail.
Highway six 75 cocktail
The highway six 75 is a smooth, silky cocktail. Made with Roku (a Japanese style gin that infuses juniper with botanical notes and hints of Yuzu), lemon juice, tarragon simple syrup and shaken with an egg white, this drink goes down easy. Despite the egg white, it’s quite light, airy and invigorating. The citrus with the tarragon and the natural juniper from the gin are a fantastic combination.
Fritto misto
The fritto misto is an appetizer of calamari dredged in crispy cracker with shrimp, pepperoncini, scallions and zucchini. It comes with arrabbiata sauce, which is like a traditional marinara with the addition of red chili peppers. The calamari were cooked just right, crispy on the outside and tender inside. The arrabbiata sauce paired beautifully and the hint of heat from the chili was a welcome addition.
Both entrees came with bread service – a small round loaf cut into four pieces. The bread is slightly chewy on the outside and warm, soft and savory on the inside with a subtle mix of herbs baked in. The butter was hollowed in the center to carry a shallow pool of olive oil. A nice touch, but the butter was stone cold and nearly impossible to spread.
Lamb sirloin picanha
Jennifer’s lamb sirloin picanha was cooked to a perfect medium rare, well-seasoned and had an excellent outer sear. The whiskey glazed wood-roasted carrots had a noticeable touch of bourbon, and the brown sugar herb glaze enhanced the natural sweetness of the carrots. A couple of the carrots needed a tad more cooking time, but the others were fork tender. The accompanying Yukon gold mashed potatoes were smooth, seasoned well, and the European butter added a delightful creaminess.
The Genevieve is a 10 oz center cut top sirloin, which I ordered medium rare. The cook on the steak was almost perfect, with one-third of the steak closer to medium. The remaining two-thirds were exactly as ordered. The outer sear was beautiful. The seasoning, like the lamb, was just right. The mushrooms were a perfect accompaniment to the steak, with the richness of the mushrooms enhanced by the soy braise. The cabbage with bacon was a nice counterbalance to the heavy savory flavors of the steak and mushrooms. It was creamy, tender and bitterness was cooked out of the cabbage. I liked the cream on this so much I dipped the last bit of bread to soak it up, which made for a fantastic bite.
Flame roasted fuji apple crisp
We also tried the flame roasted fuji apple crisp with an oat streusel, Meyer lemon curd and cinnamon ice cream. The streusel was crispy with just the right amount of crunch. The apples were cooked just enough to be tender and robust. The lemon curd added some nice, sweet acidity and the cinnamon ice cream was a wonderful addition. This is simply a fantastic apple crisp.
On our second visit, we had two cocktails, the parmesan martini and the yuzu mule. We also tried the crispy arancini and Chinese style shrimp toast as starters, the ocean steelhead and the spaghetti and mortadella meatballs as entrees and concluded with the speculoos crème brûlée.
Parmesan martini
The parmesan martini is a fun spin on the dirty martini with parmesan Wheatley (parmesan infused vodka), Dolin dry vermouth and olive juice. It’s a dirty martini with three olives and a hint of parmesan. As a dirty martini fan, I really enjoyed the addition of parmesan.
The yuzu mule was a welcome play on tradition. The addition of the yuzu brought brilliant citrus tones, a hit of sour and the gentle heat of the ginger beer. Both Jennifer and I appreciated this take on the usual mule.
The crispy arancini are fried balls of smoked mozzarella and provolone cheese, vialone nano risotto with fresh herbs on top of sunflower pesto. The arancini were fried to the point of being crisp but not oily and the combination of cheeses with the risotto and herbs inside made for a fantastically creamy, cheesy and hearty bite. The sunflower pesto took the flavor to a whole new level.
Chinese style shrimp toast
The Chinese style shrimp toast is whipped shrimp and salmon with black vinegar kewpie (which is an onion vinaigrette) and scallion. The bread that served as the base was toasted in oil and had a delicate crunch despite its thickness. The combination of ingredients still allowed the shrimp to be dominant. It’s a scrumptious appetizer.
If you’re a seafood lover, the ocean steelhead is a very well-conceived dish. The wood roasted salmon was cooked to complete perfection, tender and moist and seasoned beautifully. Below the salmon was a sauce that resembled a cioppino broth, the piquillo peperonata. Peruvian aji verde sauce (traditionally made with cilantro, scallions, garlic, lime juice and aji ararillo paste) was a welcome accompaniment. I wasn’t a fan of the micro popcorn on top of the fish as I found it to be too chewy rather than crunchy. Leaving that off, this was a salmon dish to easily order again.
Ocean steelhead
Ruhlman’s pasta is made in-house and the noodles in the spaghetti and mortadella meatballs came to the table perfect al dente. The noodles are roasted red pepper alla chitarra, which is spaghetti cut from a tool resembling a guitar. This gives the pasta a rustic finish, allowing them to hold sauce better. The sauce is slow-simmered tomato accompanied by wood roasted mortadella meatballs. It’s hard to go wrong with spaghetti and meatballs. Ruhlman’s elevates it to a new level.
For dessert, we tried the speculoos crème brûlée. This is an interesting take on crème brûlée. It certainly isn’t traditional, and its construction requires some explanation from the staff. Within the typical custard is speculoos cookie (a Belgian crisp spiced cookie). It’s topped with a cookie oat crumble and accompanied by an inspired spiced Chantilly cream that pleasantly reminded me of a hot buttered rum cocktail. The assembly makes this an extreme take on crème brûlée, but it works on every level. This desert is elevated comfort food and a delicious indulgence.
Speculoos crème brûlée
Ruhlman met his executive chef through Brian O’Malley, associate dean at the Metropolitan Community College Institute for the Culinary Arts. O’Mally introduced Ruhlman and Theisen to Chef John Benton, whose formal education comes from the world-renowned culinary arts program at Jonson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. Benton has been cooking professionally since the age of 15 and has been the executive chef at Champions Run Golf Course & Country Club and Lincoln’s Venue Restaurant & Lounge.
Benton has full autonomy over the menu, and it’s safe to say that Rulman is in very good hands.
Theisen was instrumental in helping Ruhlman open the doors. “He brought an incredible amount of confidence to me that this dream would be possible because when you’re putting something of this magnitude together, planning is everything,” Ruhlman said. “And then once John joined the team, the three of us spent so much time working on all the details of what it takes.”
The realization of Ruhlman’s dream, with the help of Theisen and Benton, is not only a welcome addition to Ashland, but an experience that’s worth the drive from the city.
