Dario Schicke was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and left during the war in the 1990s, settling in Germany, where he worked in various Italian restaurants. That’s where he met his wife and business partner, Amy, a Nebraska native. They were married in Germany in 1995 before moving to New York, where they opened a Greek-style deli. That eventually led Schicke to advance his skills at the French Culinary Institute in New York.
Schicke is a 2010 James Beard best chef semifinalist for his previous restaurant, Dario’s Brasseire. Though the brasserie had earned incredibly positive publicity, he chose to keep himself grounded in his work.
Avoli dining area
“I stayed in the kitchen and did my thing,” Schicke said. “You know, I just liked to do what I was doing and keep my family tight because the restaurant business is crazy. I wanted to make sure I could have balance.”
The success of Dario’s eventually led to Avoli Osteria, a restaurant concept designed to fill a void Schicke felt was missing in Omaha.
“Avoli was created out of pure necessity for pasta in Omaha,” Schicke recalled. “At that time, there really weren’t too many homemade pasta-focused restaurants. We had great Italian restaurants, great pizzerias but nothing was really elevated and updated to today’s version of an Italian restaurant.”
Making pasta at Avoli
Schicke did his research, traveling to Italy and New York to work at Italian restaurants with top chefs to learn the cuisine. He’d hone his focus on Northern Italian pasta, and that’s what drives the menu and pasta dishes at Avoli to this day.
In 2013, he and Amy opened Avoli Osteria in Omaha’s historic Dundee. In the spirit of the familial atmosphere they work hard to cultivate, Avoli gets its name from the combination of their daughters’ names, Ava and Olivia.
Avoli dining area
Avoli is cozy with romantic warm lighting, beautiful chandeliers and rustic black-and-white decor. There’s a modern feel reminiscent of something you might find in the Italian countryside.
On our first visit, our cocktails were veneto autunno and arania bruciata. For appetizers, we had grilled octopus and goat cheese stuffed peppers. Jennifer chose the carbonara for her entree, and I chose the squid ink chittara. We finished with the budino for dessert.
The veneto autunno is a lovely cocktail made with bourbon, vanilla simple syrup, amaro and orange bitters. It’s reminiscent of an old fashioned with herbal notes from the amara. The vanilla with the hint of orange adds a nice depth and complexity to the finish.
Arania bruciata
The arania bruciata is made with coconut washed dark rum, amaro Dell’etna, Frangelico and concerto espresso liqueur. This is one of the sweeter drinks on the cocktail menu, but not overly so. Rum and coconut are made for one another, while the hazelnut from the Frangelico plays nicely with the espresso notes.
Grilled octopus
The grilled octopus was tender, moist and delicious. It comes with potato and a chili-and-olive condimento (which means seasoning in Italian – here it’s a thin sauce). This is a fantastic appetizer, and if you have yet to try octopus, this would be a wonderful introduction to the protein.
Goat cheese stuffed peppers
The goat cheese stuffed peppers pack a big flavor in bite-sized portions. The peppers are blanched, so they still retain a bit of crunch. The goat cheese, which I suspect is infused with honey and citrus, adds a prominent, robust, delicious sweetness.
Carbonara
A friend of ours told us the carbonara at Avoli is a must-try, and we couldn’t agree more. It’s made with an egg yolk emulsion, cracked black pepper and guanciale (salt cured pork cheeks). The pasta arrived at an expert al dente. The combination of the pork with the emulsion made for a creamy, savory plate. If there were a running list of Omaha’s top dishes, this would be an easy addition.
Squid ink chittara
The squid ink chittara is tossed with a sun dried tomato pesto with calamari and shrimp. Once again, the noodles were served at exact al dente. The calamari were cooked to complete perfection – succulent and tender. There’s little margin for error with calamari; Avoli threads the needle beautifully. Every element in this dish works together exquisitely.
Budino
The budino is a butterscotch pudding with creme fraiche and topped with salted caramel. It’s a dessert that flavors itself as you indulge. With each spoonful, salted caramel drops down into the pudding. This blends beautifully with the butterscotch, making it a decadent dessert.
Our next visit was on Saturday, and we chose the L’Ultimo and Aviation for cocktails. We had the zuppa del giorno (Italian for the soup of the day) and potato gnocchi for appetizers. For entrees, Jennifer chose the mushroom risotto, and I went for the bolognese bianco. Dessert was the tiramisu.
L’Ultimo is made with tequila, strega, Luxardo and lime juice. Think of it as an elevated, complex margarita with prominent herbal notes. It isn’t as sweet as a traditional margarita, but the flavors are both familiar and adventurous.
Aviation
The Aviation is a mix of gin, Luxardo, Creme de Violette and lemon. This is also one of the sweeter cocktails on the menu that gets its floral notes from the Creme de Violette, which is a liquor made from the violet flower. It’s a superb, playful cocktail.
Potato gnocchi
The potato gnocchi with butter and cheese is simply divine. The gnocchi are cooked to total perfection. The nuttiness of the butter brings out the simple flavors of the gnocchi and the cheese adds a nice, salty element.
Zuppa del giorno – pumpkin soup
The soup of the day was pumpkin – and a wonderful surprise. The soup was silky and rich, a blend of roasted pumpkin, butternut squash, onions and other vegetables. The secret ingredient is white chocolate. It’s topped with a delicious onion marmalade. If it’s offered during your visit, I strongly urge you to try it.
Mushroom risotto
The mushroom risotto was cooked exactly right, with enough bite to the rice and the proper amount of tenderness. It’s made with braised oyster mushrooms, celery root, pickled celery and topped with pecorino. Put simply, this is a marvelous risotto, robust, savory and bursting with flavor.
Bolognese bianco
The bolognese bianco is made with pork and veal, Grana Padano cheese and hazelnuts. The rich, creamy sauce is packed with flavor. The pork and veal work well, and the blanched hazelnuts add a welcome delicate crunch. Again, the noodles were exactly al dente. This pasta dish will not disappoint.
Tiramisu with cinnamon gelato
The tiramisu is easily the best we’ve had in Omaha. The coffee ladyfinger layers were soaked with the right amount of rich coffee, and the cream layers were decadent. It was accompanied by a cinnamon gelato, excellent on its own, that took the tiramisu to a whole new level.
Halfway through dessert, Chad, our server from our first visit, brought a cart to our table. It’s a lovely, magical cart with a lineup of delicious Italian liqueurs. Chad had us sample three of them, each varying in degrees of sweetness and herbal notes. I hope you’re lucky enough to have this cart brought to your table. It’s a wonderful nod to a time when this was more common and fits perfectly with Avoli’s warmth and hospitality.
Liqueur sample cart
Our experience at Avoli was impeccable. From the expertly cooked pasta, to the inspired menu, to the highly trained staff, this is a complete dining experience. It is abundantly clear that Schicke has exacting standards. What’s most impressive is the apparent humility in his approach.
It’s clear the staff has bought into the concept. They are well versed in the menu and make every effort to ensure their guests have a memorable dining experience.
The exacting standards at Avoli, both in the kitchen and dining room, make this a superbly complete, quintessential culinary experience.
