Avoli Osteria

5013 Underwood Ave

402.933.7400
http://www.avoliosteria.com/
M: Closed
T - Sat: 5pm - 10pm
Sun: 5pm - Close

This isn't exactly an eye-opener, but there's a lot of Italians in Omaha. I'm one of them, actually (if I remember correctly, my great-great-grandmother's maiden name was Caniglia, of Omaha restaurant fame; this really doesn't say much, however, like most Italian families from the time, the Caniglias were a huge family). But most of the Italians here (read: damn near all of them) trace their heritage to Sicily, a rocky island mostly made up of hard-scrabble people who make their living off the land and sea, and who only kind of identify as Italian. It's why the "Italian" you see here is so homogenous. Everyone's nana or mother (in my case, both) makes their zagu, and of course, everyone's nana's or mother's zagu is the best, but everyone has their favorite restaurant, which is usually the one whose zagu is the closest to their family's version. In my case, it's a toss up between Lo Sole Mio's and Piccolo Pete's (whose sauce is spicier and not as sweet as the rest of the Caniglia restaurants). Also, the agrarian background of the Sicilian families here help explain the "Italian Steakhouse" that seems to be fairly unique to Omaha.

All of the above is why Avoli is an outlier in Omaha, and a welcome one. Avoli does northern Italian. Both Sicily and northern Italy are agrarian, and as such "simple foods done simply" is kind of the mantra for both areas, but since the climes and available foods are so different, the styles to achieve that are very different. Pasta isn't entirely eliminated from the menu up north, but it does share room with risottos and polenta. Olive oil, again, isn't entirely gone, but it's use is pared back quite a bit. There is a ton of different protein sources in use as well, at least in comparison to the American Italian we usually see here, and you'll see that in my dishes, too. Those are probably the three most evident differences, though there are more, for sure. Anyway, on to the review!

The first time I ate there was on Saturday, a day I usually avoid. But the Huskers were playing at 7, so the local restaurants not sports-related would be fairly slow. And since I was already out Ubering and since the the Husker's opponent was South Alabama, I decided dinner at 7 pm would be fairly easy to do. And it was.

It was a gorgeous 68° when I sat down in the outdoor patio. Although busy, there were still plenty of seats available. This day I ordered the Bruschetta du jour Del Giorno, the pork cheek ravioli, and for dessert the Tre Gelato and an espresso.

I should really make bruschetta more often, Simple stuff, and always amazing.

First off, the plates. When my bruschetta came out, the plate struck me first and foremost. All my dishes were served on the kind of tableware you'd associate with your grandmother, and I loved it. It was like they scoured the local thrift stores and Goodwills to find all the donated grandma-ware they could find. A very nice change of pace form the some of the avant garde plates some super-trendy places employ.

The bruschetta of the day was goat cheese that had been whipped together with...something (honestly I forgot, but there was so much to remember when doing this review; I should really take notes during reviews like this one), tomato jam and garnished with chives. The goat cheese spread reminded me of a cheesy, only slightly sour sour cream that was smooth and creamy. The tomato jam exploded with flavor over the understated goat cheese; it was slightly sweet with a tomato-y umami (big surprise, right?). The bread I'm sure they got from La Quartier, and was very well toasted and crunchy. I'll always look at the bruschetta first when I come here in the future.

Next came the ravioli.

The menu did not say anything about green pasta. Not that I wouldn't have ordered it. This place is full of surprises.

Whenever I see cheek meat on the menu, I'll order it. It is probably the most tender meat on the animal. I love the stuff, I just wish more places served it, so when I saw it on the menu here, well, I ordered it. The ravioli came out without a sauce per se; it looks like they sauteed some carrots and leeks together, then threw in the ravioli to finish it out, so everything has a nice coating of olive oil. The romano they grated on top melted very nicely into the hot dish. The carrots were cooked down to a tender-but-not-mushy consistency and added a very small amount of sweetness to the pasta. As for the ravioli itself, the stuffing was awesome.

This stuff hasn't seen a blender; it was slow cooked and pulled apart to keep the texture of the cheek meat intact.

Tender, juicy, perfectly seasoned. And notice how thin the noodle is; it wasn't like I was getting a mouthful of pasta and a little bit of meat with every bite. Very well proportioned.

Finally, the dessert I ordered was the gelato and an espresso. It came with a small rosemary shortbread cookie.

A little melty, but it made for easy eating.

The three flavors I got were the classics chocolate and strawberry, and the not-so-classic olive oil. All three were very creamy, as it should be. The chocolate was very chocolaty, which is a good thing. The strawberry was good, though nothing to write home about. The olive oil was an interesting one. Understated I think would be appropriate. Slightly sweet and very smooth, as one would expect. The cookie had the piney flavor one would expect from the rosemary, and was very crunchy. The consistency and texture of the cookie strongly reminded me of the Pecan or Almond Sandies in the grocery stores.

I wish I put something down for size comparison. This was one of those tiny, tiny cups. My finger didn't even fit through the handle hole.

Now, an 8pm espresso may sound crazy to you, but I had a long night of Ubering drunks home ahead of me, and coffee with my dessert just sounded right. It came with two sugar cubes, I used one, and sipped it down between bites of gelato and cookies. It was perfect.

With food, espresso, tax, and tip, it all came to $41.

The next visit occurred on Thursday around 5:30pm. They were able to seat me indoors this time, right before another reservation showed up. It would seem reservations are the way to go at this place, I just lucked out. All the tables indoors had a marble top. There were small chandeliers throughout, as well. Even in my button up shirt, I still felt a little out of place, until I saw the guy being seated in athletic shorts and a graphic tee.

This week is Restaurant Week, a fundraiser for the Omaha Food Bank (and at the time of this posting is ongoing from today through Sunday). There are dozens of restaurants throughout Omaha participating, including Avoli, and the way it works is they have a very small special menu that you order from, its three courses, and comes with a fixed price, which is dependent on the restaurant. Here, that fixed price is $30, and you can add wine pairings to all three courses for an extra $15.  I'm not a wine guy, but I chose to add that to my meal as well. These dishes are supposed to be Restaurant Week offerings only. Here's their menu for this Week:

I had to ask for it back to take this picture, because of course I would forget to do that.

On this day I ordered the Brandade Crostini, the Fregola Sarda with Lamb Belly, and the Flourless Chocolate Cake.

I feel I'll lose some man points, but I like whites over reds.

First to come out was the wine (De Forville Arneis) that was paired with my appetizer. I'm no sommelier, so here's a real wine expert's take on this wine, all of which I agree with: 

Full-bodied but refreshing, it boasts juicy green apple, white pear and mineral sensations. The creamy palate is brightened by fresh acidity, giving a clean, fresh finish. 

Not long after the wine came the crostini.

They like the very finely chopped chives here.

 The bread was sliced impossibly thin, which means when you toast it, there's no where for bread to hide. On top of the wafer-thin slice of toast was the brandade, which is salt cod and olive oil. In this case, the cod was shredded and mixed with the oil, which made for a chewy and flavorful bite. The wine was very well paired because the saltiness of the cod was washed away with the acidic and sweet nature of the wine.

Next came the lamb belly. It was amazing. Like, seriously, it was crazy good. It is probably Top 5 in restaurant dishes in my lifetime, and easily the best I've reviewed up to this point. It's that good. If this doesn't end up on the menu within the next two or three iterations then Avoli is making a huge mistake.

A vertical pic? Oops, that was not on purpose.

Where do I start? I guess the pasta. Fregola is a type of pasta, kind of like a pea-sized ball. Fregola Sarda is the Sardinian version of this pasta. Don't ask me what the differences are, because I don't know. I'm just reporting to you what the Google told me. My server told me the pasta was given the risotto treatment, making the sauce creamy and thick. The rosemary was very pronounced, which gave the sauce a tangy, citrus-y/piney flavor. This was a great compliment to the lamb belly, which was a more tender version of the pork belly you're more likely to see. I was told the best thing to do was to cut the chunk of meat up into small bits and mix it into the pasta to savor throughout the dish. I did as I was told, but it was harder to accomplish than one might think, The different layers of the meat were very loosely joined, so as I sliced they tended to separate. Oh well. This meant many times I was greeted with small chunks of the most tender fat I've ever eaten. The meat just melted in my mouth the way those weird mints you find at weddings do. That is, except for the very top bit. That was a crunchy, salty piece of meat heaven. Seriously, get this before its gone.

Here's a mouthful. This wine was called Tenute Soletta (that's the company) Cannonau di Sardegna.

Again, I'll step aside and let an expert describe the wine:

There's a glimpse of dried herb and rosemary behind more intense aromas of black fruit, cherry and leather. This rich wine is concentrated and persistent...

If you notice the name of the wine in the caption, you'll see it's from Sardinia. So the pasta is Sardinian, and is heavy with rosemary. You can see why it was paired. I didn't like the wine as much, but its because I don't really like any reds, save for a malbec maybe.

Finally the dessert. Because I got the gelato the last time, I got the flourless chocolate cake, and it came with a digestif called Branca Menta.

Very small, but its really dense, so a little goes a long way.

The dense, fiercely chocolate cake was rather like fudge. There was a chocolate ganache on top that my server said was made with a little bit of the Branca Menta, lending as small amount of minty flavor to it. It can garnished with a raspberry sauce with a few chunks of raspberries, and a small amount of crushed walnuts that I could have sworn were lightly candied. The Branca Menta was intensely minty and sweet over slight bitter flavors. It feels thick, so it was meant to be sipped, and was served in a glass that was about double-shot sized on a stem. It all combined to be an amazing end to an amazing meal.

With the three course meal, all three drinks, and tax and tip, it came to $61.