The kitchen is alive as steam billows from pots of boiling pasta water, orders are loudly called out, and gorgeous entrees of gnocchi, pan seared fish, and fresh pasta are plated. AC/DC is playing. The energy is off the charts.
The dining room, however, is quiet as only a single table is seated, studying their menus and chatting about the freshness of the ingredients. What feels like an intense Saturday night service in the kitchen is actually a Tuesday. The dishes that are being meticulously plated by the chefs aren’t leaving the kitchen. The single table set up out front isn’t ordering anything.
This is all practice. The restaurant is weeks out from opening its doors. These guys aren’t messing around.
“We’re trying to make the gold standard of service in Oklahoma City”, says Drew Tekell as he glances through the front window of Osteria at the table full of hostesses-in-training that are studying the menu. “The worst thing that we could hear is ‘Oh, it’s their first week open we’ll give them a break.’ “
Osteria is the newest restaurant from Tekell and his business partners Jonathon Stranger and Dr. Steven Sands. Somehow the team has found the time to add another brand to their portfolio which already includes Ok-Yaki and Prairie Wolf Spirits. Tekell and Stranger also own En Croûte and St. Mark’s Chop Room. Osteria grew out of a relationship between Stranger and its fourth owner, chef Fabio Viviani, who some may recognize from various TV appearances including the 5th season of Top Chef and Top Chef: All-Stars. The restaurant found its home in Nichols Hills Plaza which also hosts St. Mark’s Chop Room and En Croute.
After meeting several years ago, Stranger and Viviani reconnected when both spoke at an young entrepreneur event at the University of Oklahoma. The two decided to join paths and open a series of Italian restaurants together. Oklahoma City was slated to be the first jointly owned Osteria (Viviani owns an Osteria in LAX), but after close to 20 months of delays, the Tampa, Florida location was the first to host its grand opening in early October. “It was a blessing in disguise…so we could grow together and learn from those experiences” said Tekell.
The food at Osteria is embodied by a single quality: freshness. All of the pasta will be made every single day, and anything that can be made in house will be. Osteria’s Seafood comes from a company called Sea to Table that specializes in getting seafood to its customers within 24 hours of it being caught. “As the captains come in they call our rep and you make a decision on what you want before they hit the dock” said Stranger. The restaurant’s craft cocktail menu with ingredients made from scratch in house where possible, and of course the full Prairie Wolf line will be served which will make for some damn fine drinks.
During our chat with Tekell and Stranger they introduced us to Osteria’s Executive Chef, Darshon Daines, who was kind enough to prepare a few of the restaurant’s signature dishes for us.
First up was Cacio e Pepe, a simple but incredibly elegant dish with fresh spaghetti, butter, parmesan, black pepper, and herbs. The simplicity allowed the freshness of the pasta to really shine and I was immediately comforted by the texture and subtlety of the ingredients. Next was Rigatoni in a Jar, this play on a classic Carbonara featured house cured pancetta and brussels sprout. The entree is brought out in a sealed jar and will be shaken table-side coating the ingredients in a parmesan cream sauce and a fresh egg yolk before being presented on a plate. The richness of this dish was exactly what I want in incredible Italian food and if we weren’t there to do an interview I would have grabbed the plate and run away with it. Last up was the flagship meatball made from Viviani’s grandmother’s recipe served with homemade garlic bread. This isn’t just any meatball as it’s made with Iron Horse Ranch Wagyu beef cut with dry aged beef and mixed with buttermilk-soaked bread cubes. The ball of deliciousness is topped with house made sugo, fresh ricotta and torn basil leaves. The meatball was the size of a softball but I swear I could have finished it off along with all of the other pasta dishes, but I didn’t want to embarrass Kate in public more than I already do.
Osteria will begin taking reservations today on OpenTable and will open its doors to the public for the first time this Saturday, November 17th. For now they will be limiting their services to dinner, but have plans on rolling out more menus for lunch and eventually brunch next year. You won’t want to sleep on this place as the food and service will be top notch and in nicer weather the wrap around patio will provide an amazing setting for an incredible meal.
Make sure to keep your eye on Tekell, Stranger, and partners as they continue to take over the Oklahoma City metro one venture at a time, and as always we’ll do our best to keep you up to date via barrelsandmash.com and on Instagram @barrelsandmash.
This place is fabulous.