Category: Omaha

OmahaNebraska.com here with..

My name is Lexi Christensen, and I’m the General Manager of Clio in Omaha’s Old Market.

How long has Clio’s been open?

Clio opened on June 3rd just this last year. So just two months ago, we celebrated our birthday. So yeah, very fresh in the Old Market still.

And were you here when it opened?

Yeah, I was here June 3rd. But my time with Clio actually started on April 15th. That’s when our job fair started. We had a five-week hiring event where Monday through Friday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM we were taking interviews, building our team both for the kitchen, but then for our front of house for our house servers and bartenders as well. So yeah, April 15th is when I started on the project.

Have you been in the Omaha area a long time?

Yeah, born and raised. So Omaha is in my blood, if you will.

So you have a really good feeling, especially for the Old Market area…

I think so. Yeah. My family is still based out west. I grew up off of 160th and Q and then I went to Creighton. I moved downtown when I was 18, and I’ve been in, like, the downtown, Midtown area ever since. Yeah. The Old Market’s definitely…as someone who’s from West Omaha, I didn’t appreciate it as much as I could have. But in my time at Creighton and then especially in the restaurant industry, I’ve definitely learned to truly love the space for what it is.

There’s so many amazing things about, you know, each neighborhood.

Yeah, 100%.

What did you do before you came to work for Clio?

Directly before Clio, I was the assistant general manager over at Plank, so Plank is within our parent company still, and I was the AGM [Assistant General Manager] over there for a year and seven months. And then before that I was a server at one of the steakhouses downtown, and then before that I was still in school. So I’m still relatively new in the restaurant industry, which is crazy to think about. I’m very lucky to have the support and the teachers that I’ve had in the past few years to get me to where I’m at right now.

I’ve been here a couple of times. The service has been amazing. The food has been great. You are doing so many things right.

Thank you. Yeah, it’s definitely been…as many things, it’s been a process. We’re still growing and learning every single day, but I’m very proud of the community we’ve formed within Clio, both with our kitchen team and then our front-of-house service team. Truly, just some of the most genuine and hard-working individuals I’ve had the pleasure of working with. And I think that’s what’s unique about Flagship, our company, too. We’ll talk a little bit more about that later.

We can talk about it now, if you’d like.

Cool, yeah. We’re part of Flagship Restaurant Group. Flagship started in 2002 when our four main owners kind of came together and started the first Blue Sushi. So Blue Sushi off of 144th and Maple is the OG restaurant in our company. And then we’ve expanded…now, I think Clio was restaurant number 40 if I remember correctly, so we have 40 different restaurants, between, like, eight or nine concepts in twelve or thirteen states. A lot of it is Midwest and Southwest focused, but we go a little bit east, and then I guess Denver is in us, too. But it’s mostly Midwest and Southwest, I would say.

So Flagship has Plank, Blue Sushi, Clio, and…

Yeah. And so in the Omaha area, Plank, Blue Sushi, Clio… we also have Memoir off of 10th and Harney. We have Blatt Beer and Table. So we have one downtown here and one out west—Roja out west—and then the Flagship Commons in the Westroads Mall, and then we have a few, like, really eclectic concepts in other places, right? So in Des Moines, we have this really cool kind of like island-tiki-bar-inspired place called Revival. So Revival is really cool. We have two bar-centric kind of concepts. One is called Ghost Donkey, so Ghost Donkey’s a Mezcal tequila bar.

I’ve heard about that.

Yeah, we’re actually gonna have one in Omaha at the end of September.

Ah, that’s why I’ve heard about it.

Yeah. And then also at the end of September, another concept, Champagne Lanes, or we kind of shorthand it to CPL. So Ghost Donkey and CPL are going to be here in Omaha in the next, like, month or month and a half. It’s going to come up really quickly. So those are really cool concepts. Champagne lanes is a concept where they do champagne on tap, so sparkling wine on tap with fried chicken bites, because champagne and fried chicken pair really well together.

I did not know that.

Yeah. So the champagne is, you know, nice and dry and it kind of like, makes your mouth kind of pucker a little bit. And then the greasy, kind of fatty, in the fried chicken complements it and balances out really well.

Okay. 

So it’s just like a really fun pairing there, and then Champagne Lanes also has duck pin bowling. So mini-bowling; that’s where they get the “Lanes” part. And then we have this really cool concept in Phoenix and one in Texas called Palma. Again, kind of like island inspired, but they have a really cool menu there too. So yeah, they do. They, as in our owners and all of the minds that work together with this. They just do a really good job. The team that comes up with the menus for these concepts is pretty extensive, so it’s like, depending on the concept, it’s anywhere from four to like six or seven chefs that come together for these menu creations. And then our operations team, they’ll come together to kind of come up with the steps of service. So like how the store is run and operated, and that can be anywhere from like three to even like eight to ten people. You know, it’s a lot of really great people that are coming together to get these concepts going.

Sounds like a very collaborative experience, which is often, you know, richer in fruit than just one or two people together and then sounds like a lot of teamwork here on this side. You said you were trying to create a family within this.

Yeah, 100 percent.

How do you do that? It’s so hard for restaurants and places to get this kind of flow going that I see, and it feels like you’ve been here a while. I mean, you’re new and fresh, but the teamwork seems like it’s just been this way for years.

Yeah. Well, that’s a really big compliment. Thank you. That was definitely something that our management team strived for since day one. So even before our hiring event, I met with our head chef. His name is Donnie Topolsky. Donnie’s been with the company for going on, almost seven years now. For the first, like, six 6-1/2 years of his tenure, he was at the chef at Blatt West. So, Donnie and I had a brief meeting shortly after he got hired on to that position, and we are in this transitionary period, and in that meeting, Donnie and I came to the agreement that our goal is to make sure that our relationship between our front of house and our back of house and our relationship between all of these people are built on teamwork.

So when we were in the interviews, I think it was like the second or third question we asked every single candidate was “What’s your teamwork style?” And then we would follow it up with “What’s your relationship with front of house?” or “back of house?” So, that was definitely a precedent that we set really, really early on. And that was intentional because this is such a unique concept. It’s so beautiful. And you know, I’ve been very lucky. I’ve only ever worked with collaborative teams. I really like that my experience is like that, because that’s a little unique.

Not a lot of people come from restaurant backgrounds that are as collaborative as we sit here as my experience in the past is. So yeah, just setting that precedent literally since day one. And then I think it helps that it kind of trickles down, right, so our owners are all, like, very family-based people, like, that’s their priority, right? Making sure that our families are taken care of, ourselves are taken care of, and then we can take care of our job, right?

So, that’s something that is set from our owners, but then even specifically at our store level, all of us managers have weekly meetings. So, there’s three front house managers, myself, and then I have two AGM’s, and then we have our head chef and two sous chefs, so we all come together every Monday and kind of just talk about the restaurant. We talk about our goals. We talk about where we’re excelling, where we have room for improvement, and I think the team sees that and it definitely just helps with that positive energy that we have going on here.

Well, this is very different than other restaurants downtown and also other restaurants in the city. What’s sort of the inspiration for that? And could you tell people what makes Clio so special?

Yeah. So, the creative process of Clio went through a really interesting evolution. My understanding is that when they first proposed this idea of a wine-bar-themed restaurant, because that’s kind of what the foundation was, right? We have this awesome company sommelier who’s actually one of our managers here too. Her name is Shannon Salsbury. She’s just a genius, and she chooses really lovely wines. And she’s very, very smart about the wines that she’s choosing. So yeah, Shannon, and you know, Shannon and team kind of came together and said, “Well, how can we do a wine bar concept?” So, it started out with maybe just like an Italian influence and doing like an antipasti and charcuterie board, maybe some flatbreads. But then as they were traveling and doing research for what we can do with this space, they kind of came upon this Mediterranean restaurant idea and just ran with it. So, then they visited some really cool restaurants in Chicago and Austin, TX. And that’s where they got the big inspiration for Mediterranean. But the name Clio we borrow from Greek mythology. The Greeks have eight muses, right? So Clio is the Greek muse of history. And so we kind of took that as our opportunity to share the history of our families. Right? So when you go and look at, you know, all of the people that in that are in our company, like, we have so many influenced from the Mediterranean. We have folks that have family from Lebanon, from France, from Italy, some Greeks in there, too, right? So, the Mediterranean was our inspiration. And then where the flavors came from, kind of, is just what spoke to us from our families’ history.

It’s interesting because you look at the dishes and you’ll have harissa, which is from my experience just from Tunisia, maybe from other places, and then you, but you have somehow amazingly paired it with things you wouldn’t think…and then the harissa is not so hot. So I don’t know how you come up with all those flavors. It’s really interesting.

I’m never going to claim that I’m a culinary genius. You definitely don’t want me in the kitchen—I can tell you that much—but I can tell you that the way that the flavors complement each other is kind of where we get a lot of those expressions from. So yeah, 100 percent harissa is typically a little bit on the spicier side, but the way that we express ours with the trout fillet for instance, right? We have our harissa trout. Or we put harissa in our tomato sauces. And so the fattiness from the trout or the acidity from the tomato sauce does a really great job of cutting the spiciness and balancing out that dish really well. And that’s a huge theme across our whole menu. I think when you take a look at the menu, you may notice a few flavors and words kind of repeat themselves, but although they repeat themselves, they are shown in such different and unique ways.

That’s what I thought was also interesting, because I saw it’s like, well, this looks like it’s going to be the same as this, and it was not.

Right, yeah. My favorite example of that is in our mezze section. So mezze is kind of like a Greek word where it’s another word for antipasti, right? So small plate that can be coursed out. And we have our Turkish beef dumplings…

They’re wonderful.

They’re so good, and then we have our stuffed dates, and they both have this really beautiful tomato sauce. They have slightly different spices in them, but I think they taste pretty similar, but when they’re paired with the other items in those dishes, they’re such a different experience.

Yes. I happened to try those, too.

Yes. So yeah, you can definitely speak on the Turkish beef dumplings, which I should also side note. Turkish dumplings are a little bit different than your traditional kind of like Eastern Asian dumplings, right? They’re folded very beautifully and intricately, but they look a little more similar to like a ravioli. So that’s how we compare it. It’s a little bit similar to, like, a ravioli, rather than, like, a Chinese dumpling, maybe. So yeah, like, the Turkish beef dumplings have this really beautiful pasta-like dough. And then it’s got that really nice beef center and this beautiful tomato sauce.

And then the stuffed dates have those dates, and again another beef center but wrapped in prosciutto. And they’re just so different and so unique, but still complement each other really, really well, so yeah,  I love those two dishes.

I’m pretty sure you can’t pick one, but what are some of your favorite dishes or ones you would love people to try?

Yeah. So I was actually just talking to a table about this yesterday. I feel like when guests come here, they almost have to have all four spreads. So we have four house-made spreads that are beautiful. There’s hummus, there’s baba ghanoush, there’s labneh, and there’s muhammara. And you can get each of them individually or you can get a half-size portion of all four on one plate for $20. It comes with three pitas, and it is such a great way to start out the experience because it’s so many beautiful colors on the plate. The plate itself is really pretty, but then all of the flavors are so unique, but again, complement each other so well. I love to do all four and then get a little bit of spread on one bite and do all of it together because you get the smokiness from the muhammara, you get the creaminess from the labneh, you get just like that classic garlic hummus in there. And then the baba ghanoush, which is roasted and pureed eggplant, just like a very creamy texture. Super good. So yeah, that’s one of my top recommendations. I also think it’s a shame if you don’t get any of those kebab options. But you know, choose whichever kebab you like. There really is no wrong choice. They’ve got that salmon kebab and it has this za’atar seasoning on it. Za’atar is a very common Mediterranean seasoning. There’s thyme, there’s salt, there’s pepper. There’s one or two spices in there that I can’t remember off the top of my head.

Sumac?

Yeah, sumac’s in there, 100 percent. So the salmon kebab is delicious. We also have a chicken kebab, so we use thigh meat for our chicken. You’ll notice that. The thigh meat relative to breast meat is a little bit juicier. There is a little bit higher fat percentage, but it really does help with the tenderness of the dish.

There’s certain dishes where that is really the right choice.

100 percent, yeah. And then that final kebab option is a beef kefta kebab. So kefta is…you know, initially when they were going through the process, they were wondering if we could do like a beef and lamb mixture because I think that’s what traditional kefta is, if I remember correctly. But this one is mostly just a beef. So we grind beef and we put it in these little rectangular molds and then stick them on the skewer. And we grill them and then we put them in the oven, and it’s really beautiful. So yeah, any of those kebab options are great.

All of those kebabs come on a bed of saffron rice that we make fresh, I think twice a day because of how much we’re going through. And then there’s a cucumber tomato salad. We’ve got pickled sumac onions on there. We’ve got Juanita peppers, which are kind of like banana peppers. They’re a little bit on the spicier side. And then we also have a little dollop of hummus on there as well.

There’s a very large selection of wine, as you were mentioning before, and some cocktails. Could you tell us a little bit about that?

Absolutely. So like I said, Shannon is just a genius when it comes to wine programming. And I say that for a few different reasons. For starters, Shannon is very intentional with the wineries that she sources from. For Clio specifically, we don’t have any domestic wine in-house. All of our wine comes from the Mediterranean. We have bottles from Macedonia, Armenia, Italy, France, Turkey. We have some really, really unique flavors in there, which is really cool.

She also does a really great job with sourcing from wineries that are very fair trade. So whether they’re family owned and only have a very small business or they’re just like ethically and responsibly running their business. Making sure that all of the grapes that we have are hand harvested or have best practices. We like to source a lot of green wines too, so wines that don’t overuse water or pesticides, chemicals, any of that stuff.

Our cocktail list is made by Dustin Fox. He’s the bar program manager for the company, so all of our cocktails are from Dustin. And Dustin, again, is just a genius in his craft, where he does a really great job of getting classic cocktails but then putting a unique twist on them so that it’s unique to whatever concept that we’re catering to. We have a pretty small cocktail list. We’ve got three spritzers to choose from, so we have a very classic aperitiva spritz, kind of like an aperol spritz. We have a Hugo spritz, so it’s got that elderflower liqueur and mints in there, and then we have a limoncello spritz that’s actually topped off with a little bit of rosé rather than traditional prosecco. We still have really nice weather, so they’re great for patio. And then our cocktail list is six cocktails, all wonderfully paired together, but again, very similar to our food menu, so unique in their own way. So I think if a guest starts out with, you know, a spritz and then moves to a cocktail and then moves to a glass of wine, there’s truly no bad pairing in any of that, especially when you take into consideration all of the great food that’s going to come along with it as well. And then we have a really cool list of non-alcoholic cocktails too, so we’ve got three NA [non-alcholic] beverages. And then we have a few bottled and canned beers, and then we’ve got a couple of water options as well.

Any question I haven’t asked you that you would like me to ask?

Hmm. Well, I do like to point out that there are a few local places we partner with, because I love supporting local and I love being in a company that also supports local. So Miller Dohrmann Farm, that’s where we get our flour, our whole wheat grain, for all of the pita that we make. We also buy eggplant from them. So we have a few eggplant in those dishes and we’re moving through quite a bit of it, which is cool. So we support Miller Dohrmann and we’ve had a chance to host them in here and I’ve met them a couple of times. They are just such an awesome couple. They have such an awesome farm. They do a really good job over there.

We also work with Maven Bar, so Maven Social has a few bars in Omaha, but specifically in the Old Market we’ve got Berry and Rye down the street and then Laka Lono is actually our basement, so a tiki bar is owned by Maven right below us, and we source our perfect ice from them. So they like carve this ice, and it looks really perfectly clear. It’s really cool. It goes in a few of our cocktails. And then we also partner with Hardy Coffee. They give us our coffee beans for… we have an espresso machine back there, so we can make lattes and cappuccinos. But then we also make a cold brew concentrate, and that cold brew concentrate goes in our espresso martini.

Sounds good. I think it’s also in the creme brulee, no?

So the creme brulée has Turkish coffee in it. Those aren’t the beans that we source from Hardy, but the creme brulée does pair really well with the espresso martini. So I would say that’s one of my favorite pairings. If I’m looking for something like a little sweet treat, an espresso martini and chocolate creme brulée would be like my go-to pairing.

I guess another thing that’s fun to point out is the pita process is really intense.

I was guessing you made them here because it was very different and very wonderful.

We do. We make them fresh every single day. Yeah. So the pita that we have, the guests will come to find out that have a little bit of a nice crisp on the outside, but mostly they’re really soft and fluffy, but they’re not chewy by any means. Like they don’t overwhelm your palate. They don’t overwhelm the flavors that you’re pairing it with.

And lovely pockets with those too. I haven’t seen pita with pockets in a long time, and that’s what I’m used to.

Yeah. So we have this really amazing pizza oven back there that we actually got custom made for our store. I think we had it travel all the way from the East Coast somewhere, right? So yeah, we brought it in quite the distance. And that pizza oven just does wonders. It’s mostly an oak wood, if I remember correctly. But it’s a wood fire, a little gas-assisted as well. But it has that very nice, smoky flavor without overbearing anything. And so, yeah, our pita process starts with our starter, right? So it’s a sourdough pita, and so we have this starter dough that we feed every day, and from that starter we portion out the dough, and you know, I see the prep cooks back there rolling it out and… Day of production, we have one of our cooks come in at 6:00 in the morning, and he’ll start just like pumping out pita. He’ll, like, roll them out on the trays and then get the trays and start putting them in the oven. And then we keep them stored very, you know, organized. And then when it’s time to have service and the guests order them, we’ll put them in the oven again so that when the guests order it the first time it doesn’t take ten minutes to make a pita. So yeah, it’s a very intense process, but we do a really good job, I think.

You definitely do a really good job.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for the interview. 

Thank you, too!