DOMINIC ARMATO

Nico review: Gio Osso’s stylish new eatery brings saucy Italian to downtown Gilbert

Dominic Armato
The Republic | azcentral.com
  • Nico, where Gio Osso blends Cal-Italian and Italian-American, opened in downtown Gilbert in May
  • The restaurant is welcoming to a casual, family crowd, while ritzy enough to make for a fun night out
  • Some dishes don't quite work, by design or error, but Nico boasts enough strong hits to win the day
  • Critic's rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Wood Fired Branzino at Nico Heirloom Kitchen in downtown Gilbert.

If you’re trying to find downtown Gilbert, just look for the glare.

You’ll be forgiven for wondering if you took a wrong turn. The once-quaint, quarter-mile strip of dusty road has seen a marked increase in wattage over the past year, driven mostly by a spontaneous restaurant pile-on that has a pack of freshly minted dinner destinations competing for attention.

East Valley diners seem to be enjoying their new suitors, suavely dressed to impress, even if most of them look awfully familiar (might want to get tested for Second-Location Syndrome while you’re at it, Gilbert). But one of the most anticipated — and one of the few that hasn’t already been extensively road tested in other parts of town — is chef Gio Osso’s stylish Italian offering, Nico Heirloom Kitchen.

The scene

A nod to Osso’s eldest progeny, the restaurant’s name might suggest Sunday supper with the family, and indeed, Nico seems pleased to welcome a casual crowd. But while it isn’t an intimate, refined affair like Osso’s James Beard Award-nominated Scottsdale hot spot, Virtù Honest Craft, the place is clearly designed to boost the panache factor in a historically informal part of town. In this manner, Nico smartly serves double duty, casual enough to draw family-focused regulars, but slick enough to feel like a night out.

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Big and buzzing (if bordering on booming when the seats fill up), Nico is stylishly appointed and dimly lit, a contemporary brick-and-wood box bolstered with old-school touches like brass fixtures and tufted leather banquettes. A smooth front-of-house operation handles the dining room with aplomb and an up-tempo pace, whether servicing the tables or a long bar that runs the length of the room.

Cocktails can, at times, be a bit clumsy. The sticky, baseball-sized blob of “limoncello foam” atop the Tuscan Treat ($10) tastes like lemon-scented marshmallow fluff. But the Nico Spritz ($10) is a superlative gin-spiked riff on a classic Aperol spritz, ubiquitous in Italy and perfect during warmer months, which is to say 10 or 11 of them here in Arizona. Wine may be a safer bet, and Nico offers a few dozen by the glass to pair with Osso’s menu, which features a blend of contemporary Cal-Italian and classic Italian-American fare.

The food

Those anticipating Virtù East will need to adjust expectations. Nico is more homey, more hearty and more apt to drift toward the center of the road. But while too many errors sneak through the pass, there’s a lot to like here.

Seafood makes for a strong start. Scampi ($13) are the stuff of this Italian-American kid’s youth, drenched in butter and garlic and taken for a spin in the oven. Perfectly cooked with a splash of wine, they’re precisely what you hoped they’d be. Less conventional is one of Nico’s best dishes, a heady bowl of garlicky, wine-soaked clams ($13) paired with butter beans and spiked with ‘nduja — spicy, spreadable Calabrian salume that’s long been a pet ingredient of Osso’s, and with good reason. Ironically, his widely heralded Virtù octopus ($15) was the weakest of the three seafood starters, and not only because it was served distressingly cold.

Anything green is less reliable. Spinach salad ($10) with Gorgonzola, bacon and candied walnuts is a boilerplate offering. The stracciatella ($12) — shreds of fresh mozzarella — is creamy and light, but the accompanying mix of arugula and roasted bell peppers was doomed by overuse (through no fault of the chef) two decades ago.

A better option is the grilled asparagus ($13). Smoky and tender, cavorting with candied bacon and richly blanketed with a fried egg and foie hollandaise, it’s good enough to make you not mind that the combination is getting a little long in the tooth.

Anything red, on the other hand, hits the mark. Nonna’s meatballs ($11), quirky little misshapen lumps of beef and pork, sport a bright, chunky tomato sauce and a Sunday supper charm. And though the eggplant parmigiana ($11) sometimes melts into a textureless puddle, that puddle still boasts a rich and luscious flavor, topped with the gentle bite of bubbling caciocavallo cheese.

Pasta should be more consistent than it is. Maltagliati cacio e pepe ($14) could be a simple slam dunk. But the (intentionally) misshapen ribbons are too thin and too delicate for this purpose, quickly solidifying into a single, uniform lump moments after being dropped on the table.

Spaghetti pomodoro ($13) reveals a fleeting glimpse of fresh pasta with excellent bite before you’re splattered across the pavement without warning by a speeding Mack truck loaded with roasted garlic. Some will revel in its garlicky excess, but leaving the tomatoes bound and gagged in the back seat is a crime.

Delightfully chewy rigatoni ($14), on the other hand, is both bold and balanced, with a tannic, red wine-heavy pork sauce that’s brash but stops short of belligerence. Osso’s lasagna al forno ($14) is a winner, even if it didn’t beat Bobby Flay. Layered with bechamel, Bolognese and a bit of ham, it’s a crusty, bubbling bit of blissful baked pasta.

Better yet, when it’s on (as it was two of the three times I tried it), is the timballo ($14). A stratified stack of tender crepes layered with rich ragu, caciocavallo and spicy ‘nduja rests beneath a toasted cap topped with crisp, fried basil, all surrounded by a moat of bright tomato sauce. Carefully constructed and intensely flavored, it’s the unsung star of the menu.

The mains at Nico tend toward saucy, literally and figuratively. Veal marsala ($23) is an atypically strong rendition of the meaty classic, a vibrant and light version that deftly sidesteps the common pitfalls of getting too sweet or sticky. Chicken scallopini ($19) could almost be mistaken for the same dish, thin paillards with a Marsala-laced sauce sweetened with dried fruit.

Seafood mains aren’t as strong as their counterparts near the top of the menu. Grilled albacore ($24) swims in a sun-dried pesto and balsamic glaze that — for better or worse — is sweet enough to be guilt-inducing and almost delicious enough to save a lifeless piece of seared fish. Pesce olio ($24) is a near miss. Suffering the opposite problem, a tender and succulent slip of oil-poached escolar with a delicate flavor is shouted down by an overabundance of briny olive. But wood-fired branzino ($23) is pitch-perfect, tender and flaky, paired with a classic punch of citrus and fennel and resting beneath a crown of arugula and shaved prosciutto.

Flat iron ($25) is a chewy, flavorful cut of beef that I’m always happy to see on a menu, though I wish Nico’s perfectly cooked version, paired with potatoes and cippollini, weren’t drenched in a sweet sour reduction. A little dab on the side or beneath would do. Steak lovers would be better served by the bistecca tagliata (market price), a monster 40-ounce ribeye for two (or three, or four) that’s simply prepared, simply presented and would be perfectly paired with any of a selection of contorni ($8).

Desserts

I’ll hazard a guess that the “mochamisu” ($10) is the most popular dessert, sitting squarely at the intersection of chocolate and tiramisu obsession. I’m not sure tiramisu needed that upgrade, but it’s a formidably decadent finish. For a chocolate fix, I prefer the sticky toffee cake ($10), a gently spiced version laced with chocolate and dates and topped with a smooth mascarpone gelato. Butterscotch budino ($10) brings a beguiling mix of salty and sweet, though on one occasion it was more soup than pudding. And cannoli ($9) fill so-so shells with perfect, not-too-sweet ricotta and excellent cherries (Luxardo, perhaps?), syrupy little jewels that beg to be saved for last.

Lowdown

While Nico falls a little short of what it could (and perhaps should) be, it’s nonetheless an enjoyable restaurant that casts a wide net while maintaining a mostly compelling menu. The dishes that work are memorable enough to make you forgive those that don’t, as well as the occasional misstep.

This suitor may not be the man of Gilbert’s dreams, but Nico is a charming companion for a lively and tasty evening out.

Reach Armato at dominic.armato@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8533, Interact with him on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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Nico Heirloom Kitchen

Where: 366 N. Gilbert Road, Gilbert. 

Hours: Brunch//lunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. weekends. Dinner 3-10 p.m. daily.

Details: 480-584-4760, nicoaz.com.

Price: $35-$55 per person, excluding beverage, tax and tip.

Stars: 3.5 (out of 5) 

Restaurant review rating scale

Stars based on food, service, ambience

5 — Excellent

4 — Very good

3 — Good

— Fair

1 — Poor