CHEFPROFILE
Story by Bailey Hemphill
Nick Strawhecker
Photo by minorwhitestudios.com
To view a YouTube clip of a pizza being made aT danTe's, go To hTTp://diningouT.vuomaha.com.
Dante Pizzeria Napoletana
wHo
could have guessed that a 16-year-old working at a Pizza Hut would one day grow up to study Italian cuisine in Italy, then open his own sophisticated, Naples-inspired restaurant? That proved to be the fate of Omahan Nick Strawhecker, chef and owner of Dante Pizzeria Napoletana. Strawhecker was born and raised for some time in Omaha before his family moved to England where they lived for three years during his early teens. While abroad, he traveled throughout Europe and was exposed to new dishes outside of American cuisine. After his family returned to Omaha and celebrated his high-school graduation, Strawhecker went on to culinary school in Providence, and later, to work in a small bistro in Flagstaff while attending Northern Arizona University. Eventually, he moved to Italy to attend the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners (ICIF), where he gained a strong respect for Italian cuisine and wine, and worked at the Michelin-rated Il Falconierie in southern Tuscany, which he says influenced him tremendously. When he returned to the U.S., Strawhecker
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worked as a sous chef in both Chicago and Philadelphia, gaining more experience as an all-around cook. He recalls, “A chef I used to work for always told me that a sous chef needs to be the best cook in the kitchen.” In 2008, Strawhecker returned to Omaha and pursued his dream of opening his own restaurant, Dante Pizzeria Napoletana. Dante, he says, references Dante’s Inferno, the mythical hell represented in the 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy, which he believes fits his restaurant well since he cooks his pizzas in an 800-degree, wood-fire oven. Dante Pizzeria houses the only VERA-certified wood-fire oven in Omaha, which sets Strawhecker’s Neapolitan pizza apart from the other Italian cuisines in the metro. Some of the signature dishes on the Dante menu include Giuseppe Pizza (sausage, roasted pepper, and cipollini) and Oxtail and Gnocchi. While his customers relish in the constantly changing selections of Tuscan and Southern Italian entrees, Strawhecker says he has a go-to meal that he loves to cook in his off-time: roast chicken and potatoes, accompanied by several glasses of wine. www.omahapublications.com