Carmela's Bistro & Wine Bar

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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO

Some diners may remember the Skylight Bistro, a small, intimate restaurant in downtown Lincoln with a good menu and a nice wine selection.

 The new Carmela’s Bistro & Wine Bar is a lot like the old Skylight.

It, too, is small — with seating for about 100 — with a cozy atmosphere, a tempting continental menu and best of all, a wine selection that rivals any other restaurant in town.

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Front of Carmela's Bistro & Wine Bar located at 70th and Pioneers Blvd. (Cody Duty)

Located at 70th Street and Pioneers Boulevard — across the parking lot from Venue — Carmela’s is a welcome addition to Lincoln’s dining scene.

Marci Davison, 29, opened the bistro and wine bar on June 23. Her kitchen manager is Shane Goodall.

Despite her tender age, she’s a veteran in food service, having worked at Grisanti’s and Rib Ranch in Lincoln, and at her parents’ restaurant, The Golden Spur Steakhouse and Saloon in Ogallala.

“This is quite a different atmosphere,” she said.

 Her original idea was to open a gourmet cheese and specialty wine store. But after talking to her parents, who helped her get Carmela’s going, she changed direction.

“(My idea) ballooned into a full, sit-down restaurant,” she said.

 Davison spent a great deal of time preparing for opening day. Much of the interior, including the wine racks and tables, is handmade.

The restaurant has two distinct dining areas as well as outdoor seating for another 30 patrons. It has the look and feel of a library in a big, old house, but wine bottles instead of books fill the shelves.

I’ve received e-mails and calls about noise issues, and Davison is addressing those. She’s added curtains and rugs, and a sound engineer recommended acoustic tiles.

“I would say it’s 50 percent better,” she said. “It’s a huge problem when you can’t hear your server to place an order.”

The only other complaints I had heard was about service, but after two months, Carmela’s seems to have ironed those out. My companion and I dined on a semi-busy Monday night and had no problems.

In fact, our server, Donley, knew the menu well and offered several suggestions.

Davison warns on busy weekends food may take 40 to 45 minutes to reach tables because everything is prepared fresh. The steaks are even hand cut.

The menu features a variety of pork, beef, chicken and seafood entrees, ranging in price from $12 to $27. There are four pasta dishes and four flatbreads.

For those looking for something light to go with their wine, Carmela’s offers cheese and meat plates.

On our visit, we started with Carmela’s Signature Cakes ($10), a breaded appetizer featuring a blend of crab, shrimp, cheese, green onions and sun-dried tomatoes.

We actually began with the wine. Carmela’s has a huge selection, but I recommend the wine flights, which allow diners to sample three wines with their meal. The restaurant changes flights regularly.

I tried the pinot whites ($12), which included Sartori from Delle Venzie, Italy; King Estate from Eugene, Ore., and Bottega Vinaia from Trentino, Italy.

 My companion sampled the Rieslings ($10): Firehose from Napa, Stonecap from Columbia Valley, Wash., and Wente from Monterey, Calif.

For entrees, I enjoyed the sea bass ($22), which was breaded, pan-fried and served with a spicy Thai sauce, risotto, green beans and red peppers.

My companion went with one of the night’s specials, a lemon thyme ribeye ($28), cooked medium and served with risotto and green beans.

Our server recommended Oscar’s Favorite ($28), a filet smothered in a béchamel sauce and topped with a crab cake, and the Napolean Chicken ($18), a chicken breast stuffed with ham, gouda cheese and sun-dried tomato pesto and drizzled with the béchamel sauce.

We both enjoyed our meals. I wasn’t hip to the breading on the sea bass, but the fish was cooked perfectly. The ribeye was quite tasty, with the lemon thyme offering something different. Best of all, the experience reminded me of those I had at the old Skylight Bistro in the early 1980s. Lincoln needed a small, intimate eatery along those lines. Now, it has one.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.