One could compare the restaurant business to show business. Every night is a new performance. For Avis Scaramucci, she has been “performing” most of her life. Catch her at her Nonna’s Euro-American Restaurant & Bar in Bricktown.
What you wished you knew five years ago: “The possibilities … and how the whole city has changed.”
Where would you take a foreign exchange student: “To our greenhouses where most of our produce and flowers are grown; to downtown Oklahoma City; to show them all of the different districts and, of course, to Bricktown, and then to my own home where I would cook for them.”
Nickname: “No, there is no nickname for Avis, but now I am 'Nonna' to my three grandchildren. 'Nonna' means grandmother in Italian, and Nonna’s was named after Phil’s [husband of Avis] grandmother.”
Famous look-alike: “Carol Channing.”
A favorite thing to do that does not cost money: “Just spending time with my family.”
Signature dishes at Nonna’s: “The special spaghetti recipe, which was from Phil’s grandmother — as best as we can remember it — and the Avis chocolate cake, which is the most requested dessert recipe.”
The most difficult thing you’ve ever done: “Starting up my own business in 1991. The second hardest is consistency in doing what you do well.”
Kill for: “Homemade ice cream — the real deal .”
Favorite kitchen equipment: “The emulsifier and good knives.”
Come back as: “Myself. I am enjoying my life. I have a degree in music education with an emphasis on voice, and I was homecoming queen at Altus High School. “
Funny happening: “When a group celebrating a birthday in Nonna’s hired an Elvis impersonator, but his equipment failed. He quickly gathered up his business cards and left.”
