Pasta News

Dallas Design District shutter makes way for beloved Oak Lawn restaurant comeback

Bellini's was a neighborhood favorite for nearly 20 years.

Yelp

Bad news first: Foxyco, a Dallas Design District restaurant that was a sibling of Stock & Barrel in Oak Cliff, has closed, as in for good.

Owners Jon Stevens and MG Green originally hinted that the closure might be temporary: On March 24, they posted that they'd be closing Foxyco "for now," stating that it was too difficult to keep two restaurants afloat.

But they subsequently cleared the place out, to the studs as they say, leaving it open for a new tenant. Which brings us to the good news.

Bellini's Italian Cafe, the longtime Oak Lawn neighborhood favorite at its previous location at 3810 Congress Ave., has returned and will take over the Foxyco space at 921 N. Riverfront Dr.

Owner "Lorenzo" Ilir Cakaj confirms that he'll fire Bellini's back up again after a hiatus of nearly three years. UPDATE 6-26-2020: Bellini's is opening on June 26.

"It's been a strange journey," Cakaj says. "We were in that shopping center for 18 years until the landlord sold the property and the new owner made the decision to demolish the shopping center."

The old shopping center where Bellini's used to be is now home to a just-opened Total Wine & More liquor store, with an accompanying parking lot.

Cakaj was on the brink of moving back to New York, where he lived previously — but then the virus happened. "The virus changed everything, and I ended up staying here," he says.

Bellini's was an amusingly charming neighborhood joint with a time-capsule ambience and aspirations that included marble columns and a statue of Bacchus, the god of wine, in a completely non-ironic manner.

The menu featured classics well done, starting with the irresistible house-made bread served warm with olive oil and herbs. Dishes included stuffed mushrooms, spaghetti & meatballs, linguine with clam sauce, fettuccine Alfredo, chicken piccata, and shrimp scampi.

At the new location, he'll be open for lunch and dinner, reprising all of those signature dishes and more including osso bucco, Chilean sea bass, tuna, grilled lobster, lasagna, lobster ravioli, and Bellini cioppino. There'll be a full bar with Bellinis which he makes the old-school way with champagne and peach schnapps. And maybe late-night music on Friday and Saturday nights.

He's currently working on getting inspections done and his liquor license, which he anticipates will come together in a few weeks. If not by then, he may open and serve free wine.

It fulfills a plan he had to relocate to the Design District back in 2018.

"For three years, I cannot go into a store without someone asking me, 'Are you going to open Bellini's again?'" he says.

openings

Downtown News

Revered Metropolitan Cafe in downtown Dallas will reopen with noted chef

Kathy Tran

Croissant breakfast sandwich at Metropolitan Cafe.

A downtown Dallas restaurant is undertaking a revival: The Metropolitan Café, a breakfast-and-lunch spot at 2032 Main St. that closed in 2021 after 20 years, is being re-opened by former patron and fan Noemi Chiriac, with a new chef, redesigned interior, and menu featuring original dishes and new ones, too.

According to a release, the restaurant will open in late fall, and Chiriac will be assisted in her mission by chef Randall Braud, who was previously at Barcelona Wine Bar, where he earned a nomination in the 2021 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards for Rising Star Chef.

Braud has also worked at Dallas restaurants such as Mot Hai Ba and Bolsa Mercado, and previously did a Filipino pop-up that culled recipes from his own heritage.

Braud is creating a menu that weaves in original café classics plus artisan deli sandwiches; comforting, familiar dishes; and dishes that incorporate Noemi’s mother’s Romanian flare. She must be a fiery person.

Classic items staying on the menu include:

The Meeker Special - a croissant sandwich with egg, ham, cheese, tomato, cucumber, and scallions
The Denver Croissant - a croissant sandwich with egg, ham, cheese, green pepper, tomato, and onion
breakfast bagel sandwiches
panini
a daily special hot plate

"The Meeker Special is what kept me coming back to the original café," Chiriac says. "I love croissants, fresh cucumbers and scallions and this sandwich had all of that."

Chiriac first encountered The Metropolitan Café in the summer of 2021 while working as an engineer at Raytheon. On one visit in November 2021, she brought her mother and asked the owner if her mother could help cook. It was the cafe's last day, and Chiriac ended up buying it as a way to share some of her mother's one-of-a-kind Romanian dishes.

The 2,056 square foot space has been revamped with an art deco design playing homage to the time when it was built, in 1913.

The building was originally known as the Masonic Blue Lodge Temple until 1919 where it’s primarily remembered as The Western Union Telegraph Company building. This historic location is where both Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby received telegrams. Ruby paid a visit to the Western Union just 5 minutes before shooting Oswald behind the building outside the Dallas courthouse.

The Metropolitan Café will pay tribute to both old and new Dallas giving customers a space to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and happy hour. The cafe will also be available to host private events and offer catering.