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

Flour power couple

Oprah-endorsed Cookie Society rolls out 3 new Dallas-area locations

Photo courtesy of Cookie Society

Stuffed banana pudding cookies are among the rotating seasonal offerings.

There are secret societies and honor societies, but the sweetest sort of society will soon boast several new Dallas-area storefronts: Cookie Society, the wife-and-husband-owned gourmet bakery, will open at 232 W. Campbell Rd. in Richardson on November 21, and at 906 W. McDermott Dr. in Allen on December 4, a spokesperson says.

An Inwood Village store will open next year at 5560 W Lovers Ln., the website says. No date has been announced.

When Jeff and Marissa Allen opened their second Cookie Society in Addison in 2022, they spoke of plans to expand across North Texas. With Addison and the original Cookie Society in Frisco — plus Mansfield, Prosper, and Southlake — the three new stores will make eight, and the Allens do not intend to stop there. In a release, they say they are preparing to announce another location inside Dallas proper, besides Inwood Village, "very soon." (It is not yet listed on the website.)

The expansion plan may seem ambitious, but there is reason for their confidence. Back in 2020, when they had just one store struggling in the face of a global pandemic, Oprah featured their cookie Gift Crate on her famous "Oprah's Favorite Things" holiday gift list, published in the December issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.

That gave them a jumpstart, and the rest ... involved no rest but relied on the couple’s hard work and consistent production of an irresistible product.

“Before there were storefronts, there were pop ups and markets and a whole lot of hustle,” Marissa says on Instagram.

cookie society Marissa and Jeff Allen, both retired athletes, began testing recipes in their home kitchen before building their doughy empire.Courtesy photo

It started small, with Marissa, a former college soccer star, baking at home. She experimented with nostalgic flavors like banana pudding, apple pie, and frosted oatmeal. Jeff — a former NFL player with a Super Bowl ring — and his teammates tested her output.

The menu includes six year-round classic cookies — chocolate chip, salted caramel, frosted oatmeal, banana pudding, snickerdoodle, sugar — and an array of featured flavors (pumpkin white chocolate, cookie butter milkshake in November) that keep things interesting. All are described as Texas-sized (big) with a crisp edge, soft chewy insides, and bold flavors.

The couple adds on their Story page that Cookie Society is the largest Black-owned cookie brand in Texas. In addition to the numerous storefronts, they offer nationwide shipping and a monthly subscription program.

"The company has grown, but the soul of the kitchen stays the same," they add, "real butter, uncompromising ingredients, and a relentless drive to make the perfect cookie."

allen dallas jeff allen marissa allen new new stores oprah favorites richardson society stores