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    Downtown News

    Italian restaurant from stellar team takes prized downtown Dallas spot

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jul 23, 2021 | 4:55 pm
    Da Mario
    The team all met at Da Mario in Frisco.
    Da Mario

    Three Italian gents have come together to open an Italian restaurant in downtown Dallas: Called La Stella Italian Verace, it'll open at 2330 Flora St. #150, in the space better known as the former Flora Street Cafe.

    La Stella is from three guys with wonderfully vowel-rich names: Giuseppe "JP" Piccinini, Luigi Iannuario, and Riccardo Ravaglia.

    Iannuario and Ravaglia are both alumni of Da Mario, the upscale Italian restaurant at The Star in Frisco, which opened with great fanfare in 2018, then closed in spring 2020 due to the pandemic. Iannuario was previously chef at longtime Italian restaurant Nicola's Ristorante Italiano, which closed in 2019. Ravaglia worked for Lombardi Concepts and previously at Cipriani in New York.

    JP is an entrepreneur and innovative real estate pro, according to Candy's Dirt, and who are we to question Candy. Born in Italy and raised in Texas, JP says he is always on the lookout for good Italian food.

    "I used to frequent Da Mario's quite often," he says. "I live in Frisco, and was grateful to have a good Italian place nearby that I loved. I would always talk with Luigi and Riccardo, we built a friendship."

    After Da Mario closed, Iannuario did some chef consulting, while Ravaglia went to work for the Lombardi group. But a seed had been planted.

    "I always wanted to get into the hospitality business, and we started working on it together," JP says.

    Their original plan was to reopen in the Da Mario space, and thus the name, "La Stella," which translates to "the star."

    Unfortunately for Frisco and fortunately for downtown Dallas, the negotiations were taking too long, and the Flora Street space became available.

    "We're really excited about being in that location," JP says. "We feel like we're bringing something exciting downtown."

    Flora Street closed in January 2020, presciently prior to the onset of the pandemic; chef Stephan Pyles said he was quitting the industry, and promised to document his various experiences waiting on celebrities as well as evaluate "the dozens of food critics he'd encountered" in his four-decade career.

    JP says they have big plans for the space including building a terrace for some starry rooftop experiences.

    They haven't built a menu yet but they know it will be authentic Italian, done in a way that's different from what else is around town.

    "It'll be a little more modern than your typical spaghetti & meatballs," JP says. "We won't have any fettucine Alfredo or salad or pizzas. We'll be doing local, regional, authentic dishes, precisely done, and cooked fantastically."

    openingsdowntown
    news/restaurants-bars

    Bread News

    Award-winning Dallas bakery scores storefront in Oak Cliff mixed use

    Teresa Gubbins
    May 13, 2025 | 6:07 pm
    Kuluntu bread
    Photo courtesy of Kuluntu
    Kuluntu bread

    One of Dallas' best bakeries is graduating to a new location: Kuluntu Bakery, which currently operates as a cottage bakery in Oak Cliff, is moving into the East Dock, the innovative new mixed-use hub at 900 E. Clarendon Dr. near the Dallas Zoo and Halperin Park.

    Founded in 2018, Kuluntu is the cottage food bakery that has been selling breads and pastries from an Oak Cliff home. Despite not having a brick-and-mortar location, the bakery has racked up numerous awards including an impressive ranking on a Food & Wine list of the Best Breads in Every State, a 2023 nomination for a James Beard Award, and a CultureMap Tastemaker Awards nomination for co-founder Stephanie Leichtle-Chalklen for Best Pastry Chef.

    And now they will have a brick-and-mortar location.

    Their current menu changes weekly, with breads such as country sour and lemon-lavender-walnut sour; their signature granola; cinnamon rolls; and pastries such as almond & lemon croissant, cheesy artichoke galette, and salted rye chocolate chip cookies. They send out an email to subscribers every week listing the latest offerings. (To get on the list, email kuluntu@kuluntubakery.org.)

    "At the new location, we will be expanding the menu quite a bit," Leichtle-Chalken says. "It will include items that we’re currently baking plus South African dishes for lunch service."

    They're hoping to be open by the end of the year, and once they do open, they'll close down the cottage operation.

    But Leichtle-Chalklen says this new location will be more than a bakery — it will be a community hub that centers women’s experiences and builds collective power through education, health & wellness, and equity initiatives.

    She already operates Kuluntu as a non-profit, with a goal of co-creating a more equitable food system and community by connecting the food industry, consumers, and partners to center women and humanize all food workers.

    Sustainability and taking care of the planet is a practice that threads throughout their organization: whether that's using Barton Springs Mill organic flours and Cedar Ridge Egg Farm free-range eggs, or whether it's following zero-waste baking by recycling, composting, and using environmentally friendly packaging.

    East DockEast Dock Courtesy rendering

    They'll fit right in at East Dock, a former industrial building that was built in 1915 and is being thoughtfully refurbished with a goal of creating an 18-hour campus: coffee in the morning, daytime operators such as offices, studios, and restaurants, then bars and entertainment at night.

    On July 12, Kuluntu will host "Reimagining an Inclusive Restaurant in Dallas," where attendees can learn about the lived experiences of women food workers and how we can humanize the food system, as well as re-imagine what an equitable and inclusive restaurant could be — sharing your experiences, ideas, and perspectives to shape Kuluntu Bakery into a true community space for all. Pastries and beverages will be included.

    The session will take place at East Dock, allowing a preview of the site which will be under active construction. Get tickets here.

    dessertsopenings
    news/restaurants-bars
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