Hot Bread

Exciting new bakery-cafe with crusty breads rises in downtown Dallas

The Commissary is easily recognizable by its blue-tiled exterior.

Photo courtesy of The Commissary

One of downtown Dallas' most exciting concepts is ready to pop from the oven: Commissary, the bakery and butcher shop from Joule Dallas hotel owner Tim Headington, will open on November 6, and will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Located at 1217 Main St., two blocks from the flagship hotel and accompanying retail stores, Commissary will be a street-level shop featuring an in-house bakery and butcher shop with pastas, cheeses, sausages, grab-and-go sandwiches, soups, pastries, gelato, craft coffee, wine, beer, and an artisanal marketplace.

Commissary will support and be supported by the culinary team at The Joule. Operations will be run by the The Joule's former pastry chef Ruben Toraño, executive chef Zach Dunphy, and Michael Sindoni, culinary operations for Headington.

The chefs will be joined by several other members of Headington Cos.' growing culinary team, who will help support daily operations, manage the needs of the other restaurants within the portfolio, and manage off-site catering demands.

The breads, specialty cuts, pastas, sausages, condiments, and desserts served at Headington Cos.' nearby restaurants have already been prepared by Commissary for months now. Who knew? How stealthy. That stable includes Wheelhouse, Sassetta, CBD Provisions, Mirador, Victor Tangos, The Porch, The Joule, Weekend, Americano, T Room, Copper Bar, Midnight Rambler, Front Room Tavern, and the forthcoming Go Go.

Operations will run practically around the clock in a subterranean space, which features a 5,000-bottle wine cellar, a walk-in dry-aging cooler, and an Empire MecaMATIC 6-deck tunnel oven, which fires up at 4 am daily, turning out 150 loaves of foccacia, sourdough, rye, baguettes, and more.

There will also be a 40-seat dining area, allowing Commissary to function as a casual and social spot for meetings and meals day and night, an artisanal marketplace for Dallas locals, a provider of office and event catering, and a resource for specialty gifts and culinary events. Parking is available in a nearby garage, with reserved and validated spots for to-go orders or dining in.

The 2,500-square-foot ground floor has an open ambiance. Artist Jorge Pardo covered the exterior of the 8,700-square-foot, five-story building with 27,857 colorful, ceramic mosaic tiles in shades of blue.

The design work was completed in collaboration with architecture group 5G Studio Collaborative. The renovation marks 1217 Main Street as a new architectural landmark in downtown Dallas. 5G itself will move its international corporate headquarters into the building this fall, along with local creative firm, Swoon, The Studio.

openings downtown

Deli News

Gourmet market Ari's Pantry to open in Dallas' Trinity Groves

Ari's Pantry

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A new gourmet grocery is coming to Trinity Groves: Ari's Pantry, the market launched in Oak Cliff by husband-and-wife Ari and Amy Lowenstein, will open a second location in West Dallas’ Trinity Groves, with a grand opening celebration on Saturday, November 30.

Located at 3011 Gulden Ln. #119 in the space that was once home to Potato Flats who remembers them, the Trinity Groves store will offer: pasta, olive oil, vinegars, preserves, candy, bread, crackers, cheese, meats, pizza dough, fresh pasta, housewares, cocktail ingredients, novelty kitchen gadgets, spices, prepared foods, fresh pesto and Ari’s own tomato sauce.

“We are excited to open our newest location at Trinity Groves joining the great businesses already there and the wave of new ventures opening in the development,” Ari Lowenstein says in a release. “With this location we will reach a new audience in West Dallas and be closer to our customers coming from downtown and the north.”

The couple opened their first location in Winnetka Heights at 1307 ½ W. Davis St. in December 2023 to fulfill Ari's passion for all things Italy. The idea was a small Italian food store with recipe-ready staples, with a hyper-local vibe. It has since blossomed into a general-purpose gourmet stop.

In addition to the food staples for sale found at their Bishop Arts location, Ari’s Trinity Groves location will also include a commercial catering kitchen that will enable them to provide full-service catering, prepared meal pick-up, pasta classes, and private dinners.

“Amy and Ari bring something new and special to this development as our first partner to offer consumer packaged goods made by people and companies outside of Trinity Groves,” said Sam Romano, Partner at West Dallas Investments, parent company of Trinity Groves. “They are part of the vision we have for the future of Trinity Groves that will combine innovative, up and coming chefs and restauranteurs with lifestyle and entertainment options like pickleball, bocce ball, popup events, arcade game play and additional retail partners.”

The Ari's empire doesn't stop here: Their goal is to open multiple locations "in all corners of DFW and beyond," and that includes a location in the Cyprus Waters community in Coppell, slated to open in spring 2025.

downtown openings