Italian Restaurant News

Italian restaurant to open in ex-Flora St Cafe in Dallas Arts District

Which fork will win?

Photo courtesy of La Stella Cucina

The day draws slightly closer for big Italian in downtown Dallas: La Stella Cucina Verace will open in the Dallas Arts District, featuring Italian chef Luigi Iannuario and maitre d' Riccardo Ravaglia bringing regional Italian food, lifestyle, and culture to Texas, which is no small task to take on.

According to a release, the restaurant will open "this winter," so, sometime after December 21 but before March 20, 2022.

They'll open at 2330 Flora St. #150, in the space also known as the former Flora Street Cafe. Their original plan was to reopen in the Da Mario space, and thus the name, "La Stella," which translates to "the star."

But negotiations took too long, and they were able to seize the Flora Street space; Flora Street closed in January 2020.

The release says that La Stella will bring a classic, honest, and simple approach to Italian cuisine, replicating regional Italian dishes like never before in Dallas, a bold quest.

Iannuario was born and raised in Italy and received his culinary arts degree in Milan while working under renowned chefs such us Gualtiero Marchesi at L’Albereta, a three-star Michelin restaurant in the Franciacorta area. He worked in kitchens throughout Italy and Europe, including for Giorgio Armani as executive sous chef of Emporio Armani Caffe in Milan, and was most recently executive chef at Da Mario at The Star in Frisco.

Managing Partner Riccardo Ravaglia has 22-plus years of experience, including various Cipriani establishments in New York and worldwide, such as the Rainbow Room and Harry Cipriani on 5th Avenue. He also worked at Da Mario.

Beverage Director John Dal Canton is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, who moved to Italy to learn about viticulture and viniculture then worked for Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant in Dallas and Los Angeles. He was most recently food & beverage manager of the Cowboys Club in Frisco.

For the bar program at La Stella, his wine list will feature highly allocated regional wines, including older vintages of Super Tuscans and Barolos, with a focus on organic and biodynamic wines, plus Italian renditions on modern and classic cocktails.

Food
The menu will be chef Iannuario's reinterpretation of comforting recipes from regions across Italy with a modern twist. Signature dishes include:

Gnocco Fritto con Salumi e Formaggi Misti
Paccheri All’Astice, made with pasta imported from Gragnano Napoli
Fra Diavolo with lobster, tomato, and lobster fumetto
Risotto Oro del Maestro
Pesce Al Sale
Gnocchi Gratinati
Costoletta di Vitello Alla Milanese

La Stella will also offer a dry-aged meat program, including imported prosciutto sliced tableside. Desserts include Semifreddo alla Nutella con Meringhe e salsa caldo al cioccolato fondente and Faby's tiramisu.

Atmosphere
The 5,000-square-foot restaurant will espouse a warm, contemporary atmosphere coupling modern elements with a timeless Italian charm, with cozy booths, an open dining room with chic tables, and the bar serving as a centerpiece, with a privacy screen for private parties in the back.

downtown openings

Chocolate News

Richardson dessert shop Chocolate Drip lays out eye-catching treats

Chocolate Drip

Chocolate bear with pistachio sauce at Chocolate Drip

A dessert shop in Richardson has become the toast of the sweets world: Called Chocolate Drip, it opened in August at 1057 S. Sherman St., in a center east of US-75 near Spring Valley Road, where it's rolling out some eye-catching chocolate treats.

Chocolate Drip is a passion project from Mohammad Quzmar, a Palestinian-born owner who moved to Dallas four years ago and taught himself to cook through tinkering. That experimentation has translated into a constantly evolving menu, with new creations appearing whenever inspiration strikes — earning him a growing reputation as something of a modern-day Willy Wonka.

"Chocolate is my passion. I just love being in the kitchen and creating,” he says.

The cafe's offerings are extensive, from sweet breakfast staples like pancakes and waffles to off-menu items teased on the café’s Instagram, such as the Dubai Drip platter — an interactive fondue plate with fruit, brownies, waffles, marshmallows, to be dipped into melted chocolate and pistachio cream.

Many of his items have the kind of eye-catching twists and table-side presentations that draw attention on Instagram, such as the cruffle (a croissant waffle) topped spaghetti-like strands of gelato which a server extrudes through a potato ricer in front of your eyes.

Other signatures include a teddy bear made of chocolate mousse and kanafa, finished with pistachio sauce for $13.30, and crepes filled with a brownie, with pistachio and chocolate sauce for $15.

Prices are not cheap but these are ultra-decadent items with generous portions, often meant for sharing.

The drink list is ambitious, spanning coffee, matcha, smoothies, milkshakes, and nonalcoholic mocktails. It's obvious Zuzmar is having fun, rolling out his versions of viral items like the famous s'mores hot chocolate pioneered by New York dessert shop Glace, which features a cap made of marshmallow meringue that’s torched and topped with a chocolate bonbon.

There are also a few savory offerings like egg-and-cheese crepes, a salmon croissant, and a turkey waffle. Those in the know also come to order Middle Eastern treats like salab, a creamy milk drink topped with cinnamon; and Om Ali, a sugary pudding with nuts, dried fruit, and coconut.

Named after the Gen Z slang for “cool” or “stylish,” Drip is meant to be a hangout spot more than a quick dessert stop, Quzmar says — a place to linger over brunch, then return late night to a place that feels buzzy and fun sans alcohol.

“Everyone who works here is either family or treated like family and everything is homemade with love," he says.

desserts openings