A new food shop with a distinct European flair is coming to Dallas: Called Gourmet European Market, it's opening at 17435 Preston Rd., in a shopping center south of Frankford Road, where it will feature food products from all over Europe but with a special focus on the Eastern European countries of Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Israel, and Bulgaria.

The store is from Yana Turliun, a native of Ukraine whose background includes yoga and nutritional education, as well as the hospitality industry, having previously owned a sushi and pizza restaurant in Ukraine. She's aiming for a late July-early August opening.

After moving to Dallas five years ago, Turliun began to experience symptoms from the food here, which she attributed to products with GMO and preservatives — all new to her.

"My first few months in the U.S., I found that I was having stomach issues that would come after I ate," she says. "I slowly determined that the food and water here were so much different from the products in Europe. So we started seeking out places to buy those products."

They did find some in stores, but wanted a place that had a wide range of products, all in one place.

"We wanted to go a more inclusive route and open a concept that would be appealing to all nationalities and introduce people to the European food standards that stress non-GMO, with less additives and less preservatives, and generally more wholesome and pure products," she says.

At Gourmet European Market, or "Gem," they'll offer dry goods, canned vegetables and meats, halal items, cheeses, ice cream, wines and aperitifs, salted and smoked fish products, tea, coffee, grains, pharmacy personal care items, snacks, and candies.

She's especially excited about the "very large deli selection for fresh cut products that will allow customers to create amazing and unique charcuterie boards," she says.

There will also be a large frozen section with pierogi, vegetables, cakes and prepared meals, which Yana will be cooking in a commercial kitchen.

Some of the items they've already listed include szarlotka, or Polish apple cake; piernik, or Polish gingerbread with a dark chocolate plum jam glaze; pierogi, the famed Polish dumplings; and Kotlet Schabowy, or Polish breaded pork cutlet.

“I want to create a place where we can get together and see there is no difference between us, no nationality, just good, healthy products we can all enjoy regardless of where we come from," she says. "When we try new things, the experience makes us look at life wider. I'm excited to people to bring our market to the community."