
3 Italian gents have come collectively to open an Italian restaurant in downtown Dallas: Called La Stella Italian Verace, it’s going to open at 2330 Flora St. #150, in the place much better regarded as the previous Flora Avenue Cafe.

La Stella is from 3 men with incredibly vowel-prosperous names: Giuseppe “JP” Piccinini, Luigi Iannuario, and Riccardo Ravaglia.

Iannuario and Ravaglia are the two alumni of Da Mario, the upscale Italian cafe at The Star in Frisco, which opened with terrific fanfare in 2018, then closed in spring 2020 owing to the pandemic. Iannuario was earlier chef at longtime Italian restaurant Nicola’s Ristorante Italiano, which shut in 2019. Ravaglia labored for Lombardi Ideas and previously at Cipriani in New York.

JP is an entrepreneur and revolutionary serious estate professional, in accordance to Candy’s Grime, and who are we to question Candy. Born in Italy and lifted in Texas, JP claims he is normally on the lookout for great Italian food stuff.

“I employed to recurrent Da Mario’s pretty frequently,” he says. “I are living in Frisco, and was grateful to have a very good Italian location nearby that I beloved. I would generally discuss with Luigi and Riccardo, we developed a friendship.”

Following Da Mario closed, Iannuario did some chef consulting, whilst Ravaglia went to do the job for the Lombardi group. But a seed had been planted.

“I usually required to get into the hospitality enterprise, and we begun doing work on it collectively,” JP suggests.

Their primary approach was to reopen in the Da Mario place, and consequently the identify, “La Stella,” which translates to “the star.”

Sad to say for Frisco and luckily for downtown Dallas, the negotiations were being using as well prolonged, and the Flora Street place turned readily available.

“We are really enthusiastic about remaining in that site,” JP says. “We experience like we’re bringing one thing interesting downtown.”

Flora Road closed in January 2020, presciently prior to the onset of the pandemic chef Stephan Pyles claimed he was quitting the industry, and promised to doc his several encounters waiting around on celebrities as effectively as examine “the dozens of foodstuff critics he’d encountered” in his four-10 years career.

JP claims they have major ideas for the space like setting up a terrace for some starry rooftop experiences.

They have not designed a menu however but they know it will be genuine Italian, performed in a way that’s diverse from what else is all around town.

“It will be a minor more fashionable than your standard spaghetti & meatballs,” JP states. “We will not have any fettucine Alfredo or salad or pizzas. We’ll be doing nearby, regional, reliable dishes, precisely performed, and cooked fantastically.”