Ital Whiz Chef Julian Barsotti, of Nonna, To Open Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine on Edge of Highland Park

<strong>Julian Barsotti, the immensely talented chef behind the  acclaimed Italian restaurant  Nonna, will open Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine early next year at the northeast corner of Wycliff and Oak Lawn Avenue, in Dallas.

“This is something I’ve been working on and visualizing even before Nonna,” Barsotti told me recently. “At first, I tried to go in next door to Nonna (on Lomo Alto, north of Lemmon Avenue in Dallas), then Tristan (Simon, of Consilient Restaurants) and I looked at doing something, but eventually the project evolved into my own place.”

Barsotti says the name is an homage to his Italian-American roots. The 3,300 square foot space will inhabit half of the  now-closed Talbot’s store.

“Carbone is my mom’s familial name. My grandfather and his father had a restaurant and grocery store at 40th and Broadway, in New York, for 19 years. Now, I want to bring back that old school deli/grocery store/restaurant and modernize it for Dallas.”

Barsotti describes Carbone’s as a re-imagined Italian-American grocery store, which will include meats, produce, wines, dry goods, and a deli and lunch counter. A central area will double as a restaurant on Sunday nights, when Barsotti will offer table service for “Sunday Supper”–a $45 set menu that will include family-style portions of antipasti, two pastas, a secondi main course and dessert.

Barsotti took some of his inspiration for Carbone’s from Torrisi Italian Specialties in NYC, where two highly regarded chefs sell sandwiches at lunch then serve an ever-changing set menu for dinner.

“Everything in the store will be sourced from the best artisans in America–or we’ll make it ourselves,” said Barsotti. “You don’t have to go to Italy to get great ingredients anymore. We’ll make porchetta sandwiches with heritage pork from Iowa, our dried and cured meats will come form Berkeley or New York, and our olive oils will come from Texas.

“We’ll roast and grill meats on a charcoal grill with a rotisserie and serve thick deli sandwiches wrapped in brown butcher paper and tied with twine–the old fashioned way. There will be Hero’s, meatballs, porchetta, take-home pastas, sauces, llasagna, sausages–everything you need to eat well at home.”

Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine will open in early 2012. Barsotti has no plans to change Nonna, where he will continue to serve as executive chef.