Carbone’s Fine Food & Wine to open Monday, April 16


chef jonathon neitzel, barsotti's sous at nonna, will run the shop at Carbone's

a photo of the original Carbone's

photos on this wall feature Barsotti's family, plus a painting homage to the movie Goodfellow's (or did Barsotti's grandmother paint it?

Julian Barsotti, the immensely talented chef-owner of Nonna and Carbone's (and he's a great guy, too)

Get your debit card out: Julian Barsotti, the immensely talented chef and owner of Italian restaurant Nonna, says he’ll open his newest venture, Carbone’s Fine Food & Wine, (on Monday, April 16.

Carbone’s occupies a choice corner spot at Wycliff and Oaklawn Avenues, on the edge of Highland Park.

Specialty goods from American and Italian producers and house made sandwiches, roasted meats and veggies, and hand-made pastas will be the main features of this lunch-and-dinner spot. I was wowed by Barsotti’s terrific pastas, especially the trompetti– little extruded semolina pasta trumpets with enough grooves and ridges and crannies to catch every bit of his excellent Bolognese sauce. (Carbone’s will sell about a dozen shapes of pastas, plus take-home portions of sauces to slather on at home.)

Nonna’s long-time sous chef, Jonathon Neitzel, will run the kitchen at Carbone’s. Scott Lewis will be the sous.

Barsotti says Sunday Suppers (see below) will begin April 21.

Back in August, Barsotti broke the news of Carbone’s to the Hatch this way:

“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 & Wine, 4208 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas, 214-522-4208