Samantha Marie Photography
Audio By Carbonatix
Tivona Concepts, the hospitality group behind the renowned restaurant Sanjh, is opening a new Italian American restaurant, Urban Italia, in Victory Park this week.
The new destination for “Italia-Merica food,” as the group puts it, will open at 3030 Nowitzki Way this Friday, Jan. 9, across from HERO by HG.
Leading the kitchen is Chef Carla Pellegrino, who aims to serve nostalgic dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmesan and steak pizzaiola made with quality ingredients and the same care from the immigrants who created them.
The restaurant’s motto is Old-World technique blended with New-World flair, celebrating how Italian cuisine has evolved in America. Think nostalgic, but refined.
We don’t have eyes on a final menu yet, but per a release, these are some highlights.
Samantha Marie Photography
The Menu
First is a jumbo lump crab meat cocktail, where chunks of crab are stacked onto shaved ice and served with classic accompaniments.
Samantha Marie Photography
A wood-fired oven in-house will be slinging all kinds of hand-tossed, Neapolitan-style pizzas like the classic margherita and pizza bianca, a white pizza made with mozzarella, San Daniele prosciutto, arugula, Grana Padano and white truffle oil.
Fettuccine al ragù bolognese, shrimp fra diavolo and cappelletti carciofi and prosciutto are the featured Italian mainstays from the pasta section, and main entrees will include a chicken Milanese, Chilean sea bass mediterranea, salmon harissa with Moroccan-spiced tomato sauce and an American Wagyu sirloin au poivre.
An Award-Winning Barkeep
If you’re already familiar with Sanjh, you know the restaurant’s globally acclaimed bartender, Yangdup Lama. He co-owns Sidecar, a bar in New Delhi, India, which has been recognized as one of the 50 Best Bars in Asia by Travel + Leisure for multiple years in a row. He’s running the beverage program for Urban Italia.
His signature cocktails for the restaurant are the Milano Bianco made with gin, dry vermouth, bitter bianco, grapefruit and Campari air; the Amalfi Highball made with vodka, Italicus, limoncello, cranberry and lime that is milk-clarified and carbonated; and the Sicilia espresso martini, which plays with mezcal, fig-infused Marsala, hazelnut and espresso.
All of the menu can be enjoyed across Urban Italia’s 5,500 square foot space that can seat 250 people in an elegant dining room, indoor/outdoor bar and spacious patio. It’ll be relaxed, refined and inspired by coastal Italy.
