The paint is barely dry, but Preston Center’s newest restaurant is already peacocking

Scilla, the newest concept from Duro Hospitality, debuted last Friday, July 17. Named for an ancient myth in which a peaceful seaside village is trapped between two massive monsters, the restaurant focuses on coastal Italian cuisine with a nod to the mythical push and pull between good and evil (more on that later). Decor by Corbin and Ross See of Sees Design provides a lavish backdrop as we’d expect from the group behind The Charles, El Carlos Elegante, and Sister–but this time, with an Italian accent. 

In our interview recently, Duro founding partner Chas Martin shared that Scilla would also aim to fill a gap his team perceives in Preston Hollow. “This neighborhood has a bunch of great restaurants,” said Martin. “There’s not a lot of super-posh joints, though.”

With just a week under its belt, we went in for dinner to put faces with names — or rather, sights and flavors with ideas and concepts.

Setting the scene

Sidestepping a Rolls parked conspicuously by the front door, we entered Scilla to find a packed house at 6:30 p.m. on a weeknight. Indeed, it has already captured the attention of a certain local clique whose attention is easily captured by anything new and shiny. With Billy Ocean (naturally) playing in the background, the large center bar buzzed with happy hour drinkers. Each of the two dining rooms was filled with couples dressed to impress. We also spotted some folks who seemed to be friends or family of the owners or staff, as well as corporate types who maybe work in a neighboring office. Or right upstairs.

Yep, Scilla sits on the ground floor of an office building near Preston Center. But, while the location may be mundane, the interior is anything but … for the most part. As promised, the space has plush banquettes, upholstered club chairs, and paper- and molding-accented walls. The overall impression is warm, in varying shades of a Mediterranean sunset. Stunning light fixtures had us gazing upward for so long we got neckaches, and crisp white blinds covering the dining room windows just managed to camouflage a view of the parking lot. 

The illusion cracks, however, with a glance to the patio side of the property. Still under construction and visible to half the restaurant, it’s just a bunch of ladders and boxes and other construction junk. It will be finished “soon.” Also worth noting, some two-tops, including ours, are quite small. Things got crowded as the glasses and plates started to arrive.

(Mostly) Good catches

Scilla’s sommelier was a standout. “Everything liquid on the floor is my department,” he said by way of an introduction. We went with an unusual offering, Terrazzo dell’Etna Ciuri Bianco, a medium-bodied white wine made from red grapes on Mount Etna in Sicily.

The seafood-heavy menu is divided into sections: cicchetti (like Italian tapas), cold and raw, pastas, al forno, and wood grill. Rather than dictating the ordering of courses, though, our server was quick to point out that there is “no right or wrong way to do it.” 

We started with hamachi and toro crudo, in which two plates perfectly summed up the whole good-versus-evil situation. The former coaxed sweetness from translucent-fleshed fish via gentle Meyer lemon and finger lime. That tuna, though, lit up our palates with a surprisingly spicy, punched-up topper of tomato tartare with yuzu vinaigrette. We’d order them as a pair again. Lobster arancini, however, disappointed. The delicate flavor of the lobster was lost within each overly salty, fried rice ball.

Next up, pastas fared well, starting with sweet corn cappelletti. Perfectly-cooked little “caps,” each topped with a dollop of Ossetra, successfully married two disparate elements: earthy corn and luxurious caviar. Each bite served summer-by-the-sea. We also sampled pasta alle vongole, which was chock full of some of the sweetest little clam babies we’ve had in a long time. But thick, unruly strands of pasta in this dish nearly overpowered the clams’ delicacy. Perhaps a thinner cut instead?

Happy Endings

Finally, dessert was delightful. We love an “Is It Cake?” moment, and the Sicilian Lemon delivered. Arriving atop a mound of Italian Ice, the lemon lookalike was actually made from white chocolate, which revealed an interior of mousse and cake with a few taps from a spoon.

As we tapped that lemon, the sun set beyond the white blinds. The room seemed to get a little cozier, a little less showy. Maybe it was the Mount Etna wine, but what was irksome at the start – tiny table, peacocking crowd – faded along with the light of day. Yes, Scilla feels like a nighttime place. That may change when the patio is completed (soon).

Scillia 8111 Douglas Ave., 4:30 – 10 p.m. Monday – Sunday