Editor’s note: This article has been edited to reflect the correct date for the Vicini pop-up.
With the forthcoming Vicini (1916 Park Avenue)—a boutique grocery store, pasta shop, and home goods store in Lafayette Square—Dawn Wilson is on the cusp of realizing a dream more than a decade in the making.
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Ten years ago, the St. Louis native moved to a small town in Tuscany to learn about the slow food movement, handmade pasta, and authentic Italian cuisine. The experience sparked her dream to open a pastaria and market of her own, modeled after the corner stores that she fell in love with while living abroad. “Once I came back from there, I was kind of obsessed,” Wilson says. “That’s where the dream of this brick and mortar began.”
Already, she had a significant knowledge of the subject, having been a chef and culinary instructor in Chicago. A former research scientist specializing in molecular genetics, Wilson began staging in restaurants about 15 years ago and eventually left the lab to become a chef and culinary director for the cooking school at a nearby Whole Foods Market. When the grocery store decided to stop offering classes, Wilson took over the school as her own business, A New Dawn, and added private events and personal chef services.
Then, in 2016, she moved back to St. Louis, where she continued to work as a personal chef and founded Vicini pasta company. She’s been selling pasta to boutique grocery stores, at farmers’ markets, and online for local delivery. Her desire to connect with customers drove her to finally open a brick and mortar. “I really love interacting with customers,” Wilson says. “I’m really excited to get the café open and start seeing everyone’s smiling faces.”
Wilson envisions Vicini as a pastaria, café, and Italian and imported food market, as well as a space to purchase European-inspired home décor, kitchenware, and antiques. Her specialty is artisan handmade pasta, sold raw to be cooked at home. Vicini will also have a prepared foods and small deli counter, serving Tuscan meatballs, panzanella salad, piadina, antipasta, paninis, and more.
Wilson says Vicini will be open daily for dine-in counter service at lunch as well as occasional family-style, pop-up events at dinner. She’ll also be offering cooking classes and plans to apply for a liquor license.
In Wilson’s opinion, there’s no better place for her to set up shop than Lafayette Square. After moving back to St. Louis and searching the area for a location to open Vicini, she fell in love with the neighborhood’s historic charm and tight-knit community. “I love the neighborhood and all the businesses and think this will be a perfect complement to all of those,” Wilson says. “Plus, having the park there is fantastic, because a lot our items will be good for a picnic.”
Though Vicini is slated to open later this year, Wilson plans to host a preview pop-up shop during the Lafayette Square House Tour this Saturday, May 29, from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. During the event, she will be offer a peek of what’s to come by selling handmade pastas, sauces, Tuscan meatballs, gluten-free desserts, and home goods.
“It will just give people a little idea of what we are about,” says Wilson, “and be a good introduction to the neighborhood.”
