After years in the planning and construction stages, Vicini Pastaria (1916 Park) opens today in Lafayette Square, just in time for Small Business Saturday.
The grand opening features prizes, samples, raffles, giveaways, gift card promos, and “revelry,” according to an email. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. today, with the café serving lunch from 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
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Dawn Wilson, who also operates cooking school and personal chef service A New Dawn, owns the fresh pasta shop, café, and market. Vicini casts a wide culinary net, providing dine-in and takeout service, an event space, off-site catering, as well as hosting cooking classes. The shop is also a source for gourmet foods, kitchenware, and even European-inspired antiques. The beauty of the small storefront: It appeals to myriad niche markets, just like the “tavola calda” and markets that Wilson fell in love with while living in Tuscany.
The Pasta
The heart and soul of Vicini is Wilson’s artisanal house-made fresh pasta, which is rolled, stretched, and extruded in the front window. One of her favorites is pici, a hand-rolled pasta that might be best described as “fat spaghetti” (pictured at right).
“The textural differences—how the uneven hand-rolling gives this pasta its thick and thin shapes—is what sets it apart,” Wilson previously told SLM. “The mouthfeel changes bite to bite, tender and firm in the same strand.”
It holds up to her hearty sauces, which will change with the season, including a rosemary orange pork ragu and brisket-and-mushroom ragu with red wine, each braised for 18 hours.
Vicini’s scratch-made fresh pasta is sold both raw and frozen to cook at home, along with cooking instructions and tips for each. Options include extruded pastas (casarecce, campanelle, reginette, spaghetti, etc.), cut pastas (tagliatelle, garganelli, farfalle, etc.), and stuffed pastas (ravioli, tortellini, agnolotti, culurgiones, etc.). “You don’t see culurgiones very often,” Wilson previously told SLM. “They’re more of a dumpling, pulled closed with a braid pattern that resembles the top of a wheat stalk.”
A wholesale/retail line of fresh handmade pastas and sauces will continue to be offered at farmers’ markets and local specialty food shops as well.
The Café and Specialty Market
Dine-in/carryout counter lunch service features a seasonal rotating menu of weekly specials, including fresh pasta dishes, panini on house-made schiacciata bread (Tuscan-style focaccia), piadine (Italian flatbread) sandwiches, and antipasti. Prepared grab-n-go items are also perfect for a quick lunch or family dinner. And customers can build their own plates at the deli counter with local and Italian artisan salumi and cheeses.
The shop includes specialty food items and a selection of European-inspired antiques, furnishings, home décor, and kitchenware, courtesy of Reminisce Décor, owned by Wilson’s mother, who decorated the space.
Private Events and Cooking Classes
At Vicini, Wilson is able to host private events, dinner parties, special celebrations, and intimate dinners for two.
The chef also teaches hands-on and demonstration cooking classes, which can incorporate different cuisine types, themes, and topics. In-home dinner parties and cooking classes can be arranged through A New Dawn, Wilson’s sister business.
Beginning in January, she will begin teaching open cooking classes and begin scheduling Cena con Amici (family-style pop-up dinners with friends).
The Background
A former research scientist specializing in molecular genetics, Wilson spent a decade as a personal chef and cooking instructor in Chicago, first working at Whole Foods before launching her own company, A New Dawn. She moved to Tuscany in 2011 and learned the nuances of Italian cuisine, especially handmade pasta, which became the genesis of Vicini Pasta. She launched the business—selling artisanal handmade pasta, sauces, select Italian specialties, and gluten-free desserts—in Chicago in 2016, with the products available at select retailers and farmers’ markets.
Two years later, she returned to her hometown of St. Louis to continue and expand the Vicini brand, which has sold products online and at boutique retailers and farmers’ markets for several years. Her desire to connect with customers was the impetus to host pop-up events and eventually open a brick-and-mortar space in Lafayette Square, a neighborhood chosen because of its history, beauty, and proximity to Lafayette Park—the perfect locale for a grab-and-go lunch, she says. At Vicini (the Italian word for “neighbors”), Wilson works with her mother, Beth, and significant other, Chaat.
“We are truly a family-run business and ‘neighbors’ in every sense of the word,” she says.
Additional Offerings and Hours
Once a liquor license is obtained, Vicini will offer Italian wines, craft beers, and Italian craft cocktails (by the glass or bottled to take home), along with a weekly aperitivo (“happy hour”), in which a classic antipasti spread will also be available.
Beginning December 2, Vicini will be open the following days, with hours expanded in the coming months:
- Friday and Monday: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. (no lunch service)
- Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.–5 p.m. (café lunch served 11 a.m. to 2 .pm. only)
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: closed except for pickup/delivery of cold pastaria/market groceries; order online here
- Closed December 24, 25, and January 1
