The new Sugar Sisters awning
Hello! I’m back, and I have some sweet news.
Sugar Sisters, the restaurant and bakery that used to operate in the space at 4811 E. Central now occupied by Bocconcini Italian Eatery, has reopened at 917 W. Douglas in Delano. The business closed last January after struggling with finances and service issues.
But owner Kelli Sykes said that’s all behind her. She opened the doors on Dec. 16 and has hired cheerful, energetic people to work with her, she said. She’s serving a more streamlined menu, the star of which is the giant bierocks (served with or without cabbage) that were a hit at the previous Sugar Sisters incarnation. You can check out the full menu, which also includes salads, quiches and several sweet treats, by clicking here.
Sugar Sisters hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. There’s seating inside for about 14.
For more information, call 316-519-3814 or visit the Sugar Sisters Facebook page.
I’m getting a lot of questions about Ciao Italian Kitchen, the new restaurant that opened a couple of weeks ago in the space at 1720 N. Webb Road left vacant by Press. (And Sabor before that. And Piztro’s before that.)
I spoke yesterday with owner Guillermo Perez-Munoz,who told me that the restaurant opened on Sept. 29. Ciao is still waiting on its liquor license but in the meantime is serving a menu filled with Italian comfort food dishes such as lasagna, chicken Marsala, gnocchi, pizza and more. You can see the full menu here. Warning: It’s huge.
Perez-Munoz has remodeled the interior a bit, he said, moving the bar and adding booths. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. You can reach the restaurant by calling 316-613-2426.
Can I be honest with you? With the opening of Bocconcini, Luca Italian Kitchen, Italian Bistro and now Ciao, I’m getting a little concerned about all the Italian food eating on my horizon, calorically speaking. It’s a tough job…
There’s all sorts of cooking school awesomeness going on in Wichita over the next couple of weeks.
One is over at Cooking at Bonnie’s Place, where on Tuesday, chef Nathan Toubia of Bocconcini Italian Eatery will demonstrate how to make some of his specialties, including pancetta-wrapped shrimp, polenta cakes with red garlic sauce and panna cotta. His class is at 6:30 p.m. and costs $45 a person. To make a reservation, visit Bonnie’s website.
Another is the Taste of Home Cooking School, which is in its second year at Hartman Arena. The show is from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, and will feature cooking demonstrations, shopping and prizes geared for home cooks. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance at Ashley Furniture Home Store, 10711 W. 21st N. or at Furniture on Consignment 4502 E. 13th St.
Bocconcini Italian Eatery, the popular neighborhood restaurant at 4811 E. Central owned by Nathan Toubia, is putting on its first wine dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.
It’s $65 a person and will feature a five-course meal, each course paired with a wine. Among the dishes: a cured salmon salad with shaved fennel and orange, and braised short ribs on a bed of fresh spaetzle.
Advance credit card payments are required by calling 316-613-2523. If you think you can handle it, you can drool over the full menu here.
This week, I’m reviewing Bocconcini Italian Eatery, a charming and popular new Italian restaurant at 4811 E. Central that offers a nice list of pasta dishes. (Though none of them are spaghetti and meatballs. In fact, red sauce is rare on Nathan Toubia’s menu.)
This week’s question: Which Wichita restaurant serves the very best pasta dish, and what is it?
Please describe your nominee in all its saucy detail in the comments section below.
Exactly two weeks after opening the doors of his much-anticipated restaurant — Bocconcini Italian Eatery — owner Nathan Toubia had to shut the doors for a couple of days.
The problem he’s having is TOO much success. The numbers for his first two weeks of operation were double what he expected, and he quickly learned that a few areas of his restaurant weren’t quite ready. He decided to close the restaurant yesterday and today to change out his point of service system (the computer system that sends orders to the kitchen), install a new dishwasher and put in a bigger ice machine.
Toubia’s liquor license also came through, so he’s using his two-day closing to get his wine and beer offerings organized and ready to go.
Closing for a couple of days was his only option, he said.
“I would rather take care of my customers to the fullest, and I felt like we weren’t up to par with the way we were were going,” he said.
Bocconcini (whose closing was somewhat inopportunely timed in that it was the VERY DAY Carrie Rengers decided to stop in for lunch) will reopen on Friday morning. Hours for now are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Toubia is toying with the idea of staying open till midnight on Fridays and Saturdays now that he has his liquor license, but he hasn’t decided for sure.
By the way: The most popular dish on Toubia’s menu so far has been the toasted ravioli, he said.
I’m getting the feeling that people are very excited for the opening of Nathan Toubia’s new restaurant, Bocconcini Italian Eatery, which he’s putting into the old Sugar Sisters space at 4811 E. Central. Every day I’m getting calls and e-mails about it. “The sign is up!” “The paper is off the windows!” “There are chairs inside!”
Toubia tells me that he plans to officially open the restaurant on Wednesday. Once he does, hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
In the meantime, check out the menu, which Nathan shared today. It looks good. I’m particularly excited about the toasted homemade ravioli and the pork saltimbocca, featuring thin sliced pork tenderloin topped with prosciutto di Parma in a Marsala sauce served with polenta and broccoli raab.
Mickey Afsharpour with Capellini De Angelo at Marchello's.
This week, I’ve written my dining story about the Italian food renaissance that’s underway in Wichita. After a long period of losing our lasagna purveyors, we’re making a comeback. Luca Italian Eatery opened two weeks ago, and by the end of the summer, we’ll have Italian Bistro and Bocconcini as well.
It got me thinking about the delicious Italian dishes served now in Wichita in places such as Luciano’s, Sweet Basil, DeFazio’s, Marchello’s and more.
Which local Italian dish is your favorite? Tell me the specific dish and which restaurant it comes from.
Also, throw my nomination in the hat for Marchello’s melty, amazing lasagna.
Make your nomination in the comments section below.
Local chef and Bocco Deli owner Nathan Toubia is hard at work on his new Italian restaurant, which he hopes to have open mid-July in the old Sugar Sisters space at 4811 E. Central.
In the meantime, he’s chosen a name: Bocconcini Italian Eatery. “Bocconcini” (bohk-kohn-CHEE-nee) means “small mouthfuls” in Italian (even though the word itself is a big mouthful.) It’s the same name Toubia gave to the catering business he opened in 2009.
Toubia, son of the late Latour founder Antoine Toubia, says the name will make even more sense when we see his menu, which he says I can take a look at next week. I’ll share what I learn.
