Top Chef alum Jackson Kalb is bringing his California-born Italian concept Ospi to the Dallas Design District, with service set to begin tomorrow. The casual, all-day spot moves into the former Meddlesome Moth space and is built for welcome-anytime meals, from recovery brunch to celebratory dinners. On the table: thin-crust pizzas, house-made pastas, sandwiches and a bar-centric dining room geared toward shareable plates and straightforward cocktails.
What to eat and drink at Ospi
Lunch revolves around sandwiches, including a chicken pesto ($19), chicken parm ($19) and a tuna-avocado salad sandwich ($18). Pizzas land in the roughly $20 to $25 range, and the spicy rigatoni goes for $23 at lunch and $27 at dinner. An entire focaccia section sets up the meal with starters such as garlic confit ($12), whipped ricotta ($16) and burrata-and-prosciutto ($27). Kalb even transported his bread starter from California in checked luggage to cultivate the dough, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Kalb cut his teeth in high-end kitchens, including a stint at Mélisse when the restaurant held two Michelin stars, and has since built a small group of Ospi and related concepts across California. Pebble Beach Food & Wine highlights those Michelin-level posts and points to Ospi as one of his signature projects now making a move beyond the West Coast.
Space and scene
The Dallas outpost keeps things low-key. Kalb and his team pulled the bar into the center of the dining room and reshaped it into a horseshoe so guests can see one another, a design choice he summed up simply: “The whole restaurant was built around this bar,” as quoted in The Dallas Morning News. The vibe is intended to be approachable rather than flashy, sliding Ospi into the Design District’s growing list of headline openings without trying to out-glitz its neighbors.
Ospi sits at 1621 Oak Lawn Ave. and lists its hours and online ordering through Toast, which shows the restaurant opening tomorrow at 11 a.m. Local coverage in the Dallas Observer has already tagged the spot as one of the season’s more anticipated Design District debuts, and Kalb’s name recognition is likely to draw curious crowds in the opening weeks.
