Construction started recently on David Uygur’s new restaurant in the Bishop Arts District. Uygur was the chef at Lola for eight years, and the new restaurant, Lucia, is the first venture for him and his wife, Jennifer.
“He’s always wanted to have his own restaurant,” says Jennifer Uygur, who manages the wine department at Central Market. “It’s going to be somewhere we’d want to eat.”
The Uygurs travel frequently to Italy, and Lucia will specialize in Italian comfort food — handmade gnocchi, pasta and bread. David Uygur taught himself how to cure salumi, so charcuterie will be a focus of the menu. It will have a “small but interesting” wine list.
It’s “unfussy Italian food driven by someone who loves food,” Jennifer Uygur says.
Lucia will have about 40 seats, so it’s “not a place to see and be seen,” she says. “We want it to feel like you are coming coming to our house for dinner.”
The Uygurs haven’t set a firm date for their opening yet, but Lucia is expected to open sometime this fall.
