Ari’s Pantry. Photo by Emma Ruby.
Tucked into a cozy Davis Street shop across from the Kessler, the shelves at Ari’s Pantry are filled with every type of pasta, olive oil and cheese a home chef could want.
Started by Winnetka Heights neighbor Ari Lowenstein, the store is an homage to all things Italy, which he came to know well in his 10 years living on the peninsula. Lowenstein stuffs complimentary herbs into customer’s bags at checkout, and jars his own signature pasta sauce. (It’s wildly popular; he has sold 400 jars in seven weeks.) Pricing on charcuterie board-worthy cured meats and cheeses inspires an exceedingly rare positive sticker shock.
“We are pricing this as everyday food,” Lowenstein told the Advocate. “In Italy this is not ‘gourmet Italian food,’ it’s just food.”
Lowenstein, who moved to Winnetka Heights from Kiestwood last summer, says the shop is like a hyper-local Jimmy’s Food Store. The quality of ingredients, some of which Lowenstein sources straight from Italy, are on par with what a Jimmy’s or Eataly shopper would expect. But with a small but mighty staff of locals, the shopping experience is a personal one.
“For me, this is all about community. It’s about engaging, it’s about fun and it’s about good food,” he said.
He doesn’t just want to help people shop for Italian food. He wants to help them make it.
Lowenstein plans to develop recipe cards that shoppers who may not know what they want for dinner can browse. The ingredients for the recipe will be sold in the store, and he is happy to share his tips and tricks for the dish that he has learned in his own cooking.
And he’s had plenty of chances to pick up a trick or two. By his own account, Lowenstein has cooked alongside a 1-star Michelin chef, fed the Prime Minister of Italy, hosted dinner parties in Dublin and introduced fajitas to Romans.
Most recently, he led a pasta making class at the Turner House.
The class had a full attendance of 48 people, who drank wine and sampled five courses while Lowenstein guided them through making five pasta shapes. The class was exclusively available for members of the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts, but he plans to open up future classes to the whole neighborhood.
Photo by Emma Ruby.
“I could not believe the number of people who renewed their memberships or got a new membership for the class,” said Travis-Lee Moore, a director on the society’s board. “It sold out in days. We plan to do many more.”
Angela Johnson, a Kiestwood resident, signed up for a OCSFA membership for the class after visiting Ari’s Pantry.
“I thought the shop was so cute, and I love supporting small businesses,” she said.
Now, settling in to Oak Cliff, Lowenstein is “trying to replicate” his own pantry and encourage the neighborhood to adventure through food.
“If people are buying risotto we give them some free shallots, because you need shallots to make risotto,” Lowenstein said. “People are coming in and discovering ingredients that they’ve never heard of.”
Ari’s Pantry is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week.
Lowenstein plans to add wine to the shop’s offerings as permitting allows, and hopes to eventually offer cake-by-the-slice and other small bites that customers can dine on in store.
