After years of planning, a new concept from celebrity chef Tiffany Derry is now open in Farmers Branch.
Radici is the third restaurant from Derry and her business partner Tom Foley and their first Italian concept. It opened May 1, 2024 next to their James Beard-recognized restaurant Roots Southern Table.
Derry’s professional culinary journey began in the kitchens of Italian restaurants, so Radici is a full-circle return to the cuisine, she said.
“It kind of felt like a coming home,” Derry said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
The restaurant is centered, both literally and figuratively, around a wood-fire grill used for most things on the menu that require heat, from the bistecca alla Fiorentina-style ribeye to the focaccia. All pastas on the seasonally rotating menu are made fresh, and Derry expects one of them, the lasagna blanca, to be a standing fixture regardless of the season.
The Modenese lasagna — made with a vibrant spinach dough and a white bolognese — is a standout dish for Derry, and she thinks it will be for diners, too. It’s one of a handful of dishes on her menu that draw from the canon of northern Italian cooking she was inspired by during her travels, she said, but Radici doesn’t commit to just one Italian region. Roman influence shows in the amatriciana and suppli, while seafood preparations like the fritto misto were based on Derry’s time in southern Italy.
When she and Foley began plans for Radici several years ago, Italian restaurants hadn’t hit the critical mass they’ve now reached in North Texas, Derry said, but she still believes there is enough room for all of them, including Radici.
“We’re about using the best [ingredient] that you can, doing very little to it, and truly enjoying it,” she said. “And we’re about honest cooking. The kitchen is the dining room. It’s just all very open. We’re not hiding anything, and you’re part of that experience in the kitchen.”
Radici opened May 1, 2024 at 12990 Bee St., Farmers Branch. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. radiciwoodfiredgrill.com.
