We had the good fortune of connecting with Aaron Gross and Wende Stevenson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aaron & Wende, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Wende and I were in the process of opening our own restaurant at the time and were having a hard time dealing with landlords. MoMo Italian Kitchen was one of our favorite restaurants, and we new the owner Carlo was about to open Botolino Gelato. One day he told us that once the Gelato shop opened, he would have to dedicate his time there and therefore close MoMo. We felt MoMo was a Dallas institution (the first Dallas Italian restaurant to focus on Northern Italian Cuisine, food from the Northern regions of Italy, such as Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna Region and Lombardy to name a few) and we did not what to see it close. So we worked with the family and we took over MoMo in June of 2017. When we took over we made few changes as to not upset the long time regulars. One of the first things we did was add a wine list (when the restaurant opened in 1986 it was in a dry area and remained BYOB), and we have built up that wine list quite nicely over the years and have some of the great independently owned wineries from Italy represented as the majority of our list. We added a liquor license last year and have a nice list of Italian inspired house cocktails, and for me I’m a beer nerd as well and love Saisons so we have a nice collection of those and even do Saison Sundays to try to introduce others to Saisons.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story
MoMo is a 37 year old restaurant, but we don’t sit back on our laurels, we still strive to be better, in service, in our food and with a high quality wine list, and it shows, we won D Magazine’s Best Italian Reader’s Choice.

I think one of the things that set us apart is our food, Chef Asher does an amazing job for us. He knows there is a lot of history there and he keeps that going. He does not try to reinvent the wheel, but when he puts out a special or a menu for a wine dinner he does a ton of research and finds incredible historical dishes that very few people in Italy still make let alone the US and then he puts his take on these items and of guests rave about them. For our Brunello Wine dinner he found a red onion soup from the 4th or 5th century that Leonardo DaVinci had even written about and he recreated that for the dinner. Well we had one of guests at that dinner that spends a ton of time in France and she told me when she saw the menu she thought what is this red onion soup it can’t compare to my beloved French Onion soup, well after the dinner she said forget about French Onion Soup, this Tuscan Red Onion soup has replaced it!

Another thing that sets our business apart is our location, we are not in the heart of Dallas or one of the “hot” dining districts we are in North East Dallas, Lake Highlands, it’s closer than you think, give us a visit, you will be glad you did.
One lesson we’ve learned is don’t give up, we took a restaurant that was about to close and increased the business, then we were hit with the pandemic and if it were not for the PPP funds we would have closed, then we struggled to bounce back and the Lake Highlands Community came out and supported us and got us back on our feet, and even as I write this the past 3 months have been dreadfully slow, but once again it is our Lake Highlands community that is coming out to support and we are starting to find a bit like normal again.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is funny question, most of our friends know where they want to eat when they come to town, but… Let’s say our friends arrive in the morning, well the first meal we are going to take the to will be lunch and it has to be Taquero on Greenville Fino does an amazing job there and when we take our friends they rave, after lunch we hit either Vector Brewing or Celestial and grab a beer and relax, for dinner usually night one they want to go to MoMo, but if it was not MoMo we take them to Cafe Mardrid for some nice Spanish Tapas, after drinks would be Jettison.

Day 2 wake up and get in line at Cattleack BBQ, then probably a nice walk at White Rock Lake in preparation for dinner, which would probably be at Sakhuu Thai on Bryan Nung takes great care of his guests there and the food is delicious.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We like to give credit to several people and groups, first Wende and I have spent many years in the Dallas dining landscape and have learned and taken valueable lessons from everywhere we’ve worked. Wende actually got her start at MoMo in 1988 and other Dallas Notable restaurants as: Zizikis, George, Lola the Restaurant, Shensei and Mot Hai Ba, while Aaron cut his teeth at Savory in Lakewood, Taste/State and Allen, Central 214, York Street, and Mot Hai Ba, and he even spent some time in management school working for Brinker International.

Some of our mentors are some of our peers as well as some of the people we have worked under.

For Wende working at Zizikis and Taraza she credits Angela Dennison and Fana Yohannes as two of her mentors teaching her aspects of dining and service, and to this day not only are they her mentors that she calls when she needs advice, they are two of her closest friends.

For Aaron working at York Street under Sharon Hage and Fana Yohannes, is where I really learned about dining and hospitality, as well as building a balanced wine list and more. Sharon always said we are never going to earn 5 stars here because we just do have the amenities that are expected in those places, but we always strived in the front and back of the house to give the guest a 5 star experience, and that is what Wende and I do at MoMo. Even though MoMo is a casual atmosphere we push ourselves and our staff to deliver a higher standard of service.

Some of our peers that we admire in the business are Megan and Dino Santicola of Partenope, Keith Schlabbs of the Meddlesome Moth and more, Donica Jimenez and her husband Abo of Cafe Madrid.

Last but not least we would not be where we are today if it we not for the support of the Lake Highlands Community, the community does an amazing job supporting us and we truly appreciate it

Website: MoMoItalianKitchen.com

Instagram: @momoitaliankitchen

Twitter: @MomoItalian

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoMoItalianKitchen

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/momo-italian-kitchen-dallas

Image Credits
Emily Loving

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.