Dallas’ beloved restaurant Gemma, as you know it, has retired.
The restaurant in its place on Henderson Avenue is still called Gemma, and it’s still owned by husband-wife team Stephen Rogers and Allison Yoder. But the 10-year old space was given a “drastic” facelift, as Yoder explains it, and Gemma has been almost completely reimagined to be more of a bistro, with daily specials and more comfort food.
Not to worry, Gemma’s rabbit pappardelle, a best-seller, will remain on the menu.
Gemma was the first restaurant Yoder and Rogers owned themselves after working in the industry for decades. They’re classical musicians — she, an opera singer, he, a pianist — who worked in restaurants in New York City in their 20s to make money in between gigs. As they grew up, their careers did, too, and they found themselves as “accidental” restaurateurs in California wine country. Yoder had a knack for managing a restaurant and an excellent nose for wine, and Rogers went from line cook to skilled executive chef without formal training.
Lucky for Dallas, the two moved from California to Texas to raise their twin boys, first opening Gemma in East Dallas, then Mediterranean restaurant Sachet in Highland Park.
The name Gemma refers to something precious, a little gem. The original restaurant was just that: a special, warm place with plenty of regulars. But, refreshingly, Yoder and Rogers don’t look back on Gemma as too treasured. In a Dallas Morning News interview inside the closed restaurant during a two-week renovation, Yoder and Rogers said they considered making wild changes to the shop.
What about an Argentinian steakhouse, they asked one another. Or a rotisserie chicken fast-casual place? Their East Dallas neighborhood had changed fiercely in a decade: Sushi Axiom and Henderson Tap House closed. Veritas Wine Bar almost shuttered, but didn’t. Sfuzzi opened in place of Capitol Pub and a Barbie-themed bar popped up a few blocks away. Real estate prices in nearby Lakewood boomed, while Henderson Avenue businesses matured.
Ten years in the restaurant industry might as well be half a lifetime. But Gemma’s soul was still in the restaurant.
“It always came back to Gemma,” Yoder says.
Gemma 2.0 is a reaction to what Yoder and Rogers learned during COVID. Diners want “more comfort,” she says, both from the items on the menu and from the feel of the restaurant. And they “shouldn’t need a dictionary to read the menu,” he adds.
Diners don’t want special-occasion food, they want a neighborhood dinner spot, they learned.
What’s new at Gemma
Gemma’s plumber, who they call Plumber Dave, played a small and unknowing role in the restaurant’s menu reinvention. Before the facelift, Plumber Dave said he was looking for a restaurant to take his wife to for their 40th anniversary. “Do you have a burger?” he asked the owners. They didn’t.
They will now: It’s a double-double with pickles, onions and special sauce. It’s their first burger ever.
Other new starters include Texas Wagyu carpaccio and salmon tartare, each with a story for regulars who want to ask.
Yoder loves pasta, and items like lobster tagliatelle and rigatoni alla vodka with ricotta are two on the menu permanently alongside the tried-and-true rabbit pappardelle.
The owners both love steak frites, so they decided to make an entire frites section on the menu, with moules (mussels), poulet (chicken), steak and duck served alongside crispy, salty fries.
Today’s Gemma leans more into its French and Italian roots, whereas the original Gemma felt more California influenced. It’s darker and cozier, with olive green, cream and mustard colors throughout.
Gemma has the same footprint, but “everything else feels different,” Yoder says.
Go see.
Gemma is at 2323 N. Henderson Ave., Dallas. Open for dinner only. It was closed Sept. 10-21, 2023 for a renovation and reopened with a new menu and dining room on Sept. 22, 2023.
