Good Companions, the last installment in the Exxir development that is already changing its corner of Bishop Arts opens Friday. This time, it’s with a cottage-style house and natural wine bar.
The restored, hundred-year-old Craftsman-style house, which shares a courtyard with Paradiso and Botanist, will serve coffees as well as pastries from pastry chef Ann Parravano.
The name Good Companions was inspired by the Nazerians’ grandparents’ “meet-cute” in the English countryside. As Natasha Nazerian tells it in a write-up:
“In 1952 our grandmother, Thelma, joined the Good Companions cycling club in the English countryside where she met our grandfather Dennis. Their love story lasted for 60 years. We’ve always been touched by this sweet tale, so when we found this little house that so resembled an English cottage, we were inspired to bring their love story back to life. We wanted it to be the kind of place where stories begin over a cup of coffee, where good companions are made over a glass of wine, and where adventures like theirs could unfold.”
When I spoke with the team in May, it sounded like they’d serve pastries made daily across the courtyard in Paradiso’s vast kitchen. From the looks of it, they’ll have pretty little tea cakes with powdered sugar and lemon zest; the Italian cream-filled doughnuts called bombolone; glazed cinnamon rolls, and others.
When they described the sandwiches, I imagined a ficelle sandwich—that’s a skinny baguette spread with jambon de Paris and butter or prosciutto and burrata. Instead, they’ve got focaccia with stracciatella and mortadella. I’ll take it. The décor, of course, is a cozy mix of rattan chairs and floral-patterned upholstery.
The spot, which will serve natural wine (organic, unfiltered and often biodynamic) will be open 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily.
“Keep a small, human-scale. Build in timeless materials. Be outside,” those were the precepts guiding Michael Nazerian’s ideal vision.
“That house has been a historic house on that lot. It’s more cozy, inspired by my grandparents,” Natasha said. “They were in a cycling club. Cycling is a big part of Oak Cliff. That was a way to tie it into the space.”
The idea was to bring Bishop Arts inside, to be present, in the moment. And while Tejas, the taco and burger joint down the block is Michael’s pet project, Good Companions bears more of his sister’s stamp. The trifeca could not be more Bishop Arts: coffee, Euro pastries, natural wine. That, too, feels like a meet-cute.
