Every neighborhood needs a dependable Italian restaurant and a decent BYOB spot. It’s grand when you spot a new Italian joint with a BYOB policy within minutes of your house. I’ve eaten at Dal Testardotwice. The restaurant is near the corner of Arapaho and Hillcrest in North Dallas. Dal Testardo is truly a mom-and-pop operation. The principals are Tammie Coffee and chef Vince Pasuvio. Coffee is from Amarillo.

Several years ago, she took a year off from her job in corporate finance to travel the world. She spent about a month in Rome. She met chef Vince Pasuvio who was working at a restaurant near the Vatican. The two of them hit it off. Long story short, when Coffee returned to the States and moved in with her sister in Frisco, Pasuvio followed.