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Food News Bites: Artista to Open in February
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Source: Memphis Flyer
John-Paul Gagliano has mastered the art of opening up hip, modern restaurants. He opened Tonica downtown in October, 2025. Now, he’s about to open another one. Gagliano, 34, owner of Libro at Laurelood, Ecco, and two locations of Tonica, is slated to open Artista in the new Memphis Art Museum on Front Street and Union Avenue. Artista, which will be operated independently from the museum, will have its own entrance. There also will be a designated parking garage for the restaurant. The restaurant originally was going to open in January, but Gagliano says, ‘We’ve now pushed to mid February. They’re still doing some buildouts.” He originally was going to name the new restaurant “Libro,” but “libro” in Italian stands for “books.” “Artista” is Italian for “artist,’’ which was “more appropriate for the title, being in an art museum.” The restaurant, which will seat 99 people, has 20-foot ceilings with sound barriers. “We have private dining towards the back.
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Read the original at Memphis Flyer
