Former Birney’s Snack Shop space in Wichita will soon be home to a fresh pasta market
The tiny space at Cleveland Corner recently vacated by Birney’s Snack Shop will soon be home to a new business: a fresh pasta shop whose owner hopes to grow it into a full-fledged Italian market.
Kristina Grappo, who for the past year has been making and selling fresh pasta through her business, Viola’s Pantry, said she’s decided to lease the former Birney’s space from its owner, Janelle King. It’s on the northwest corner of the Cleveland Corner building at 156 N. Cleveland where King also operates her popular gift shop The Workroom.
King closed Birney’s earlier this month, citing weather extremes and staffing shortages. She first opened it in December 2019 and sold breakfast tacos, toast, coffee and more.
Grappo, who has been preparing her fresh pasta in the Reverie Coffee Roasters kitchen and selling it at the Old Town Farm & Art Market, said she hopes to open in the space in early November.
At first, she’ll be open Thursdays through Saturdays, she said, and she’ll offer several varieties of her homemade pastas and sauces, which people can take home and prepare. She’ll also move her pasta production to the space’s kitchen.
Pasta lovers also will be able to join her “supper club” and will be able to take advantage of specialty pasta releases and be eligible for delivery.
Her goal is to add dried pastas and other specialty Italian goods to her list of offerings and run the business as a full-fledged market. She may also offer small pasta-making classes and do occasional pop-ups, where people can stop by and grab ready-to-eat pasta dishes.
Grappo first became acquainted with the space back in July, when she put on a pop-up pasta dinner at The Workroom. She’d been looking for her own space for a while, she said.
“And then this came up and it was just exactly what I was looking for,” she said.
King said the fact that Grappo’s business is retail rather than a restaurant made it a better fit for the 350-square-foot space, which didn’t have enough room for dine-in customers.
“I also just love her vibe and energy,” King said. “It just seems like such a perfect fit for the space.”
The big patio area outside will now become common space for all the businesses that operate out of Cleveland Corner, she said.
Grappo grew up in an Italian family, where pasta was made at home. She started Viola’s Pantry in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic stunted her marketing consulting business, and named her venture after her grandmother Viola.
She started selling her pasta at the Old Town Farm & Art Market in late July and has since developed a following. Several customers show up promptly at 8 a.m. on Saturdays to make sure they get the pasta they want before it sells out.
Her most popular offerings so far, Grappo said, have been stuffed pastas like ravioli. Customers also like her fresh pastas that come in various colors like red and green.
She plans to continue offering more shapes of pasta as she grows the new business.
“Wichita has been a very supportive community for this project,” Grappo said.
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 2:04 PM.
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