Nathan Toubia to open Italian restaurant in former Sugar Sisters Bakery & Cafe | The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA — Bocco Deli owner Nathan Toubia confirms what Have You Heard? reported last week:

He's opening a second restaurant in July in the former Sugar Sisters Bakery & Cafe space near Central and Oliver.

The concept will be different than Bocco Deli, which sells soup, sandwiches and salads.

The new place will be Italian.

"This will be more full-scale pasta dishes," Toubia says. "A lot of the dishes that I did . . . when I worked at Lidia's in Kansas City."

There will be fresh pasta, cannelloni and steak.

"Everything Italian."

The new restaurant is as of yet unnamed.

"I'm not fully committed on the name," Toubia says. "It's a big decision."

Bocco Deli will remain open as well with shorter hours. The new hours, which are effective now, will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Toubia is remodeling the former Sugar Sisters space, which had a pink-and-brown color scheme and a large counter along the south wall.

He's altering the counter area to create more seating. Currently, there are about 50 seats in the restaurant. When Toubia is through remodeling, there will be about 60.

He's opening the kitchen area as well, and there will be a window where diners can see into the kitchen.

Toubia is a tad coy when asked about other future restaurants.

Will this be it?

"For now, yes."

So does that mean perhaps he'd like a restaurant empire similar to his late father Antoine's?

"Well, yeah," Toubia says. "I think that's what I was meant to do, so we'll see where it takes me."