Chef Erin Willis honed her skills while working in Italy
Steven Lindsey | Contributing writer
StevenCraigLindsey@gmail.com
For more than 45 years, Bugatti Ristorante has served Italian-American classics to a devoted legion of fans. Spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm and cappuccino pie keep diners coming back for more, even after relocating the business to 1940 LBJ Freeway in Farmers Branch. On April 20, Trattoria Bugatti took over the original’s Midway Hollow space at 3850 W. Northwest Highway.
Though it shares ownership and history with the O.G. Bugatti, the menu focuses entirely on authentic Italian fare with recipes and techniques that lesbian Chef Erin Willis learned while working in Italy. But her culinary journey began long before she ever crossed the Atlantic.
“I’ve cooked my whole life. My grandparents had a grocery store in Fort Worth, and I grew up working by my grandmother’s side. I lived in Houston at the time, and I would spend my summers with her. So, that’s where my love for cooking started,” Willis said.
After college, Willis worked in escrow, but to keep one foot in the restaurant world, she started waiting tables at Patrizio in Highland Park. She hoped to get into culinary school, but her dad told her he’d already paid for her college education and wasn’t shelling out for anything else.
“I couldn’t get financial aid, so the chef at Patrizio said, ‘Come work with me. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.’ And he did,” she said.
She started by washing dishes. Then she graduated to ingredient prep, followed by a spot on the salad line and eventually making pizzas.
“I just kind of worked my way up through every station, and that’s where everything kind of evolved to get a jump start on my career,” she said.
She worked at several other restaurants and as a private chef before getting the opportunity to travel to Italy and shadow a chef.
“It changed the whole perception of what I thought about food, because over there is completely different than what it is over here. Everything from the way cheese was made, the way cows were raised. I mean, I was eating raw chicken because they promised me I wouldn’t get sick, and I didn’t.”
Focusing on the highest-quality ingredients and not taking shortcuts became the hallmark of her cooking from that point forward. In late 2018, she opened a restaurant in East Dallas called RM 12:20 Bistro and put the philosophy to the test. People loved her food and made it a neighborhood hit for a little more than four years, but COVID-19, an economic downturn, and competing with deep-pocketed corporate restaurants made it impossible to keep the doors open.
It was a heartbreaking reality, and the end of her restaurant career. Or so she thought, until the Trattoria Bugatti opportunity presented itself. Unlike owning, operating and cooking in a restaurant, she could now focus solely on the cooking.
“I’m just doing what I love and teaching, training and molding great cooks into wonderful chefs,” she said. “I’m pretty well versed in French, Mediterranean and American, but my heart is with Italian. I pulled out my old journals from when I studied with the chef in Italy, and that was in the ’90s. So, I finally got to blow off some dust on my journals, and most of the recipes that I have on the menu here at Trattoria are from my experience in Italy.”
That translates to dishes you won’t find just anywhere with an Italian flag on the front door.
One prime example is the Testaroli, semolina pancakes rolled with basil pesto and pecorino, which make for a delightful shareable appetizer bursting with freshness and vibrant green hues.
The substantial portion of Duroc Pork Milanese, topped with a tomato-herb chutney, aged balsamic and fresh arugula, somehow manages to be light and hearty at once. It’s easily the best version of this deceptively simple staple anywhere in Dallas.
Yet perhaps the clearest example of We-Ain’t-At-Olive-Garden authenticity lies in Willis’ “True” Italian Alfredo. Unlike Americanized versions, she recreates the dish as she learned to make it in Italy, without a single drop of cream. She takes butter, garlic and lots of top-quality Parmesan cheese, then tosses everything with noodles sourced locally from Fresh Pasta Delights. It’s sublime.
So is the housemade focaccia, which, like the pizza dough, comes from sourdough crafted at East Dallas’s Lubbies Bagels. Find it on the menu under the starters, but get it with your main courses instead so that you can soak up all the delectable sauces along the way.
The menu isn’t all that differentiates Trattoria Bugatti from Bugatti Ristorante. The dining room no longer features white tablecloths, opting instead for more contemporary design elements to create a genuinely warm, inviting aesthetic. It’s also a place meant to be welcoming to everyone.
This is especially important to Chef Willis, who only came out as a lesbian about five years ago.
“I’ve always known that I was gay, but I was raised in a family [where]that was not going to happen, and so it was very challenging for me to do that, especially with my two kids,” she said. “But they are instrumental in my life right now. They totally support my lifestyle.”
For the past three years, Willis has been in a relationship with Daphné Volle, first violinist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. But opening Trattoria Bugatti has made it more difficult for the two to spend much quality time together. Still, they try to have coffee together in the mornings, and Volle often visits during lunch or off-times so they can stay connected during the day.
“Being gay was a tough road until I met Daphne, so it’s important for me to advocate for the LGBTQ community. I’m one of those people who will hire someone no matter their race, age, sexual preference. I have one woman who’s transsexual, and she’s wonderful. I have had lots of gay staff. We welcome all,” Willis said.
Volle is originally from Leon, so she and Willis try to get back to France every summer.\
“The culture in Europe is so much different than it is here. You know, everything from the arm around the back, the holding of hands, just feeling safe without being stared at or whispered about. And I want Trattoria Bugatti to be a safe place for those people to come and celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and a first date.
“With everything that we’ve got going on here, particularly in Texas, it’s terrifying to know that you can’t hold hands at night or have to see a [rainbow] crosswalk erased. I want this place to be the opposite of that. Come here and feel free to do whatever the heck you want.”
As long as your visit concludes with Limoncello Tiramisu with Pistachio Biscuits. Much like the fettuccine alfredo, this dessert will forever change how you think of tiramisu. Similar to how Chef Willis’s cooking will forever change the style of Italian food you dream about from this point onward.
Trattoria Bugatti is open daily for lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner service, with a mid-day “aperitivo menu” offering discounted bites and drinks. trattoriabugatti.com