Scene-y South End icon Stella will make a suburban comeback early this spring. Chef Evan Deluty’s restaurant will reopen at 549 Commonwealth Ave. in Newton, according to his rep. The original Stella closed in May 2020 after a heady 15-year run, specializing in pastas and grilled pizzas.
“Walking into Stella is like walking into a time capsule. The white-on-white decor of opening day remains. The menu has barely changed. And some of the same customers seem to have been sitting at the bar the whole time. If they have aged as well as the restaurant, they are lucky,” Globe critic Devra First wrote in 2015. (In 2006, she praised the food but also admired the Paris Hilton-style people-watching. Remember Paris Hilton?)
Deluty is hardly the first city chef to settle in Newton: In 2020, Kate and Trevor Smith from spots like Coppa and Toro opened Thistle & Leek. In 2021, Douglass Williams debuted a Newton branch of MIDA, and ex-Babbo chef Mario LaPosta launched an eponymous Newton pizzeria.
Deluty promises a “smaller, more intimate version” of Stella this time around, with a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. Longtime fans will find mainstays like arancini, Bolognese, and meatballs, plus new items like matzo ball soup and potato pancakes. The people-watching quotient remains to be seen.
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Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.