In Paris, the bistro concept traces its lineage from the original bistrots, intimate spaces whose menus reflect the romantic nature of the city, where a good wine list is mandatory.
Thousands of miles away, Stephen Rogers and Allison Yoder’s Gemma embodies this spirit, serving uncluttered yet sophisticated dishes influenced by their past. That means seasonal ingredients, leaving diners remembering each bite. The menu, succinct yet not lacking variety, tells the story of the couple’s career journey which took them to New York City, Northern Italy and Napa Valley.
Rogers and Yoder were destined for careers in music, working in restaurants to support themselves while living in New York City. Rogers was a pianist and opera coach. Yoder was an opera singer. Performing abroad during summers, they describe their time in Italy as an important moment in their development as restaurateurs.
“We would go for the summers in Italy and spend two or three months performing there, but we would travel on the weekends, and I think that’s where we really started thinking about food, wine and culture,” Yoder says.
“We started thinking maybe this will be our life in the future. It was just sort of jokingly, but that’s kind of how it started.”
After 10 years in New York, the couple ended their musical careers, moved to Miami and focused on working in the hospitality industry fulltime. Yoder managed a restaurant, and Rogers worked as a hotel general manager for two years before being recruited to run the Press Restaurant in Napa Valley.
It was in Napa where Rogers began the somewhat accidental process of becoming a widely respected chef. A chef vacancy in the Press kitchen pushed him to step up at a critical moment.
“This restaurant had done very poorly on the review before — they got one or one and a half stars — so this time we got three out of four, which put me in company with some really fine chefs in Napa Valley, which was kind of ridiculous. And the rest is history,” Rogers says.
Eventually Rogers and Yoder gained enough experience in Napa to feel confident operating their own restaurant. Making the move to Dallas, they opened Gemma the day after Christmas in 2013 after only a few months in town. Originally billed as a California bistro, the menu was a product of the couple’s travels and career stops.
“In California they borrow; they do whatever — they’ll do Italian, a little Asian and a little French — and that’s kind of the inspiration of Gemma,” Yoder says.
Almost a decade later, the same ethos remains evident in the menu — house-made pasta, diverse seafood dishes, classic French staples and more at reasonable prices. Gemma and its something-for-everyone menu has become a major player in our city’s restaurant scene.
“You can eat there three times a week and find something new, because we have steak, we have duck, we have pasta, we have ceviche, we have salads, heirloom tomatoes and burrata, so there’s something for everyone,” Yoder says.
According to Yoder and Rogers, some of the most popular items include the braised-rabbit pappardelle, steak frites and seafood items such as scallops, in addition to other non-entrée items.
While the menu remains relatively consistent, it is not static. They add seasonal accents to keep it fresh.
“We don’t do a lot of that, but certain things like tomatoes, you’ll have to put on heirloom tomatoes, or melon or watermelon,” Yoder says. “Summer does go, especially in Texas, very late. You know, you’ll see heirlooms in October, which is great, and corn still.
Gemma also features a highly touted wine list often from smaller wineries, handpicked by Yoder and Rogers.
Yoder and Rogers have also created a compelling cocktail menu, featuring house inventions such as the Texas Heat, made with jalapeño-infused tequila and endangered classics like the Grasshopper from a bygone era.
Ahead of its 10th anniversary, Gemma is poised for a transformation. When Gemma opened as a California bistro back in 2013, it was an East Dallas outlier. Now, at the center of East Dallas’ culinary robust Knox-Henderson neighborhood, the owners want Gemma to reflect the neighborhood’s evolution.
“We went from a destination restaurant where we had the Highland Parkers driving over and complaining about the potholes, and now we’re in the middle of a neighborhood, so we want it to feel like it’s in the middle of a neighborhood,” Rogers says.
Yoders and Rogers aim to create a cozy neighborhood bistro, a dimmer, more intimate space as opposed to the current bright and open Martha’s Vineyard-esque concept, they say.
With the renovation set to be complete in September, changes will include darker flooring, bistro tiling and a reimagined bar.
Yoder and Rogers were not ready to name specifics but say there will be moderate menu changes.
“We want it to be where in September there’s those good old Gemma staples,” Rogers says. “But then there’s also like, ‘Oh, this feels different. This is exciting. This is a new direction.’”
Gemma, 2323 N. Henderson Ave., 214.370.9426, gemmadallas.com
