Epicure and Francophile Hedda Gioia Dowd is creative manager and visionary of rise n°1. Gioia Dowd’s passion for the art of fine living dates back to her childhood. The daughter of a French mother and an Italian American father, she spent every summer since childhood in France and, from her earliest recollection, food was always the focus at home.
Gioia Dowd’s mother and grandmother made savory and sweet soufflés for decades, and her memory of those meals are of a dining experience that riveted all of the senses: seeing the beauty of the puffy soufflé; smelling the aroma as she broke the layer of crust and dipped her oversized European spoon in; tasting the flavors of the ultimate comfort food. She always marveled that she never left the table feeling overfed; just satisfied and in awe of the technique that could make something as simple as an egg into something as magnificent, yet unfussy, as the soufflé.
Years ago while sitting in a favorite restaurant in Paris, leisurely eating a savory soufflé, followed by a salad and a sweet soufflé for dessert, Gioia Dowd thought, “Why can’t we eat this way in Dallas?” Inspired by the simplicity and versatility of the soufflé, the European way of celebrating the genuine pleasures of the table, and a dream to engage all of the senses in an environmentally conscious salon de souffle, the concept of rise n°1 was born.
The first person Gioia Dowd contacted about rise n°1 was longtime friend and esteemed chef, Cherif Brahmi, executive chef at Maguire’s. Born in Lyon, the food capital of France, Brahmi’s even temper and passion for French cooking were the winning combination that she was looking for. Brahmi introduced Gioia Dowd to respected restaurateur and owner of Maguire’s, Mark Maguire. In Maguire, Gioia Dowd found a thoughtful business and creative partner and the three went to work. The fruit of their labor is rise n°1, which opened in Inwood Village on January 15, 2008. Their plan is to open more rise n°1 locations in the metroplex in the near future.
Prior to launching rise n°1, Gioia Dowd’s love for French culture, cooking, and entertaining led to her found Antique Harvest in 1997, a unique company that combs the chateaux, vineyards, and farms of Southwest France for one-of-a-kind treasures. Her Dallas-based business (www.antiqueharvest.com) procures and sells the finest French antiques for everyday living and entertaining, and her merchandise has graced the pages of Food & Wine Magazine, Town & Country, Martha Stewart Living, Southern Accents, D Home, D Weddings, The Dallas Morning News and PaperCity, among other publications.
Gioia Dowd’s creative touches and wares from the Antique Harvest collection lend an authenticity to the interior of rise n°1. The “serviettes” or napkins are one-of-a-kind antique linen, made from pre-industry flax and hand-embroidered with family initials, straight from French chateaux, vineyards, and farmhouses. All of the flatware is an eclectic mix of assorted antique silver plate utensils from France. The recycled couch in the library (a unique place to read and relax at rise n°1) was salvaged by Gioia Dowd on a walk with her dog, Lucky, and recovered in 18th century French chanvre or hemp. … It’s all part of the sensory dining experience at rise n°1. Gioia Dowd hopes that rise n°1 will be an inspiring experience for Dallas diners, taking the enjoyment of the table and the appreciation of slow food to new heights.
