Why this popular longtime Modesto restaurant owner is headed downtown for the first time
Central Valley diners have enjoyed David Alonso’s food for the past two decades, and now he is expanding to open his first downtown Modesto restaurant.
The owner of Modesto’s (and previously Oakdale’s) Papapolloni Mediterranean Bistro is renovating the former Chef’s of New York space with plans to open a new restaurant. The longtime restaurateur’s latest venture D’ Forno Cocina blends his Italian expertise and Mexican heritage, along with his other culinary influences over his 30-year food career.
Alonso has owned Papapolloni since 2012, when it opened on West F Street in Oakdale. He moved the Mediterranean eatery to Modesto in 2019, replacing his four-year-old restaurant Familia Bistro on McHenry Avenue. Previously, Alonso owned Papapavlo’s Mediterranean Bistro on Standiford Avenue from 2006 to 2019 (when he sold to another owner). Before that, he spent more than a decade working for restaurants and corporate chains in the Bay Area.
While his eateries have been popular across the region, Alonso said he has been hesitant about opening a spot downtown because of the turnover he has seen with eateries in the area over the years. But a recent trip to see a show at the Gallo Center for the Arts with his wife convinced him he could bring something special to the scene.
“We were going downtown and we said, ‘Where are we going to eat?’ And that’s when I told my wife I gotta open a restaurant here,” he said.
His team has been working on the 13th Street space for a couple of months now. The previous tenant, Chefs of New York Italian restaurant, closed abruptly in June after being open in various locations in the city since 2001. Before that, the building has seen a series of dining establishments come and go starting in late 2000 with seafood restaurant Oceana followed by Nosh, Vito’s Ristorante, Bayou Bar & Grill and the short-lived Midtown Bistro.
Alonso plans to bring his style of from-scratch food and sit-down experience to the downtown with D’ Forno. That includes some menu items fans of Papapolloni should be familiar with including its seafood ravioli, chopped chicken salad and other Mediterranean dishes. The menu will be mostly Italian offerings and will include an array of pastas, pizzas, steaks and seafood.
On the Mexican side, expect popular favorites like enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas and tacos, but all craft made from fresh, never-frozen ingredients. The menu will also blend cultures together with dishes like nopales (cactus) pasta and gyro pizza. Once open, the restaurant will be able to seat about 130 for lunch and dinner and also have a full bar.
So far Alonso has installed new flooring and painted the walls. Some of the seating has been refurbished, and equipment repaired and replaced in the kitchen. If all goes smoothly, he is on track to open by Dec. 4. Already, people have been knocking on the restaurant door and windows in anticipation of its arrival.
As for the name, Alonso said he wanted it to be distinct from his other restaurants but still personal. So he picked the Italian word for “oven” and Spanish word for “kitchen.” The personal touch is the D’ in front of Forno, for David.
“I’m really lucky that I’ve been doing this for many years. I think we have some of the best of the best food in Modesto,” he said. “I think there’s a need for this place.”
