CHIC, DURABLE, DO-GOODER

Conscious consumerism meets tote-bag venture

Story by RACHEL STONE I Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

They met at meditation in Beckley Club Estates and started having coffee together.

Ruby Hunt and Alisha Stephens both have degrees in international business. They’re both entrepreneur-minded globetrotters who believe that business can be a force for good.

And they’re creative on top of that.

Stephens works for a biotechnology company but also has a 6-year-old nonprofit that raises money for schools in Uganda. Hunt works for the Dallas Museum of Art but previously co-owned a jewelry line called Bella & Chloe.

It didn’t take long before they were working on a business plan.

“We want to spend the rest of our lives doing something meaningful that has an impact,” Stephens says. “And also be able to express our creativity.” the patterns from Hunt’s and Stevens’ drawings. They designed their big tote, the Atlas, with a pocket that holds a MacBook, rings to attach keys and pockets for phones and keys.

They launched Pacha, which makes high-end canvas bags, this past spring.

All of the bags — leather-handled totes and zippered pouches in two sizes — are made of waxed canvas. The material is sourced in Houston from a woman who applies Texas beeswax by hand. The leather and other fabrics all come from American suppliers.

“You don’t want a big bag that you’re eternally digging through,” Hunt says.

They’re going for function and durability with a classic look. This isn’t disposable fashion.

“So often, we don’t know what the conditions are in the places where our clothes are made,” Stephens says. “We know where every piece of that [bag] came from.”

Vickery Trading Co., a Dallas-based nonprofit that employs refugee women (they also pay the living wage and teach life skills), manufactures the bags. The skilled workers there even made

The Pacha Atlas tote costs $96, and the pouches cost $22 and $32. They’ve pledged 1 percent of their annual sales to 1% For The Planet, which raises funds for environmentally sustainable initiatives.

So far, Pacha bags are available at Beatnik in Oak Cliff and online at shoppacha.com.

By RACHEL STONE

Susan Melnick has been matching discerning sellers and home buyers for more than 30 years. A longtime Kessler Park resident, she’s not only a really good neighbor, she and her team are thereal estate pros in North Oak Cliff. Call Susan at 214.460.5565. Email SMelnick@virginiacook.com or visit SusanMelnick.com.

Paloma Hinahon lives near everyone’s favorite East Dallas Italian grocery, Jimmy’s Food Store.

“I go in there occasionally to buy a bottle of wine, and I used to kind-of Russian roulette it,” she says. “Now I know every single thing about every single wine down the whole aisle.”

That’s because Hinahon and her boss, Jennifer Uygur, recently took an intense eight-week course to receive certification as Italian wine professionals.

Uygur is largely self-taught but she’s been in the wine business for years. Hinahon is a newcomer.

“On the first day, Jennifer was like, ‘This is really hard!’ ”Hinahon says. “There was never a point in the course where I was like, ‘I got this.’ ”

Learning all of the wine-growing regions of Italy and where they are located, the names of the grapes (and how to pronounce them), and all the wines took serious study.

DID YOU KNOW: Macellaio is Italian for “butcher.”

They made flashcards to drill each other during their downtime. They made up mnemonic devices: Umbria is in the center of Italy, like a belly button so, umbilical cord.

They’re wine nerds.

Lucia opened seven and a half years ago serving hand-made pasta and salumi in a 32-seat Bishop Arts restaurant where reservations are needed a month in advance.

Owners Jennifer and David Uygur, who live in Winnetka Heights, recently opened their second restaurant, Macellaio, around the corner on Bishop at Melba. The new place specializes in salumi and diverges from pure Italian with French and Spanish influences. It’s more casual and has 55 seats inside and 19 seats at the bar.

“With Macellaio open, it’s nice to know that Paloma can step in and do my job,” she says. “Not only is she great with guests, she now has a deep knowledge of the wines.”

Hinahon and Uygur are two of a handful of certified Italian wine specialists in Dallas; only one of the others is a woman.

Some people consider the wine business to be male dominated, Hinahon says. But that hasn’t been her experience. All of her wine mentors are women.

“This was my first foray into wine in general, and now I want to keep going and get all the certificates,” she says. “It’s something I want to pursue and be a part of.”

LUCIA

Ambience: Rustic Italian romance

Price range: $20-$35

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 5:30-10 p.m.

Address: 408 W. Eighth St. 214.948.4998 luciadallas.com