Chef and restaurateur Vira Chudasma is bringing her revered Texas eatery La Riv Wood Fired Italian to Arizona for its third location, marking the first expansion outside its home state. The company announced this week that it will be opening a restaurant in Scottsdale, although the exact location hasn’t been shared yet.
“This is a big moment for our family. For the first time, we’re taking La Riv beyond our home state, and we couldn’t think of a better place to do it,” the brand wrote. “To everyone who has supported us at our first two locations: thank you. You’re the reason we’re able to take this leap.”
La Riv currently operates restaurants in the central Texas towns of Temple and Georgetown. The eatery combines traditional Italian cooking techniques with Texas ingredients and hospitality, using an imported Italian wood-fired oven fueled by oak to prepare pizzas, steaks, and other dishes. Its beverage program features an extensive wine collection and craft cocktails.
Chudasma’s professional hospitality career began in 2012, when she opened her first wine bar in downtown Belton, Texas. She subsequently established La Riv in Temple in 2014, before bringing the concept to Georgetown a few years ago, as well as opening Sovian Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge in Georgetown earlier this year.
