Mulino Italian Kitchen to open Tuesday in Raleigh

The restaurant will be located in the old home of Babylon on North Dawson Street.

Posted 11:00 a.m. Apr 14, 2017 — Updated 11:00 a.m. Apr 14, 2017

Kathy Hanrahan

RALEIGH, N.C. — A new Italian kitchen is planning to open on Tuesday in downtown Raleigh.

Mulino Italian Kitchen and Bar, 309 N. Dawson St., will be serving homemade pastas, pizzas and breads cooked in a woodfired oven, locally sourced meats and seafood as well as traditional Italian fare.

It is located in the old home of Moroccan restaurant Babylon. And under the same ownership.

Samad Hachby, owner and creative director of Babylon, announced in early March that the popular restaurant would be moving to a smaller, more intimate dining space. Hachby

The change is part of Hachby's desire for an Italian and southern European-influenced menu.

“Changing the restaurant’s name to Mulino is a natural progression of our culinary concept and is a better representation of the food we’ll be serving to our guests,” said Hachby, a native of Morocco and N.C. State University graduate. “If you look at the history of Morocco, many of the cultural and culinary influences came from Italy, and we want to elevate that influence by putting the focus on Italian dishes that highlight both traditional and unexpected Italian flavors.”

The word mulino means "the mill," which is a perfect representation of the restaurant's location in the Melrose Knitting Mill. The historic space opened in 1901 as the City of Raleigh’s textile factory.

While Babylon's new home hasn't been announced, representatives say it will be a more intimate space reminiscent of dining in a Moroccan home.

Suggest A Correction