Chef Laine Myers wants you to finish your pasta.

That’s obvious to fans of Oro, Myers’ pasta-centric pop-up that has been setting up shop everywhere from The Jasper to Celladora Wines for some time now. But things are about to get a lot less ephemeral as Myers prepares to debut a brick-and-mortar Oro at 2000 Venable St. in Church Hill this winter.

If Myers was ever going to have a restaurant, it was going to be Italian. Raised by a mother from Yonkers, New York — an area with a prominent Italian-American influence —family trips consisted of days spent eating their way through New York, where the energy of Italian dining rooms left a lasting impression.

“It’s bustling and loud and everyone is enjoying themselves, and out come these awesome, crushable plates of food,” says Myers. “I just reach a level of excitement with Italian food that I don’t get with many other cuisines.”

Oro — Italian for gold, inspired by the golden hues of wheat as well as a particularly fabulous negroni oro Myers once enjoyed — has seen many permutations, and like so many projects, was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The concept’s first two massively successful pop-ups in the fall of 2019 were disrupted by a complete dining shutdown in the pandemic’s early days. As she waded through her own personal challenges — the instability of her industry, tragic family health issues, the end of a relationship — Myers says that Oro’s initial reception was critical to helping her continue.

“I was so blown away by the love and support,” she says. “It really motivated me through the pandemic to plan more deeply about what this could look like.”

Myers adapted Oro to its environment, launching a pasta-focused retail concept that appeared at farmers markets throughout Richmond. Later, in 2021, came a spot at Hatch, the culinary incubator that hosted fellow food projects like Cobra Burger and Sincero.

There, Myers changed the menu every week to keep customers coming back for more, incorporating tongue-in-cheek themes inspired by “The Sopranos” or Olive Garden alongside themes like a weeklong tribute to Nota Bene, the restaurant where Myers served as executive chef prior to dedicating herself fully to Oro.

Special menus would sell out in under 30 minutes, pushing Myers closer to what she calls the pinnacle of her career: going brick-and-mortar. But when it came to funding, she knew traditional financing combined with her own savings wouldn’t cover it. So, she chose to turn to her community of supporters.

Myers launched a campaign with Honeycomb Credit, a platform that allows businesses to crowdfund investments from their community that are treated as loans and are repaid with interest. Myers says she was inspired to try the platform after seeing fellow businesses Chewy’s Bagels and Owl Spoon Water Kefir have “hugely successful” campaigns.

“I wanted to do something quickly, and I have a pride complex so I wanted to do something where the community would benefit,” she says. “So often, for people in our industry with startups, the applications for things like even an SBA [Small Business Administration] loan are so grueling and time consuming. I didn’t have time to be a business owner and go through this process.”

Once Myers secured her space in Church Hill, she set out to match the aesthetic of the restaurant with the food, striking a balance between simplicity and sumptuousness.

Off-white walls and terra cotta tile define the main dining area, leading to bathrooms featuring travertine sinks perched on reclaimed wood — an earthy, tactile blend of rustic and modern. Every detail, from lighting to stonework, is sourced from Italy or surrounding countries like Turkey and Croatia.

The real showstopper is the bar, made of creamy Taj Mahal quartzite. Myers intends for it to be the heart of the space, supported by what she aims to make an award-winning bar program. Amaro cocktails will be a strong suit, but Myers is prioritizing adapting to the community’s tastes.

“If everyone comes in and wants martinis then we’ll be a martini bar,” she says.

Pasta and produce-forward dishes will anchor the pared-down, seasonal food menu, which will also feature a signature protein, such as grilled fish or roasted chicken.

Myers says you can expect to consistently see one element as the ultimate star in her dishes: the humble vegetable. While plant-based dining is on the rise, Myers’ intention is not to omit meat, but to demonstrate how vegetables can deliver exceptional complexity and satisfaction on their own.

“As a meat eater, vegetables are just so much more interesting to me; so much more diverse,” she says. “They provide more of an opportunity for creativity. If I can nail the basic framework of flavor balance on a vegetable, I can guarantee that you’ll find that it rivals your experience with meat. I really want someone to have the moment of, ‘I thought I hated eggplant before this, but I’ve never had eggplant like that.’”

Nearly ready to open its doors, Oro is set to operate most days of the week. The ultimate goal, Myers says, is to become a true neighborhood mainstay.

“I want it to be a neighborhood spot where people can take their time and enjoy themselves,” she says. “I want to take all the greatest aspects of the pop-ups and convert that into a space that people can rely on.”

Oro is set to open this winter and is located at 2000 Venable St. Follow Oro on Instagram for the latest.