Pizza master Chris Bianco is expanding his restaurant empire with 'a special project'

James Beard Award winning Arizona chef and restaurateur Chris Bianco is opening another restaurant in California, this time up north at Carneros Resort and Spa in Napa Valley.

"It's a special project in a special part of the world," Bianco said.

Bianco plans to revamp the resort's main restaurant, Farm at Carneros, from the design to the local-sourcing focused menu, which takes inspiration from Tratto, his Phoenix Italian restaurant that was named one of the best restaurants in the country.

Though he is best known for his pizza, it will not be on the trattoria menu. However, Bianco is planning to create new pizzas for the resort's general store that he said will different from the pies he serves in Phoenix and Los Angeles.

What's on the menu at Farm at Carneros?

Bianco plans to work with local farmers, bakers and butchers, just like he does in Arizona, and will let the seasonal ingredients take center stage, as opposed to making the complexity of the dishes the focus.Guests can expect to see pasta dishes featuring Sonoma produce or meat and the chef plans to lend Napa nuances to some of his most popular Tratto dishes. For instance, rather than a pork chop with dates, he'll make a pork chop with Santa Rosa plums. Rather than focaccia, he might make pizzette.

The restaurant is slated to open in late fall or early winter.

Details: 4048 Sonoma Hwy, Napa, California. farmatcarneros.com.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chris Bianco is expanding his restaurant empire. Here's where