Legendary Pizza Maker Chris Bianco Will Open a Trattoria in the Heart of Napa Valley

Andy Wang
·5 min read
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Chris Bianco isn’t slowing down. After recently expanding in Los Angeles with Pane Bianco, the chef is ready to make his Napa Valley debut with a modern trattoria at the 28-acre Carneros Resort and Spa.

Bianco, the multifaceted chef who’s known as America’s foremost pizzaiolo but also won the 2022 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur, is in the process of remaking the luxury resort’s Farm restaurant. The new incarnation of Farm, inspired by Bianco’s Tratto in Phoenix and also by the lushness of the Napa Valley, will open this fall. Beyond a new menu, Farm will have new interiors and a redesigned outdoor dining space with fire pits. The Napa restaurant will evoke an Italian farmhouse, and a lot of the seasonal cooking at Farm will merge California and Mediterranean elements.

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Bianco is also working on the revamp of Market, the resort’s general store, which already serves pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven. He says the pizzas he’s developing at Market will be different from the pies he’s made before.

But the main event for Bianco in Napa is Farm, which won’t serve pizza. (Bianco says he doesn’t typically care about accolades, but winning a James Beard Award for being a top-tier restaurateur was a nice reminder that he has a great Phoenix trattoria where you can’t order a pizza.)

Farm, in an area that’s known for being simultaneously rustic and luxurious, is right in Bianco’s wheelhouse. He’s long been enamored with the produce in Northern California, and his Bianco DiNapoli canned-tomato business is based in San Jose. What he wants to do at Farm is “regift the local bounty” of Napa and Sonoma.

Pavillion at the Farm at the Carneros Resort and Spa
The Farm at Napa Valley’s Carneros Resort and Spa

“This is one of not only the greatest wine regions but also one of the greatest agricultural regions in the world,” Bianco says. “We want to pay homage to the goodness that already exists. Some people call the food that we do simple. I would not argue with that. The next thing we invent is going to be the first thing. These dishes have existed before me and they’ll hopefully exist after me. Let’s pay them great respect.”

For Bianco, it’s about making straightforward food with intention, whether it’s a bowl of pasta or chicken cooked on a wood-fired grill. It’s about executing on a high level while letting food taste like what it is. It’s also about “mentoring and shaping” a new generation of cooks.

“At 61 years old, I’d love to say that I can still pull 18-hour days and I’m on the line cooking every meal, but those days are long gone,” Bianco says.

He’s here to guide the process. He’s envisioning a menu with a few pastas that are built around local produce or meat like Sonoma lamb. Carneros already has a farm that grows dozens of different organic vegetables and herbs, and Bianco is eager to work with many farmers in the surrounding area. He has deep relationships in Arizona with farms like McClendon’s Select and Blue Sky Organic Farms. He’s got restaurants in Los Angeles where he showcases California ingredients from Weiser Family Farms and Tutti Frutti Farms. He’s looking to cultivate similar connections in Napa.

“Those are the fucking stars of the show,” Bianco says of the farmers who supply his restaurants. “They’re fucking putting the notes out there, the verses. We’ve just got to put music to them.”

Bianco would also like to work with local bakers and butchers as he develops Farm’s bread program and creates a Napa version of the focaccia he serves at Tratto.

Carneros Resort and Spa pool
The resort Bianco’s new restaurants will sit on spans 28 acres in Napa Valley.

“At Tratto, we always do a house focaccia,” he says. “At Farm, I’m thinking that something like a little whole-grain pizzette with local grapes from harvest and some guanciale or burnt ends could make its way onto the menu. It’s like a candy store of ingredients here.”

Bianco looks forward to taking dishes he’s made at Tratto, like pork chops with local dates, and giving them a makeover with produce like Santa Rosa plums.

“There might be something that’s a small nuance of place,” says Bianco, who finds joy in this hyper-specific process.

As for Market, Bianco plans to put his touch on the existing menu of pizza, sandwiches, and salads. He won’t be serving the pizzas he has in Phoenix and Los Angeles. He’s in Napa to create something new while doing what he always does: experimenting with local grains and vegetables, testing different fermentation and baking times, putting in extensive work to create seemingly simple food.

“We’re working on a pizza that will be unique to Market,” Bianco says. “Just like I did for Pane Bianco’s new program in Los Angeles, I’m going to really look at our oven and our staff and do something that is going to be consistent and delicious. We’re looking at different varietals. There’s a small mill up in Sonoma. I would love to use as much as I can from this part of the world to do something that’s familiar and awesome but also unique to this property.”

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