{"id":41709,"date":"2026-08-22T03:06:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T03:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/41709\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T03:06:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T03:06:55","slug":"new-italian-restaurant-and-a-cafe-turned-wine-bar-spice-up-options-in-montecito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/41709\/","title":{"rendered":"New Italian restaurant and a cafe-turned-wine bar spice up options in Montecito"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something new is cooking\u2014and pouring\u2014in Montecito.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An Italian eatery and wine bar opened last week as part of the latest summer business openings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ancora Osteria, an Italian restaurant, opened at 1483 East Valley Road on Aug. 13\u2014replacing Via Vai, a pizzeria that closed in 2024. Chef Luca Crestanelli, his brother Francesco Crestanelli and Norman Borgatello co-own the restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ancora Osteria is open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday to Monday, but Luca said he plans to expand hours in the future.<\/p>\n

Vic\u2019s Wine Bar opened at 1801 East Cabrillo Boulevard, serving a split selection of local wines and imported wines from Europe, said co-owner Aleah Schepps Elisara, who oversees the business with her husband Ethan Elisara.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday to Sunday, Vic\u2019s transforms Little King Coffee in The Post Montecito into a nook with a \u201cnighttime elevated\u201d ambiance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The storefront of Vic\u2019s Wine Bar and Little King Coffee are pictured. Vic\u2019s opened at The Post Montecito last week. (Courtesy of Vic\u2019s Wine Bar)<\/p>\n

Ancora Osteria<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, Luca ran Italian restaurant S.Y. Kitchen in Santa Ynez, sourcing ingredients from local farmers and ranchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Ancora Osteria, which translates to \u201cmore food\u201d in English, Luca said he is looking to bring a similar sense of simplicity for customers. The technique is to let the \u201cproduct shine without doing too much,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs to be where people come in all moments of life,\u201d said Luca, born and raised in Verona, Italy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The restaurant serves traditional Italian appetizers, flatbreads, handmade pasta and main dishes including roasted chicken, filet mignon and ribeye fillet. It also offers desserts such as tiramisu, chocolate almond cake, affogato and a pavlova dish with vanilla pastry cream, fruits and meringue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"\"Tables are set inside Ancora Osteria. Chef Luca Crestanelli, his brother Francesco Crestanelli and Norman Borgatello co-own the restaurant. (Photo by Amanda Velasco\/Santa Barbara News-Press)<\/p>\n

Ancora Osteria\u2019s appetizers are in the $20 range, and its main dishes are around $39 to $55. It will also serve some menu favorites from S.Y. Kitchen, including its beet salad and mushroom frittata, Luca said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The menu will change depending on the ingredients in season, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a restaurant, there\u2019s so much organization involved,\u201d Luca said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many layers.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Luca said the atmosphere of the restaurant is meant to feel worn in and comfortable, whether customers come in straight from a hike or to celebrate an occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of becomes a little bit family,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully, this is gonna become another place where people meet and celebrate lots of visions, or just simply take some food home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vic\u2019s Wine Bar<\/p>\n

Aleah and Ethan, who attended Westmont College, hosted more than 100 dinners in their 250-square-foot apartment last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, they are turning their homegrown passion for hospitality into a business, Aleah said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want it to be someone\u2019s neighborhood spot,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want people to feel ownership and like they belong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vic\u2019s is named after Ethan\u2019s Aunt Victoria from New Zealand. Striving toward a casual atmosphere, the wine bar is inspired by Kiwi cafes\u2014most of which provide an evening service such as jazz clubs, Aleah said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Aleah and Ethan Elisara, the owners of Vic\u2019s, stand next to Ryan Dobosh and Grace Gates, the owners of Little King Coffee, inside the store. Vic\u2019s is named after Ethan\u2019s Aunt Victoria from New Zealand. (Courtesy of Vic\u2019s Wine Bar)<\/p>\n

By 5 p.m., staff switch out Little King\u2019s large menu displays for a five-piece canvas artwork that Aleah and Ethan painted together. In the place of coffee grounds and Little King merch, the store\u2019s shelves are stocked with a variety of wines. Tables are also set with candles to set the mood, Aleah said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Little King has already been built up and beautiful,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are just really excited to have a part in that in another style of service.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The wine bar\u2019s menu includes sparkling, rose and orange, white and red wines. Vic\u2019s works with local winemakers, Aleah said, including Alamati Wine, Sea Creatures Wines, Ashkahn Shahparnia and Scribe Winery. She added that Vic\u2019s wine selection is constantly changing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vic\u2019s also offers beer, cider and spritzes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The store serves food alongside the wine, such as a cheese board, a castelvetrano olives and citrus dish, a fish plate and affogato. A staple item is Auntie Vic\u2019s Sausage Roll, a hand pie made with sausage, rolled in caramelized onions and flaky pastry, Aleah said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re truly wine with a food menu,\u201d she said, \u201crather than a restaurant with an amazing wine list that\u2019s built up to supplement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something new is cooking\u2014and pouring\u2014in Montecito.\u00a0 An Italian eatery and wine bar opened last week as part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[941,5,27336,1003,6689,3454],"class_list":["post-41709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-italian","tag-italy","tag-montecito","tag-restaurant","tag-santa-barbara","tag-wine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}