Neighborly Vibes at Nella Kitchen & Bar

When you’re a restaurateur working with an experienced, dedicated staff who’ve essentially hit the top of the available pay scale yet still feel that inherent need for upward mobility, what do you do? If you’re Luca Crestanelli, you open a new restaurant, even in the midst of a pandemic. 

“The team at S.Y. Kitchen was almost too good,” said the Verona, Italy-raised chef and co-owner of the popular and acclaimed Santa Ynez restaurant that opened in 2013. “The expansion was about giving these guys more room to grow. If we didn’t expand, I would have lost them. It was vital for us to take an extra step.”

Nella Kitchen & Bar was that step. Located inside of the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn next to dozens of tasting rooms in the quaint heart of Los Olivos, Nella instantly became a hard-to-get table for lunch and dinner when it fully opened on Valentine’s Day in February 2021. (There was a two-month “test run” prior to the winter lockdown.) Serving Southern Italian–leaning starters, entrees, and pinsa — the long-fermented, sourdough-ish pizza-meets-flatbread first popularized in Rome — the team is pumping out dishes both lobby-bar-friendly, such as aioli-sided artichokes and hot meatballs (both $16) and more sit-down-approved, like Muscovy duck with handmade couscous ($39), lamb chops scottadito with porcini mushrooms ($36), and filet mignon in green peppercorn sauce ($36).