Inside Ciccio, Chef Christopher Kostow’s Reborn Italian Restaurant in Napa Valley
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While fans wait for the return of Christopher Kostow’s three-Michelin-starred Restaurant at Meadowood, they can enjoy the chef’s fare at his new(-ish) Ciccio.
The lauded chef has reopened the decade-old Yountville restaurant as a managing partner, alongside his wife, Martina. With a whole new menu, Ciccio is now serving up California-Italian fare like wood-fired pizzas, fresh pasta, and salads with ingredients from the restaurant’s culinary farm.
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First opened in 2012 by Frank and Karen Altamura (who have stayed on as owners), Ciccio has been a long-standing feature of Downtown Yountville. Now it has an added Michelin-starred pedigree and updated focus, thanks to the involvement of Kostow, who’s also behind Loveski, the Charter Oak, China’s Ensue, and the aforementioned Restaurant at Meadowood, which burned down in 2020’s Glass Fire. (After that tragedy, Kostow was faced with allegations of overseeing a toxic workplace at Meadowood. At the time, he declined to comment on the accusations, Eater San Francisco noted.)
At Ciccio, Kostow has created a menu of Italian classics with some added flair. Starters range from meatball-stuffed peppers to Sicilian “sashimi” to standby Caesar and chopped salads. The pasta offerings are focused, featuring a rigatoni Bolognese that comes with bechamel and pickled garlic, and a gnudi dish studded studded with ricotta and fennel pollen. The pizza list is similarly short and original. An artichoke pie is topped with artichoke “dip” and lemon, while a potato version comes with leek confit, fontina, and a caper salsa verde.
Hungrier patrons may opt for one of the larger mains, such as a spicy chicken dish with Calabrian chili “aigredolci” or a pork chop Milanese with preserved plum mostarda. Round out the table with a side like yellow corn polenta or wood-fired beets in rosemary beef fat. To finish, there’s a hazelnut cannoli, buffalo-milk ice cream with strawberries and olive oil, and whipped mascarpone with spiced wine and prunes.
The beverage list, meanwhile, pays homage to Ciccio’s beginnings by featuring an exclusive selection of Altamura Vineyards wines, both in the extensive by-the-glass section and on the bottle list. Cocktails lean toward familiar favorites, with takes on the Martini, the Old Fashioned, the Margarita, and the Negroni (with three different versions of the latter).
While Ciccio may have just opened for dinner on Thursday, it’s already one of the hardest restaurants to get in to, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That’s a testament to how excited locals are for the return of Kostow’s cooking.
Click here to see all the images of Ciccio.
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