And that’s the lively environment of this high-spirited Trattoria, animated by its energetic, charming, and cosmopolitan staff … on a tranquil terrace, below the green & purple peaks of nearby Santa Ynez Mountains, its awnings repeating images of the area’s topography.

 

Serving international favorites at lunch and dinner, seven days a week, your options in eating run the gamut of sumptuous fresh ingredients layered on an incredibly delicious thin-crust pizza … to the heavenly delight found in closing your eyes to savor a mouth-watering rack of lamb. Inspiring the menu is Chef Renzo Merotto, a recently naturalized American citizen who brings traditional recipes from Asolo, a pre-Roman hill town outside of Venice.

 

Drawing on the area’s renowned climate (over 300 days of sunshine annually!), dinners at Via Vai usually choose the restaurant’s appealing outdoor patio, where the afternoon’s amiable host Richard Prato, warmly ministers to guests and leads a group of local musicians in classic Italian music on occasional Sunday evenings.

 

Joining the “front of the House” and the restaurant’s seamless food service, proprietor Stefano Bernardi quietly enriches the restaurant’s informal ambience from his position at a softly-worn marble counter, from which highly affordable American and Italian wines are served.

The restaurant’s unusually bread offering of food – salads, fish, meats, poultry, pasta, and desserts – are prepared with ingredients generally found at a local “farmer’s market” … and the hand-crafted gelato (incredible!) is made at the Bernardi family’s local Gelateria Gioia (805) 969-9808.

Via Vai is richly colorful and dynamic in its food, staff, and patrons. You’ll want to return often!