Award-winning chef Chris Bianco moving Tratto back to original Phoenix location

PHOENIX – Award-winning chef Chris Bianco is relocating one of his beloved Phoenix restaurants – but the next destination isn’t new.

Tratto, which moved to Van Buren and 15th streets in 2020, will pack up after Saturday’s service and return to its original home at the Town & Country shopping center.

Bianco aims to reopen the Italian restaurant at 20th Street and Camelback Road, next to one of his Pizzeria Bianco locations, in mid-September, the two-time James Beard Award winner said in an Instagram post Thursday.

Tratto, which serves Italian fare with influences from the Southwest, debuted in a 1,000-square-foot space at Town & Country in 2016. Bianco moved it to the historic Roland’s Market building on Van Buren Street during the pandemic to provide more space for food prep when social distancing was required.

The original space was renovated and will be about 400 feet larger when Tratto returns.

“I guess after all, the more things change, the more they stay the same,” wrote Bianco, who teased that he has “something really special planned” for the Van Buren Street building, which dates back to 1917.

Why is Tratto chef Chris Bianco famous?

Bianco, a New York native, has been nominated for multiple James Beard Awards, which are considered the Oscars of the culinary world. He won for best Southwest chef in 2003 and outstanding restaurateur in 2022.

Bianco is credited with popularizing the artisanal style of pizza that he introduced at a Phoenix grocery store in 1988 and expanded to three Pizzeria Bianco locations, including one in Los Angeles.

He is the subject of a 2022 episode of the Netflix series “Chef’s Table” and has appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” where he once made pizza with Billy Crystal.

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