"I like when people come in and see people they know," Luca Crestanelli told the Santa Barbara Independent in September. "That's part of the club feel."
He was talking about Ancora Osteria at 1483 East Valley Road, which opened on August 13, 2026. It sits in the space Via Vai held for three decades. The patio is full again. The Independent's critic found it nearly packed before 6 p.m. and described the scene as the same one he remembered from long lunches there in the mid-2000s. One thing has changed. Via Vai's patio ran on a lunch clock, and Ancora's runs on a dinner clock. That shift says more about where the Upper Village stands this fall than the reopening does.
How the corner went quiet
Via Vai opened in 1994. In its final spring it began closing on Sundays in March, and in April it stopped serving lunch. It served its last meal at the end of April 2024. So the midday service went first, a few weeks before the doors closed for good.
Crestanelli had been looking for a Santa Barbara location for years, since before the pandemic, without finding the right one. When Via Vai closed, he moved quickly. "I've always loved this location," he said. "It was the first restaurant I ever dined at in Santa Barbara." He signed the lease that fall.
That puts the gap in perspective. About two years passed between the lease signing and the first dinner service in August 2026. By the time Ancora's opening came around, the Upper Village had gone well over two years without a regular lunch at that address.
Who is cooking, and why that drew a crowd
Ancora is run by Luca Crestanelli, his brother Francesco Crestanelli and Norman Borgatello. Luca is the chef. The brothers worked together for more than a decade at S.Y. Kitchen in Santa Ynez before coming over the mountain. The group also runs Nella in Los Olivos and Stica, a counter-service spot in Santa Ynez that opened in 2025. The Independent noted that each one was popular from opening day and still is.
That track record helps explain the first few weeks. Tables were booked more than three weeks out when Ancora opened, and diners have kept coming every night since. Crestanelli lives in the Santa Ynez Valley but expects to spend about 90 percent of his time at Ancora until the kitchen runs the way he wants.
"Anyone can cook a good meal once. Consistency is going to take a few months to be where we want to be."
He said this about the new team and new kitchen equipment, and he was open about the fact that the restaurant is still settling in.
The menu combines S.Y. Kitchen's appetizers, salads and house-made pasta with heartier entrées from Nella and pinsa, the light, fermented-dough Roman pizza. Appetizers run around $20 and mains about $39 to $55. A few S.Y. Kitchen favorites, including the beet salad and mushroom frittata, came over too. The Independent's reviewer said a couple keeping an eye on cost could share two drinks, an appetizer, a salad and a pinsa for around $120. He called that about the going rate at most nice restaurants today.
The name means "more," as in more food. Crestanelli wants the room to feel worn-in and comfortable, whether someone comes straight from a hike or for a celebration. "It needs to be where people come in all moments of life," he told the News-Press.
The dinner clock
For now, all of those moments happen in the evening. Ancora's FAQ lists dinner from 5 to 9 p.m., Thursday through Monday, and says the restaurant is closed Tuesday and Wednesday and serves dinner only. When it opened, Crestanelli told the News-Press he planned to expand the hours.
The Independent was more specific. It reported that Ancora will likely add brunch and lunch, and that those services may do better than dinner, "if the past is any indication." No start date has been announced. For anyone who remembers Via Vai at midday, the timeline matters. The service Via Vai dropped first in April 2024 is the one Ancora hasn't added yet.
The menu is changing as well. "We are getting more of a feel of where we are, and you have the ocean in the vicinity," Crestanelli said. "I'm inclined to have a little more seafood. We started with very little." The dinner menu online is marked "updated August 2026" and already lists warm yellowfin tuna, a Maine lobster pasta and branzino. The menu will change with the seasons, so the fall version may look different from the one diners saw in August.
Daytime on East Valley Road in the meantime
Until Ancora serves lunch, midday dining on this stretch centers across the road. The RH Firehouse Grill at 1486 East Valley Road is the indoor-outdoor restaurant inside RH Montecito, The Gallery at the Old Firehouse. It publishes both an all-day menu and a brunch menu. Its courtyard opens onto a landscaped garden with heritage olive trees, a large fireplace and limestone fountains. With Ancora open in the evening and RH serving through the day, the two restaurants facing each other on East Valley Road now cover different hours.
There has been retail news at the Montecito Country Mart this season, too. La Ligne NYC, the label founded by former Vogue editors Valerie Macaulay and Meredith Melling with former Rag & Bone executive Molly Howard, had planned a soft opening for July 27. The team rescheduled it after a car crashed into the neighboring Toy Crazy storefront. Toy Crazy stayed open while its storefront was repaired, and customers came in through the courtyard. Marfa Stance, designer Georgia Dant's label, was announced in August as a fall pop-up between Alma Fonda Fina and Rori's Creamery. Its September page now says the shop is open.
On San Ysidro Road, Jenni Kayne held a "Shop for a Cause" day on September 28 and donated 10 percent of that day's proceeds to the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara.
Booking a table this fall
Ancora's reservation details are simple, and they matter more than usual while demand is still running ahead of the room.
- Hours: dinner Thursday through Monday, 5 to 9 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Reservations: online only, released 14 days ahead. Parties of eight or more book by email.
- Seating: the tented patio, formerly Via Vai's, plus the dining room.
- Contact: (805) 869-2338, ancoraosteria.com.
Because tables open two weeks out, the best way to plan an early-evening patio dinner is to book on the day the date is released. Ancora currently takes no reservations for lunch, since it doesn't serve lunch. When it does, its first lunch will be the first regular midday service at 1483 East Valley Road since April 2024.
Small changes like this, such as a restaurant's hours or a patio reopening, shape daily life in a neighborhood as much as its larger landmarks do. If you are thinking about Montecito or the Upper Village and want to talk it over, Montecito Luxury Group would be glad to hear from you. Request a Private Consultation.