Bianco, a two-time James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur who put artisanal wood-fired pizza in Phoenix on the map with Pizzeria Bianco, announced the reopening via Instagram on Monday.
"It's pretty special and surreal," Bianco wrote in the post. "Can't wait to share it with our old and new friends and family."
Tratto opened in 2016 next door to Bianco's uptown pizzeria, at the northeast corner of 20th Street and Highland Avenue. The restaurant, known for its rustic Italian cooking with a Southwest influence, relocated to Van Buren Street amid the pandemic “to accommodate social distance requirements for patrons and some additional prep space for our team," Bianco wrote on social media late last month.
“The only viable solution was to move to a larger space," Bianco elaborated in his post about Tratto's pandemic move. "The only problem was all I could do in a timely manor was put our 1000 sq ft Trattoria into our beautiful 4500 sq ft Historic Roland’s mkt building that I had slated for another project."
Tratto opened on Van Buren Street in 2020. Prior to housing Tratto, the red-brick building was home to the acclaimed but short-lived Roland’s Cafe Market Bar, a collaboration between Bianco and Tacos Chiwas owners Nadia Holguin and Armando Hernandez.
Tratto’s return to Town & Country marks the end of the second location of Bar Bianco, the wine and antipasto-centric watering hole that filled the space next to Pizzeria Bianco. The post implied the intention with the bar was to “use it for a waiting area for the pizzeria and figure it out.” The Heritage Square location of Bar Bianco remains open. Bianco did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
In the August Instagram post, the restaurateur said the “jewel box of a home” for Tratto has grown about 400 square feet following renovations.
Bianco’s restaurants also include the pizzeria’s downtown location in Heritage Square and the popular slice and sandwich spot Pane Bianco, as well as outposts in Los Angeles.
Bianco teased that an announcement about what will replace Tratto on Van Buren will be coming soon. Both Bianco and Tratto’s Instagram accounts encouraged fans to stay tuned.
“I deeply appreciate all the support and peace love and understanding,” Bianco wrote. “I guess after all ..the more things cccccchange the more they stay the Same.”
Tratto
Reopens Sept. 9
4743 N. 20th St.
