First, the bad news: Pane Bianco Van Buren is closing.
But the location itself — the former Roland’s Cafe Market Bar, at 1505 East Van Buren Street — will stay within pizzaiolo Chris Bianco’s family of restaurants. The space will soon be home to Tratto, which is relocating from the Town and Country Shopping Center in east Phoenix.
The announcement was made Thursday evening via the Pizzeria Bianco Instagram account.
The current, 50-seat Tratto is just 1,100 square feet. Pane Bianco Van Buren clocks in at 4,000 square feet, with a lounge area, and a larger kitchen for Bianco and Chef Cassie Shortino. It'll require something of a reconfiguration, Bianco acknowledges in his post.
“I am working hard to transform the 103-year-old brick building into something that is very special and a fit for our times we find ourselves in,” Bianco says.
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The Central Avenue location of Pane Bianco, the original of the two, will remain open. Its New York-style pizza program continues nightly, Bianco says.
The former Tratto space is also staying in the Bianco family. It will house a new location of Bar Bianco, opening “God willing” on October 15.
This way, the Town and County location of Pizzeria Bianco will have a Bar Bianco next door, just like the Heritage Square location does.
For more information on all the Bianco restaurants, see the Pizzeria Bianco website.
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