"Villa d'Este-trained Gaetano Patrinostro cooks Sicilian classics on West Napa Street. Order Katarina's veal scaloppini for a low-key birthday dinner."
Chef Gaetano Patrinostro started cooking at nine in his uncle's bakery in Sicily and finished culinary school at fifteen in Bellagio, on Lake Como. Mamma Tanino's is what he does now, a family-run Italian room in the Sonoma Valley Center on West Napa Street, a short drive from the plaza. The menu is old-school and seasonal, the daily specials list runs long, and dinner sits around $45 to $70 per person.
Patrinostro trained at the storied Villa d'Este on Lake Como, then cooked across Italy and Europe before moving to the United States in 1980, with stops at Rex and Valentino in Los Angeles and a run as corporate chef for Warner Brothers Studios. That pedigree shows up in the cooking: the pappardelle Bolognese and the spaghetti alla carbonara are the pastas to start with, and Katarina's Vitellina, a sauteed veal scaloppini with artichokes, mushrooms, and capers, is the house dish to build a dinner around. He works a mix of local Sonoma produce and Italian imports, and the menu shifts with the seasons. The room sits at 500 West Napa Street, the daily specials are where the kitchen shows off, and dinner runs about $45 to $70 per person before wine. It earns a place among the best Italian restaurants worldwide, and it fits the criteria in our guide to the seven signs of a great restaurant.
The room is unpretentious and warm, two connected dining areas seating around sixty, lit on the brighter side, with a conversation-easy sound level even when full. Service is family-style attentive rather than formal, the regulars are greeted by name, and the dress code is smart-casual at most. It is the kind of neighborhood Italian room where a birthday table can run long without anyone rushing the cake.
Book Mamma Tanino's for a birthday because it is built for a long, unhurried table: a warm family-run room, a deep menu with a daily specials list that gives everyone something to order, and a kitchen that will happily let a celebration run late. Bring the group, order the pastas and Katarina's veal across the table, and let the night stretch. For more of the valley, see the Sonoma dining guide.
Not for a modern, minimalist tasting menu. This is generous old-school Sicilian-Italian cooking in a brightly lit family room, open Friday through Sunday evenings only.
Yes, if you want generous, old-school Italian cooking rather than something modern. Chef Gaetano Patrinostro trained at Villa d'Este on Lake Como and cooked across Los Angeles before settling in Sonoma, and that experience shows in the pastas and veal. At $45 to $70 per person it is fair value for the valley, and the long daily specials list rewards regulars who ask what is fresh.
Not hard, but watch the hours. The kitchen runs Friday through Sunday evenings only, so the open nights concentrate demand. Reservations go through OpenTable, and a few days' notice covers a weekend table comfortably. Larger birthday groups should call ahead so the family-run room can set the table properly, since the two connected dining areas seat only about sixty between them.
Start with the calamari fritti, then the pappardelle Bolognese or the spaghetti alla carbonara, and build the main around Katarina's Vitellina, the sauteed veal scaloppini with artichokes, mushrooms, and capers. The daily specials list is long and is where chef Patrinostro shows off seasonal produce, so always ask what is on it before you order off the printed menu.
Yes, it is built for a long celebratory table. The warm family-run room, the deep menu with its daily specials, and a kitchen that lets a meal run late all suit a group that wants to linger. Bring the party, order pastas and veal to share across the table, and the staff will treat the night like the occasion it is rather than rushing you toward the check.
Book on OpenTable. The kitchen runs Friday through Sunday evenings; reserve a few days ahead for a weekend table.
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Mamma Tanino's makes our Sonoma ranking for old-school Sicilian cooking just off the plaza.
See the Sonoma ranking →