RESTAURANT REVIEW: Tramonto Trattoria & Pizzeria

By FRANCES SHARPE | Editor-in-Chief

For a new restaurant, it sure felt like a night out with old friends at Tramonto Trattoria & Pizzeria in Malibu on a recent Friday night. Locals waved to each other from across the packed dining area and several patrons traded warm hugs or friendly handshakes with the staff.

Some of the familiar faces included general manager Tarcisio Mosconi and a few servers who have migrated from nearby Tra di Noi.

Restaurateur Nando Silvestri, who took over the Giovanni’s space on Pacific Coast Highway from his uncle Giovanni Mazzola (former co-owner of Vittorio’s on Marquez in Pacific Palisades), brought in Mosconi to handle the day-to-day operations. And it appears that Mosconi brought his faithful following with him.

Anyone who frequented Giovanni’s will immediately notice the upgrades, even before entering the restaurant. For starters, free valet parking Thursday through Sunday has eliminated the struggle to try to squeeze into one of the tight spaces in the cramped lot behind the restaurant.

One step inside the restaurant, and it’s obvious the patio and interior dining areas have been given a floor-to-ceiling makeover. Sleeker tables, more comfortable chairs and a brighter palette all add to a more modern, upscale vibe.

The refashioned bar area features three tables for two where you can dine while watching a flat-screen TV, which happened to be airing tennis on the night I visited.

While nibbling on crusty sourdough and olive tapenade, we perused the stepped-up wine list and decided on a Merlot and a Pinot Grigio. The red and white were both served in weighty glasses that felt more luxurious than the glassware Giovanni’s used and seemed more deserving of the caliber of wines offered.

Fans of restaurateur Silvestri’s other eateries – Il Piccolo Ritrovo in Pacific Palisades and Il Piccolo Verde in Brentwood – will appreciate his modern take on Italian and may recognize some familiar dishes.

For example, my favorite Matteo salad at Ritrovo appears under the name Nanna at Tramonto. I didn’t order it on this night but made a mental note to return to see if it’s truly the same as the one I routinely crave in the Palisades.

We skipped the salads and the traditional antipasta dishes like Burrata and went straight for our entrées.

Hand-made pastas and a gnocchi bar are not to be missed. The Orecchiete, which is made tableside and is already earning a reputation as the “must-have” signature dish at Tramonto, looked intriguing, but we ordered the Gnocchi Primavera instead.

The unique combo of doughy potato pillows with broccoli, carrots and spinach was lightly bathed in a marinara sauce. As an unapologetic marinara junkie, I would order extra sauce next time.

The Scottish Salmon arrived drizzled with a lemon caper sauce that didn’t overpower the delicate fish. Broccolini and roasted potatoes rounded out the dish.

A dessert tray – a rarity in restaurants these days – revealed a tempting assembly of choices: Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake, Chocolate Cake, Berry Tart, Lemon Cheesecake, Berry Cheesecake and Tiramisu. 

We couldn’t resist the Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake, which featured gooey white chocolate in between two layers of rich dark chocolate, or the Berry Cheesecake, which seemed light and airy.

At all times, the wait staff seemed to be bustling – sometimes creating a bit of a rushed atmosphere – in order to cater to our every need. Although I appreciated their attentiveness, I do have to say that I missed some of the former Giovanni’s servers who had a slightly sarcastic New York-style attitude. But that was the only thing I found myself missing.

The tab was slightly higher than what we would have spent at Giovanni’s, but it was well worth it.