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The Pascucci Restaurant in the Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta has closed down.
Owner Laura Knight declined to discuss the closure with Noozhawk, saying only, “I don’t want to talk about it right now, I’m sorry.”
The original Pascucci has enjoyed success on State Street for more than two decades, but the Marketplace version never really gained steam among Goleta residents after opening in 2016.
The January closure came prior to the opening later in the month of Ca’ Dario Trattoria & Pizzeria across the street. Ca’ Dario has enjoyed a nightly packed dining room since its debut.
Mark Ingalls, property manager for Camino Real Marketplace LLC, said Knight told him that she wanted to focus her time and energy on her Santa Barbara location.
The building won’t be empty for long, Ingalls said.
“We have had a lot of interest,” Ingalls said. “We hope to have some exciting news soon.”
He said the shopping center is close to announcing a restaurant that will fill the Pascucci space.
Sports Authority Building
The Marketplace also has a tenant for the old Sports Authority location at 7035 Camino Real Marketplace Drive, Ingalls said. An announcement is imminent.
“We have a tenant who has signed a lease,” Ingalls said. “We are not at liberty to discuss it yet.”
And it’s not Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Dick’s had signed a lease to go into the space in 2016, but the company then pulled out because it decided that it wanted a venue larger than 30,000 square feet.
Thai Ice Cream
Hollister Village Plaza will soon be home to a new ice cream shop.
Choppa Rollin’ Ice Cream will open in about “two to three weeks,” said owner David Chen.
The store is unique, Chen said, because it provides Thai-styled rolled ice cream and other “Asian flavors” that you don’t usually get in Santa Barbara.
Chen said he would have opened earlier, but didn’t know that he needed a special milk and dairy license because he makes the ice cream on site.
He said other than Cold Stone Creamery in the Calle Real Center, he will be the only place in northern Goleta to offer fresh ice cream.
Chen also owns PokeMee restaurant also in the shopping center.
Valley Gelato
Valley Craft Gelato has opened in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Alessio Carnevale has launched a new craft food business focused on his hand-made, frozen dairy concoctions.
The company is offering special order gelato service for catering and events, as well as fulfilling custom wholesale orders for retail and restaurant locations, and direct-to-consumer requests, according to a news release.
Carnevale’s signature flavors include Santa Barbara Pistachio and Lemon Zest, Roasted Coconut and White Chocolate, Honey and Lavender, and Fig Sorbetto.
He also plans to rotate an array of other flavors such as Vanilla Bean, Salted Caramel, Tiramisu, Dark Chocolate, and Espresso.
Carnevale previously worked as a waiter at S.Y. Kitchen. Prior to that, he worked for Santa Ynez’s Trattoria Grappolo.
“When I was a child, I helped my uncle in his gelato shop in Calabria,” Carnevale said. “This is where I first learned how to make gelato from – in my mind – one of the best. My uncle’s shop kept regular stock of perennial favorite flavors, which is why I’m striving to always have some of my customers’ go-to flavors readily available,”
He is currently running the business out of a leased catering kitchen in Santa Ynez, but eventually plans a storefront business. Orders for pick-up and catering, retail or restaurant requests, may be communicated through the Valley Craft Gelato Facebook page.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.