ABOUT
CinqueTerre WEST Osteria is a warm family-run Italian restaurant reminiscent of the small Mediterranean coastal villages of the Cinque Terre. CinqueTerre WEST serves authentic regional Ligurian dishes, using locally sourced food, specializing in fresh seafood, daily house-made pastas, fatto a mano (made-by-hand) pizza dough and delizioso cornetti (Italian croissants). Outdoor seating available.
CHEF GIANBA
Gianbattista “Gianba” Vinzoni discovered his love of cooking as a child while spending time in the kitchen with his grandmother. Although he was born in Broni, a small town in the Lombardia region of Italy, his family has been living in Bonassola, in the Cinque Terre region, dating back to the 1400s. As a young man he loved watching his grandmother cooking. She regularly made fresh pasta, stomped grapes for homemade wine, picked olives for pressing olive oil, and raised her own chickens, rabbits, pigs. After working hard all day she would then serve the most amazing family meals while enjoying time with friends and family.
After a five year career as an Italian Navy Seal he began working in a kitchen. What started out as a joke soon became a passion and a life long career. It wasn’t easy, considering he started out with zero experience, but he worked his way through the ranks and his cooking and experience expanded when he moved to Los Angeles 22 years ago. He learned that he was able to transfer his love for pressure and the sense of urgency that he experienced as a Navy Seal into working in some of the best kitchens in Italy and Los Angeles.
Under the patience and experienced guidance of the many great chefs he has worked for, Gianba established himself as both a chef and a manager. His biggest accomplishments include becoming Head Chef at the Soho House in West Hollywood, Executive Sous Chef at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, and Executive Chef at Fig and Olive. While at the Beverly Hilton he was the Executive Sous Chef for large events like the Golden Globes for three years in a row and continued to be asked back to assist even though he had moved on to other ventures.
Despite many great achievements and great teams that he has worked with, he craved the opportunity to open his own restaurant. When the chance came and I took it and he can now be found behind the counter at Cinqueterre West as Chef-Owner. He has lived in the Pacific Palisades with his wife and two children for the past 15 years and loves it just as much as he loves his childhood home back in Italy. Cinque Terre West will be bringing simple and delicious food inspired by his childhood and local California cuisine to the Palisades Village.