THE ITALIAN FOOD GODS have smiled down on Agoura Hills. They have sent us Giuseppe Bellisario and Nick Andrisiano, co-owners of Grissini Ristorante Italiano. Located in the Agoura Hills Town Center just east of Reyes Adobe on Agoura Road, Grissini (Italian for breadstick), is a standout. 

Tucked into a far corner of the center (so look for it!), the restaurant is beautifully decorated in soft shades of burgundy and gold, with faux finished-walls and a hand-painted Tuscan mural, lending a comfortable yet elegant ambience to the dining room. White tablecloths and linen napkins don Grissini’s booths and half-booths, which are fully set for both lunch and dinner. The bar, while not particularly large, is comfortable and stylish. This area offers a separate TV, DVD and music system and is ideal for a birthday party, rehearsal dinner or other special occasion. A separate banquet room seats up to 60.

“From Rome to you with Love” graces the front cover of the menu; with wines, cheeses, sorbets, gelato and dry goods imported weekly from Italy, there is indeed truth to the phrase. Bellisario began his lifelong love of food working in his mother’s restaurant in Gallipoli, Italy. The family still owns six restaurants in the area.

Bellisario furthered his education in France before hiring aboard a cruise ship, working in both the kitchen and dining room for almost a decade. Aboard ship, he met and fell in love with a passenger named Barbara. She became his wife, the mother of his four children and the reason he moved to California.

“Every place you go, you learn something,” Bellisario says with a heavy Italian accent. “Music and food have a lot in common that way. You are never going to know it all, you keep learning and learning.” Settling into life in California, he continued to learn at the acclaimed Bel-Air Hotel, and at Scandia Restaurant. 

With the encouragement of studio executives that he met at Scandia, Bellisario soon opened his own restaurant, Giuseppe’s. Frequented by Laurence Olivier and Frank Sinatra, Giuseppe’s became a regular hangout for those fabled Hollywood power lunches. “We’d set them up in the kitchen, so they’d have privacy,” Bellisario explains. “They loved it.”  Bellisario went on to open four more restaurants before retiring. 

Though he and his wife enjoyed retirement and traveling, it wasn’t long before he became a bit restless. “It was actually my wife and daughter who found this place,” he says, looking around the now fully renovated restaurant. “She told me I would love this location, and I did.” While his wife and daughter designed the interior of the restaurant, bar and banquet room, Bellisario oversaw the renovation of the kitchen.

The restaurant opened on December 1, 2009 and many of Grissini’s regular customers, myself now included, are glad they're here. “I never put anything on the menu that I don’t like,” the proud owner explains. Based on this statement and the extensive menu, it is clear that he likes fresh, peak of the season food, prepared with innovation and creativity.  

For diners wishing to create their own entrée, a favorite pasta, fresh, filled or dry may be selected and paired with one of the many homemade sauces, which are tomato based, vegetable based, seafood based or cream based. Prices range from $11.95 to $17.95.

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A SLICE (AND BOWL) OF ITALY. At left, one of Grissini's 23 fresh salads, served in an edible foccacia bowl. At right, the cozy, well appointed bar.

Prepared main courses, featuring chicken, veal, beef and fish are priced between $15.95 and $32.00 with most in the $15.95 to $18.50 price range. Of these offerings, the Pollo Cipriani ($15.95) is delicious. Tender chicken breast with diced tomatoes and artichoke heart is prepared with white wine and served with roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Soups, salads, panini, pizzas and calzoni are also offered on the dinner menu.