Ospi had been trying to get into Montecito for a while. The team started looking in 2020, but finding the right space was harder than expected. Some opportunities went to other groups. Others just did not feel right. Then the Runyon Group reached out.
“Everything aligned perfectly,” chef Jackson Kalb says. “It was better than we could have dreamed.”
The location gave Ospi something that is not always easy to find in Montecito: a newly redeveloped center, enough room to do the restaurant properly, and plenty of parking. They also spent heavily on the space. Kalb says the Montecito restaurant is Ospi’s most elaborate buildout so far, created with the Warner Group and backed by a larger investment than any of their other locations.
“We are confident that it shows without us needing to explain ourselves,” he says.
Still, the goal was never to drop an existing Ospi into Montecito and leave it at that. Each restaurant changes a little depending on the neighborhood. Here, that has meant putting more emphasis on brunch and lunch, since guests in Montecito tend to be out and about during the day. The team also added scratch-made bread, which took time to develop and became one more way this location took on its own identity.
That part appealed to the team. “While we can certainly be a special-occasion restaurant, we are approachable enough to dine at after a bike ride on the beach or to become a go-to weekend brunch spot,” Kalb says.
That balance is probably the best way to understand Ospi. The menu is Italian-American, and Kalb is clear about that distinction. Montecito already has Italian restaurants. Ospi is leaning into dishes people know well—rigatoni alla vodka, meatballs, chicken parm—and trying to make those familiar things as well as possible.
“We aren’t trying to show off,” he says, “but rather to create the ‘best’ versions of Italian-American staples that we can in a high-volume atmosphere.”
Kalb’s Michelin-level training is part of that. The dishes may look straightforward on paper, but there is plenty happening behind them. The rigatoni is one of the restaurant’s signatures. The kale salad has also become a favorite, which is not necessarily what you expect to hear from an Italian-American restaurant. It is made with almonds and avocado, sourced from California when in season.
“We have been able to convert many ‘non-kale’ diners over the years with this seemingly simple salad,” Kalb says.
That tells you something about Ospi too. It is comfortable with familiar food, but not locked into it. The restaurant can work for an anniversary or birthday, but it can also work for brunch, a family dinner or a casual night out. That range is part of what makes the Montecito location feel less like a destination restaurant and more like something people can actually fold into their week.
That matters to Kalb because the goal is not just to get people through the door once.
“We aspire to be the ‘go-to’ restaurant in town,” he says. “Whether that be for a birthday, anniversary, another special occasion, or simply a night out with family.”
That is probably the real test for Ospi in Montecito: not whether people try it, but whether it becomes one of the places they keep coming back to.
We aspire to be the go-to restaurant in town, whether for a special occasion or simply a night out with family.