New restaurant opens at SLO County winery — and it serves wine-infused ice cream

A new Italian-California restaurant has opened its doors inside a decades-old San Luis Obispo County winery.

Melo Mela Kitchen had its soft opening two months ago at the tasting room of Bianchi Winery in Paso Robles.

The restaurant was an idea 10 years in the running by father-and-son owners Glenn and Beau Bianchi, Chef Gregg Wangard told The Tribune. Now, after a year of construction and turning the tasting room’s backroom into a commercial kitchen, the dream is a reality.

“It was just really important to them that they wanted a restaurant-style menu here at the winery, and it was really their vision to be Italian-California influenced and so it’s their vision to bring it to life,” he said.

Melo Mela’s name pays tribute to Beau Bianchi’s great-grandparents Carmelo and Carmela, using the back ends of each of their names. The winery’s three-generation history is not lost on the new restaurant, as its recipes mirror Carmela’s old dishes.

“Glenn tells stories about Grandma Carmela cooking specific types of pastas and specific types of dishes, things that they really wanted to incorporate into the restaurant,” Director of Hospitality Joe Kowalski said. “Being in California, there is a little bit more of a fun casual twist to it, but the roots are there.”

Bianchi Winery’s roots date back to the early 1970s, when Joseph Bianchi invested in a winery and vineyard in the Central Valley. His son, Glenn Bianchi, moved the Bianchi Wine legacy to 40 acres in Paso Robles in 2000 and opened the tasting room in 2004, according to the winery’s website.

The restaurant serves classic Italian dishes with a California twist, including lamb meatballs, picanha steak, wagyu burger, halibut and carbonara. Local vendors like Back Porch Bakery, Mighty Cap Mushrooms and Primal House meats are featured throughout Melo Mela Kitchen’s grub.

The menu has notes for pairing the entrees with a glass or bottle from Bianchi Winery, with winemaker Todd Weiher sharing how the relationship between a glass of wine and food is central to a good dining experience.

“The genesis to get food was to come full circle with hospitality art, and people always come here hungry, and that’s where wine shows best, is with food, I believe, over any other beverage,” Weiher told The Tribune. “Melo Mela highlighted it was just the evolution of the winery, too. I think we were ready for it.”

Melo Mela Kitchen offers desserts like a dark chocolate budino and panna cotta, but its most popular sweet treat is a non-dairy alcoholic ice cream — infused with Bianchi wines.

Made from lentil beans from Double O Creamery in Bakersfield, the ice cream comes in four flavors: peach with champagne, pineapple made with sauvignon blanc, passionfruit with rosé and the most popular, berry vanilla with cabernet.

“We’ve been doing that for almost three years or three seasons now,” Kowalski said. “It’s definitely a hit in the summertime.”

Melo Mela Kitchen’s opening is just the first phase of new changes coming to Bianchi Winery, Kowalski said. While the vineyard already has an Airbnb on its property, it’s expanding its overnight stays with eight shipping container homes.

“It was always the end goal to open up a bed-and-breakfast,” Kowalski said. “It’s a step forward in a larger picture, with the kitchen.”

Ideas are being thrown around to expand experiences at Bianchi Winery, such as adding a pool, an edible garden, an outdoor movie screen and even mini golf. While none of these pitches are happening in the near future, Kowalski said they are all potentially possible.

“There are other wineries that do zip lining, archery, horseback riding,” he said. “We’re just trying to build these things up and explore what people are gravitating towards. So nothing is off the table. It’s just a matter of what becomes popular and what we can provide.”

For more information

Melo Mela Kitchen at 3380 Branch Road in Paso Robles, open Monday, Thursday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the restaurant, visit bianchiwine.com.