Name: Cynthia Ariosta
Job: Managing Partner, Tra Vigne Pizzeria and Restaurant
Hometown: Staten Island, NY
Education:  Bachelor's of Communications, Syracuse University 1993

Cynthia Ariosta, the managing partner at Tra Vigne Pizzeria and Restaurant, has over 30 years in the restaurant business.

She started her career in mid-town Manhattan with bartending gigs to support herself as she attempted to develop an acting career in the Big Apple. 

Though she's not pursuing acting gigs now, Cynthia believes that entertainment, production, and the arts are woven into the fabric of hospitality. In this act, the stage is the restaurant and the audience is the guest. 

But it was her passion for horses that eventually brought her to California in 2001, where she took a hiatus from the restaurant industry to work on a horse ranch in Fort Bragg, California. There, she learned more about sustainability, local food production, and organic farming, all of which contribute to her food-making process and inspiration today. You can read up on her adventures and learnings in Word of Mouth Magazine. 

Prior to the Pizzeria, Cynthia also owned three other restaurants, including Saucy, her own wood-fired pizza, and beer joint in Mendocino County, which she sold in 2017 to become a partner at the Pizzeria (and to get out of Ukiah!)

She defines herself by hunger and thirst – not just in her passion for the restaurant business – but in her insatiable cravings for travel and culinary adventures, learning about countries and cultures through the experiences she has with food. 

If you haven't already, be sure to stop by Tra Vigne Pizzeria and say hi to Cynthia. While you're there try some of Tra Vigne's famous fresh mozzarella. You won't regret it!