Marisella brings handmade pasta and Amalfi Coast flavors to Goleta

Marisella opened June 26 at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta, taking over the former Angel Oak space and bringing a pasta-forward Italian concept to one of the Santa Barbara area’s most visible resort dining rooms. Led by Chef Danny Grant, the restaurant is built around seafood, handmade pasta, and wood-fired meats, with an Amalfi Coast influence layered over the Central Coast setting.

The opening gives the Bacara a fresh fine-dining identity at 8301 Hollister Avenue, where the restaurant sits above the Pacific Ocean near Haskell’s Beach. The resort’s dining program has long leaned on coastal California cuisine, ocean views, fresh locally sourced ingredients, and curated wine lists, and Marisella extends that formula with a sharper Italian focus. Resy lists complimentary valet through The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, underscoring that the room is being presented as a destination rather than a casual stop-in.

For pasta diners, the key detail is that handmade pasta is not a side note here. OpenTable frames the menu around seafood and locally sourced ingredients, while the concept itself draws on Amalfi Coast traditions and the bounty of California’s land and sea. That combination points to a kitchen trying to balance polished resort dining with a clearer point of view than the usual hotel Italian menu, using pasta as the anchor rather than a supporting role.

The setting also matters because Marisella replaces Angel Oak, which opened in June 2016 and closed in January 2025 after nearly nine years in the space. The reset gives the Bacara a chance to reintroduce its signature dinner reservation with a new name, a new menu direction, and a chef whose résumé already carries weight in high-end dining. Maple Hospitality Group says Grant earned two Michelin stars in 2011 and 2012, making him the youngest U.S. chef at the time to receive that honor.

Marisella’s hours are Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with Friday and Saturday service extending to 10 p.m. Its name, translated locally as star of the sea, fits the room at the edge of the Pacific. The real test now is whether the ocean-view luxury framing delivers a pasta experience that feels distinct on the Santa Barbara coast, or whether the handmade shapes and Amalfi notes are enough to make the reservation itself the draw.