Sardinian Chef Crafts Purposeful Pasta on California’s Central Coast

A Sardinian chef has opened Pasta Santina in Carpinteria, bringing purposeful pasta to California’s Central Coast. It may have been stormy outside at the time but it felt bright and distinctly Italian inside the new Pasta Santina in Carpinteria, Judy Foreman reported for Noozhawk, capturing the opening atmosphere in her Lifestyle piece.

Chef Sergio Chierego, founder of Pasta Santina, brings traditional Southern Italian pasta-making techniques to the Central Coast with a focus on small-batch quality and Mediterranean-inspired nutrition, Foreman writes. That description frames the restaurant’s stated approach and connects Chierego’s Sardinian background to the menu and production methods highlighted at the opening.

The Pasta Santina opening featured, from left, shortie pasta in Bolognese; shells with lemon ricotta, arugula and trumpet mushrooms; and penne in arrabbiata, the event caption notes, Credit: Judy Foreman / Noozhawk photo. Those three dishes serve as a snapshot of the kitchen’s direction, pairing classic ragù and arrabbiata preparations with a citrus-and-greens composition that foregrounds ingredients like lemon, ricotta, arugula and trumpet mushrooms.

Foreman’s profile explores his journey and dedication to meaningful Italian cuisine in the region, presenting Chierego’s work as both craft and culinary mission on the Central Coast. The Noozhawk story places Pasta Santina within Santa Barbara County’s dining conversation under the site’s tagline, The freshest news in Santa Barbara County, and situates the opening in the Lifestyle section where community food stories run.

The article’s social distribution included a Facebook snippet and an X post that repeated Foreman’s headline, extending the opening coverage beyond Carpinteria and into wider Central Coast interest. Photo credit for the opening coverage is listed exactly as Credit: Judy Foreman / Noozhawk photo, and the Noozhawk technical notice appears alongside the piece: This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Pasta Santina’s arrival in Carpinteria, as reported by Judy Foreman for Noozhawk, emphasizes traditional Southern Italian techniques, small-batch production and a Mediterranean-inspired nutrition focus; the opening’s shortie in Bolognese, shells with lemon ricotta, arugula and trumpet mushrooms, and penne in arrabbiata provide the first public evidence of that approach.