Cynthia Ariosta
Cynthia Ariosta is the Managing Partner at Tra Vigne Pizzeria in St. Helena, CA. Originally from Staten
Island, NY, Cynthia has over 30 years in the restaurant business, dating back to bartending gigs in mid-
town Manhattan, a job she took to support herself as she attempted an acting career. Her passion for
horses brought her to California in 2001, when she took a hiatus from restaurants to work on a horse
ranch in Fort Bragg. Cynthia has owned three other restaurants, including Saucy, a own wood-fired
pizza and beer joint in Ukiah, which she sold in 2017 to become a partner at the Pizzeria.
Cynthia’s life is defined 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. She has written two food related articles for Word of Mouth
Magazine, including one about the necessity of Western cultures to embrace the consumption of edible
insects and another about her recent journey through Sicily that unlocked a culinary mystery.
When she’s not working on pivoting and marketing the Pizzeria, she can be found cooking, dining and
drinking with her fiancé Bill Upson, snuggling with her two black Labs, running, diving, or planning her
next travel adventure. In her next life, she’d like to come back as a Culinary Television star and get paid
to be on camera eating, drinking and travelling!
