Bello by Sandro Nardone

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Story Rooted in Southern Italy

Sandro Nardone grew up in Atina, a small town between Rome and Naples, in a family where food was not a profession but a way of life. His mother Giovanna ran the kitchen of the family's restaurants, hand-crafting charcuterie from pigs raised by a relative and pressing olive oil from the family's own trees. Her polenta drew Rome's most prominent figures to the table. His Aunt Angelina's Scamorza cheese earned a following that reportedly included Pope John Paul II. These are the flavors and standards that shaped Sandro's palate long before he ever set foot in a professional kitchen.

After formal training in Italy and years spent working at restaurants including Al Mulino outside Rome — and spending every spare lira eating at the country's most innovative tables — Nardone came to the United States in 2012. He built a reputation in Dana Point with Angelina's Pizzeria, recognized for some of Orange County's best brick-oven pizza. But a small kitchen kept his full range of cooking out of reach. In 2019, he created Bello to change that.

What Bello Is

Bello by Sandro Nardone is Michelin-recognized fine dining Italian in Newport Beach, earning 2 Forks from Gambero Rosso in 2026 — a guide whose standards are rooted in Italy itself. OC Register food critic Brad Johnson put it plainly: "Nobody else in Orange County is cooking like this."

The philosophy is straightforward in Nardone's own words: "Italian food is very simple. We work with the best ingredients and then incorporate those ingredients and techniques to achieve certain results... that's where they're transformed." Classic technique, perfect seasonal ingredients, and a restless creativity that keeps the menu moving.

The Table and the Room

The dining room centers on a chef-driven kitchen, and at its heart is the Chef's Table — an intimate six-person counter where guests sit directly with Chef Nardone for a seasonal tasting menu. It is currently being reimagined for its next iteration, which speaks to how seriously the kitchen takes the format.

The everyday menu is a full expression of modern Italian cuisine: starters like grilled octopus with 'nduja and rapini, bone marrow with porcini dust and balsamic, and Hamachi crudo with preserved lemon and charred Treviso. House-made pastas include a Bolognese on tagliolini, a shrimp ragù with crustacean brodo, and a spaghetti pomodoro built from three Italian tomato varieties. The wine list leans heavily Italian — Barolo, Verdicchio, Primitivo from Puglia — with serious California representation alongside it. Aperitivo hour runs Monday through Thursday in the bar area, a nod to the rhythms of an Italian evening.

The dress code, as the restaurant puts it, is wherever you're comfortable — jeans or dressed up a notch. Dogs are welcome on the patio.