Via Maestra 42, a North State Italian restaurant and deli, is serving its authentic Italian favorites under new ownership. Well, somewhat new. The restaurant’s now-retired owner Renato Moisio wasn’t going to let his legacy go to just anyone, so he called someone the restaurant’s regulars are likely to remember. Nicole Bitar worked as Via Maestra 42’s general manager nearly 22 years ago, when the business was new.

She helped Mr. and Mrs. Moisio launch their ideas, and she fell in love with the business. During a trip to see her mom in Houston a few years later, she met and married her husband Georges Bitar. (They met at an Italian restaurant, by the way.) She was unable to return to Santa Barbara until around nine years ago, bringing her Italian husband and two sons (now three).