Bencotto

“Bencotto” means and refers to a meal “done well,” or perfectly cooked. In Bencotto’s kitchen, culinary expertise meets the highest — quality and genuine taste.

The concept of Bencotto was conceived as a natural extension of the depth and breadth of Italy’s culinary heritage. Our core belief is that high-quality food can be simple and supremely delicious. With an American as well as international audience in mind, Bencotto came to life inspired by the authenticity of an Italian kitchen juxtaposed with modern scenery.

Our unique approach to Italian cooking tradition, offers hand made “home style” dishes in an environment that reflects who we are: young generation of Italians who celebrate their culinary heritage, presenting it in a modern, relaxed, and inviting kitchen-restaurant.

Located in the new “Q” building in the heart of Little Italy, Bencotto is the ultimate Italian eating experience, drawing inspiration from the kitchens where Italians grow up, cook, and eat.

Combining different experiences from the restaurant business in Milan, Modena, San Diego, and New York, Bencotto offers a unique take on Italian cuisine. The traditional menu is untraditionally “designed-to-share” so that guests can casually pick and choose dishes while enjoying either an “aperitivo” or a full course meal.

Bencotto’s space is designed to welcome guests as they enter an inviting contemporary Italian family kitchen with warm Old World service.

We are a young generation from Northern Italy (Milano and Modena). After owning a restaurant in San Diego in 1998 for seven years, running a fine-dining restaurant and a mozzarella-bar in Milan, and opening an bistro in New York, we realized that our “home” was indeed San Diego, where it all started ten years earlier. So we decided to come back to San Diego — welcoming and curious in its relaxed urban vibe — to share our worldly restaurant experience blended with our culinary heritage.