Bernie Kantak and Queen Creek Olive Mill's Perry Rea to Open The Olive Farmer in Arcadia This Fall

Highlights

• Chef Bernie Kantak and Queen Creek Olive Mill founder Perry Rea will open The Olive Farmer in Arcadia's former Santo and Pecado space at 44th Street and Osborn Road.
• Kantak's In Good Spirits Hospitality — operator of Citizen Public House, The Gladly, and Minnow — is backing the concept.
• Palermo-born pizzaiolo Agostino Trentacoste will run a dedicated Flour Lab producing bronze-extruded pasta, bread, and focaccia.
• The Olive Farmer is targeted to open this fall, operating as an Italian deli by day and a full-service restaurant and bar by night.

Chef Bernie Kantak and Queen Creek Olive Mill founder Perry Rea are bringing The Olive Farmer — an Italian restaurant, market, and bar — to the former Santo and Pecado space at 44th Street and Osborn Road in Arcadia, as AZ Big Media and the Arizona Republic reported in April.

Kantak, a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist, is partnering with his In Good Spirits Hospitality group on the concept. That group currently operates Citizen Public House in Old Town Scottsdale, The Gladly, Beginner's Luck, and Minnow — a sushi and matcha bar that opened in Arcadia in 2025, making The Olive Farmer the group's second bet on the neighborhood in as many years.

The partnership traces to a tour Kantak and his team took of Queen Creek Olive Mill roughly a year before the April 2026 announcement. Rea's mill will supply a curated in-house market stocked with olive oils, balsamics, and the Olivespa skincare line.

The kitchen centerpiece is a dedicated Flour Lab run by Palermo-born pizzaiolo Agostino Trentacoste, who will produce bronze-extruded pasta, bread, focaccia, and pastries from imported flour. The Olive Farmer will operate as an Italian deli during the day — pastries, breakfast sandwiches — and shift to pizzas, salads, house-made pasta, and panuozzo sandwiches at night. A back bar called ISSIMA will anchor the cocktail program with Italian-inspired drinks.

Who is behind The Olive Farmer?

The concept pairs Kantak's In Good Spirits Hospitality — which opened Citizen Public House on January 11, 2011, and has grown to four restaurants — with Perry Rea, founder of Queen Creek Olive Mill. Kantak was named a James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Southwest semifinalist in 2020 for his work at Citizen Public House.

The Olive Farmer is targeting a fall 2026 opening at 44th Street and Osborn Road in Arcadia.

Sources

Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.

1. AZ Big Media retrieved 2026-05-08T00:01:03.411517+00:00
2. Phoenix New Times retrieved 2026-05-08T00:01:03.411517+00:00
3. Phoenix New Times retrieved 2026-05-08T00:01:03.411517+00:00

Authored by margot_reyes. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 2026-05-08T00:01:03.411517+00:00. Every claim traces to a source.