As the winter months cool the oak trees and turn the Central Coast vines bare and dormant, Antonio Varia, executive chef and owner of the area’s favorite Italian restaurants, Buona Tavola in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, will be finding new ways to serve up his truffle mushrooms, polenta and risotto.

Winter is the perfect time for Varia’s Osso Buco, or the most popular of the menu’s primi piatti: Spaghettini allo Scoglio d’Oro — a festa of a pasta dish with roasted garlic, Manila clams, black mussels, sea scallops, baby lobster tail, white shrimp and diced roma tomatoes in a crustacean saffron broth with a touch of cream. And with a bottle of Colline Novaresi “Fara,” from the wine list: a blend of nebbiolo, vespolina, and uva rara — “Mamamia, it’s so good,” Varia would say.