(This post has been updated.)After nearly a decade with hardly any use, the largest space in the Tannery Building is a dining destination once again. Bella Siena, the new Italian-American restaurant, is open for business.

After nearly a decade with hardly any use, the largest space in the Tannery Building is a dining destination once again. Bella Siena, the new Italian-American restaurant, is open for business.

The restaurant is the creation of Napa couple Elizabeth and Yilmaz Kurt, who have spent more than a year going through the permitting, contracting and remodeling process. Bella Siena had its grand opening Monday evening, and Elizabeth could not be happier.

“It feels amazing,” she said, “like a huge weight has been lifted. It’s been a really long time coming.”

The Kurts are no strangers to fine Italian dining. Both had worked at Allegria in Napa for many years, Elizabeth as a server and Yilmaz as a server and manager. However, Elizabeth said her husband has been doing most of the work in the last seven years as she has spent a lot of time raising their two children. Elizabeth and Yilmaz figured that opening their own restaurant could give themselves some financial solidity to ensure the long hours they work will be worth it to allow for some quality time with their children.

“Although the hours are going to be very long and hard to open our own place, we’ll eventually have some stability to be able to go on nice family vacations,” she said. “We just want to be able to have that stability to be able to go on vacations with our kids.”

Initially, the Kurts wanted to open a restaurant in their hometown, but Napa being the culinary destination that it is they figured the competition would be too tight. A friend had shown them to visit a vacant space in the Tannery, and the Kurts were instantly sold.

“We just fell in love with the views,” Elizabeth said. “I knew I’d always loved the city, and we’d frequent it often.”

Due to its large windows providing an expansive view of the Carquinez Straits, the edge of the Tannery Building has been home to a variety of places for patrons to eat and enjoy a view of the water. Past tenants have included The Wet Noodle and Clay’s BBQ, but most Benicians probably best remember it for the site of the Shoreline Restaurant, which operated from 2001 to 2009 and also provided a mix of Italian and American foods with views of the Carquinez in both an indoor and patio area. The Shoreline closed in the midst of the Great Recession. Shortly afterward, a new restaurant called Tannery Grill was announced, but the restaurant never materialized. In the next eight years, the only tenant was The Teak Man which operated on the former patio in 2015 before moving to West H Street. Relief came in late 2016 when the Kurts visited the property and applied for a permit.

“Once we saw that location and the windows, we were sold,” Elizabeth said.

The restaurant is partially named after the Kurts’ 4-year-old daughter Bella, which is also the Italian word for “beautiful.” When coming up with another Italian word to pair it with, they settled on Siena, a city in Tuscany known for its brick buildings.

“We thought that was perfect,” Elizabeth said.

Bella Siena’s menu offers a blend of Italian and American foods. Patrons can order everything from skirt steaks to salads to wild mushroom ravioli, capellini, grilled salmon and paninis. The interior also pays tribute to Siena. Elizabeth went to school for interior design, so she had a lot of fun with the concepts for the space.

“I wanted to go with a rustic modern feel,” she said. “Not too contemporary, but not too trendy with the farmhouse style, so we wanted to keep it right in the middle with a lot of steel and wood features. The long brick wall made it easy. It was easy to decorate it and go along with that theme. It kind of made the space.”

In keeping with the family theme, Elizabeth recently brought in her brother John Sands as partial owner.

It took a long time to go through the permitting and construction process, but Elizabeth said the city and Tannery management have been supportive the entire time. She was especially thankful for landlord Joe Lopez who helped paint the building and remained an advocate throughout.

Elizabeth said the response to Bella Siena has been overwhelmingly positive so far. She envisions the restaurant as a place where people can bring dates and host events like wedding rehearsal dinners for a fine dining experience.

“Every single customer has been telling us just how much the town has needed it,” she said. “They’re so appreciative that we opened this place for them to frequent.”

“We really wanted to bring Benicia a fine dining restaurant,” she added.

Bella Siena is located at 127 First St. Lunch hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner hours are 5 to 10 p.m. every day. For more information, visit bellasienarestaurant.com.