A Taste of Italy: Trabocco Kitchen Opens Monday at South Shore

Trabocco Kitchen and Cocktails, a new restaurant founded by Alameda residents Chef Giuseppe Naccarelli, a native of Palombaro, Italy, and his wife, Christine, will officially open Monday, Nov. 18, at South Shore Center. The 4,700-square-foot restaurant is prominently located in Center Court, the shopping center’s main plaza.

Trabocco celebrates a commitment to community, quality, and a contemporary view of classic Italian cuisine, emphasizing locally sourced and organic ingredients. The menu features stuzzichini (small bites), authentic thin crust pizza, rustic baked and roasted delicacies from a wood-burning oven, meat and fish on the rotisserie, and fresh pastas and breads made in-house daily.

Examples of regional specialties include the Baccala e Peperoni, salt-cod marinated with roasted bell peppers and crispy polenta; Spaghetti del Trabocco, baby octopus, shrimp, scallops, clams, and mussels in a tomato sauce; and Pollo Abruzzese, wood-fire grilled boneless half-chicken, fresh herb and chili flake marinade, Abruzzese salt, roasted vegetables, and potatoes. The full menu can be viewed here.

Trabocco's signature cocktails feature Alameda's own Hangar 1 Vodkas and St. George Spirits. The house wines on tap, served by the glass or carafe, are from Rockwall Wines, an Alameda winery that, like Hangar 1 and St. George Spirits, makes its home at Alameda Point.

“Our farm-to-table restaurant is approachable and meant to impart the warmth and strong sense of community that echoes both my Italian upbringing and the city of Alameda. We look forward to becoming a natural gathering place for locals and visitors alike,” said chef/owner Naccarelli.

Also reflective of the chef’s heritage is the restaurant’s name. Trabocci are a type of fishing pier unique to the Adriatic coastline of Italy’s Abruzzo region. “The distinct architectural imagery of the trabocci as well as Alameda’s waterfront location, helped us refine the restaurant’s design and gave a sharper focus to the final materials, colors, and art work,” said Lev Weisbach of Weisbach design | architecture, who oversaw the restaurant’s architecture, interior design, and construction.

Trabocco has a 90-seat main dining room, 16-seat private wine room, 30-seat bar area, and 56-seat outdoor dining patio. The main dining room features a soaring 35-foot tower crowned by a large skylight and light sculptures inspired by fishing nets, and opens to a contemporary exhibition kitchen. The outdoor patio will be lit with festive string lights and heated so it can be used year round.

Beginning Nov. 18, the restaurant will be open seven days a week for dinner only, Sunday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 5-11 p.m.

In mid-December, Trabocco will also be open for lunch at 11 am and for brunch on the weekends starting at 9 am. Reservations can be made by calling (510) 521-1152 or online at OpenTable.com.

Prior to opening Trabocco, Naccarelli was with Il Fornaio as vice president of kitchen operations, where he oversaw restaurant openings, supervised the chefs at the group’s 21 restaurants, and developed new recipes and menu concepts.

Naccarelli also worked in numerous kitchens in Los Angeles and Italy. He attended culinary school in Roccarasso, Abruzzo and learned all aspects of the restaurant and hotel industries at the Istituto Professionale Alberghiero di Stato.  

“Trabocco represents a vital addition to Alameda’s dining landscape and reinforces the importance of local family-owned businesses to the area,” said Michael Phillips, COO of Jamestown, South Shore Center’s owner. “It will be a celebration of coastal Italian cuisine from the Abruzzo region of Italy, offered in a festive and welcoming setting.”  

For more information, please visit www.trabocco.com. Trabocco can also be found on Facebook.

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