Thanin Viriyaki
For brothers Alessandro and Alfonso Salvatore, the last year has been, in Alessandro’s words, a “tremendous blessing.”
Last summer, the brothers seemingly came out of nowhere — McAllen, to be exact — and took Fort Worth’s culinary scene by storm with their Italian restaurant, Bocca Osteria Romana, which opened in August in the South Main area. No corporate backers, no marketing campaigns, not even a press release — they opened their restaurant in the exact way you’re not supposed to open a restaurant.
Their DIY approach to launching Bocca is as refreshing as the restaurant itself, with its scratch-made food, warm, attentive service, and lively atmosphere. It’s remarkable how these relative newcomers to Fort Worth have so perfectly understood our city, cultivating a welcoming space for diners of all ages, races, and Italian food expertise.
The city, and its culinary scene, have quickly embraced them. Last year, Fort Worth Magazine named Bocca the best new restaurant of the past two years, and earlier this spring, CultureMap named Alessandro Fort Worth’s best chef of the year. There’s also the obvious thing that illustrates their talents: packed dining rooms every night they’re open.
“You cannot imagine how grateful we are,” Alessandro says. “It’s unbelievable how much love and support we get from Fort Worth. We honestly didn’t know what people would think of us or our food. We didn’t know Fort Worth very well at all. The love and support have been such a tremendous blessing.”
Bocca Osteria
The restaurant changes its menu seasonally and with summer here, so are several new offerings. Among the new dishes is a light, lemon-tinged spaghetti featuring chitarra, a unique square-cut pasta, its shape the result of the traditional tool used to make it: a “chitarra,” named for the strings it uses to cut the dough.
Another new pasta is the seasonal tagliatelle; the summer version is made with a blend of five different mushrooms. Among new seafood offerings is an eye-catching octopus tentacle served on a bed of cannellini bean puree, the tentacle cooked perfectly, its skin nicely crisped, its meat supple and flavorful.
There’s also a beautiful beet salad, along with an appetizer of whipped ricotta, local honey, pomegranates, and crostini. Alessandro nicknamed the latter “scarpetta.”
“Fare la scarpetta — in Italian it means using bread to soak up what’s left of your sauce on your plate after you’ve finished eating,” he says.
Bocca has been doing so well, the brothers have decided to open a second concept in the old Funky Town Picnic & Brewery space at 401 Bryan Ave., just around the corner from Bocca. Alessandro says that while they’re still working on the name and menu, the concept will incorporate elements of Mexican, Italian, Latin, and Caribbean fare.
“We are definitely going to do some creative pizzas,” he says. “One pizza we’ve talked about doing is a Hawaiian pizza topped with al pastor meat from a spit, fresh pineapple, and a Mexican salsa.”
Alessandro says the restaurant will tell the story of their lives through food and atmosphere. “Our journey has taken us across the globe, and we want this restaurant to show that — little nods to each place that has shaped us.” He says he’s hoping to open by the end of the year.
