Come savor a delectable meal at Bocce. They are open late all week. You can get there by bicycle and public transit. The neighboring area is memorable for its restaurants and stores. You can have your dish simply delivered at home.
Taking a casual-upscale approach to quality Italian dining, Bocce is a 4th Street restaurant that offers diners a menu of traditional Italian cuisine, rosso (red sauce) and bianco (white sauce) pizzas, pastas, salads, antipasti and more. Following the success of established Calgary restaurants Mercato and Wurst, local restaurateur Dominic Caracciolo opened up Bocce as his venture into casual-upscale Italian dining.
Previously having worked at Dominic's Mercato location in Mission, Bocce's executive chef Mark Rebalbos – who joined the restaurant in late 2016 – was familiar with the philosophy behind the food. “I was familiar with their practices. To this day, (Mercato) was still one of my favourite places to work," Mark says. "I know what they're all about, how they treat their employees, and some of their concepts that they use."
Mark says his experience at Mercato informs much of what the team does at Bocce, though the restaurants have significant differences. "Mercado, it's not fine dining, but it's definitely up there," he says. "We bring that same style, but what we're really trying to bring, in terms of service and food and wine, we're trying to bring that same concept but in a more casual atmosphere."
With a giant wood-burning stone oven as the centerpiece of the open kitchen, the staff at Bocce cook up thin-crust pizzas (often with roasted toppings prepared in the same oven) quickly and crisply. The pizza menu is traditionally Italian, featuring a wide selection of both red and white pizzas.
Casual and contemporary, Bocce serves unbeatable Italian pizza, pleasing pastas and a wholesome array of great greens in a sunny setting with a view of the Fourth Street Southwest shopping-and-dining strip. Standout pies include the calabrese topped with spicy fennel sausage, olives, peppers and mozzarella and the funghi dressed with mushrooms, arugula pesto and pine nuts.
Casual and contemporary, Bocce serves unbeatable Italian pizza, pleasing pastas and a wholesome array of great greens in a sunny setting with a festival view. Open at 11 am, standout pies include the calabrese topped with spicy fennel sausage, olives, peppers and mozzarella and the funghi dressed with mushrooms, arugula pesto and pine nuts.