When it opened its doors 12 years ago, the original Pizzeria Locale introduced Boulder to pizza, Napoli style. The city at the time enjoyed a few other wood-fired oven pizza places, most notably Basta, which opened in 2010. But with Pizzeria Locale, Boulderites could savor a culinary experience atmospheric of one that might unfold alongside the Bay of Naples, while looking out over Pearl Street.
It wasn’t just the thin-crust pies, cooked in 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven imported from Italy, or the spritzes and amaros on the menu that evoked Naples. The urban-chic decor, too — white-and-black tiled floors, bright lights, immense black-and-white pizza oven — somehow also suggested Naples, even for those who had never visited the city. At the very least, it presented as Italian-exotic, and stylish.
But earlier this year the Frasca team closed Pizzeria Locale, for a thorough refresh and a name change. The old Locale is now Alberico, honoring co-owner Bobby Stuckey’s father-in-law, Dick Alberico, a Front Range sign painter who crafted the awning on Stuckey’s first restaurant, Frasca Food and Wine.
“Dick,” said Stuckey, “is the reason we moved here 20 years ago.”
And although the 82 year old is retired, Stuckey said the “ruthless son-in-law in me” compelled him to draw Dick out of retirement to paint Alberico in white on the restaurant’s pizza oven, which now is a rich blue. The color finds purchase throughout Alberico, a nod, said Stuckey, to the color for S.S.C. Napoli (the city’s soccer team) and to the city’s long coastline.
The blue touches represent just one Locale-to-Alberico decorative change. The old tile floors now are brown, the color of oak. The gray walls are trowelled plaster, and earthy. Instead of sticking with Locale’s almost blinding brilliance, the Alberico team invested in much softer lighting, inviting diners to luxuriate in such a welcoming environment.
With a full booze menu now — Locale didn’t serve spirits — the Alberico team redesigned the bar, making it feel more spacious and creating a 3-foot-tall screen of Aperol bottles suspended above the seating; as dusk ripens, it glows like a veil of lava.
The old Locale’s design offered the zip and vigor of an enthusiastic 20-something — effervescent, amiable and sometimes a bit exhausting. With Alberico, we encounter that lovable 20-something after a decade of service and success; broadcasting maturity, sophisticated, confident. Instead of eyeing the door toward the end of the meal, we consider an amaro, and relish the sensation of our blood pressure continuing its pleasing descent.
While the pivot from Locale to Alberico marks a stylistic transformation, the restaurant’s soul — the food — remains as bewitching and satisfying as ever.
The “assaggi,” or appetizers, showcase Napoli arancini, which are balls of risotto stuffed with things and deep fried; when Locale opened, it introduced plenty of Boulderites to the savory treasures. Fried mushrooms (fried foods register as a distinct Napoli passion), olives, plates of Prosciutto di Parma, burrata, meatballs, bruschetta: most of the assaggi on the Locale menu find new life on the Alberico menu.
The salad lineup nearly mirrors that from Locale as well, although the cavolfiore, a roasted cauliflower number with an oregano sauce, cilantro salsa verde and lemon, is new.
The pizza — the star — maintained its gleam and shimmer during the switch to Alberico.
“The margherita pizza, a Naples classic, will always be on the menu,” said Stuckey. “The vibrancy of the tomato sauce, the quick cook time of the pizza dough. It’s so simple. And perfect.”
White- and red-style pizzas bisected the Locale menu. But Alberico introduces a third category, “verde,” which celebrates pesto sauces. Of the two verde pizzas, one rests upon a foundation of a pistachio basil pesto, and the other leans into a pesto made from broccolini and anchovies.
Alberico also brings cocktails to the party, and the menu features a range of classics like a Negroni, plus bespoke drinks such as the “Alberico Dirty Martini,” which adds sun-dried tomato brine to vodka. Like Locale, Alberico also explores spritzes.
When Frasca (which is next door to Alberico) opened 20 years ago, Stuckey said it was nearly impossible to get Aperol and nobody knew what spritzes were; now, oceans of spritzes wash over American restaurants. Alberico’s Alpine Spritz, with Braulio, Cardamaro, lemon and soda, serves as an homage to Boulder’s mountain environment; the spritz’s ingredients come from Italy’s north, rather than Campania.
Finally, the wine. As Stuckey is an internationally recognized master sommelier, with a particular passion for Italian wines, the Alberico wine menu thrills. Instead of a pageant of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, both the by-the-glass and bottle menus feature grapes like Verdicchio, Grillo, Fiano, Aglianico, Sangiovese and Nerello Mascalese.
“The whites from southern Italy are bright, with acidity, and not oaky,” Stuckey said. “The reds generally don’t use new oak, and so there is a vibrancy to them. If you think about pizza, it really showcases delicate flavors. It’s not about a lot of stuff. It’s just a few ingredients done well, so they pop. And the wines are perfect complements.”
Alberico, at 1730 Pearl St., is open for lunch through dinner every day, with happy hour from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
