By admin 
Earlier this month, Visit Sacramento announced the lineup of featured chefs for this year’s Tower Bridge Dinner. One was a newcomer, Joe Pruner of Bocce.
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Unlike the other chefs, who helm kitchens of established restaurants, Pruner’s Bocce isn’t even open yet. In fact, prior to the announcement, most people hadn’t even heard of it.
Pruner plans to open Bocce early next month in the East Sacramento space that formerly housed V. Miller Meats at 4801 Folsom Blvd.
“We’re still waiting on a couple electrical approvals and fire safety, but everything’s kind of on track,” he said.
To drive more buzz, Pruner is hosting his second pop up of the restaurant Sunday, June 28 from 4-8 p.m.
The first pop up was earlier this month, on June 7. Pruner served sandwiches, salads and panna cotta out of neighboring restaurant Origami Asian Grill. This time, he’ll be serving from his own restaurant. He expects they will open the outdoor seating at Origami to accommodate the crowds. He’ll also be showcasing different aspects of his menu.
“I’m doing two types of New York pizza slices, a combo and summer veg, and pepperoni and cheese Detroit style pies by pre-order only. I’ll have a smoked pepper pasta salad, a nice early summer salad, and a few other treats like a build-your-own cannoli kit and marinated olives,” he said.
Bocce has been an objective of Pruner’s for several years, but it started to become reality last year when the V. Miller space became available. Paul DiPierro and Scott Ostrander, owners of Origami, encouraged Pruner to talk to the landlord when the space became available.
Pruner’s concept is to open a neighborhood Italian spot, featuring fresh and extruded pastas, pizza, sandwiches and more, all through a California lens.
“There will be lots of seasonal vegetable sides, whether it be a nice salad with some beautiful baby lettuce from Watsonville, or roasted broccoli with lemon anchovy vinaigrette with shaved parmesan,” he said.
The space will be small, with seating for only about 20, but they plan to add outdoor seating as well. Bocce will be offering takeaway, both in the form of prepared food and things customers can cook at home, like pasta and sauces that come with instructions.
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Pruner is an industry veteran locally, having been part of the inaugural team at Empress Tavern and worked at Obo’, Mulvaney’s B&L and the now-defunct Woodlake Tavern, among other places.
While not Italian-American himself, Bocce’s menu reflects Pruner’s passion for the cuisine.
“The concept just comes from the food that I like to eat and cook, and the food that I’ve been cooking in the Sacramento region for the last 20 years, hyper-seasonal food that’s local and whenever possible organic. We have such beautiful products around here,” he said.
To drive interest in the new spot, Pruner held his first pop-up event at Origami, which is normally closed on Sundays. The diminutive menu contained just three sandwiches, two salads and a single dessert.
The pop-up was announced by only one social media post, but word spread. By the 11 a.m. opening, people began to queue up outside the restaurant, and the line continued to grow.
Neighbors Jack Keys and Courtney Klein have lived around the corner for four years. They had their eyes on the hand-pulled mozzarella sandwich and the chicken parm smash.
“Can’t go wrong with that,” she said.
Bailey Hicks also lives just down the street. She was vacillating between the chicken parm and the bocce ball sandwich, a meatball sub on baguette from Duc Huang in south Sacramento.
Like others, Nikki Halsey learned of the event via Instagram and felt compelled to give it a try.
“Chicken parm smash. Yeah, I think that’s my three favorite words of all time there. And then the panna cotta,” she said.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 11:19 AM with the headline “Tower Bridge Dinner chef’s restaurant pops up Sunday to tout upcoming opening.”
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