John Couacaud, Executive Chef

San Francisco native John Couacaud began working in restaurants at 16 years of age.  Starting as a dishwasher, held every imaginable kitchen job in subsequent years as he put himself through college, studying art and photography at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, San Francisco State and Hochschule für Bildendekunste in Braunschweig, Germany.  Just before college graduation he decided that food, not art, was his calling and switched career paths.

John went on to cook at Bay Area Italian heavy-hitters, Oakland’s Oliveto (3 years) and Walnut Creek’s Prima (another 3 years), then worked his way up the ranks through a number of other Bay Area kitchens before opening his own rustic Italian spot, Acquacotta, in Alameda in 2008. As chef/owner of Acquacotta, John ran a daily menu of soulful central Italian dishes as well as an all-Italian wine list.  The economy forced John to shutter his restaurant in April of 2010 but his passion for rustic, seasonal Italian carries on at Ottimista.