by InTrieste
The Barcolana, Trieste’s iconic sailing regatta that each year draws thousands of boats and spectators to the Gulf of Trieste, will add a new event to its calendar this October — one designed not for the sea, but for the table.
On October 7, the regatta will host the inaugural edition of Fuori Menù, a charity dinner prepared by a team of inmates from the Trieste prison who have spent the past months training in traditional seafood cooking techniques. The event will take place at Zinzendorf, a recently opened restaurant in the hillside town of Opicina, just above Trieste.
The initiative is part of “Slow gusto: tecniche di cucina marinara,” a culinary training project aimed at helping incarcerated men and women build skills they can use after serving their sentences. For organizers, the dinner is meant to spark reflection on the role of prison in society while also offering a tangible opportunity for reintegration.
“After a period of training and professional experience inside the prison, the group of inmates will have the chance to apply what they’ve learned in a dinner open to the community,” said Mitja Gialuz, president of the Barcolana’s organizing body, the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano. “Barcolana’s goal is to ensure dialogue and attention for a reality — that of prison — which too often encounters only indifference or mistrust.”
Tickets for the seafood dinner, priced at 60 euros, will be available through Barcolana’s website. Part of the proceeds will go to DOC, an association of teachers and professionals working in prison education, to support further training and reintegration programs inside the Trieste facility.
DOC, which co-organized the event, emphasizes building connections between the “inside” and “outside” of prison life. Without such links, the group says, reentry initiatives risk remaining incomplete. Collaborations with the broader community, by contrast, help foster a sense of inclusion and create pathways toward employment.
The evening’s setting, the Zinzendorf Okrepčevalnica – Ristoro, describes itself as both a gastronomic and cultural space, designed to highlight local traditions while encouraging exchange across cultures.
Sponsors include Consorzio Prosecco DOC, Azienda Agricola Marina Danieli, Bepi Tosolini and Acqua Dolomia, with additional support from the I.S.I.S. Bonaldo Stringher hospitality school.
“This first edition of Fuori Menù is about more than dinner,” Mr. Gialuz said. “Those who take part will be contributing to a larger goal: offering hope to men and women serving sentences, and working toward a safer, more inclusive society.”
The dinner will begin at 8 p.m., with reservations opening on September 28.
