Less than 24 hours before Tambellini & Co.’s May 8 grand opening, the Brookline sandwich shop was a flurry of activity. Co-owner Michael Tambellini hauled a huge stock pot of marinara — at least five gallons, his fiancée and co-owner Trista Fulton estimated — and pulled pans of house-made mozzarella out of the refrigerator. He was midway through prepping a second batch of 150 meatballs using a Tambellini family recipe kept secret for three generations.
Working the line, Fulton assembled chicken parm paninis and stacked mozzarella and meatballs onto Mediterra Bakehouse bread for grinders — or hot subs — which Tambellini calls “the star” of the menu.
“I love food, and it’s been my whole life,” Tambellini said. “I love sharing my passion with everyone who comes in. What can I say? We’re people people.”…