We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Riccardo Manzella. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Riccardo below.

Riccardo, appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

I personally believe that going to a restaurant isn’t just about the food, but the experience and the service level that the customer receives. When a customer walks through our doors our team insanely tries to get to know them be asking for their name, chatting with them about their day and asking if they are celebrating anything. We love to surprise them with free desserts to show them appreciation for choosing to dine with us.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Before coming over to the US from Italy, Nashville did not have very many authentic Italian restaurants in the city. It has been really beautiful to teach customers our traditions during their dining experience, catering events and the workshops that we host which resulted in them voting us the Best Italian Restaurant in Nashville with the Nashville Scene. Being able to see customers learn more about my Italian culture that I am really proud of has been really rewarding. In addition, our restaurant was featured on Big Little Italy, a show I grew up watching in my small hometown in Italy, as well as being featured on Chopped on Food Network.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

At the end of 2019 I moved to Nashville from Italy right before the pandemic. Helping to start a new restaurant in America in the middle of the pandemic and without knowing English yet required me to stay resilient. To help launch the business I tried to hone in on my craft, get to the know the local Nashvillevillians well and became friends with local restaurant entrepreneurs in the city to bounce ideals off of each other as we worked to develop out businesses.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Eight years ago I was teaching at a culinary school in Florence. I became friends with one of my students, Rony Stark, who a couple years later asked me to move to America to help him start an Italian restaurant in Nashville, PennePazze. Being able to start a business together from scratch has been so rewarding and I now see him like a brother.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pennepazze.net
• Instagram: @riccardo_manzella