Acclaimed PennePazze Italian Restaurant Set to Open Spring 2023 at Fountains at Gateway in Murfreesboro

PennePazze, an authentic Italian restaurant at the L&L Market in Nashville, begins its expansion into other markets with a second restaurant opening this spring at Fountains at Gateway in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, according to Rony Stark, founder and CEO of PennePazze.

The farm-to-table, open-kitchen concept offers fare rooted in Italian tradition with a focus on scratch-made, authentic Italian pasta and pinsa (pizza) using farm-fresh ingredients. Creation of the food is visible, allowing customers to watch the process from start to finish.

“We create quality Italian cuisine that includes our fresh signature pasta and pinsa, made in-house daily,” said Stark. “We grow our own mother yeast for the pinsa dough, which is a cross between Italian focaccia and Neapolitan style dough. Dishes change every season, which symbolizes the freshness and harmony of the Italian kitchen with Mother Nature. To complete the guests’ experience, we have a large variety of Italian wine selections that will appeal to wine lovers and pair well with every dish.”

Born to an Italian family and raised in Israel, Stark is a former professional basketball player and law and business school graduate. After his law internship, he decided to become a restaurateur and started developing the concept for PennePazze. He met master dough maker Riccardo Manzella at a pinsa chef course in Florence, Italy, where they trained to make pinsa dough by hand.

“I convinced Ricardo to join me in the US,” said Stark. “Along with my wife, marketing strategist Shir Stark, we developed and honed the restaurant concept over a two-year period before opening PennePazze in March 2020. We feature a fun dining experience with an open kitchen for guests to watch their meals being prepared, and we provide great customer service, treating our guests like family members. Making people feel welcome, as if they’re at grandma’s house, is part of our DNA.”

The new restaurant at Fountains at Gateway, a Class A corporate office campus and upscale dining and retail district, will feature an open-kitchen, farm-to-table Italian dining concept and include a pasta wall and custom mural, similar to the Nashville store. Stark brought in his designer from Italy to create a genuine Italian design and atmosphere. The design concept mixes a bright, fresh green and white color palette with wood furnishings, and the space will be flooded with natural light.

“Customers will feel the authenticity and difference of the new space, clean and simple yet stylish,” said Stark. “They will engage with the open-kitchen process of how we produce the food and enjoy the option of al fresco dining on the patio.”

PennePazze guests have the option to use a fun user interface that allows them to order their food and be notified by phone when the food is ready.

At Fountains at Gateway, PennePazze will host catered events in the new restaurant and offer catering services for events at The View at Fountains.

Scott Graby, developer of Fountains at Gateway has curated a collection of unique restaurant concepts at Fountains at Gateway. “We are thrilled to welcome PennePazze to Fountains,” said Graby. “I searched for the top Italian restaurant everywhere we traveled, and I anticipate PennePazze becoming ‘that place’ in Middle Tennessee.”