Theresa Scotto remembers the feedback shortly after Pelato opened in Nashville. “This isn’t what we had in Italy,” diners would say. They were right. Meatballs with tomato sauce. Guanciale-stuffed arancini. Chicken Parmesan, layered with tomato, basil, Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh-made mozzarella. Potato croquettes that Scotto would fry two at a time with her mother around the holidays in Brooklyn. 

Rather than traditional Italian, Pelato Nashville focused on Italian-American food that Scotto would prepare for her husband, Anthony Scotto Jr., and their children, Gabriella and Anthony Scotto III, at their home in Brooklyn.