Nathan Zucker
In Italian, the word culaccino refers to the ring—often permanent—that a glass can leave on a table. Chef Frank Pullara chose that as his restaurant’s name, an allusion to the indelible impression he wishes to leave on his guests.
Housed in downtown Franklin’s Harpeth Square, Culaccino Italian Restaurant + Bar is the longtime chef ’s first solo concept. Combining his lifetime of work and beloved family recipes, it already is imprinting diners with lasting memories.
“The cooking life is in my blood,” Pullara says with a big smile.
Born just outside Milwaukee, Wis., Pullara was raised in a Sicilian family of cooks and chefs. By the age of 15, he had his first restaurant job. He spent decades working in Florida, most recently as executive chef for the Campagna Hospitality Group in Naples.
“I was ready to leave,” he says. “My wife and I were charmed by Franklin. It’s calm and quaint. It felt like it was a place ready for something new, and open to my style of regional Italian food.”
With black industrial lighting against white walls, the restaurant has a contemporary yet cozy feel. Dark wooden tables are ready for guests, set with stemware, flatware on blue linen napkins, salt and pepper grinders and a cruet of olive oil. A welcoming bar has windows that open to an outdoor patio with firepit. There’s an open kitchen where you’ll see the extruder and 8 different bronze dies for Pullara’s artisan pastas, such as tonnarelli, linguine, and penne. A woodfired oven imported from Italy is the kitchen’s centerpiece, ready to flash-bake pizzas to bubbly goodness.
In bringing his cuisine to life, Pullara relies on his team, foremost sous-chef Manlio Melloni, who considers Pullara his mentor. He also relies on several local farmers and purveyors for premium ingredients. From Bear Creek Farms, he sources pork belly and loin for his porchetta, as well as the unique butcher’s cut oyster steak, which he grills over wood and serves with smoked cauliflower cream and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. For his rainbow trout in lemon-saffron brodetto, he gets the sustainably raised fish from Bucksnort Trout Ranch. Salad greens, microgreens, herbs, and mushrooms come from Cheekee Greens Farms; milk and cream from Hatcher Dairy.
What to order:
- Octopus, $19
- Asparagus fritters, $12
- Ravioli stuffed with veal shoulder, robiola cheese, $21
- Ricotta gnocchi with braised rabbit, porcini crema, fava beans, $21
- Il Re di Bologna (The King of Bologna) pizza, $14
Culaccino has an impressive wine and cocktail program. General Manager Josh Rosa curates the former, an assembly of 115 different bottles, of which 65% are Italian. Bar manager Matthew Lawson designed the cocktail menu. Try “Regional Dialects:” a bracing stir of Tito’s vodka, prosecco, and the house limoncello.
Nathan Zucker
Regardless of your choice, you’ll begin with complimentary bread service: a plate of warm, sesame-crusted slices, served with house ricotta pooled in fruity olive oil, cracked black pepper, and thyme. It’s a marvelous starter.
Nathan Zucker
There are several distinctive antipasti, all share-worthy plates. Tender grilled octopus is placed over what Pullara calls his green bean-potato salad. It’s a colorful and creative mélange enlivened with capers, red onion, Taggiasca olives, and a smear of black garlic. He is proud to use his grandfather’s recipe in making Nonno’s Fennel Sausage, plated with creamy polenta, pine nuts, and currants. Asparagus fritters, scattered with oven-roasted tomatoes, basil, and pecorino, follow his grandmother’s recipe.
“Although, the saffron aioli is my addition,” the chef says.
1 of 2
Nathan Zucker
2 of 2
Nathan Zucker
House-made pastas are not-to-be-missed: Campanelle with prosciutto, petite peas, and truffle butter; Mafalde with rock shrimp, green beans, and basil pesto. Pullara’s ravioli is unusual, labor-intensive, and utterly delicious. Each is a double-folded package, veal shoulder filling one side, robiola cheese the other. He finishes the dish in butter sauce, Sangiovese reduction, and butter-poached Brussels sprouts leaves. House-made ricotta is at the heart of his pillowy Gnocchi, which he uses as a delectable base for the slow braised rabbit. This rustic dish gets nuanced layers of flavor provided by porcini crema, fava beans, and curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Pizzas begin with 72-hour dough fermentation.
“It makes the crust lighter, more deeply flavored, and more digestible,” says Pullara.
Nathan Zucker
The array of artisan pies ranges from L’Unico, a Neapolitan style of San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil; to Il Re di Bologna (The King of Bologna), slathered with creamy ricotta and topped with mortadella, pistachio pesto, and garlic chips.
For dessert? You’ll want the tiramisu, which Pullara serves in ceramic bowls crafted by Handmade Studio in Nashville.
Nathan Zucker
The chef believes in operating in stages, opening first for dinner only. At the end of February, he added lunch service along with Saturday brunch and a three-course Sunday Supper for two, served family-style. With the onset of warmer weather, the Culaccino patio, which seats 90, will be in high demand.
“We want to be a place that is approachable, where you are comfortable stopping in for a drink and a bite, or a family dinner, or a celebratory meal,” Pullara says. “We want you to think of us as an extension of your home.”
104 E Main St., Franklin 615-435-3539; culaccinotn.com