Chef Nick Pellegrino has been throwing festive weekend Italian dinner parties at his Mangia Nashville at 701 Craighead in Melrose/Berry Hill for years. Guests to his weekly dinner better come prepared to move because there will be dancing between courses and festive Italian music to keep you moving in your seat! But one of chef Nick’s favorite holiday feasts is coming up on Sunday, December 22 that will take the party to the next level.
The occasion is the annual holiday Fest of Seven Fishes, a Catholic tradition where families gather to feast together before Christmas while still eschewing meat as church doctrine required. In fact, it was Pellegrino’s memories of childhood dinners around the Seven Fishes that inspired him to start up his dinner parties back in 2011.
He recalls, “It was a Christmas Eve tradition at Grandma’s with all 30-40 of us jammed around a tiny table. The food would just keep coming for hours. If you had to use the restroom, everyone had to get up! At midnight, all the kids would go to mass and return to a table full of desserts. It really is a special night for us, and so many folks have made it part of their Christmas tradition.”
Just because the name of the feast mentions “seven fishes,” doesn’t mean that all the proteins are finned. The five-course meal is served family-style and will include dishes like salted cod, grilled baby octopus, crab cakes, frutti di mare, lobster risotto, whole red snapper and shrimp scampi.
Tickets for Mangia’s Feast of Seven Fishes are $80 per person, plus tax and gratuity. To make a reservation, highly recommended since it always sells out, email Reservations@mangianashville.com or call 615 750-5233.
