Frank Pullara

Owner & Executive Chef

Born and raised in Mequon, Wisconsin, Frank Pullara grew up in the  kitchen cooking comforting, delicious Italian meals and learning  generations-old, authentic recipes from his grandparents and  great-grandparents. Those early memories with family stayed with  Pullara throughout his career and now, after over two decades of  experience, have shaped his first solo restaurant endeavour.  

Pullara kicked off his path to a professional kitchen by studying the  culinary arts through the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF)  apprenticeship program. In Milwaukee, he worked his way up  through the program from sous chef to executive chef before  moving to Naples, Florida to work at the acclaimed Campagna  Hospitality Group (Osteria Tulia, Bar Tulia, The French), which also  awarded him the opportunity to cook at the James Beard House  under chef Vincenzo Betulia in 2016. 

In early 2020, Pullara moved just outside of Nashville, Tennessee to  start the latest chapter of his career: opening his very own  restaurant, Culaccino, in neighboring downtown Franklin,  Tennessee. Named after the Italian word for the “lasting  impression” a cold glass leaves on a wooden table, Culaccino is  the embodiment of how food can bring people together to create a long-lasting mark or memory that will stay with guests forever, just as cooking with his family left a life-long mark on him.  

When he’s not serving up classics like scratchmade pastas and  woodfired pizzas in the kitchen at Culaccino, Pullara spends his  time exploring Tennessee’s different parks, hosting cookouts with  friends and soaking up quality family time with his wife, Ashley, and  five-year-old twins Mia and Niccolo.