Lisa Mattiello has always loved food, beverages and occasions for people to gather.
Growing up in Warwick in a family with five children – she was the second-youngest child but the oldest girl – Mattiello has been cooking “full-blown” holiday dinners since she was 11. She went on to earn an associate degree from Johnson & Wales University at a time when few women were studying culinary arts, but she said she learned much more from other chefs in the field and by doing things on her own.
She is now CEO of Pranzi Inc., a catering and events-planning business she started 23 years ago in a small storefront in Seekonk.
Independence is a theme with Mattiello. She likes to take charge and is good at getting the job done.
When she got married herself – an event for 300 people on Newport’s Goat Island – she crafted her own wedding cake. It was tiered and heart-shaped with blue bows.
She delivered the cake to the reception venue on the day of her wedding, even before she put on her bridal gown. She also shot video of herself making the wedding cake, which has been digitized “so my kids have proof,” she said.
Her children, now 30, 29 and 27, work in various divisions of Pranzi Catering & Events.
Since Mattiello launched the company in 1997 it has far outgrown the Seekonk location, now occupying more than 30,000 square feet of production space and 5,000 square feet of kitchen space at a location in the Silver Lake section of Providence. Some of the employees are also family members. “Even my mother folds napkins and sorts silverware,” Mattiello said.
Mattiello – whose husband is a cousin of former House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello – said that in the height of wedding season, she has about 180 employees. That number is at about 55 or 60 now. COVID-19 has upended the catering industry.
Mattiello said there were millions of dollars in business that was canceled when venues were not permitted to host weddings in the early months of the pandemic last year. “We had to refund,” she said.
All was not lost, however.
“Some brides put their weddings in backyards, in which case, we do tents and rentals,” Mattiello said. “We appreciate our relationships with other venues. I feel as if there is enough business for everyone to play nicely together.”
‘Some brides put their weddings in backyards, in which case, we do tents and rentals.’
LISA MATTIELLO, Pranzi Inc. CEO
Pranzi’s outdoor heater rentals have also been popular for events that have had to be moved outdoors.
When the coronavirus first struck, Mattiello said, there was confusion about the rules for caterers. “You could go to a restaurant with 200 people, but I could only have 10 [people] at an outdoor wedding? A wedding is different. You know who they are, their phone number, it’s like built-in contact tracing,” she said.
She credited Dale Venturini, CEO and president of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, as being an ally for the industry during the pandemic. “There were lots of Zoom calls” as the association leadership worked to get caterers’ questions answered, Mattiello said.
Luckily, Pranzi had diversified its offerings years ago in order to give its staff winter hours, which has helped to soften the blow of wedding cancellations. For example, its grab-and-go line of soups, salads and sandwiches, Nicole’s Gourmet – named after Mattiello’s daughter – has been available at Seasons Corner Markets in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
With the main bread and butter of big gatherings gone for now, COVID-19 has forced Mattiello to think creatively. Pranzi’s Facebook page touts elegant micro-weddings, for example.
Pranzi also has boxed meals available for pickup or delivery for health care workers, families, work crews, or for large or small events. They are individually wrapped and COVID-safe, Mattiello said. A company such as Amazon.com Inc. may order them to be delivered for an employee appreciation event, for example, or an older couple may need four meals delivered so they have them for the week ahead.
Pranzi is set up to supply boxed meals on a last-minute basis, making it possible to do such things as feed hard-working snow removal crews this winter, said Mattiello. That fast-action ability is helping to further offset COVID-19 event losses.
Mattiello knows that planning events in the Ocean State is different than elsewhere. Clients often want the event menu to reflect the New England coastal environment, with seafood, in-season vegetables, clam cakes and Del’s Lemonade.
She sees a promise of movement in the catering and events industry, feeling incoming Gov. Daniel J. McKee will help local businesses.
She said she is eager to continue the farm-to-table culinary trend at catered events. “Now, it’s all about cleaner food,” Mattiello said. “You make a dish, you want to taste it: fresh meat with salt, pepper and oil. What’s better than that?”
