The Porta Via Story

What do you get when you take a SwissAir pilot who travels the world, two Italian culinary geniuses, an accomplished Persian chef and one impassioned restaurant patron…you create a one of a kind, upscale, Northern Italian dining establishment called Porta Via.

The concept began over 20 years ago in a small suburb outside of Nashville, TN where Stefano Hugh opened the first Porta Via Italian Kitchen. Stefano collected hundreds of authentic recipes during his travels as an airline pilot. These souvenirs became the culinary mainstay for the restaurant. In 2001, Stefano’s brother-in-law, Mehrdad Alviri, already an accomplished chef, bought the restaurant adding his distinctive Persian flavors to the menu.

Translated from Italian, Porta Via means ”take out”. The restaurant quickly became a household name in surrounding Nashville neighborhoods as the most authentic “take away” Italian dining experience.

Recently the restaurant was reborn, thanks to the persistence of once-loyal patron and now co-owner Martin Silverman along with Italian born chefs Giovanni Giosa and Riccardo Bacilieri. In addition to the original Northern Italian recipes shared in the Bellevue location, Porta Via now offers authentic certified Neapolitan, wood-fired pizza. Verace Pizza Napoletana or (VPN) pizza is made to the strictest of standards; using only native Italian ingredients, baked in a wood fired dome oven at the required time and temperature.