MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — Trattoria Tennie, a new Italian restaurant owned and operated by Chef Mark Tennie, opened this month in Manitowoc. Tennie, a Manitowoc native, spent years working in kitchens across the country before returning home to open the restaurant.
Watch the full broadcast here:
Tennie's culinary journey began in Manitowoc when he was just 15 years old working in a local kitchen. From there, he turned his passion into a career that took him across the United States.
"I worked in California, Montana, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and several places in Wisconsin," Tennie said.
"I just traveled around learning as much as I could from chefs," Tennie said.
When he saw the building for sale, he decided to make his move back home.
"It was really nice, I kinda wanted to find a way to get back home, I've seen what I wanted to see everywhere else," Tennie said.
"When I saw it, I didn't know Tony's went out of business so I thought, okay I'm gonna give that a go," Tennie said.
The restaurant's name is a nod to his family name, with "trattoria" referring to a family-run restaurant. While Italian is what's on the menu, Tennie said his favorite food to cook has been something different.
"Honestly more contemporary American, more high end stuff," Tennie said.
Tennie said this is just the beginning, with hopes of one day opening another restaurant featuring an upscale, fine dining menu.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
