Anthony Scotto III already knows what he wants to do when his rapidly expanding restaurant business finally gives him a moment to breathe: travel to the small Italian island of Ischia and, with a handwritten family address in hand, knock on the door and hope whoever answers doesn’t tell him to get lost.
But first, Scotto has restaurants to open. The 30-year-old walked away from a sought-after job at BlackRock to help his family build Pelato, a Brooklyn-style Italian restaurant that has grown from one Nashville location into a three-city business employing 300 people. The company expects to serve roughly 450,000 guests this year and has committed to opening two more restaurants in 2027.
Scotto may be his own boss now, but every dream comes with a tradeoff. He works seven days a week, rarely takes vacations, and is responsible for hundreds of employees…