By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — When Chase Williams and Lia Pennacchi decided two years ago to get married near her family’s roots in northern Italy, they didn’t plan for their future wedding to double as a business trip.
Then the couple found an ideal location for their dream restaurant, Plume, 1132 Auburn St., where they’ll bring a taste of northern Italy to their home in Rockford. They will celebrate their marriage in Italy this May, and they hope to open their new restaurant by mid-June.
“Now it’s a wedding and R & D,” Williams said.
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Plume will fill the former Der Rathskeller space on the city’s North End. It was a beloved German restaurant that operated for roughly 90 years before its final iteration closed in October 2021. Now, Williams and Pennacchi hope to start a new tradition with cuisine centered around the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy.
“It does come with history, and we want to honor that, but it’s ready for new life and a new legacy,” Pennacchi said of the Der Rathskeller space. “We’re just trying to make our dream something that Rockford can be proud of.”
Plume will be focused on fresh pasta and hyper-seasonal ingredients. This won’t be the typical red sauce and pasta restaurant that may come to mind when you think of Italian food. There will be periods when tomatoes are in focus, but only when the time is ripe.
“When people think of an Italian restaurant they think of red sauce and tomatoes. That’s going to be us for two months, then we’re going to put that away and it’s going to be pumpkin,” Williams said. “We’re not going to get asparagus in when it’s not in season, and then when it is we’re going to do as much as we can with it for those six weeks.”
Pasta will be made fresh in-house and cooked to order, and the ingredients will be locally sourced for a farm-to-table experience.
“We’re not trying to just feed people,” Williams said. “We want it to be an experience that you can’t get somewhere else.”
They will also make their own ice cream and gelato in house.
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Pennacchi’s father, Claudio, grew up in a small town outside of Bologna before coming to the United States. Her late grandfather was a pastry chef and her grandmother was also a chef in Italy, she said. She spent a year living there, too.
Making tigelle, a muffin-like flatbread typical of the mountains near Bologna, was a family tradition for Pennacchi. The restaurant’s menu, in turn, will be inspired in part by her family roots in the Emilia-Romagna region and Rome.
“We’re going to be from Rome up; the mountains up north,” Williams said. “You’ll maybe see some German influence in some of the dishes we have planned.”
The couple is aiming for an upscale casual vibe that takes advantage of all the spaces your remember from Der Rathskeller: a beautiful outdoor patio to drink spritzes and enjoy the sunshine in summer, an intimate dining experience in the main hall and a basement for large parties or special events.
Pennacchi’s parents, Barbara and Claudio Pennacchi of Machesney Park, bought the property on March 21 from Heavy Duty Products Inc. for $255,600, according to records with the Winnebago County Clerk & Recorder. Williams and Pennacchi will lease the space until they can purchase it themselves.
They will keep some memorabilia from Der Rathskeller in the new restaurant to pay homage to its roots. The have an early liquor license awarded to the original owner Fred Goetz in April 1935 and menus with prices such as 25 cents for Braunschweiger sausage.
The name Plume is derived from a translation of the family name to English.
Williams and Pennacchi both have years of experience in the restaurant industry. Williams serves as the executive chef while Pennacchi is the drink chef. They met while working at Social Urban Bar and Restaurant in downtown, where he was head chef and she tended the bar. They then worked together at Lark in Janesville, Wisconsin.
Pennacchi said she loves creating quality cocktails that tell a story, such as her signature sugar snap pea cocktail. She grows and juices the sugar peas herself, and then mixes it with gin and lime juice and other flavors.
“It’s refreshing, it’s vibrant, it’s aromatic,” she said. “That feeling when you bite into a sugar snap – that burst of flavor, freshness and water – I want that to translate into a cocktail.”
The couple hopes their blend of cuisine and cocktails create an experience unique for Rockford. Since launching their website and social media pages roughly a week ago they’ve already heard from people eager to try the new restaurant.
“Where we are is exactly where we want to be,” Pennacchi said. “We’ve not even open yet, and I’ve never felt more supported and loved by this community.”
Follow | Plume Rockford
Where: 1132 Auburn St., Rockford
Opening: TBD, goal to open by mid-June
On the web: plumerockford.com
On Facebook: Plume Rockford
On Instagram: @PlumeRockford
Contact: info@plumerockford.com
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas