Pasta Pane to open this weekend

CLIFTON PARK (Feb. 4) — Pasta Pane, the newest eatery from Saratoga Springs restauranteur David Zecchini, officially opens for business at 5 p.m. Saturday.

But before it does, the restaurant will be holding a preview party to benefit Hannah’s Hope Fund. From 5-8 p.m. Friday, there will be free samples of menu items, $2 servings of select beers and wine and a cash bar at the new restaurant in the former Applebee’s building near exit 9. All proceeds will be donated to the Hope Fund’s efforts to find treatment and a cure for giant axonal neuropathy, a rare and deadly genetic disorder.

Pasta Pane logoThe restaurant group was looking for a Clifton Park-area charity for its opening celebration, when staffers saw the video about Hannah and her family’s battle to fund G.A.N. research.

“It was so sad and so moving,” said Erica Dingeman, DZ’s director of public relations and sales. “It really hit us.”

Dingeman said she expects a crowd at the event and hopes — and recommends — that people will stagger their arrival times.

“I’m expecting a big rush of people at 5,” she said.

Giving is part of Zecchini’s philosophy for running his restaurants. One of his Saratoga locations, Chianti il Ristorante, offers the Twelve Program. On the 12th of each month, customers can choose to have 30% of their check donated to that month’s featured nonprofit. From when it started in April 2008 through December 2009, the program has raised more than $20,000 for charities.

At Pasta Pane, the charity program will be called Raising Dough. Each month a portion of the proceeds from four menu items will go to a designated charity. For the first month, Hannah’s Hope Fund will be that charity. Future month’s charities are still being determined, and applications are being accepted for the program.

“David is incredibly passionate about giving back,” Dingeman said. “We try to help those who need help the most, and we really try to keep it local.”

The company also plans to offer cooking classes, including a kids cooking class possible around Easter time.

DZ calls Pasta Pane a “rustic Italian bistro.”

“It’s very much like what you would expect at a family restaurant in Italy,” Dingeman said. “It’s simple, and it’s delicious.”

Dingeman said the restaurant looks great, with exposed brick and unfinished wood.

“You have to come to visit us to appreciate the atmosphere and how beautiful it is,” Dingeman said. “You would never know it used to be an Applebee’s.”

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