PCA completes design for Faison’s Tenderoni’s Fenway restaurant

Boston, MA Architecture and interior design firm PCA, working in partnership with celebrated chef and TV personality Tiffani Faison and her Boston-based restaurant group, Big Heart Hospitality, completed design for the 70s-and-80s-inspired restaurant Tenderoni’s Fenway. Located in the Fenway neighborhood, Tenderoni’s Fenway features 140 seats, two bars, and an eclectic design inspired by the best of 70s and 80s nostalgia  and celebrating that era’s disco roller rinks and pop culture icons.

The new flagship Tenderoni’s Fenway expands upon her popular Tenderoni’s site within High Street Place, a downtown Boston Food Hall that opened last year. “I’m really excited about this brand and the enthusiastic response we’ve seen,” said Faison. “It is the kind of place where you can really let your hair down, and that fun spirit carries through in the menu, design, and atmosphere.”

PCA’s team studied the period’s bold fashions, colors, graphics, and popular music culture. “We fell in love with the pure joy and energy that was such a big part of the roller rink experience,” said Dave Snell, a principal at PCA who led the restaurant’s design. “We clicked right away with Tiffani’s creative, unapologetic vision for Tenderoni’s Fenway dining and bar spaces, and we enjoyed working with her to bring these ideas into a lively, fun-based identity.”

Tenderoni’s Fenway interior features colorful animal prints splashed everywhere, from furniture fabrics to wall and column coverings to accent pieces. Color-changing neon lighting creates an energetic mood and lights up the painted concrete floor’s curving stripes and period colors. Three mirror disco balls, hand-built by Omega Mirror Products of Louisville, Kentucky, the fixture’s last American manufacturer, echo the disco roller rink’s visual experience. The furniture beneath the disco balls is movable, allowing an easy transition from seated dining to dance floor.

Much of the period artwork in Tenderoni’s Fenway comes from the collection of pop culture artifacts curated by Boston’s David Bieber Archives. The archives provided scores of wall posters, vinyl albums, record store and movie theatre displays, magazines, fanzines, and photos featuring the timeless music and pop culture personalities of the 70s and 80s. Local artist memorabilia – from New Edition and Donna Summer - join images of global icons David Bowie, Sylvester, Elton John, and the Village People.

Since opening, Tenderoni’s Fenway has become a weekend drag brunch favorite for its popular Sunday service with featured hosts such as Pamela Manderson & Bruiser with resident DJ Coleslaw. 

The restaurant opens for dinner seven days a week at 5:00 p.m. A new takeout window is in the works, offering a convenient option for taking home lunch and dinner to-go, including the restaurant’s signature 2.5-foot pizzas.