Shar Katz knows family.

The Katz family will be celebrating their 30th anniversary of owning Caffé Italia this summer. Shar is co-owner of the local restaurant, along with her husband Kevin. He and his father started the restaurant in 1982.

“We are a family business that loves to serve families,” Shar said.

The Katzes attribute their success to long-lasting support from the local community.

“We depend on the community to be successful and we love giving back,” Shar said. “Davis has been very good to us.”

The Katzes’ community outreach stretches beyond just serving up good Italian food.

With their two children attending schools in Davis, the Katzes actively participate in the Davis Farm to School Connection, which brings healthy food from area farmers to local schools. The Katz family also donate meals to silent auctions and welcome dine-in fundraisers, “with emphasis on fun.”

The restaurant also features a mobile pizza oven in which are baked “pizzas with a purpose”; the oven makes regular appearances at Picnic in the Park alongside the Davis Farmers Market. Proceeds from the pizza sales benefit the farm-to-school program.

The couple’s two children, Jagger, 8, and Gabrielle, 6, serve as litmus tests for the Katzes’ family cooking. Shar said that, while still catering to kids’ tastes, she and her husband manage to make healthy food that their children will eat.

“We know what kids like and don’t like, but with an emphasis on what’s good for them,” Shar said.

Despite Caffé Italia’s long local tradition, the Katzes’ cuisine is “ever-changing and evolving,” according to the owners. Owning a local restaurant also allows for a more hands-on approach that larger chains can’t match.

“Our specials tend to be something that we’ve been playing with and eating,” Shar said.

The Katzes are focused on the future, with no plans of stopping. There are no signs yet as to whether Jagger or Gabrielle will become the third generation to carry on Caffé Italia culinary tradition, but “they both love helping out in the kitchen,” Shar said.

“We are 30 years and still cooking,” Shar said. “We plan on cooking for another 20, 30 years, and we plan on doing that in Davis.”

The Katz family regularly updates its Facebook page, The Katz Family of Restaurants, with posts about pizzas with a purpose and other restaurant happenings.

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Caffé Italia owners Shar and Kevin Katz and their children, Jagger and Gabrielle, serve up “pizzas with a purpose” from their mobile oven at Picnic in the Park on Wednesdays in Central Park. Proceeds go to the Davis Farm to School Connection. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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