Cafe Grand's new owner says the New Port Richey restaurant across from the theater will retain its staff and menu.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published August 17, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - A west Pasco County institution, the tony Cafe Grand, has been sold.
"I am here 15 years, and I need a little change," said Joe Catania, who, along with the late Rick Thorpe, opened the restaurant on April 13, 1990, on the Grand Boulevard corner across from Richey Suncoast Theatre.
The new owner, Larry Espinozo, is from Washington and has been in the restaurant business "since he was born," Catania said.
"He says he is keeping everything the same - same employees, same chefs, same menu, same staff," Catania said.
There is one big change: Espinozo will start accepting credit cards, a convenience Catania never adopted - and, apparently, never needed to adopt to be successful.
Cafe Grand opened up with just 35 seats but within a year was forced to take over the store next door and expand to 75 seats. Before long, evening reservations became a must, especially when the theater was open.
The cafe, with its white tablecloths, soft candlelight, bold, original artwork and attentive servers, became the place to go for lunch, attracting politicians, public officials, business people, media types, and ladies' lunch groups.
From noon to 1 p.m. weekdays, getting a table could take 30 minutes or more.
The success has been a remarkable accomplishment in an area that has seen dozens of restaurants come and go in the past 15 years.
Even so, Cafe Grand didn't start out full throttle.
"I really felt confident that things would pick up," Catania told the Times a year after opening. "But I didn't have any idea that I was getting into such a tight little community" - a reference to the close-knit associations that have grown up among downtown business people over the years.
Now, after 15 years in the same spot, Catania says that his bistro has become his home.
"It's my family, it's my social life, it's my creation," he said.
Catania was a fixture at the place, usually hunched over the tiny bar in the back of the restaurant taking reservations on the phone, dealing with food and beverage vendors, checking out the wine racks, greeting regulars by name or jumping up to do whatever job needed to be done.
Until her death in 2002, Catania's mother, Irma, made all the desserts - from scratch - for the restaurant: carrot cakes, pecan pies, cheesecakes, chocolate layer cakes.
Catania once said he and Thorpe knew the area's spotty restaurant history when they decided to open their restaurant. But they liked the overall ambience, and when they found a building in a Spanish art deco architectural style, they sold the California restaurant they had operated for 20 years and headed for Florida.
Since then, downtown New Port Richey has seen a small renaissance, with wide sidewalks, shade trees, new streets and other thriving businesses.
Ironically, one of Catania's fondest desires, outdoor tables on those wide sidewalks, will probably be a reality soon.
"I think the city's finally going to do it," he said.
And there's some serendipity for the new owner:
"BayNews 9 did a whole thing on us last week that will be shown every hour in "On the Town"' on (some future) Sunday," Catania said. "That should be good for business."
