On a recent Monday afternoon, as Linda Citti packed away tables and kitchen equipment, she paused to consider the weight of what she was dismantling. After 35 years, she and her husband, Luca, had closed Cafe Citti, the Italian restaurant that had defined their marriage and much of their adult lives. The dining room went dark following a month-long break in January.
“It’s been our identity,” she said. “Our entire married life has been this restaurant. It’s hard to imagine not being here.”
What began in 1990 as a modest roadside stop in Kenwood grew into one of Sonoma County’s enduring mom-and-pop establishments, with Luca in the kitchen and Linda a steady presence in the dining room. Regulars filled most of the seats, returning for handmade pastas and the pesto, marinara and Bolognese sauces that became signatures.
Cafe Citti, which relocated to Santa Rosa in 2020, now joins a growing list of local establishments that have found the math increasingly unforgiving.
Cafe Citti chef Luca Citti with co-owner and wife Linda Citti, Thursday, February 22, 2024, in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
John Burgess / The Press Democrat
Gnocchi with Bolognese meat sauce, Broccolini alla bagna cauda and homemade focaccia bread on the creekside deck at Cafe Citti in Santa Rosa, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)
A numbers game
The restaurant’s final chapter in Santa Rosa was intimate to a fault. The space, formerly The Whole Pie, held just seven tables — fewer than half the 16 at the original Kenwood location — and offered dinner service only. Large parties were hard to accommodate. A brisk lunch takeout business that once boosted revenue was no longer part of the model.
The layout, charming but quirky, funneled diners past the kitchen to a secluded patio overlooking Santa Rosa Creek. Picturesque, yes. Expandable, no.
“We loved it here, and it’s such a special spot,” Linda said. “But it didn’t leave us room to expand and make the numbers work. We needed twice the amount of dining space.”
The back deck at Cafe Citti in Santa Rosa, June 12, 2024. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
Italian tuna and hardboiled egg salad with lettuce, tomato served on housemade Focaccia bread at Cafe Citti in Santa Rosa, June 12, 2024. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
Caesar salad at Cafe Citti in Santa Rosa. (Heather Irwin/The Press Democrat)
Tiramisu at Cafe Citti in Santa Rosa. (Heather Irwin/The Press Democrat)
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The back deck at Cafe Citti in Santa Rosa, June 12, 2024. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
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Their predicament reflects broader industry pressures. Full-service restaurants typically operate on margins of 3-5%, leaving little room for rising wholesale food prices, higher labor and insurance costs, and customers wary of discretionary spending. What proved advantageous during the pandemic — a nimble takeout operation — became less sustainable as in-person dining returned and fixed costs remained.
With their lease ending this year and exhaustion setting in after years of uncertainty, the decision came into focus.
Looking back, looking forward
The Cittis opened their original restaurant along Highway 12, the well-traveled stretch between Santa Rosa and Sonoma amid wineries and weekend traffic. Caesar salad and tuna-egg salad sandwiches on focaccia earned a following, as did roast chicken and delicate ravioli. But it was Luca’s sauces that drew a cross section of Sonoma County and kept tables turning for decades.
Jeff Kan Lee/ The Press Democrat
Cafe Citti’s original Kenwood location closed in 2020. (Jeff Kan Lee/ The Press Democrat)
Café Citti’s original location in Kenwood. (Beth Schlanker/ The Press Democrat)
In 2020, after more than 30 years in the same leased building, the Kenwood location closed rather than undergo extensive renovations. The move to Santa Rosa coincided with wildfires and prolonged limits on indoor dining due to the pandemic. Their Sonoma Valley regulars scattered. Cultivating a new base took time. Still, loyalists sought out the hidden patio on Fourth Street, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries over plates of pasta and generous pours of Caesar dressing.
When the couple announced the permanent closure on social media in early February, hundreds of comments followed. Many described childhood dinners, milestone celebrations and recipes that had become woven into family traditions. “It’s a sad day for Sonoma County,” one commenter wrote.
For Linda, though, the end of the lease felt like a natural inflection point.
“Time for us to spend time with family in Italy and enjoy our lives,” she said.
Retirement, however, is not quite the right word. She hinted at future projects — perhaps a cookbook, perhaps bottled sauces — but nothing is yet certain.
“It’s hard to say you used to have a restaurant,” she said. “Once it’s in your blood, it’s hard to get rid of.”
Dining and Cooking