At 12:45 p.m. on a snowy Thursday in February, every seat in the Sagra Italia dining room is full. Formerly home to Fifth Frame Brewing, 155 St. Paul St. is nearly unrecognizable, transformed into an airy, chic space somehow reminiscent of both Brooklyn and Rome. There’s a cozy sitting area off t o one side and mossy green accent walls with galleries of curated art. A glass case near the checkout counter displays pillowy focaccia with an array of toppings. The concept might be fast-casual counter service, but this is the kind of atmosphere that makes guests want to linger over a plate of pasta, a glass of wine, an espresso.  Fried Burrata at Sagra Italia (sagra marinara, Parmigiano/Romano, house focaccia). PHOTO BY ABBY QUATRO Sagra Italia is the third venture from the Cavatassi family and “Uncle” Chris Ziogas — following behind Tapas 177 and Event 180. All three businesses are on St. Paul Street, a part of the city that’s often overlooked by diners and nightlife seekers alike. One of those “if you know, you know” destinations. And if the Gen Z Cavatassi generation has anything to say about it, everyone will know. Soon.  To understand how St. Paul Street became a second home for the Cavatassi family requires going back 40 years to 1986, when Demetrio Cavatassi landed his first restaurant job after his freshman year of college. Or even to a little more than 30 years ago, when he was working at Geva Theatre. At the time, the Geva bar was a destination even for those who weren’t seeing a show, and it was there Demetrio met his wife, Gretchen, and started down a path to become one of Rochester’s most respected and quietly successful restaurateurs.  In 1997, he was bartending at a local blues pub called the Rabbit Hole (now Salinger’s). When some of the guests heard Demetrio’s plans to open a place, they said he should talk to Frederic Ponthieu, who had similar goals and was then at The Brasserie (now Max Bar Bistro at Eastman Place). “Fred had worked in a Spanish restaurant in Miami and I wanted a bar with an elevated feel like Geva, at the time,” said Demetrio. “Both of us had worked in many different restaurants. We put our heads together and six months after our meeting, we opened Tapas.” This November marks 29 years for Tapas 177, a St. Paul Street stalwart that has endured through countless other business openings and closings on the block, extensive construction and city development. Within that time, Demetrio and Gretchen had two more daughters, Ava and Mia — their oldest daughter, Gretta, was born right before Tapas opened — and Ponthieu departed for other projects. The bar at Tapas 177. PHOTO BY MIKE MARTINEZ Chris Ziogas, Demetrio’s second and current business partner, was a Tapas customer from day one. He served at other restaurants, but Tapas was where he and his 20-something friends partied. “We all wanted to be there,” he said. “I would get my calamari salad and my drinks and dance on the bar and have a good time.” Ziogas, who is Greek, eventually wound up running a popular ‘Greek Night’ event at Tapas. Around the same time, in 2000, Demetrio opened another restaurant on St. Thomas with his brother. Gretchen was pregnant with their second daughter, Ava, and Tapas needed more help. Would Ziogas go to St. Thomas, or consider a job at Tapas?  A drink at Tapas 177. PHOTO BY MIKE MARTINEZ He chose Tapas. “I was only supposed to be here for a year,” Ziogas said. “And I don’t know how it happened, but it happened.” The Cavatassi girls call him Uncle Chris, and he’s been part of the family for 26 years, hatching the big ideas to take over the Event 180 space in 2024, and then, spotting the ‘For Lease’ sign last year and pitching Demetrio a fast-casual concept in the former Fifth Frame space. The decision to stay on St. Paul Street for 29 years as Tapas — never changing the name or concept, buying the building it occupies — and then opening two more businesses is an intentional one for both partners.  “That’s what has made Tapas last so long,” said Ziogas. “We’ve never changed our core. We’ve just adjusted to the trends without really affecting what we are at heart.” The goal with Sagra, Demetrio said, was to create something of quality that could enhance the neighborhood, build street interest and give residents somewhere to walk during the day. He pointed to similar models in the Mercantile on Main and Park Avenue.  The dining room at Tapas 177. PHOTO PROVIDED “I felt like the city was burgeoning in 2019 and then COVID happened and it set us back another five years — it was disappointing,” said Demetrio. “But now, I really am optimistic. With all the investment downtown, there’s more people. And if we’re not going to do it, nobody else is going to do it. We’re already here, we’re invested.” Observing Demetrio and Ziogas for any amount of time is like watching Richard Gere and Nathan Lane run a restaurant. Ziogas is effervescent, energetic, theatrical — it would come as no surprise, really, if he burst into joyous song at any moment. Demetrio has a quieter charm and is prone to disappearing into the kitchen, then appearing tableside to greet a longtime guest. The opposites-attract partnership makes sense; even more so with the addition of Demetrio’s 20-something daughters, Ava and Mia. Both grew up bussing tables and hosting at Tapas from the time they were teens, but the decision to fully join the family business came after they finished their college degrees.  “I still get flashbacks of when we had the Park Ave. Festival booth, and the girls were like eight, nine years old,” said Ziogas. “They were babies working at Park Ave. Fest, and now they’re running the family business. I don’t know how the hell I’m chosen family.” The interior of Event 180. PHOTO PROVIDED Ava Bliss (née Cavatassi, recently married), 27, is the director of events and marketing for all three properties. She and Ziogas primarily run Event 180 together, a blank-canvas venue that can be booked for weddings and other private events, with catering available from Tapas and Sagra.  Gretta, 30, the oldest of the three girls and a jazz vocalist, has lived in New York City for nearly a decade. After college graduation, Mia, 23, moved there for about a year as well, but the news of Sagra opening brought her back. “I had to be a part of this, I couldn’t just let it happen without me,” said Mia. “So we opened this past November, but I came back in September and was hanging all the pictures, painting all the walls and putting together the tables.” Ava and Mia were inspired by the Italian-style cafes they’d visited with Gretta in Brooklyn, a direction that melded perfectly with the fast-casual concept, ultimately saving costs on front-of-house serving staff (Mia is the manager, and they’ll have a host on weekends). It also ensures that menu prices remain the same for both lunch and dinner service.   Pasta al Limone at Sagra Italia (Italian bronze-cut rigatoni, lemon cream sauce, Parmigiano/Romano, sliced chicken cutlet). PHOTO BY ABBY QUATRO “I’ve had an office job, but to come back here and actually create something and work and bartend has been so fun,” said Mia. “I love working in the restaurant industry. It’s just what I’m used to.” The Sagra menu is old-world Italian, including housemade pastas — otherwise known as food Rochester likes to eat — and Ziogas collaborated with kitchen manager Charles Snyder to perfect the focaccia. “We proofed it two different ways; for the sandwiches we allow it to rise fluffy and for the pizzas we suppress that rise, but it’s still the same dough,” said Ziogas. “It’s got this crunch, but then melts away in your mouth.” The eatery also has a full bar, and they plan to have European-style sidewalk seating in the summer, which means Sagra Italia can be a spot for that half-day Aperol spritz or even a pre-game for later night shenanigans at Tapas. Bar hopping, but keep it in the family. There is no free public parking lot nearby, and a limited number of on-street spots. But so far, guests are figuring it out — even Ava and Mia’s Gen Z friends have ventured out to visit Sagra Italia. Still, the girls want to push takeout as a large part of the business. They understand how many people prefer to stream a movie at home on the weekends, especially in adverse weather, and they want to capitalize on that. From left, Mia Cavatassi and Ava Bliss. PHOTO BY ABBY QUATRO “I do our social media, and that’s reaching a lot of younger people,” said Ava. “If you’re craving the big, warm bowl of pasta you see there, you can just order online and it’ll show up. And it’s affordable.” While Demetrio, Ava and Mia are at work on St. Paul Street every day and Gretta sings along the East Coast, Gretchen is a full-time teacher at a Brighton Montessori school. She shows up behind-the-scenes in myriad ways — her daughters simultaneously pointed to the colorful bouquets dotting Sagra.  “Mom was here doing all the flowers,” said Ava. In Italian, ‘sagra’ means festival, usually one rooted in heritage, community and food. Demetrio remembers attending such events as a child in Italy, and he wanted to bring that homespun sense of tradition and celebration to the newest concept. “We wrote down all the things we wanted this place to be, and it all came to embody the idea of ‘sagra,’ perfectly,” he said. “We have us, the family, here. And I just wanted a place where they would want to be.” sagraitalia.net Leah Stacy is the editor-in-chief of CITY Magazine and producer of Rochester Cocktail Revival. She loves to plan travel around dining and theater experiences. Find her reposting poetry and photos of today’s egg @leahstacy. The post For the Cavatassi family — and ‘Uncle Chris’ — St. Paul Street is worth the investment appeared first on CITY Magazine. 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