Kate Vacca, left, with sons Peter, middle, and Joseph moved her restaurant from one end of Columbia to the other to begin fresh with all three involved in the family business.
Kate Vacca, left, with sons Peter, middle, and Joseph moved her restaurant from one end of Columbia to the other to begin fresh with all three involved in the family business.
From upstate New York to Columbia, Tennessee, Kate Vacca and her family have decided to make Southern Middle Tennessee their home, bringing with them some of their family’s most sacred recipes and sharing them with Maury County.
“If you’ve ever visited upstate New York, there are diners everywhere. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I started serving,” she said of her restaurant beginnings. “I served for about 8-9 years before I opened my own in my hometown.
“It’s something I’m passionate about. I tried other careers, but it didn’t have the same quality of people and fun. It just doesn’t feel like work most of the time.”
Vacca owned Katie Pie’s Kitchen on Nashville Highway before closing last year and beginning the process of moving her business to a house at 2407 Pulaski Highway. When she began the process of moving, her two sons – Peter and Joseph – came along to add something extra to the restaurant’s name.
Now – it’s Katie Pie and Son’s Country Kitchen.
“Mom’s had restaurants since we were (small children). When she was (at the previous location on Nashville Hwy.) she was doing well, and we decided to come along and help her out,” Peter said.
Why? Kate says food, for her, is all about family. That’s why after visiting her sister in Columbia several times for the holidays and falling in love with the area, she moved here as well.
“It’s all about family when it comes to restaurants. All the recipes are my mom’s or my mother-in-law’s. That’s where it all begins,” Kate said. “It’s just like sitting at your own table because it’s all homemade. The atmosphere is awesome and now that we have this beautiful location, it just adds to it.”
The house has two different rooms for dining with a little more seating than the last place. It’s decorated with plates her parents used among other historical photos and art pieces.
“The first time I came to see this house, I just felt like I was home. Al lot of our customers when they walked in the front door, they would say, ‘Oh my God, I’m home,’ ” Kate said.
Home is where the heart is and where her family is now, and the family business has been thriving since its reopening. Peter and Joe aren’t just here for their charm and cooking, however.
“The goal really is that I want to retire. I’m ready in a couple of years. The boys are going to take over,” Kate said, naming Peter the front of the house manager with Joe heading up the back of the house. “I didn’t think they would like it, but they really do.”
“(Joe) is a little better at the cooking than I am, but we both took to it and here we are,” Peter said, laughing. “Everybody has been so awesome.”
Katie Pie and Son’s Restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 7 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays. They are closed Sunday and Monday.
Chris Yow has served as the managing editor for the Trussville (Ala.) Tribune and, most recently, the Spring Hill Advertiser News. He has worked as a sports editor and has covered high school sports in different capacities for 18 years.
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