Parker Kennedy, the owner of popular downtown Raleigh restaurant Caffé Luna, is retiring after more than two-and-a-half decades of leading the eatery he opened in his hometown.
The restaurant, which describes itself as 'Italian cuisine with a Tuscan flair,' is noted for a welcoming atmosphere in which Kennedy is known for being gracious towards his customers.
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Kennedy previously worked in New York City for more than two decades as a wine salesman. He moved back to Raleigh in 1996 to open the restaurant, fulfilling a lifelong dream of his in providing authentic Italian cuisine in The Oak City. Located at the corner of Hargett and Blount streets, Caffé Luna expanded seating capacity from 80 to 200 under his ownership. The restaurant opened on April 30, 1996.
Darcey Tinga, Brent Thompson and Max Gaskins became partners of Caffé Luna in 2017. Brent Thompson has been the restaurant's general manager since 2010.
At the onset of Raleigh Restaurant Week 2021 in the fall, Kennedy expressed the restaurant was seeing an uptick in business after experiencing a rough stretch earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I haven’t really looked at the numbers, [but] we had a fabulous month last month, and it’s the best month – last month – we’ve had since the pandemic," he said in November. "We’re doing well again, and we’re very happy."
When the state had enlisted tighter COVID restrictions, Kennedy reconfigured one of dining rooms under the new guidelines and said he could fit 30 people inside.
"We’ve been lucky," Kennedy said. "It was really tough on a lot of businesses, and some of them didn’t make it through."
His last day is Friday, Dec. 31.