In the spring of 2008, Carlo Capua ’00 asked his mother what many parents often ask their children: “If you could only do one thing the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Janet Z. Capua knew the answer — it was her passion:  food.

“Cooking, to me, is an act of love,” she said. “Whether I am happy or I’m sad, I work through things when I cook. I celebrate when I cook. Everything happens when I cook.”

So at age 63 and after almost 40 years as a dental hygienist, she started a home-based catering business, literally going door to door selling sandwiches and salads.

Carlo, who had just returned to his native Fort Worth after teaching abroad for eight years, was also changing careers. He’d always wanted to run his own business.

Together they began looking for a commercial kitchen to rent on off-peak hours, asking at schools, churches, even bingo parlors and donut shops.

“No one would help us,” Carlo said. “Either they couldn’t or they wouldn’t.”

Months went by until Carlo caught a break. While on a tour of Samaritan House, a non-profit that assists people with HIV and AIDS, he discovered it had a nice kitchen. He offered to provide boxed lunches for their meetings in exchange for a few hours a week in the space.

Not long after that, the Fort Worth Community Arts Center gave Samaritan House its coffee shop space to help give employment opportunities to individuals with HIV and AIDS. Samaritan House didn’t know food, but they knew someone who did.

In January 2009, Z’s Café was born, named in honor of Carlo’s grandparents, John and Marie Zito. Janet cooked, Carlo ran the business and Samaritan House residents and caretakers learned food and service skills while getting back in the workforce.

The response has been overwhelming, Carlo said. With the motto “Food, family, friends,” Z’s has quickly gained a reputation for outstanding food, beautiful presentation and top-notch service.  The café now employs 16 full-time staff, including Carlo’s father John, and caters about 50 weddings a year, as well as boxed lunches for business meetings.

“One of our proudest achievements is witnessing our staff, many of whom are low-income individuals, do things both they, and society, once thought impossible,” Carlo said. “In other words, they shine even brighter than we could have imagined.”

The food is superb, too. Fort Worth, Texas magazine rated Z’s chicken salad as the best in town, while Fort Worth Child and WFAA-TV have noted the café as among the best healthy dining in the Metroplex.

Z’s outreach hasn’t stopped with Samaritan House. It also provides more than 200 meals a week for local nonprofit Cuisine for Healing, a food service for cancer patients.

But Carlo is most excited about some new initiatives. Remembering how difficult it was to find a kitchen, the Capuas began a commercial-kitchen rental program, leasing out their own cooking facilities at Z’s medical district location to startup businesses, bakers, food trucks or personal chefs.

TCU students Raffi Nasr and Kyle Hesthag are among the success stories. They launched Mediterranean Chunky Monkey Food Truck with Carlo’s help.

This summer, Z’s also began its Hope & Hospitality Program, a 12-week course tied to Tarrant County College, in which low-income individuals receive basic cooking training and knife skills with the goal of finding work in the food industry. Two-thirds of the first class of six students now work in food services at Cowboys Stadium.

“We’re committed to treating everyone who walks through the door like family,” Carlo said. “When you’re good to people in the community, the good comes back to you in greater supply.”

On the Web:
zscafe.com