I’m sitting with Kate Perry in the dining room of the restaurant she co-founded. The Georgetown Owl is charming, comfortable, and quietly unassuming. Much like Kate herself. She is the antithesis of our shared namesake, Katy Perry. Very unshowy. Very much the flame and not the firework.
“You should just get it out there,” she tells me—meaning the whole Katy Perry/Kate Perry/Katie Parry baggage-inducing coincidence. I agree.
Once we’ve swapped battle stories, rolled our eyes, and had a few laughs, we move on. (Let the record show: Katy Perry’s real name is Katy Hudson.)
“Can I get you a coffee?” Kate asks, immediately hopping back up to grab an iced latte for me before coming back to ask how I take it. “You can tell I’m not a barista!”
While I wait, I take in the space. It leans into its warm, rustic-industrial vibe—relaxed, lived-in, comfortable. Reclaimed barnwood covers the walls, and exposed wood beams overhead are strung with bare-bulb pendant lights for a soft, cozy glow. Wooden tables with bentwood chairs dot the dining room, and the bar is faced in stacked stone and topped with a slab of Carrara marble.
Kate returns with my iced latte—whole milk, a dash of simple syrup—and it’s delicious. I tell her so, adding that I stop in for one whenever I’m in Georgetown.
Just around the corner, father-and-son duo Bob and Will Ponturo lease space for their business, Quartertone Coffee Roasters. They roast their beans on the premises, and their coffee and espresso are served at the Market coffee bar. Even their empty coffee bean bags have been upcycled, artfully tucked into the restaurant’s ceiling to help with the acoustics.
It’s the kind of thing Kate points to when she talks about what she’s actually building here.
“The Owl is all about community,” Kate says. “This business is constant—I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, but I truly wouldn’t be able to do this without my staff or our customers. We’re here because of the community, because of people who love having this space to come to.”
Originally from Ridgefield, Kate moved to the West Coast after graduating from college. A sociology major, she cycled through sundry jobs—marketing, book publishing, and even running a restaurant for a stretch.
When she came back East, she landed in Redding and did marketing for local farms, including Henny Penny Farm and The Hickories. She also worked at Green Village Initiative in Bridgeport, a nonprofit that helps people grow food and community through urban gardening and farming—work that, in part, planted the seed for what she would go on to build in her new hometown.
“I did a lot of community work in Redding and Georgetown,” Kate says. “I only just stepped down from the Town of Redding Planning Commission because we added Tuesday dinner service and it conflicts with the meetings. But Georgetown is such a special place, I have a real soft spot for this area.”
Georgetown spans just under three square miles across the corners of Redding, Wilton, Weston, and Ridgefield. The Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill, which began manufacturing wire products there in 1818, ushered in a bustling era. When the mill shut down in 1989, the once-vibrant area fell quiet. After a redevelopment deal collapsed in 2009, the Town of Redding took ownership of the property in 2020. Cleanup and projects are underway, but in the meantime, Main Street has once again become a destination—with The Georgetown Owl in the center of it all.
Housed in a 1950s building that once held the Georgetown Market, The Georgetown Owl was co-founded by Kate and her business partner, Gerry Valenti. There’s no earth-shattering origin story; the concept evolved naturally out of a casual conversation between friends.
“We started talking about opening a restaurant and a market,” she recalls. “Then at a certain point, I said, ‘OK… let’s just do this!’”
The name isn’t an especially poignant story, either, Kate admits with a chuckle.
“I was on a hike and heard an owl. Redding is rural, there are a lot of owls! And also, it does make for a great logo.”
Kate eventually concedes, when I push, that the wisdom associated with owls appealed to her, too. Fitting, perhaps, for someone who seems to have a knack for seeing how different things can come together.
The establishment opened in March 2025, and Kate has since become the sole owner, making The Georgetown Owl Market and Restaurant a 100-percent woman-owned business. It was clear from the beginning that the space would have to serve multiple purposes—it’s simply too large and unwieldy to function as a restaurant alone.
“So we came up with the idea for a café serving coffee, breakfast, lunch, and a market,” Kate explains. “It’s a very cool homage to the Georgetown Market. There are some local residents whose family members—parents, grandparents—used to own it. It was a local gem!”
The Market & Café feels like a modern-day version of that neighborhood gem: a thoughtfully curated provisions shop. Sunlight streams through large windows, illuminating an eclectic mix of wooden and upholstered chairs. Industrial-style metal shelving is stocked with carefully selected goods tucked into antique baskets and metal mesh bins, each with handwritten kraft paper labels. Local jams, granola, sourdough pasta, hot sauces, and an assortment of beverages line the shelves.
“The foodie goodies are a small selection of items we think are cool,” Kate says. “Then we have local meats, local ice cream, and other seasonal items.”
The café menu doesn’t mess around. Breakfast highlights include the Pork Belly sandwich—egg, crispy pork belly, cheddar, cranberry-orange compote, and pickled jalapeño on brioche—and the Skillet wrap, with scrambled eggs, andouille sausage, peppers, onions, cheddar, and remoulade. Freshly baked pastries and muffins round things out.
Lunch expands the options with burgers, a hot dog, salads, and sandwiches. The Umpawaug combines shaved steak, bacon, caramelized onions, green chiles, American cheese, and remoulade on parmesan-cheddar-encrusted sourdough. The Wagon Wheel pairs turkey, Gruyère, fig jam, and apple on whole-grain ciabatta, while the Calabria is a classic Italian grinder with ham, Genoa salami, pepperoni, mortadella, and provolone.
Kate tells me they recently added weekend brunch on the Market side, along with some fun new canned adult beverages. The curated selection includes ready-to-drink cocktails from women-owned Two Chicks and Litchfield Distillery, an organic sparkling aperitif from Contratto Spirits, and a rotating selection of local beers.
“I totally respect people who don’t drink, of course, but to me, a delicious cocktail or a delicious glass of wine makes a meal that much more special,” Kate says.
Over on the Restaurant side, the drinks get more inventive and a little irreverent. There’s a rotating negroni dubbed Roman Nose, currently made with gin, lemon-thyme vermouth and citrus-infused Campari. Then there’s the Cereal Killer, made with house-infused cinnamon toast Four Roses bourbon, orgeat, and walnut bitters.
The menu is intentionally fluid, changing with the seasons, availability, and sometimes simply what Executive Chef Glenn Czesnowski and Kate are ready to move on from. Minor tweaks happen often enough that the menu needs to be reprinted almost weekly, with around four dishes swapped out each month.
“It really is a joy working on the menu,” Kate says. “I’m aware that not everything is always a hit, but you have to try things out. I don’t want to be afraid of not trying things. I think it’s part of the fun of being so invested in a business like this.”
Small plates might include roasted oysters with local Shaggy Coos Farm bone marrow butter, Calabrian shrimp, grilled lamb chop lollipops, or roasted chicken croquettes. Larger plates range from grilled Iberico pork skirt steak to shrimp curry, Creole-spiced sole, and duck confit. There are vegetarian and gluten-free options, too, along with a dedicated Owlettes menu for kids.
That willingness to tinker means even Kate’s favorites aren’t safe. One dish she orders “at least once a week” might be on the chopping block. It’s bone-in crispy half chicken served with both aji verde and mole sauces alongside a warm potato salad with tomatoes, capers, peppers, garlic, and chorizo.
“It’s such a perfect dish,” she says. “But Glenn and I were talking recently, and he’s getting antsy. He’s starting to get sick of it. He’s like, ‘I know you love it!’ and I’m like, ‘I know, I get it! We can always bring it back!’ So we’re looking at that dish next.”
Kate says Glenn has been instrumental to The Owl’s success. His approach to cooking is singular, she says—even in the simple things, like the roasted chicken jus that accompanies the chicken croquettes, which he makes by reducing, and reducing, and reducing some more. He brings a real intuition to the kitchen, too, and, perhaps most importantly to Kate, he’s not afraid to shake things up.
“You want to make sure you don’t have waste, that you’re not yanking away a really great dish too early,” Kate says. “But I think frequently changing menus is what I want in a restaurant. And being on the other side of it, it’s nice to change it up based on seasons and also—what do we feel like? What are we tired of?”
The Market & Café and Restaurant share more than a roof, too, from staff and ingredients to seating.
“It’s nice to have both,” she says. “I don’t know that I would be loving it so much if it was just one singular business.”
Most of the employees are seasoned hospitality professionals, like Chrissy Highsmith, who Kate calls “our bar guru.” Many of the staff do double duty tending bar and serving, and Kate credits the team—a dozen or so people across the Market and Restaurant—with making The Georgetown Owl truly shine.
“It really all comes back to my staff,” she says. “I mean, both sides—market, kitchen, restaurant—everybody is just fantastic. I think everyone who works here is so special. I lucked out, I really did. They bring personality to the job, along with their skills and expertise. They’re killer at what they do.”
The Owl’s community role extends beyond the regular restaurant routine. It hosts private parties, fundraisers, jewelry trunk shows, art openings, mahjong gatherings, and other community events.
“People camp out in the Market during the day, which I love,” Kate says. “They feel like there’s space to spread out. And I’m always thrilled to utilize the seating out there for the Restaurant, too—to offer customers a quiet area to sit, or for large parties or overflow.”
She’s also found a way to connect The Owl to another part of her life: the 30-acre farm she and her husband own in Redding, just up the road. The property is home to horses, dogs, chickens, peacocks, and ducks, and recently became grazing land for her friend Gene Nazzaro’s Amazing Graze American Wagyu cattle.
“It’s amazing, no pun intended,” Kate says. “The cattle graze on the farm and we serve the ground beef on our menu. We love that connection—tying the property with The Owl.”
The result is The Owl Burger: Amazing Graze American Wagyu, smoked Gouda, caramelized onions, butter lettuce, and tomato jam on a brioche bun, with hand-cut fries and housemade ketchup. Frozen cuts of Amazing Graze Wagyu beef are also available for purchase in the Market.
“We’re in really great company on the street,” Kate says. “Georgetown has a nice ecosystem. There are a lot of amazing places that we joined—and that we hopefully complement. The more that there is down here, the better it is for all of us. Rising tides float all boats.”
And maybe that’s the thing about Kate. She doesn’t need to be the biggest presence in the room. She has a knack for bringing good things together, making space for people, and seeing what happens. It’s clear how beloved the Owl has become—and how invested she is in the community around it.
Which is why Kate Perry is the flame, not the firework.
The Georgetown Owl Market & Café is open daily, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Restaurant & Saloon is open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner starting at 4 p.m. Visit georgetownowl.com for the current menu, and follow along on Instagram @georgetownowlmarket and @georgetownowlsaloon to see what's new.
Both spaces are available for holiday gatherings, private parties, fundraisers, and community events. Email hello@georgetownowl.com to get started.
“The Owl is all about community... I truly wouldn’t be able to do this without my staff or our customers. We’re here because of the community, because of people who love having this space to come to.”