Three of the four owners of the Devoted Kiss Café have something in common: They all used to work at Anthony’s Restaurant in Gig Harbor.

And the team couldn’t be happier with their new location, just a stone’s throw from their old digs in the Finholm District.

“We all love Anthony’s,” part-owner Christina McGahan said. “They’re so supportive over there. It’s just been amazing.”

Husband-and-wife team Debi and Jimmie Viers make up half the ownership group. Jimmie is the only one who never worked at Anthony’s. Debi tended bar there for years.

“Debi and I have been friends for 10 years,” McGahan said. “There’s about 50 years of restaurant experience between all of us.”

McGahan and her partner, Devon Dengler, had just started their own catering business when the Harbor Kitchen went up for sale.

“It just made sense to drop the catering biz and add a café,” McGahan said. “We didn’t have to do much with the place, physically. We just changed the lighting, put in new carpeting, painted and refinished the tables.”

The cafe offers a cozy seating area with a large fireplace and a view of Gig Harbor Bay. It is open for breakfast and lunch and offers a variety of breakfasts, from pastries and parfaits to burritos and smoked salmon benedict. Desserts are coconut cake, cheesecake and chocolate mousse cake.

“We know the need for breakfast and lunch over here,” McGahan said. “There’s nowhere to get coffee in the Finholm district. We want to fill that gap. There’s a lot of people driving through from Crescent Valley who just want to stop for a cup of coffee.”

Devoted Kiss opens at 6 a.m. to service on-the-go morning commuters and stays open until 3 p.m. The group may consider longer business hours in the future, but with just the owners running the cafe for now, they will focus on the daytime crowd, McGahan said. They want to get established in the area before they look into hiring more people for an evening shift.

“I can’t believe how many people drive by and stop just to see who we are,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of support, and we’re known by a lot of neighbors.”

Dengler’s ownership status allows him to be more creative in the kitchen. He has been cooking since he was 15 and was a former co-manager at the Market Place Grill next door. He worked as the sous chef at Anthony’s for three years.

“We have a lot of variety, and I make everything from scratch,” he said. “Everybody loves the food, and I haven’t heard any negative comments.”

Dengler plans to offer more gluten-free dishes — 90 percent of the cafe’s bread products already are gluten-free.

The cafe’s name is a combination of two of the owners’ names. Devon’s childhood name was “Devo,” and McGahan’s nickname was “Kiss.” They put them together with “ted” for “tasty, edible delights.”

Photos of the various dishes offered at the café can be viewed on the café’s Facebook page. Phone: 253-851-0055.