Frank Capitanini, the second-generation owner and operator of the Italian Village restaurants in the Loop, died over the weekend. Death was from natural causes, according to family. He was 85. Capitanini could be found every day in the kitchen, though he no longer was responsible for day-to-day operations of the 91-year-old Italian Village’s three restaurants, said his daughter-in-law, Pamella Capitanini.

“Every single day,” she said. “He was working 15-hour days, even at Christmas.” Though he ran a complex operation, Capitanini was perhaps best known for his gardening. Beginning in the 1960s, he grew prodigious amounts of tomatoes at his home, and his produce found its way onto the Italian Village menus.