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Photograph by Paul Myers
Amy Galli, a waitress at Los Gatos' new Palm Cafe on N. Santa Cruz Ave., takes a breather after the lunch rush.
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Palm Cafe: New diner offers menu that's familiar to many
By Suzanne Cristallo
The restaurant business can be a harbor that shelters a family while it grows. Al and Pam Malek are the new owners of the Palm Cafe in Los Gatos, previously known as Mary's Patio Cafe. Ownership of the cozy eatery is an exciting new twist in a business Al has faithfully served over the past decades.
For 26 years, he has worked in a restaurant--through the years that he courted Pam and married her, through the births of his daughter and two sons. He was a student for a while, first at the Maritime College in New York, where the Persian Royal Navy sent him. "But I realized that life was so good here, I wanted to stay," Al reflects.
He traveled to San Jose, again taking up school in the evenings at West Valley, De Anza and Foothill colleges, working all the while at various dinner houses during the days of the "three martini lunches." "But I never could figure out what to major in," he says. Eventually, he settled in at Le Papillon Restaurant, and the part-time job became his full-time career.
For the next 18 years, he doggedly pursued his career there, successfully serving as manager of the front of the house. "Then I realized that all I was doing during my days off was resting. I didn't have a life." He left the business and for the next three years, helped Pam in her florist business and researched how to buy a restaurant.
The big step came when he heard Mary and Dino Masouris wanted to sell the cafe and move to Folsom Lake, where they had bought a house, he says. Since then, his life has had a different cast.
"Pam loves it so much; she's been coming in early every day and leaving late," Al relates, enthused about the place they have owned for just one month. The place, in fact, was named for her: "Palm" is a composite of "pal" and "Pam."
"She's so excited about it," Al says. Helping the family on weekends is 17-year-old son Shayan, a senior at Prospect High. He's the designated helper since his older sister, Mariam, 20, is pursuing studies at Santa Clara University that will lead to law school, and brother, Ashkin, 14, is too young.
"I want [Shayan] to learn how difficult it is to earn a dollar," Al says, grinning.
The Maleks have made few perceptible changes to the restaurant. Most have been to upgrade the kitchen area. "Any changes in the menu have been only to eliminate some of the less popular items. We don't want to disappoint any regular customers," Al notes. He stresses that chef Alberto Flores is still in charge of the kitchen and preparing the dishes customers want.
Typical of Flores' specialties is the Greek gyro consisting of sliced roasted lamb or beef, enfolded in a pita and topped with grilled onions, sweet peppers and a cucumber-yogurt sauce. There's also moussaka--sliced eggplant layered with ground meat and baked, then covered with a sauce enriched with eggs and onions.
The lunch and dinner menu includes sautéed liver and onions, salmon and halibut, New York steak, lamb shank, meat loaf and chicken parmesan, ranging from $8.95 to $13.95. Some of the items are included in a two-for-one dinner priced at $15.95, which includes dessert.
Probably the most popular meal is breakfast, which usually has a line of customers waiting under the front patio awning. Generous omelettes, which come with blueberry muffins or perhaps cornbread, golden waffles, French toast and pancakes with bacon and sausage are some of the highlights of the extensive breakfast menu. Grits, fruit or potatoes are included as side dishes.
One of the bonuses of owning his own business, Al says, are the visits he gets from longtime customers who got to know him during his "fancy dinner house" days.
Palm Cafe, 337 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m., and Monday, 6 a.m.-4 p.m. Call 408.395.0711 for more information.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
