Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by George Sakkestad Barbara Gilliland used to be involved with the energy business; now she puts her energy into running Marbella, her Mediterranean restaurant in Los Gatos. Mediterranean influences flavor cuisine of Marbella By Suzanne Cristallo When Barbara Gilliland first met Allen, it was over the plans for building a nuclear power plant. Logically, they feel, the meeting led to their marriage and the construction of their own restaurant. Today, Barbara owns and runs Marbella, the Los Gatos Mediterranean eatery at Vasona Station. The Gillilands' romance evolved in the mid '70s when nuclear power was at its pinnacle as an exciting power prospect, and designing computer programs to manage plant construction was a leading-edge occupation. Barbara, a native of Portland, Ore., was a programmer for Pacific Power and Light; Allen was a consultant working on the conceptual design for the Oregon utility's Trojan Nuclear Plant. They were among the avant garde. When Allen was transferred to Canada, the resulting long-distance commute to see each other on weekends helped the couple decide to marry and move into new occupations. They settled first in Allen's hometown, Los Gatos. Today, they live in Monte Sereno. At first, Allen worked for his dad's Gill Cable Company to develop Pay Per View software, while Barbara worked at Rolm. But the chance then arose for them to construct their own restaurant, and the couple was drawn into the food industry. For 10 years, they ran the Sports City Cafe in Cupertino, where six team members of the 49ers invested money and showed up occasionally to the delight of patrons. The Gillilands sold out in order to buy the Los Gatos restaurant, which had operated for 12 years as Shelley's Sea Food under the ownership first of Shelley Glickman and later, George Brillo. Barbara re-named it Marbella, after a town in Spain. The Mediterranean menu at Marbella is a combination of Spanish, Italian, French and Greek influences. There is couscous with polenta and root vegetables, Spanish shellfish soup, lamb shanks, shish kabob and double-thick-cut pork chops. The Italian influence comes with penne with sausage, eggplant, tomatoes, scallions, grilled asparagus and mushrooms and with pasta Bolognese. Barbara's specialty is paella--the saffron rice dish. "In Spain, it floats in an inch of olive oil, but not here," she notes, in reference to the house concern for low-fat cooking. Most a la carte dinner entrees are $14.95, with similar items at lunch for $10.95, which may be accompanied by selections from a full-service bar. During the cold winter months, Barbara lights a crackling fire in the main dining room. On warm days, patio dining is available, and guests on weekends are greeted by Barbara's daughter, Chelsea, a Castilleja High School sophomore. Marbella is solely operated by Barbara. Allen meanwhile, is "doing his own thing" on the Internet with www.digitalchef.com--an educational food-related program he has developed. Marbella, 14109 Winchester Blvd., Los Gatos. Open Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Fri. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat. 5-10 p.m. Closed Sunday for private parties. 374-1717. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 13, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.