Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Dave Hernandez is organizing the annual Chamber of Commerce Crab Feed at St. Andrew's Church in Saratoga.

Seafood fans will savor the flavor of annual crab feed

By Suzanne Cristallo

In the year 1280, Venetian Marco Polo, marveling at the cuisine he found in the Chinese court of Kublai Khan, described a pile of fish and crabs in the marketplace so great that "one would never think it could be sold. Yet, in a few hours, it had all been taken away."

Diners at the annual Crab Feed hosted by the Chamber of Commerce in Saratoga have marveled in somewhat the same way. Since the feed started in 1994, the story has been the same.

Folks jostling for position at the designated starting time of 5 p.m. pour into the hall at St. Andrews Church on Saratoga Avenue and within four hours, consume 650 pounds of the sweet, succulent meat hidden in the hard shells of Dungeness crabs. For $27.50 per ticket, "it's all you can eat," says Pearl Madeiros, chamber president. "People come early and stay late."

Regulars attend religiously, laying claim to sections of table draped in red and white checkered cloths. The fish-netted hall is decorated by volunteers who show up in the early afternoon to decorate with sea shells and set up the kitchen with pots, chafers and utensils donated by Our Lady of Fatima Villa in Saratoga.

Overseeing the food ordering and coordinating up to 40 volunteers this year is Dave Hernandez, owner of Los Gatos Auto Service. Several shifts of volunteer servers will toss the garden salad, serve the linguini and spicy marinara sauce provided by Saratoga's Bella Saratoga Restaurant, slice the French bread and dispense the drawn butter and sauce used for dipping the crab. They will also serve coffee and dessert along with wine and beer. Local Boy Scouts will help clean up by forming a bucket-emptying brigade.

The main draw--the crabs--come from North Coast Fisheries in Santa Rosa. Owner Mike Lucas, a third-generation fisherman whose family developed Lucas Wharf in Bodega Bay, deals with some 60 crab fishermen who wild-harvest the crustaceans from every small port along California's northern coast.

They use squid or rock cod heads to bait crab pots, which are designed to allow small crabs room to crawl out while the big ones become trapped. They are collected and held live, first in tanks aboard the boats and then in the tanks kept by Lucas in Santa Rosa and at Pier 45 in San Francisco.

Up to 55,000 pounds of crab come in each day. Crews boil them in salt water, chill them down, remove the backs and crack the five pairs of legs for easy peeling. "You only have one shot at making a good product," Lucas says. "We don't screw it up."

His company has been doing local feeds for groups like Portuguese halls, Catholic churches and softball leagues for 25 years, dispatching trucks of crustaceans as far north as Oregon. He has supplied all of the Saratoga feeds.

"Big blows hinder us," he says, referring to the winter weather that coincides with the biggest ordering season. But keeping the crabs alive until just before delivery assures their freshness.

"Sure, we try to earn money," Madeiros says of the annual Saratoga shindig, "but it's really for the community--to bring it together. It gets better every year," she says, stressing that all members of the greater community are warmly welcomed.

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Saratoga Crab Feed, St. Andrews Church, 13601 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga. Sat., March 4, 5-9 p.m. Advance tickets are available at Bayview Bank, the Front Window, Mail Boxes, Etc., the Saratoga Senior Center and the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce office. For information, call 408.867.0753.

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