Chef/owner of La Maison du Cafe calls it a blessing
By Suzanne Cristallo
The soft gray-blue of the tablecloths and lattice on the walls are clues that this is French country, while plants on the skylit balcony add a cottage coziness to La Maison du Café, the Los Gatos restaurant serving country French cuisine to loyal patrons for over 16 years. What brings them back is the culinary flair of Noe Valdez.
Valdez has prepared his escalopes and crevettes, truffles and quiche since the restaurant opened two owners ago. For 14 years he did it for them; now he does it for himself. Since 1998, he has owned the eatery, doing all of the cooking himself.
But with proprietorship comes many responsibilities beyond food preparation. Where he used to cook just dinner, he now does lunch and dinner along with ordering, accounting, cleaning, employee management and equipment repair.
He views the added responsibilities as a blessing. "The benefits are having enough money," he says, along with doing what he loves--cooking and getting to know customers. "It's also knowing I'm doing something for myself," he adds.
Valdez specializes in fish and lamb dishes. On the dinner menu, his roasted lamb is sautéed in olive oil and served with peeled truffles sauce. The salmon steak is poached in vermouth with dill and Dijon mustard. A specialty is chicken breast with apple sauce and flamed with Calvados, an apple brandy. Veal dishes along with scampi, crab, prawns and beef fillets comprise the dinner entrees, which include soup or salad.
There are also hors d'oeuvres, such as mushrooms filled with spinach mousse baked with marinara and parmigiana, escargot in butter and garlic, and salads from spinach to Caesar. Soups change daily and include French onion and bouillabaisse. There are also several pastas, such as house fettucini in garlic cream with bacon, tomatoes and parmigiana.
The luncheon menu includes croissant wraps, soup and salad specials, quiches, pastas and meat and fish entrees. Homemade pastries by La Mousse of San Francisco and a beer and wine list are available.
Valdez, 38, was the second of 11 children born on a farm in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Seeking a future his small town could not provide, he was the first to leave as a teenager with only the name of a friend living in Los Gatos as a reference.
Travel-weary, he arrived at a house on University Avenue, only to find his friend no longer there. "But Maria let me stay," he recalls. "She trusted me and gave me the biggest chance of my life." The next day, he was in an apron at Gacevoís, where California Café is now. Soon he was able to move to his own place and begin cooking school at DeAnza College.
A series of jobs followed until he came to La Maison du Café in 1984. Today, three of his brothers work with him: Ted and Victor are waiters and Jose helps cook. Another brother, Aurelio, has cooked since 1984 at The Cats, where their father, Jesus, is a dishwasher.
"We're an old fashioned family," Valdez says. "All of my sisters, my mother and my wife, Berta, stay at home and care for the children. The men work hard and expect to come home to a waiting dinner." He admits the women have a harder job with the children, which he knows he couldn't handle.
Valdez has three children, ages 12, eight and two. "When I saw my wife was expecting the youngest child, I knew it would bring us good luck," he recalls. It came when Ibo Guney, La Maison's previous owner, decided to retire. Valdez thought he was going to have to return to Mexico until Guney offered to sell the place. "It was either that or he'd gut the place," Valdez marvels. "So I bought it, and my luck changed 360 degrees."
La Maison du Café, 14103-C Winchester Blvd., Los Gatos. Open for lunch Tues.-Fri. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner Tues.-Sat. 5:30-10 p.m. Reservations are a must. 408.378.2233.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
