Photograph by George Sakkestad
Zoe Ghafourifar has recently added vegetarian dishes to her Greek-Arab-Persian menu.
By Suzanne Cristallo
Cafe Santorini is the best-kept secret in Los Gatos, according to one satisfied patron who marveled at his recent discovery-by-chance of the small cafe across from Safeway on N. Santa Cruz Avenue.
Specializing in Greek-Arab-Persian-style food, owner and chef Zoe Ghafourifar has recently added vegetarian items to her menu, which also includes the traditional chicken shish-kabobs, falafels and gyros.
Ghafourifar, 35, left Iran with her mother when she was 15 to live in Richmond, Va., a journey which promised not only an education, but exposure to Western ways.
She had grown up in a family where her father owned and managed a restaurant. Her mother cooked in it, and the comfortable income from the business allowed the family to spend summers in Europe. Those summers spent in cosmopolitan cities exposed the impressionable young girl to the society of women who were able to be themselves. It was unlike the world of her homeland and one which she envisioned for herself.
The move to the United States still brought with it dictates from home. As the oldest of three, she was told she would become a physician. Toward that end, she graduated from college with a degree in biology, but she immediately left for California.
She turned to what she had known all of her growing years--restaurants. For two years, she worked for some of the best Persian chefs in San Francisco.
During those years, she met a Persian violinist named Zabi who played Arabic music in a North Beach nightclub. They soon married and moved to San Jose, Zabi entertaining at the local Saaghi Club and Zoe cooking as an assistant chef in Sunnyvale.
Five years later, Zoe saw an ad for a Persian restaurant in Los Gatos, a town she saw as European in atmosphere. In 1995, she bought the former Vertigo Cafe, later known as the Cafe Santorini.
Zoe works 13 hours every day. She makes her own yogurt, which she uses for sauces and special garlic and cucumber dishes. She avoids chemicals and artificial ingredients, opting for an all-natural menu.
Cafe Santorini, 453 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., Sun. 5-10 p.m. 395-5730.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, July 10, 1996.
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