Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Kathie Stark pours wines for tastings that are accompanied by a selection of tapas at the Big Basin Bistro.

Big Basin Bistro offers wines, brews and tapas

By Suzanne Cristallo

Wine aficionados interested in spending some friendly hours expressing their opinions on the blending of local wines may meet others with similar passions at the Big Basin Bistro in Saratoga. There is also plenty of room for the uninitiated.

It is a tapas bar that owners Dan and Kathie Stark recently reconfigured to display up to 400 wines. In addition, there is an abundant selection of beers with tap lines to nine microbrewery selections.

Tapas, the Spanish term for appetizers or the first course on a menu, are meant to complement the taste of the wines and beers. The bestsellers on the bistro menu are El Perro Grande (Big Dog), a Spanish-style smoked sausage on half a toasted baguette, and crab cakes lightly toasted in a mildly spicy breading served with condiments.

Dan Stark, 55, comes from the Pacific Northwest, where he obtained a degree in history from the University of Portland and a master's degree in business from Willamette University. Kathie spends five days a week and he two at the bistro they bought in 1993. The rest of the week Dan divides between special events at the bistro and another business.

Dan's love of wine-collecting began more than 30 years ago and culminated in the bistro, which offers three- or four-glass winetastings from more than 100 varietals all day and evening throughout the week. Special-event tastings are held Thursday evenings and feature the pouring of rare wines or current releases. The tapas are served any time.

"There's a great opportunity for customers to become educated about some of our local wines here," Dan says. "Certainly, many of our customers have become more and more knowledgeable as the years progress."

The opportunities to which he refers are over-the-counter ex-changes, special seminars held in the bistro by wine experts, field trips to local wineries for the purchasing of barrels of wine that can later be bottled and corked by "partner" participants, and team competitions.

Dan, who appreciates as much as anyone what he offers, says there's nothing better than sharing time and tapas with friendly people next to you who love the looks, the smell and the taste of good wines and beers.

Big Basin Bistro, 14480 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. Opens at 1 p.m. Wed.-Sun; last servings Wed. 9 p.m., Thu.-Sat., 11 p.m. and Sun. 6 p.m. Closed Mon. and Tue. (867-1764).