Photograph by George Sakkestad
Clayton Wong, chef at Los Ranchos, presents a matzo-ball soup
described on the menu as "big as a baseball, light as a pillow."
By Anne Gelhaus
Before he came to Saratoga last month to help his sister, Tina Wong, run her Los Ranchos restaurant, chef Clayton Wong had worked in almost every kind of restaurant imaginable, from diners and delis to Chinese and Italian eateries.
"I took the best concepts from each of these places and put it into this restaurant," Wong says.
In his short tenure at Los Ranchos, Wong has changed the menu from Latin American food to a cross-cultural smorgasbord: Chicken matzo- ball and chicken tortilla are among the soups offered, and salads include garlic chicken with Caesar dressing and tropical poached salmon with fruit salsa. Entrées run the gamut from turkey meatloaf to veggie lasagna, while the most exotic appetizers available are brie-and-nut-filled wontons in plum sauce.
In contrast to many neighboring restaurants, Wong says, he and his sister want Los Ranchos to be a casual dining spot.
"We're focusing on good-tasting food and healthy portions at a fair price," Wong adds. "We're trying to get away from the froufrou atmosphere so people can come in here for more than just special occasions."
Wong came to Los Ranchos from a restaurant in Aspen, Colo., and says he's tried to incorporate the healthy lifestyle of the people there into Los Ranchos' new menu.
"In Aspen," he adds, "everyone's more health-conscious. Here, our vegetarian soup is very big. I make all my soups from scratch; I make my own stock. In other words, I don't serve too many consommés."
Wong and his sister plan to change the name of their restaurant to reflect their new menu.
"We changed the menu so fast that we haven't had time to come up with a new name," he says. "But so far, we've gotten a good response to the changes we have made."
Los Ranchos, 14554 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. 867-4595. Hours: Tue.-Sun., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 28, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved