Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Dan Caston barbecues steaks just outside Lunardi's every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Lunardi's market offers a hot, fresh outdoor barbecue
By Suzanne Cristallo
The telltale signs of a barbecue in progress can be seen in the King's Court Shopping Center in Los Gatos these weekends. On the sidewalk in front of Lunardi's Market is a plume of smoke coming from a gas-fired barbecue and the distinct aroma of grilled beef.
The sign says "Alfredo's Tri Tip BBQ," and it's a new attraction for shoppers, looking either for a take-home dinner or spontaneous gratification in the form of a sliced tri-tip sandwich with all the fixings.
Customers can expect Alfredo's to be a permanent fixture at Lunardi's during good weather. Cook Dan Caston will be tending the flames from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, turning the three-pound roasts to keep the three sides of the cut (hence, tri-tip) uniformly cooked. A full roast runs $16.99. A half roast of 1 1/2 pounds runs $8.99.
Caston sends some of his grilled meat over to the deli, where generous slices can be put on crunchy French rolls or a bread of choice along with tomatoes, onions and peppers, if desired--or perhaps just a bit of mayonnaise, for $6.99. Seasonings are built in.
Before barbecuing, the Harris Ranch beef is tumbled for up to four hours in a slowly turning plastic drum filled with mesquite marinade. "Tumbling assures that all that marinade is sucked up by the meat," says store manager David Lucia, a familiar face in the Los Gatos store for the past eight years. It also assures that moisture is retained during cooking.
"Alfredo's" is named after the founder of Lunardi's Markets, 71-year-old Alfredo Lunardi, who remains active in his six-store enterprise at the home store in San Bruno. Born in Lucca, Italy, he began working with his father and uncles in the family market when he was 12.
"It was a big business," he recalls, and one where he learned early the importance of quality products to the success of a business. "My father always said," he relates in an accent richly reminiscent of the Tuscan region of his birth, "that 'I never see a successful meat man who handles cheap meat.' " He adds that men who cut corners end up failing within three years.
When Lunardi reached 20--a time when Italian men were sent into the military--his American-born mother, a native of Half Moon Bay, told him to either stay in Italy and be conscripted, or go to America.
"I chose America," he says. He came directly to San Francisco in 1950, where he worked for a while in the wholesale produce district. A short time later he was running the produce department of a city market. Three years later he owned the store, then two stores. It was during a visit by his mother that she and his sister introduced him to Irene, a San Franciscan of German and Irish descent.
"My mother would not leave for three years until we were married," he smiles. He kept the San Francisco stores for 23 years, through the birth and growing years of sons Ralph and Paul, then sold the stores, opening Lunardi's Market in San Bruno in 1981. Two years later, teenage son Ralph helped design the Los Gatos store. Subsequent stores were added in Burlingame, Belmont and San Jose. All are part of a corporation, with son Paul sitting today as president. Ralph died of leukemia at age 19.
Lunardi prides himself that his stores emphasize quality and service. "It's been that way since the beginning," he says, crediting the teachings of his father.
Lunardi's Markets, 720 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos. Alfredo's BBQ open Fri. Sat. and Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. 408.358.1731.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
