Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Borders Cafe employees Tami Baror, manager, and Paul Anthony enjoy a cup of coffee in front of one of the arched windows that looks out over the redwood deck.

Borders Cafe now provides some good food for thought

By Suzanne Cristallo

Los Gatos is known in some circles as California's Kitty City, and that's what led cat-loving Tami Baror to apply for the manager's job here for the just-opened Borders Cafe Espresso in Old Town.

The cafe is connected to the big new Borders Books in the renovated theater/auditorium of what once was University Avenue Elementary School. Baror, a 28-year-old native of Ohio, came here in July from the Los Angeles area--where she had been a Borders employee--to help open the store and to experience what she has been seeking for some time: "a slower pace, good air for my asthma, friendlier people and just a nice place," she says.

She hopes the cafe will reflect some of the same qualities. She has been working up to 16 hours a day for the past month to ready it for opening. While the store is now open and functioning, a grand opening takes place Sept. 11. Meanwhile, fresh spinach and cheddar scones and mini bundt cakes are delivered fresh each morning by Full Bloom Bakery in Menlo Park. There's also a variety of muffins and croissants, some filled with ham and cheese or spinach and feta.

"On opening day, the crowd cleaned us out of all of our case items," she says of the large group that visited the store last week. Baror says she's looking for a vendor to supply her with sandwiches and some vegan items to round out the light lunch items of chili, soups, smoothies and pastries she has now.

In addition to a full array of espressos and soft drinks, up to 20 syrups with flavors ranging from mango to mocha are available to create sodas, freezes and flavored coffees. Some Borders specialty items are chai tea, either iced or hot, and the Mochaberry Espresso, made with steamed milk, cocoa and raspberry syrup. Sugar-free syrups are available for calorie-counters.

The new cafe can seat up to 50 inside, where walls are enlivened by oil paintings of jazz musicians by Los Gatos artist Bruni. Outside, there is a large, sunlit redwood deck where another 24 customers can take their lattes or French sodas and snacks while they read. On weekends, live entertainment is planned.

Borders was begun in 1970 as a used-book store in Ann Arbor, Mich. by the Borders brothers, Tom and Louis. Today, the Borders Group Inc. owns more than 270 stores in all states except Wyoming, with additional locations in England, Singapore, Scotland and Australia. Up to 60 new stores open each year. Cafes were added in 1990 and are now in more than 200 stores.

"We had a job fair for the Los Gatos store here and received lots of impressive résumés," she says, adding that most of the interest for some 50 storewide positions came from laid-off Silicon Valley workers and surprisingly--considering the easy commute--not from many locals.

"Some of our employees come from as far away as Palo Alto, Scotts Valley, Boulder Creek and the Alum Rock area," she says. She still needs to hire more staff to expand her cafe group of seven, and, by the way, she says, she's also looking for a place to live in Los Gatos. "Hopefully, one that will accept cats!" she adds.

Borders Cafe Espresso, 50 University Ave., Los Gatos. Open Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m.- 11 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. 395-6622.

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