Saratoga News Photograph by George Sakkestad Larry Stepek, general manager of California Cafe, is eager to show off the improvements that have been made over the past 15 months. California Cafe sports music, trendy cuisine and '50s look By Suzanne Cristallo For 15 months, the hammering sound was constant as the California Cafe in Los Gatos' Old Town went through a metamorphosis. Last week, fans of the bar and grill had the chance to see what a small army of contractors, designers, cooks, bartenders and wait staff have been eager to show off: a new look with a 1950s feeling, a new chef with a penchant for Mediterranean and Pacific Rim fare, local celebrity bartenders, live jazz and classic piano in a dimly lit lounge, and outdoor dining that boosts the house seating to 300. "Actually, nothing's changed here," says Robert Freeman, president and CEO of the California Cafe Restaurant Corporation--owner of some 24 restaurants nationwide. He refers to the distinctive cuisine that kept the Los Gatos location popular with the local community until it closed in July 1997 for the renovation of Old Town--a project that encountered a myriad of problems and delays. The new/old look of the restaurant now open for business in Old Town is hunkered-down, sectioned off, upscale and sexy. Designed in part by Laura Hamlin of Engstrom Design Group of San Rafael, there are ample features to please the eyes: a see-through fireplace to separate a private dining area from a banquet room with a garden view; a glass-walled, temperature-controlled wine room; a gauzy swag-curtained alcove for birthday and special-occasion groups; purple suede-textured ceiling soffits; hammered copper and metal-sculptured room dividers; wavy, flowing sculptured walls interrupted by geometric shapes and mirrored wedges, and an enlarged kitchen to handle both the in-house dining trade and catering for groups numbering up to the thousands. New executive chef John Caputo, a transplant from New York, has been given the autonomy to produce food and service to suit California Cafe's local customers. He brings with him the experience of running his own Socca Restaurant in San Francisco and that gained under celebrated chef Jan Birnbaum at Compton Place. Caputo is assisted by a staff of 130, including two sous chefs, a dozen cooks and 15 prep cooks. Steaks and chops are a new feature. They include sirloin steak with garlic mashed potatoes, stir-fry vegetables and plum wine sauce; and pork porterhouse with chayote slaw, whipped yams with corn-poblano cream. Blackened swordfish and roasted beet and goat cheese ravioli join wood-fired-style pizza and the Cafe's signature shoestring fries. "We hope we are leading edge and creative," says new general manager Larry Stepek, 45, a resident of Los Gatos. He comes with 12 years experience in the wine and restaurant business from Detroit, where--in another life--he was a college English professor. California Cafe, Old Town, 50 University Ave., Los Gatos. Open for lunch Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Sunday brunch (starting late November) 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., dinner Mon.-Thu. 5-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5-10:30 p.m., Sun. 5-9:30 p.m. 354-8118. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.