Saratoga News Photograph by George Sakkestad David Hurley is the general manager of Florentine Restaurant in Saratoga. Florentine Restaurant caters to customers' pasta passions By Suzanne Cristallo Florentine Restaurant in Saratoga claims it is "not the newest or the fanciest--just the best Italian restaurant in the business." How it strives to hold that title is by holding frequent "tastings" of existing or potential menu items to determine what customers prefer. Frequent diners are thus invited--up to 60 couples at a time--and are asked about appearance, taste and what price they would pay for a variety of dishes. Mixed in with creations by Florentine's chefs are dishes purchased for take-out from their competitors. "Competition is tough. You need to stay on top, or you slip away quickly," says general manager David Hurley, who with executive chef Bill Glew has attended the tastings and closely observed customer reaction. For example, sauces can make or break a dish. "Ours came out on top," Hurley notes, "but one restaurant beat one of our red sauces, causing us to rethink the recipe." A handful of new items is now on the menu, a result of the warm response they received during tasting. Among them are several pasta dishes: curried chicken penne--served with shiitake mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, coconut milk and curry cream topped with pinenuts; fettuccine Paolo--sliced Italian sausage, mushrooms and peas in a creamy Alfredo sauce with parmesan cheese; and linguine and clams in white or red sauce. Most pasta entrees hover between $10 and $13. All pasta is made fresh on-site. Known for their pizza bread and cheese spread, which is served to every table, Florentine also provides a house or Caesar salad or a cup of soup with each entree. Pizzas, casseroles, raviolis and entrees of chicken, beef filet, veal, salmon, and prawns, and the signature dish of cioppino Napoletano round out a five-page menu. Hurley, 37, took over as general manager at the Big Basin Way restaurant seven months ago. He has been with Florentine for four years, having started as assistant manager for the Saratoga location and subsequently moving through six of the original eight locations until his return. This June, he became part-owner along with other managers and chefs in the company, which now calls itself the Florentine Restaurant Group. Entirely employee-owned, it is headed by Robert Bledsoe, a Saratogan who serves as its CEO. The group purchased the company from its founders, Ernestine and Michael Del Monaco, native Italians who started with one restaurant in Cupertino in 1964 and expanded to 10, eight of which include retail pasta markets. Today, Michael Del Monaco retains ownership of what once was the chain's central kitchen in San Jose. There he makes ravioli and tortellini, which he sells to all of his former restaurants and others. "I'm glad to be back in Saratoga," Hurley says. "People living here are here to stay--at ease with their affluence, yet genuinely interested in value." Florentine Restaurant, 14510 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. Open Mon. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Tue.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 3-8 p.m. 741-1784. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 2, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.