Photograph by Paul Myers
Julia Conway (left), lead buyer of cheese, and Faun Skyles are kept busy at Oakville, especially at this time of year.
From cold snacks to hot meals, Oakville has it all
By Suzanne Cristallo
Now is the time when folks visit family and friends bearing baskets of treats that equate to love. And there are plenty of ways to fill them at Oakville Grocery. The Los Gatos store in the Old Town shopping center is richly supplied with wines, soups, oils and vinegars, cheeses, pastas, tapenades and hot dishes to satisfy seekers of off-beat items.
"Oakville is a high-end, gourmet food store," says Los Gatan Julia Conway, who is the store's lead buyer of cheese and charcuterie--the French term for meat specialties, like patés and crepinettes, which have been considered a French culinary art since the 15th century.
As such, Conway has made it a point to know her suppliers, like So Young Scanlan, who is a "one-woman operation" at Andante Dairy in Santa Rosa. Scanlan specializes in making organic cow and goat milk cheeses.
"We like to support artisan cheese-makers, because it is very difficult to make cheese in California," Conway explains, referring to the many requirements the state imposes on the industry, such as frequent inspections, which she says places an increased financial burden on the producers.
But they are also of the harder-to-find, California and European varieties and are part of the "most extensive selection in the South Bay," she adds.
Because chefs are popularizing the concept lately of cheese as a meal in itself, the demand for exotics is up, and Oakville stocks them. One example of a suitable and satisfying cheese meal the store provides is a creamy American farmstead, Point Reyes Blue ($15.95 per pound), which can be served with sliced pears and a drizzle of honey.
Another option is pungent Gorgonzola made into a torta (pie) and served mountain-style with rich moscarpone cheese layered with dried cranberries and garnished with toasted almonds. Accompanied by Bartlett pear slices and housemade crostini, a platter serving eight to 10 sells for $24.50. "We look at cheese as a food, not part of a recipe or a snack," Conway says.
Conway, 42, grew up in the food business by helping out in her mother's restaurant. After a 20-year stint in the electronics business, she returned to her true interest--"I just love cheese!"--focusing first on appetizers, then cheese in courses she took through the California Institute of America at the Greystone facility in St. Helena.
"The real trend now is toward finger food," she says. "It allows people to try lots of tastes: vegetables and meats--like salami and smoked duck breast--and a variety of olives." Catering to that trend, Conway can plan special parties, assisted by co-worker Betsy Schivo, that feature a variety of platters.
In the basement of the grocery, a full kitchen staffed by executive chef Jeff Heicksen, three other chefs and 12 cooks is a scene of constant activity. Their creations are presented daily in the cold cases upstairs, where customers can select entrées and side dishes for lunch, which are heated, packaged for dinner at home, or, as in the case of sandwiches, made to order. Choices change daily, but a sampling includes grilled salmon filets with honey mustard, chicken enchilada pie and Thai cabbage salad. Selections run between $7.95 and $17.50 per pound--or fractions of that for individual servings.
Pasta sauces and soups are made fresh daily, and the rotisserie slow-roasts Cornish game hens, pork loin and chicken that can be sliced and served with a side dish. Desserts include pecan and apple pies and berry and pear tarts. Espresso and bakery items are available in the morning before the rest of the store opens.
Oakville Grocery, 50 University Ave., Los Gatos. Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Sunday 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Coffee and bakery bar open at 9 a.m. Call 408.399.9902 for more information.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
