Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
The cast and crew of Cafe Primavera in Los Gatos includes (seated from left) Joanna and David Biondi, owners; and (standing from left) Eric Beamsederfer, chef; Rosemary Edwards, manager; Peter Harvey, operations manager, and Gary Salas, manager.
The latest Cafe Primavera offers Pacific Rim cuisine
By Suzanne Cristallo
Super moms everywhere will identify with Joanna Biondi. She's the owner and driving force behind the new Cafe Primavera in Los Gatos. The $1.3 million renovation of what used to be a Fresh Choice restaurant in the Cornerstone Shopping Center on Los Gatos Boulevard has resulted, after 15 months, in a totally new look.
"Only the walk-in refrigerator is left," notes Biondi of the original 5,500-square-foot area, which was gutted to accommodate a full service bar, two 40-seat banquet rooms, an 80-seat main dining room and a chef-designed kitchen.
The new look is "upscale contemporary and San Francisco informal," according to Biondi. The food is "Northern California with an Asian influence," meaning steaks, pasta, pizzas and pot stickers along with lots of fresh local produce.
"We live in east Los Gatos," says Biondi of her family--husband David, who just joined the company as its chief financial officer; 18-year-old Santa Clara University student Nicole; and 16-year-old identical twins, Lauren and Jessica, who are students at Valley Christian High School.
"We felt a lack of really big restaurants on this side of town, and because there are others like us who eat out four or five nights a week, we know people are ready for this," she says.
What people are getting is an up-and-running enterprise. There are two other Cafe Primaveras--one a fine dining restaurant in Willow Glen since 1991, and another, a more casual venue, on Almaden Boulevard in downtown San Jose since 1997. Additionally, Biondi runs a cafe in San Jose's Tech Museum, where the twins help out, as well as the bar service and catering for a third of the events there.
The Los Gatos Cafe Primavera is designed to handle catering for big events. Already the restaurant is buzzing with private weddings, reunions and birthday parties, even before the doors have opened to public dining--which won't happen until the first weekend in January.
"Private parties are our main thing," Biondi says. She's engaged new management staff to help with the load: operations manager Peter Harvey, formerly of the Silver Creek Country Club and the Pan Pacific Hotel Restaurant, and on-site restaurant manager Rosemary Edwards, formerly of Cafe Trio in Los Gatos.
Chef Eric Beamerderfer, a Pennsylvania native who studied at the Culinary Institute in New York and most recently ran the kitchen at Sacramento's California Fats, has designed an a la carte menu with Mediterranean and Asian roots. It includes an appetizer of honey-roasted duck pot stickers with hoisin barbecue sauce for $7.75. Individual brick oven pizzas run $9-$10. Entrees include charbroiled teriyaki salmon with orange ginger salsa for $18.95 and a prime New York steak with pepper marinade. Pastas feature pumpkin ravioli in gorgonzola cream with sage and walnuts. For dessert, there is a gianduja parfait--a silky smooth hazelnut-flavored chocolate and blood orange parfait covered with a raspberry sauce. Local and international wines are available, along with selections from the full-service bar.
Biondi, 45, was born in San Luis Obispo, the second of seven children, and grew up in the Bay Area. She gravitated to the kitchen, doing most of the family cooking. It was while she was at De Anza College and working nights as a waitress at San Jose's Garden City that she was asked to help at parties. This grew into Party Helpers, a catering partnership that was the foundation of her business today.
Cafe Primavera, 15970 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos. Opening in stages; dinner begins Jan. 5, 5-11 p.m. Call for lunch and weekday dinner openings and catering. 408.356.4902.
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