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The fine art was coming in as the last nailgun was leaving last week during a beehive of activity at the new Forbes Mill Steakhouse in Los Gatos. Preparations were down to the wire for the July 7 grand opening. The event raised more than $13,000 for "Alive ... and Loving Life," a new local charity benefiting teenagers, according to Dean Devincenzi, 45, a partner with brother Darin, 43, and Ron Garald, 50, in the ownership of the new restaurant. He says the opening dinner crowd of 300 served as a warm welcome from the town.
The Devincenzis, also owners of Double D's in Los Gatos, and Garald, owner of Marie Callendar's in San Jose, are pleased that their $1 million-plus investment in the renovation of the former Stovie's pizza and pasta restaurant has resulted in the elegant steakhouse they had envisioned. Structurally, all that is left of the 6,600-square-foot building that started as Rao's Market in 1953 are three concrete walls.
The partners purchased the business in June of last year—the property is still owned by the Rao family—but construction didn't begin until after all permits were in place several months later.
While the building came in on schedule, costs were nearly double the original estimate. But the money purchased an atmosphere unlike that of any other steakhouse in the area.
Dark hardwood floors, intimate lamps along the curving granite bar and mahogany-stained paneling around entrance pillars suggest the Arts and Crafts period. But ledge stone walls relieved by walls of gold and blue green slate and a "verandah" outfitted with thickly woven wicker chairs lend a rustic touch. Through Janice McCabe Interiors collaborating with local historian Bill Wulf, there are framed photos depicting the days when the old Forbes Mill operated in Los Gatos. Occasional grand booths for seating six guests accent a large, carpeted dining area where tables shrouded in stiff white linen are accented with small bowls of flowers and stones. A staff of 50 "with fine-dining experience" has been hired to accommodate the anticipated opening rush.
"There has been so much buzz about this place," says Dean happily, "an unbelievable amount of excitement."
A trip through as many as 10 steakhouses as far away as Arizona led the partners to create their present menu. Word of mouth brought them to chef Jess LeDesma, and a series of taste tests led to Stockyard Meat out of Chicago which provides the prime USDA steaks, all taste-tested by family and friends.
"Where do you go for a good steak?" asks Dean, emphasizing the "good" with outstretched clenched fists. "There is nothing like our cooking. Every other kind of steak in the area is charbroiled." By comparison, he says they have a Montague broiler, which has a top grill for searing the steak to keep in the juices and a bottom gas broiler that evenly dispenses the heat for the rest of the cooking. The featured steaks are a filet mignon (8 ounces, $24; 12 ounces, $32), the "king of the hill" porterhouse (22 ounces, $42), a bone-in rib eye (22 ounces, $36) and a 14-ounce New York strip for $32. LeDesma, a graduate of Westmont High School and the University of Hawaii's culinary school, recommends a blackened rib eye ($29) with sweet Maui onions and Point Reyes bleu cheese.
The menu includes seafood, rack of lamb, chicken, prime rib, several pastas, salads and special desserts. An intimate private dining room secluded behind large, frosted French doors is available for catered luncheons or dinners.
Forbes Mill Steakhouse, located at 206 N. Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos, is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m. For more information, call 408.395.6868 or 408.395.8402.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad