Reflecting music in food comes naturally to Tom, 44, who plays trumpet in a 40-piece rock-and-roll band during his off-hours and has spent his career in the food business. Both Senters and Miller, all products of New York's Culinary Institute of America, share an avant-garde mentality. "If it's been done, then let's not do it," states Miller, reflecting the influence of five years spent working with Wolfgang Puck. He and the Senters have collaborated to offer more than a dozen new regional and ethnic menus to match the concerts. One example is the "Jazz Flavors" fare. It will be served on Aug. 14 prior to the Crusaders concert featuring David Sanborn and again on Aug. 22, when jazz old-timers Dave Brubeck and David Benoit join with 13-year-old prodigy Yuma Sung. The jazzy entree is lamb Santori (osso bucco-style) accompanied by purple finger potatoes. Also included is a cucumber, red onion and yellow tomato salad.

The "Red, White and Blues" menu on Aug. 15 is a cool choice for pairing with Michael Franks, jazz vocalist, who sings the memorable "Popsicle Toes." It features beef-and-wild-mushroom stroganoff over noodles and Louisiana sausages, corn bread, great-grandmother's wild greens and cream of corn. On Aug. 19 and 20, Earth Wind and Fire, funky celebrants of jazz, rock and Latin beats, will be heralded by a "Cajun Creole" dinner, featuring Cajun steak and pineapple kebabs with molasses, red beans and coconut rice and hearts of palm salad with alligator pear. They haven't forgotten the corn muffins.

The "American Heartland" menu is planned for Sept. 25 when the Little Feat band plays a blend of blues, r&b, country and rock 'n' roll. The highlight is a casserole of oven-roasted chicken with green tomato sauce and rice pilaf.

The Senters took over In Season Catering and Events in 2000 after it had operated nearly two decades. It was their first plunge into business ownership. For Tom, it was the natural thing to do. He had grown up working for his parents in their Palo Alto janitorial and security business. "I saw in them the ability to be successful," he reflects. "I don't know if I would have thought about attempting our own business otherwise." Gilda, 46, and the mother of their 5-year-old twins, Kelby and Tania, matches Tom's gumption and ability to do multiple tasks. A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, she came to the U.S. "because she wanted to," armed only with a desire to work. With no English-language skills, she went to work as a bus girl at Good Earth restaurant and worked her way up. Subsequently, the two met at Palo Alto's MacArthur Park and later attended culinary school together in New York. In Season Catering was a natural evolution. A visit to Craigslist, the Internet classified service, brought them to Miller, who had just sold his San Jose restaurant, Umunhum. "We like fun," says Tom. "That's why we hired Mike."

Miller, 37, says he hopes to help raise the restaurant-going public's consciousness of good food. He says too many corporate restaurants hire untrained people who emphasize quantity over quality and, as a result, offer little guidance. "They're taking advantage of an ignorant public," he says. Getting rid of old habits can be part of the solution.

Dining on the Terrace at Montalvo, 15400 Montalvo Road, Saratoga. For information about pre-concert dinner tickets at $45 each, call 408.561.5800 or visit http://www.villamontalvo.org. For In Season Catering and Events, call 650.325.4779.