Saratoga News

Dining

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Biara Singh (left) and Mohan Lal help themselves to a buffet style lunch at Salwa Gilani Cuisine on S. De Anza Boulevard as owner Mohammad Shafi looks on.

Salwa Gilani Cuisine calls menu 'foods from heaven'

By Suzanne Cristallo

Beef, chicken, lamb and goat are served in a delectable Pakistani tradition at Salwa Gilani Cuisine, a restaurant near Saratoga's northern border. They also can be purchased by the pound at Halal Meats, a market and deli next door. Salwa Gilani translates roughly to "foods that come from heaven." What the restaurant and market have is universal appeal--natural, fresh food.

"My meat shop is the best in the Bay Area," says owner Mohammad Shafi proudly. He has owned Halal Meats with wife Zatoon for 10 years. You have to be alert to find it. It's at the end of a mini-mall marked by a "Piano Rentals" sign just north of Prospect Avenue on the east side of De Anza Boulevard.

In the market's display case, plump chickens from Petaluma sell for $1.39 a pound. Thick slices of rib eye steaks--from Harris Ranch's corn-fed beef--come free of preservatives and hormones at $7.99 a pound. Top sirloin and T-bone steaks are $4.99 a pound, and veal is $3.25. Lamb and goat are locally grown. Fresh produce, packaged goods--including lots of jarred pickles, a Pakistani staple--and all of the foods necessary to fill the needs of a worldly clientele are available.

The Shafis and partner Amrik Singh have owned Salwa Gilani Cuisine for three years. It's a bright space painted in an appealing red with shiny lacquered tables and mirrored walls. A weekday luncheon buffet with 15 items--steaming hot dishes under hooded chafing dishes--is $6.99. Diners may choose from among six meat dishes, including goat curry and barbecued chicken, two salads with sauces, a dessert and a hot pickle. On weekends, brunch includes all of that plus specials and a full lamb roast for $7.99. Buffet dinners are $8.99. Hot Indian tea blended with milk, a la carte tandoori dishes, appetizers and vegetarian dishes are abundant.

Shafi came first to New York in 1988 from the small town of Lamnia in northern Pakistan. He was 17 and alone. His first job was as a security guard. Eventually, he moved to the Bay Area, where he worked in grocery stores. Today, he owns three businesses--the two on De Anza Boulevard and another grocery in Hayward. He and Zatoon live in Campbell with their two sons.

But that's not the whole story. When a massive earthquake shook northern Pakistan last Oct. 8, killing more than 79,000 people, it was news that struck the world. But it was agonizing news for Shafi, who learned after days of no news from his homeland that two of his brothers and 50 members of his extended family had been killed. It was the subject of a Nov. 9 story in the Saratoga News.

"My place was the best place," he recalls today of his town. "Now there are no schools, no hospitals, no home--everything is gone, and everyone. Four million are homeless." When he visited there as soon as he could after the catastrophe, he saw "everything crashed, people with no arms or legs, thousands living under the open sky." There were no roads, but he saw helicopters bringing aid from the United States. He was so moved by the help he wrote a thank-you letter to President Bush.

Today, six months later, the anguish remains, but Shafi is a man with positive energy. The pain in his eyes lifts when the subject shifts to his work. "Everybody knows I have the best food," he says brightening.

Salwa Gilani Cuisine, 1530 S. De Anza Blvd., San Jose, is open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner Friday and Saturday is 7:30 to 9 p.m. with brunch from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Call 408.865.0302.

Halal Meats is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call 408.865.1222.