Photograph by Robert Scheer
Cafe Quinn owner Bill Stelma sits behind a Mendocino sandwich, made from roasted red peppers, feta cheese and eggplant.
By LESTER CHANG
Cafe Quinn serves its sandwiches with a side of jazz, a comfortable place to watch the world go by and a courtyard shaded by a 200-year-old tree.
Owner Bill Stelma says he and his wife, Quinn, set out to create a tranquil space for people to dine.
"We try to provide an environment that is as stress-free as possible," he said.
But while the setting is mellow, the food is bold, Stelma promises. Sandwiches, most named for local cities, are the restaurant's forte.
The Monte Sereno, a favorite among diners, combines skinless chicken breast baked in onions, white wine and shiitake mushrooms with green apples, basil and ginger mayonnaise.
Cafe Quinn has become a popular rendezvous for business people, city government types, students and regular folks, Stelma said. Informality is the secret to the restaurant's success, he believes.
Stelma and his wife got into the business because they wanted a new challenge. Stelma was a software executive and had been in that line of work for 23 years until he retired in the early 1990s. Quinn is a vice president with Colorgrafix, a division of Xerox.
The couple did "market research" during 1990 and 1991, eating at restaurants to find out what it took to run one. They fed their creations to friends, who liked what they tasted. The encouragement helped spur the couple to open their business in 1992.
Today, the couple offers 11 different sandwiches. One popular sandwich is the Los Gatos, filled with smoked turkey breast, tomatoes, mint, onions, cilantro, avocados and ginger mayonnaise.
The sandwiches range from $5.25 to $6.45.
The restaurant, which seats around 90, also offers 10 dinner dishes, which include steak, pasta, spaghetti, salmon and chicken. Prices range from $7.95 to $9.95. In all, the restaurant offers 50 lunches and dinner dishes.
Cafe Quinn, Oaks Center, 21269 Stevens Creek Blvd. Open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday , 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Telephone: 252-2233.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 2, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.