The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Pizza man Dean Dunn pulls a pie from the oven at Gumba's.

The next generation takes off at Gumba's

By Bianca Dahl

Dean Dunn has been in and out of the restaurant business since 1983, and recently settled in Cupertino with a new Italian eatery--Gumba's Gourmet Pizzeria and Pasta.

"It's a family-run thing," Dunn said. "My uncle has been in the restaurant business for 23 years, and he learned it from his cousin. It's been going on about three generations now."

To create Gumba's, Dunn and his uncle completely renovated an old hair salon on Stevens Creek Boulevard up near Monta Vista. They rebuilt and repainted the entire salon and are hopeful about the results.

"I'd never done that before--building something up from scratch. It was interesting, though. One day we just hung an 'open' sign over the door, and it was so rewarding to watch the people pile in through the door."

Apparently, business has been so successful for the entrepreneur that the establishment is literally overflowing. Expansion may be in Gumba's near future.

"When I started off, I didn't have any central idea. I learned the sauces and the recipes for the pizzas from my cousin and I opened up; it really just took off on its own," Dunn said.

The restaurant has an elaborate menu of pastas and other Italian dishes. Lasagne, fettucine, linguini and clams, pizzas, salads and sandwiches all are tied for the most popular dishes.

"We have a balance here, a variety. It's really unusual to have all of our dishes equally favored," noted Dunn.

Gumba's bases its menu on fresh food and on-the-premises baking.

"We don't make our food out of junk in a can, like so many places do," Dunn said. "We bake our own dough twice a day."

And the result is well worth the effort, he said.

"When you enter the restaurant business, you live it, you breathe it," he said. "I love cooking--I always have. The Italian side of my family is known for being wonderful with cooking. My mother makes some incredible ravioli. Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten the recipe for it."

Gumba's, 21678 Stevens Creek Boulevard, open Sun.-Tues 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wed.-Sat. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For reservations call 255-2423.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 23, 1997.
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