The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

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Mike Miller, Tarragon's executive chef, designed a menu to match the new restaurant's cosmopolitan decor. 'We wanted to make a San Francisco-style restaurant in the South Bay,' managing partner April Gardiner said.

Ex-Spago chef adds the spice to new restaurant

By Pam Marino

The South Bay has long suffered from what might be called "restaurant envy."

The perennial complaint among lovers of fine dining was that a majority of the truly good restaurants existed in Palo Alto or San Francisco.

A new restaurant in Sunnyvale is aimed at keeping those diners close to home from now on. Tarragon opened just last month on Murphy Street, complete with an interior designed by the same man who has helped design successful San Francisco restaurants, and an executive chef who worked under Wolfgang Puck for five years.

"We wanted to make a San Francisco-style restaurant in the South Bay," managing partner April Gardiner said. "Now you don't have to go to Palo Alto or San Francisco, you can stop in Sunnyvale for the same experience."

Walk into Tarragon, and you realize this place is not like other restaurants.

"It feels good. You walk off the street and open the doors, it's like stepping into a whole other world," Gardiner, a former general manager of Birk's in Santa Clara, said.

The interior is warm, with rich colors, woods, and brick. There is an inlaid walnut bar, a sculpted ceiling, a central terrazzo pathway, custom handblown light fixtures, and custom brass and copper metal work.

Executive chef Michael Miller, who spent five years at Puck's Spago and Granita in Los Angeles, knows Tarragon can't just be a pretty face, however. He said he is using only the freshest ingredients he can find for what he calls New California Cuisine. Looking at the menu, it's clear the cuisine is heavily influenced by both Asian and Mediterranean flavors.

Miller uses such gourmet ingredients as imported truffle oil, purple potatoes and heirloom tomatoes. The steak is dry aged and the chickens are free range.

"People can tell the difference," Miller said.

At the rear of the restaurant, patrons can sit at the counter and watch the food being prepared. There's a wood-fired oven, a grill, and a sauté station open to the restaurant.

The menu features a variety of wood-fired pizzas, salads, pastas, and entrées. At lunch there are sandwiches that start at $5. Lunchtime pizzas run from $8 to $9.50. Entrées are higher.

Despite Tarragon's fancy interior and gourmet ingredients, Miller said people can still come in and get a quick lunch "without it destroying your bank account.

"We don't want them to feel they have to spend an arm and a leg to eat, but they should expect the finest quality," Miller said.

Tarragon is located at 140 S. Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale, 737-8003. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight, Fridays, 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturdays, and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Sundays.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 7, 1998.
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