Photograph by Linda Ozaki

Bowled Over: Cafe Primavera chef Jose Romero displays a shellfish risotto dish. The restaurant features both lunch and dinner entrees every day except Sunday and Monday.




Cafe Primavera holds on to cozy feel in Willow Glen

By Jim Aquino

South Bay restaurateur and caterer Joanna Biondi is aware that at local restaurants such as the four Cafe Primaveras she owns, including the original establishment in downtown Willow Glen, business is down 20 to 40 percent due to an economy battered by both a recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But Biondi doesn't appear to be worried about the business decline.

"We're down, but not that much," she says.

While the dining industry experiences a bumpy phase, the original Cafe Primavera on Lincoln Avenue, which opened its doors in October 1992, enters its ninth year in business as one of Willow Glen's most beloved restaurants. The Willow Glen Resident's "Best of Willow Glen" issue recently declared this modest-sized but elegant eatery the community's best Italian restaurant.

According to Manager Martha Duke, customers tell her and the staff they enjoy the freshness of the cuisine, supervised by head chef Jose Romero.

"We have beautiful presentations. It's really good food. I think the repeat business accounts for that," she says.

Biondi, a Bay Area native, began Cafe Primavera as a solo catering venture after 12 years of running a successful catering business with a partner. She recalls the excitement of Cafe Primavera's opening day.

"I remember the night before we opened, we were literally handwriting the menu," Biondi says. "When we opened up the next morning, the place was just packed.

"There were lines out the door. We literally sold everything we had in the restaurant. I remember turning to everybody and saying, 'Oh my God, we have to do this again tomorrow.'"

The Italian/Mediterranean/Californian menu became so popular that Biondi and her staff expanded Cafe Primavera from catering to takeout and then fine dining. Later, Biondi opened three sister restaurants on Almaden Boulevard, at the Tech Museum in downtown San Jose, and more recently in Los Gatos.

One of the original Cafe Primavera's most-talked-about dishes is bread pudding, served with brown sugar caramel sauce and offered only during dinner.

Another highlight of the Willow Glen Cafe Primavera is a series of five-course wine dinners. Representatives from such wineries as Cinnabar and J. Lohr are present at the dinners to discuss the wines that are served. Duke says the regulars at these dinners relish the opportunity to chat with the winemakers and ask them about their wares.

Customers also enjoy the coziness of the modest-sized restaurant, according to Biondi. She describes the original Cafe Primavera as having a neighborhood bistro feel.

"Everybody knows everybody who comes in, which makes it a special place," she says. "We have a very loyal clientele."

Biondi says an example of this clientele loyalty is a customer who has visited Cafe Primavera three to four times a week for the past nine years: "He watched my daughters grow up," she says.

---

Cafe Primavera, 1359 Lincoln Ave., Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; (lunch); Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m. (dinner); Friday-Saturday, 5-9:30 p.m. (dinner); Closed Sunday and Monday. For more information, call 408.271.0837 or visit http://www.cafeprimavera.com/willowglen/index.htm.

---

Around The Glen

Carl Heintze: A longtime driver laments the loss of his car

Photo: Metal rhinoceros sculpture

High school sports

High school football

Something to say?