The Purple Onion: Great Food, Service & Ambiance in Downtown Los Gatos

Last Friday, my teens and I stopped for lunch at The Purple Onion, a new Los Gatos restaurant, which opened April 18th at the former site of Caffe Siena (Main Street and College Avenue, across from The Penthouse Apartments).  We enjoyed outside dining and experienced prompt, polite service and great food, so it is something I wanted to share here on "Live in Los Gatos".

As with its predecessor, at The Purple Onion, customers order at the counter, pay (they do take credit cards, though there's no logos for them on the front entry), and find a seat. Servers will bring the food to you. Tables and chairs are available both indoors and out.

My kids each ordered sandwiches and I ordered a salad. Brian's was a hot sandwich, and it was so good he had a hard time keeping it on his plate between bites. Clair had a french roll with salami or prociutto and she, too, savored hers. For me it was the Cafe Salad, a wonderful mix of chicken, cranberries, a soft cheese, pistachios, greens and even a few flower petals - which made the presentation lovely - with a sweet vinegarette dressing.   We ordered soft drinks as well and our total, with tax (before tipping) was about $41.00.

This morning I returned with camera in hand to take a few pics and hopefully to meet the proprietors. (I came away with coffee and sweet rolls for home.) I was in luck and met Steve Angelo, the chef/owner, and Lisa Hanson, pastry chef & party planner. I had not realized, the week before, that The Purple Onion offers catering too, but overheard a patron inquiring about it. The store's website has information on catering, too.

The Purple Onion is open Tues-Sun from 7am to 4pm, closed on Mondays.  It is located at 26 E Main St
Los Gatos, CA 95030. Tel 408 354-4124. Or visit their catering site online: www.purpleonion-catering.com.

Parking is easy. There's a lot behind the Soda Works shopping area. Just don't park in one of the 15 minute zones. You'll never want to leave that fast.

Overheard: Compliments on a Los Gatos Nightspot

Over the last week, I had a relative spending a number of days at the new Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara (out now, all's fine). One afternoon I was walking into the telemetry ward there and approached two twenty-something paramedics wheeling a woman out on a gurney. As I passed them in the hall, one recounted to the other about a fantastic time he'd had at Mountain Charlie's in Los Gatos. His colleague grinned. "Mountain Charlie's - that place is great!" was the immediate and very enthusiastic response.  Having gone there quite a bit when I was a twenty-something, I smiled to remember a lot of happy times.

It's nice to just overhear people share an enthusiastic endorsement of a Los Gatos nightspot, isn't it? 

Los Gatos to be Home to New Pediatric Autism Center

A pediatric center to diagnose and treat autism spectrum disorders will be opening in Los Gatos at the Mission Oaks Campus of Good Samaritan Hospital (located at National Avenue and Los Gatos Almaden Roads). It will be the first facility of its kind in Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area or anywhere in Northern California. This important work is coming into existence thanks to the Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation, the May Institute and Good Samaritan Hospital, and all the generous donors and volunteers who support them. 

Autism and related disorders seem to be growing at an epidemic rate and families will be thankful to have assistance here in Santa Clara County. It is hoped that the center will open by the end of this calendar year.

Dining Out In Los Gatos

Want to dine out in Silicon Valley? There are lots of great restaurants in Los Gatos, too many to list, really -  most in downtown Los Gatos, but Crimson and Viva over on "The Boulevard". There are a few places on our list of "want to try" but haven't gotten to yet, including Forbes Mill Steakhouse, Manresa and Restaurant James Randall.

We happen to live on the east end of town and some of the local haunts we enjoy include Los Gatos Pizza and the Tea Garden Chinese Kitchen (really for take-out, both are at Harwood and Blossom Hill Roads in east Los Gatos). Tonight, Jim wanted to take me out for supper since I'd worked many many hours today (showing a lot of short sales). By the time I got in from work, it was too late to make reservations for a place in downtown L.G., so we decided to dine at Gallo's at the Walgreen's Shopping Center at Blossom Hill and Harwood (14180 Blossom Hill Rd), which is close to where we live in Belwood. We both love Italian food, and sometimes there's a lot to be said for simiplicity: show up and eat rather than plan it all out ahead of time.

We arrived at around 7:15 or 7:30 and were seated immediately. The booths are comfy and it's a place without airs. Half the patrons seemed to be wearing sweat shirts - so the environment would have to be called casual, though not loud or overly bright. Our waiter was fairly attentive, though he never came back to ask if everything was ok.

But how was the food? A bit salty. Jim ordered the calamari dinner and it was fine. I ordered a dish called Chicken Oscar that was advertised as being chicken with asparagus and crab.

Let me tell you, that crab was no crab.

It was so clearly NOT crab that (to Jim's embarassment) I asked our young waiter if it was "fake crab" (the texture and flavor was not like the real thing). "What is fake crab?" he replied. We explained that it's usually pollack, or another cheap fish, infused with crab flavoring. He'd never heard of it!

A few minutes later, he returned and confessed that the owner and chef admitted that the dish really had "mostly fake crab" and said something about veal. Veal instead of chicken? I don't even want to ask - I do not order veal due to the way the animals area treated! (And apologetically, he said that they would be changing their menu soon - as if the age of the menu had anything to do with the fact that it misrepresented what was served.)

Does this remind you of Bella Mia in downtown San Jose? If not, it should. That's the restaurant that advertised veal dishes but in fact was serving pork - to the horror of many patrons who abstain from pork.  

As for our neighborhood eatery, Gallo's, I'm disappointed. We have been there every so often and usually found it too expenive for what we got, but never  before thought we ordered something that we did not get. But tonight, that's what happened. I ordered a chicken and crab dish and got chicken and imitation crab. And something about veal. AAUGH. What's up with that???

I was not just disappointed, I was angry.

We have been there many times because it's so very close and convenient. But being lied to on the menu was the last straw. I do not intend to go back. Goodness knows, there are lots of great restaurants in Los Gatos, and many of them serve Italian food. But I would not endorse Gallo's as one of them.

Comcast Didn't Deliver in Los Gatos,
So I Went to the Bar...

Going to a bar alone is really out of my comfort level, but even more so when I'm not even meeting someone there.

But that's exactly what I did yesterday, and it's Comcast's fault.

Why? Because Comcast did not broadcast the NFL "Game of the Century" - the Patriots vs. the Colts. Last week I saw a (national) television ad that it would be shown. Being played at Indy, the game was on yesterday afternoon starting at 1:15pm local time.

But when I looked at the television listings for Sunday, I was shocked and appalled that this incredibly significant game wasn't listed as being televised. We're talking about the game between arch rivals. The game where both went into it undefeated this season, 8-0.

I did what any paying customer would do: I phoned Comcast. "Can I upgrade the sports package and watch the game?" I asked, rather than complaining. "No, ma'am, Comcast isn't showing that game west of the Rockies."

Incredible. Obviously, I should have satellite television instead of Comcast if I'm going to live in Los Gatos...or apparently anywhere "west of the Rockies".

Perhaps I should explain why I'm a passionate Pats fan while living in Niners (and Raiders) country. The quarterback, Tom Brady, who hails from nearby San Mateo, is my second cousin. I always liked football - I think I attended every Saratoga High and Bellarmine College Prep game when I was a teenager. (My college, Gonzaga University, didn't do football. Basketball was - and is - king in Spokane.) I didn't grow up watching the Niners or Raiders except occassionally on t.v. But when you have a cousin on the field, it changes everything. Or, as I like to say, "blood is thicker than geography". (We have loads of other family in the area too, including my sibs and their families and other cousins.)

Anyway, all of this to say that we're Patriots fans and I watch any Pats game that Comcast will deign to put on the air. I was certain that the Patriots vs the Colts game would be aired - heck, I saw the ad on TV that asserted it would!

No dice.

The only alternative was to go to a sports bar. Happily, in Los Gatos we have a wonderful one, Double D's. I phoned them one minute after they opened to ask if they'd be showing the game. "All over!" the gal reassured me.

My husband and kids weren't able to go with me. I tried calling one friend to see if she'd go - she would have but was in southern California with her mom, who'd been ill. Most of my other friends really don't watch football games on television. Since I was sure the game would be on tv, I just hadn't planned out going to a bar to catch a little football.

I went alone to Double D's to watch at least part of the game. The place was packed!! Saw the first half - the Pats were trailing as it went into the halftime show and it had been hard-fought to that point. I enjoyed a beer and a burger and watched some great football on a huge, super clear screen. Only problem for me was that I don't know all the refs' hand signals and there was such an enthusiastic crowd at Double D's that it was difficult to hear anything.

For that and a lot of other reasons, I still prefer watching the game at home. But I was thankful to be able to see it at all.

I had been sitting next to a guy named Oscar who was sporting a # 12 shirt (and who told me that for Halloween he "was" Tom Brady) and told him as I left at halftime, "they have often come from behind in the second half, and I bet they do it today".

Back at home, there were things I had to do but I kept my computer logged in to NFL.com, where at least I could follow the score and read the plays, if not see what was going on. The fourth quarter was wild. My teens were attempting to finish the weekend's homework load but I updated them on the game fairly frequently. What an upset! The Patriots charged back in the last quarter, reversing the lead and winning 24-20 there on the Indy homefield.

Congrats, Patriots! I knew you could pull it off!

Thank you, Double D's, for showing this game. Obviously a whole lot of other folks wanted to see it "west of the Rockies" too.

And Comcast? Today I'm going to see what it costs to install satellite television. . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Double D's is located in downtown Los Gatos at the corner of Highway 9 and North Santa Cruz Avenue, just off Highway 17. The parking lot there is small but there's tons of free public parking between University Avenue and North Santa Cruz Avenue.

354 N Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Phone: (408) 395-6882
Fax: (408) 395-8402

As with other blog posts highlighting local businesses in Los Gatos, this is not a paid post but again this blogger's positive experience with a locally run place.

Want a Cozy Cup of Coffee on a Cool Los Gatos Morning?

My siblings and cousins in Massachusettes would chide me if I complained about our odd "winter storm" that blew into Silicon Valley yesterday, in the middle of what should be our "Indian summer".

But it's a little cold here.

It was 65 degrees in the Handy house this morning (and in the high forties outside). The heater had to go on or this blogger wasn't getting out of bed. The dust burned off and smelled the place up initially. After flipping the thermostat back onto "sensing mode", I flipped on the coffee. This time it's Peet's. But when that's gone I'll be dripping something from Burundi that my brother got while at a theological conference there a couple of weeks ago.

In college and grad school especially, I spent a lot of time at coffeehouses. Some of my friends today really don't make coffee at home - they always go out for it. Several Realtor colleagues of mine bring along their laptop or tablet computers and socialize with the regulars while catching up on email, or reading news online. For me, visiting a coffeehouse is a treat.

Last night I was invited to join the Bay Area Ghost Hunt folks at Starbucks in Los Gatos at 6:30. Personally, I prefer mom & pop shops, locally owned ones, but I do love getting a latte with sugar free hazlenut syrup - yum! That is also available at Seattle's Best inside of Border's in Old Town, a bookstore we can't seem to stay away from for a week at a time.

Independent, Locally Owned Los Gatos Coffeehouses

But let's talk locally owned coffee stores. In Portland, where coffee is as serious as it is in Seattle but chain stores are shunned, you hear people joke that "friends don't let friends drink Starbucks". And they mean it!  Mom and pop shops all the way.

So here in town, where do you like to go? Here are my three favorite ones:

 * Yogurt Delite at 464 N Santa Cruz Ave (older article about this neat shop) 
 * Great Bear Coffee Roasting 19 N Santa Cruz Ave 
 * Los Gatos Coffee Roasting at 101 W. Main Street near University

Yogurt Delite has a name that does not imply coffee and breakfast munchies, but it does provide those along with free wireless internet. It is a smaller shop than my other two favorites, so if you are looking for a quiet place to enjoy your cuppa joe, this is it. Parking is easy as it's close to Safeway and Petco.

Great Bear has cool art, both mural art and local framed art on display. (No, the art isn't all good, but it is all interesting.) It's a larger shop and centrally located in the "main drag" area. Parking is not hard on N. Santa Cruz in the morning (afternoons are another matter) but there's also a parking lot in back, off Main Street.

The Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company really does roast its own coffee - you can smell it. It is the largest of my three favorite coffee places in town, with tons of seats. If you live in town and are at all involved, it's impossible to go there and not know or at least recognize someone. But parking can be an issue in this congested part of town. It's easiest to stop in there if you're doing several store visits in the area, or if you can arrive on foot or bike. It's not too far from the Los Gatos Creek Trail so many patrons here seem to be motor-vehicle free.

As for me, my kids have just left for school and my mug has managed to get empty. Time to fill 'er up. And maybe today I will swing by one of my favorite coffee houses for a little decaf. Actually, I had some serious insomnia last night. Maybe it will be regular.

Nostalgia in a Cinnamon Bun

My kids attended Casa Maria Montessori (sadly, now closed) and St. Mary's Elementary School, both in Los Gatos. Many, many times I took them from school to the also-now-closed Good Earth Restaurant on North Santa Cruz Avenue to enjoy hot cocoa and oversized cinnamon buns. It's been years since that cheerful restaurant closed its doors, and my kids have not had a place in which to feast upon huge, locally baked cinnamon rolls since then.

Until now.

Thanks to Google Alerts, I see most articles and blog posts that come out with anything about our fair town (including some stupid stuff I could miss that actually has nothing to do with the town of Los Gatos). Recently the San Jose Mercury News did a piece on The Los Gatos Cafe Uptown and it mentioned the restaurant's yummy cinnamon buns.

The Handy teens, aged 18 and 16, had this to say about the rolls after feasting on them last weekend:

"I'm not sure if I was just hungry or they were incredibly good, but with every bite I just kept wondering if there was a way to get more into my mouth, it was so good...."

and

"It is really, really good when you eat it with the cinnamon butter..."

The Good Earth is gone, but the happy sentiments aroused by their much loved cinnamon buns are definitely back. It's a mouthful of nostalgia.

I'm sure that all of the food at "uptown" is good. I absolutely love the original Los Gatos Cafe in downtown. I rather suspect that the "uptown" branch will bcome my favorite of the two as it has the great food but without the lines and crowds that I avoid at all costs.

But wherever you go, do order (or take home) a cinnamon bun.

(This is not a paid blog post, and in fact the owners of this restaurant do not know that this blog post was going to be written.)