Valeriano's is an Italian restaurant and bar on Main St. in downtown Los Gatos. The location is decent, but the overall visit left much to be desired. The bread was too hard and most likely a cause of reheating, and the decor was sub par. I ordered the Mixed Green Salad with Mountain Blue Cheese and Caramelized Nuts with a raspberry vinaigrette, and for the main course I ordered a Prosciutto wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Jus. I am not a huge fan of blue cheese, but the salad was nice. The combination of the sweetness from the nuts and the strength of the blue cheese was a nice match, but the salad was entirely too large. I must have left half of it on the plate; of course, that was after eating all the caramelized nuts and raspberries. Next up was the main course which I was eagerly awaiting. Sadly, my expectations were greater than the delivery. The pork was overcooked and had very little flavor. The prosciutto was nice and so was the jus, but the meat itself left much to be desired. After the main course I ordered their Cheesecake for dessert. I would have preferred the lava cake but we were in a hurry (the lava cake takes an additional 10 minutes). The cheesecake epitomized the meal: it was mediocre. Nothing really wrong, but nothing special either. The final opinion on my first visit here is to not to return. With 3 other Great Italian restaurants in Downtown Los Gatos I expected a better showing, but alas it was not to be.
Food: The food was mediocre. The ideas were there, but the execution needs some work.
Wine: The wine list contained a few nice Italian choices, but overall it felt a bit light and with nothing that said, "Must have!". It was also very small.
Service: The waitress I had was not the greatest. It felt like having a diner waitress. I had heard good things about this restaurant so it did surprise me to have such a low class feeling from the start.
Atmosphere: The restaurant itself is inside of a historic building that stood as a bank for many of its years. It was recently remodeled to become what it is today, but it was extremely dark, and the decor was forgettable.
Experience: Overall my experience wasn't great. I would say mediocrity is the one phrase that keeps coming to mind over and over and thats really all there is to say about Valeriano's.
The Numbers
Food............... 5/10
Wine................ 3/10
Service............. 4/10
Atmosphere ...... 6/10
Experience ...... 5/10
Total............... 23/50
Price: $$
Time: 45-75 minutes
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Manresa
Manresa is possibly the best fine dining restaurant in the South Bay Area. Executive Chef David Kinch uses European Tradition blended with modern techniques and some of best local produce from the restaurants own biodynamic garden. I always try tasting menus when I visit places that offer them because I think they are a great way to see how the Chef prepares a menu full of different items that complement each other throughout the meal. Also, being the wine lover I am I like to see what direction they go with their wine pairings and see how well they match the items.
Most recently I visited Manresa with my family and a few friends. We ordered the tasting menu for the entire table with one of my guests being a vegetarian they catered to her for the entire tasting menu as well as my sister's dislike of pork. This is one of the areas that Manresa has always done well; the ability to cater to their guests tastes while providing the same experience of the tasting menu and the quality you expect.
During my next visit I will take notes on the course and provide a full analysis of meal. For now however I will reveal my ratings for the restaurant.
Food: The food is always amazing. Each time I go there I learn about new items and discover new flavors I only wish I could repeat more frequently.
Wine: The wine list is quite nice. They have a good sampling of many great areas of the world and several very hard to find wines. Though their prices are on the moderate to high side. They also have a great selection of local wines.
Service: The service is pretty good, but it could be better. Several of the staff are extremely good, but several times I asked questions about ingredients that were listed as part of a course only to get a mediocre answer with less knowledge shown than I would prefer. Also, having a large party I was able to see how well they did the course presentation for eight, and overall it was well done with four servers doing the reveal for the eight of us, while I would have liked a full 8 to do the reveal I was thoroughly satisfied by the four.
Atmosphere: The restaurant is inside of a converted house and it is a quiet place in otherwise sometimes loud area that is downtown Los Gatos. The restaurant has a fireplace that has many candles lit inside, a wine rack that separates the two dining areas, and wood floors with carpets over most of the areas. The carpeting is great as this provide a nice sound environment where things don't get too loud, but while still showing the gorgeous wood floors beneath.
Experience: My experience here is always excellent and for the full experience I do highly recommend the tasting menu if you can afford it and truly want to experience Manresa at its best.
The Numbers
Food............... 10/10
Wine................ 8/10
Service............. 9/10
Atmosphere ...... 9/10
Experience ...... 10/10
Total............... 46/50
Price: $$$$
Time: 2-3 Hours (Tasting menu is 3-5 Hours)
Manresa's Website
Most recently I visited Manresa with my family and a few friends. We ordered the tasting menu for the entire table with one of my guests being a vegetarian they catered to her for the entire tasting menu as well as my sister's dislike of pork. This is one of the areas that Manresa has always done well; the ability to cater to their guests tastes while providing the same experience of the tasting menu and the quality you expect.
During my next visit I will take notes on the course and provide a full analysis of meal. For now however I will reveal my ratings for the restaurant.
Food: The food is always amazing. Each time I go there I learn about new items and discover new flavors I only wish I could repeat more frequently.
Wine: The wine list is quite nice. They have a good sampling of many great areas of the world and several very hard to find wines. Though their prices are on the moderate to high side. They also have a great selection of local wines.
Service: The service is pretty good, but it could be better. Several of the staff are extremely good, but several times I asked questions about ingredients that were listed as part of a course only to get a mediocre answer with less knowledge shown than I would prefer. Also, having a large party I was able to see how well they did the course presentation for eight, and overall it was well done with four servers doing the reveal for the eight of us, while I would have liked a full 8 to do the reveal I was thoroughly satisfied by the four.
Atmosphere: The restaurant is inside of a converted house and it is a quiet place in otherwise sometimes loud area that is downtown Los Gatos. The restaurant has a fireplace that has many candles lit inside, a wine rack that separates the two dining areas, and wood floors with carpets over most of the areas. The carpeting is great as this provide a nice sound environment where things don't get too loud, but while still showing the gorgeous wood floors beneath.
Experience: My experience here is always excellent and for the full experience I do highly recommend the tasting menu if you can afford it and truly want to experience Manresa at its best.
The Numbers
Food............... 10/10
Wine................ 8/10
Service............. 9/10
Atmosphere ...... 9/10
Experience ...... 10/10
Total............... 46/50
Price: $$$$
Time: 2-3 Hours (Tasting menu is 3-5 Hours)
Manresa's Website
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Intro
Thank you for visiting my brand new blog. This is my first blog and I hope it will be successful. I thought I would start off letting you all know what my plan for this blog will be. First off as the name implies this Blog is all about Dining and even more specifically dining in the South Bay Area in California. The focus will be Los Gatos, Saratoga, and San Jose. I will include other locales as I visit them. Being a sommelier I will attempt to keep you informed of upcoming wine events that I think are worth attending. This will include events such as wine tastings, wine dinners, or other similar events. I also have been attempting my own fine dining at home in the sense of preparing meals on a grand scale, usually 7-10 courses, and I will share these menus and recipes as well as pictures from the dinner. I think that will wrap up this first comment if anyone has any advice they would like to instill please don't hesitate to contact me and let me know your thoughts. Thank you very much for visiting and I hope you enjoy all that I have to offer.
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