While walking past the former Manresa restaurant on Village Lane in Los Gatos, I noticed the real estate sign was gone. The listing agent told me a lease has been signed, so stay tuned as we learn what’s next for this famous locale. Perhaps some bright young chef, with considerable financial backing, will once again turn the lights on and fire up the stove?
Meanwhile, at another David Kinch-owned Los Gatos restaurant, The Bywater is listed in the 2023 Michelin Guide and has a new summer menu, live music on Saturday nights and Happy Hour daily. No update is available on The Junction, Kinch’s project affiliated with the North 40 development.
Wondering what happened to the former location of Manresa Bread, I discovered that OY! Gluten-free Bakery, opened by Yvonne Khananis (Grocer + Goddess, Polentaria), has moved in. Among the items on offer were gluten-free sausage pizza ($40 for a sizable square pie), Italian dinner rolls ($4) and both rustic Italian bread and rosemary focaccia for $18. They also make cookies, cakes, muffins, doughnuts and cupcakes, and you can pre-order items for pickup like take-and-bake cinnamon rolls ($28) and caramel cheesecake ($60). The bakery is open Wednesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Down the street, the owner of Parkside, in the former Boulanger building near the Los Gatos Post Office, told me with a fair amount of optimism that he hopes to be open before mid-August.
Driving to visit Moose Mountain Winery in San Martin, I spied a truck laden with fresh corn and barely stopped myself from hijacking it. While the Salinas Valley is known as the Salad Bowl of the World, Santa Clara County, once known as the Valley of the Heart’s Delight for its vast patchwork quilt of orchards, still produces over $300 million worth of crops annually.
Topping the heap are nursery crops at $109 million, followed by mushrooms at $79.4 million, bell peppers at $19 million and lettuces at $17.5 million.
Other top Santa Clara County crops are Asian vegetables at $11.5 million, spinach at $10.6 million, fresh tomatoes at nearly $10 million, wine grapes at $9.4 million, cabbage at $9.2 million, corn at $7.3 million, cherries at $7.2 million, broccoli at $6 million, beans at $4.6 million and wax and chili peppers at $4.6 million. Cattle command $3.6 million, just ahead of rangeland, valued at $3.3 million for grazing leases.
So support your local farm stands and patronize restaurants that do the same, as eating local is one way to do your part to reduce global warming.
Dropped into Darla, the former site of The Basin in Saratoga, and was met with speedy and friendly service and an immaculate, tasteful environment. Although the French toast is purportedly the best longtime Saratoga resident Laurel Perusa has ever had, my eye was on the softshell crab sandwich, a mouthful of tender whole fried blue crab, heaped with sauces, lettuce, pickled onions and tomato. Accompanied by a truffled medley of roasted potatoes, it was a hefty meal. At $22, it felt like a bargain compared to the $30 burger, which gets rave reviews.