Taste
Review by Suzanne Cristallo,
Los Gatos Weekly, August 2000 |
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Tapestry weaves
menu of eclectic, gourmet food |
Have a yen for something different to eat but don't know what? Let Gary
Messick whip up a five-course tasting menu at his Tapestry restaurant
in Los Gatos. The contrast will honor all the taste buds and conjure
the farthest corners of the culinary world.
Imagine this: steamed mussels in sake and coconut milk, a cured salmon
and onion tart, black bass with fennel puree, squab couscous and pomegranate
syrup and a petite salad of mache (salad greens with a nut-like flavor),
chanterelles (bright yellow wild mushrooms) and pont l'Eveque cheese.
Maitre d' Charles Mourey is nearby to suggest the correct wines to
accompany the courses. His background lends a legitimacy to his choices--he
grew up on his father's winery in Bordeaux, France, and has a extensive
background in the food and beverage business.
"The sampler is totally spontaneous," notes Messick, who says that's
the fun for him and for the diner, who won't know what will be served.
The $50 price does not include dessert, as the delicate creations do
not come in sampler sizes.
"But 60 to 75 percent of our customers order it," he observes, adding,
"People sort of muddle through the food to get to the dessert." This
is a modest and deferential comment, since the pastry chef is Vickie
Messick, Gary's wife and business partner.
The couple is celebrating Tapestry's second anniversary this month
with co-partners Joe and Carol Hargett of Los Gatos, who also own Dolce
Spazio, the Italian ice cream store, and 2wenty 9ine E. Main Cafe.
"We try to be a big city restaurant but with a small town feel," Messick
explains. He is referring to the jeans and tennis shoes with white shirts
and long bistro aprons worn by their six waiters as contemporary big
city, but their "user friendly" atmosphere as small town.
"We want people to feel it's their 'Cheers' place where they
can come right from work in their Silicon Valley garb and be known by
name," he adds.
Many customers come from the apartments next door and nearby neighborhoods
to enjoy Messick's signature dishes, sometimes eating lightly during
the week, spending $35 each, or more expansively with more courses,
wine and dessert on the weekends. They may sit on the tree-shaded patio
of what once was the 100-year-old home of the Puccinelli family, or
enjoy the boisterous atmosphere inside the house, which was reconstructed
on the footprint of the old.
Since his days as chef at the old California Café, Messick has retained
his award-winning Mongolian-style fillet mignon on the menu. It's marinated
in soy sauce with ginger, garlic "and about 20 other things," then grilled.
There is also his familiar lemon/dill linguine with sun-dried tomatoes,
grilled corn, shiitake mushrooms and crab meat. These dishes are about
all that remain constant on the menu, which changes frequently and with
the season. Vickie's boysenberry pie is available right now because
the berries are, but in two weeks the season will be over and something
else will be fresh on the dessert menu.
Change is constant. "We get ideas for food combinations by going out
a lot, coming home and experimenting on new creations with the guys
in the kitchen," Messick says.
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