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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Los Gatos Cafe server Seyedi Jehan serves customers Erika and Roman Sofes.
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Owners of Los Gatos Cafe entered the business early By Suzanne Cristallo
Robert Morcate and Dean Reno were teenagers when they recognized a basic fact of life: You stand out when you take pride in your work. This simple truth came home to the boys, who had been buddies since preschool years, during an after-school restaurant job they had.
"We stood out because we cared," recalls Morcate, lamenting the fact that a feeling so basic to satisfaction in life should be unusual. "So many of the people in the industry lacked pride."
For the past 10 years, Morcate and Reno, together with wives Tina and Sheila, have owned the Los Gatos Cafe. It's a popular breakfast and lunch spot marked on N. Santa Cruz Avenue by crowds amiably waiting outside on weekends and by a friendly waitstaff who share their bosses' work philosophy.
Morcate, 34, and Reno, 35, chose to enter the restaurant business right after graduating from Pioneer High in San Jose--not because it was a life's calling but because experience had shown them it was a business they could handle well. Both had the advantage early in life of sharing a vision--that of owning a restaurant together. They planned for their vision, getting experience in management at a variety of local restaurants, and then went after it, purchasing the cafe formerly owned by Mary and Dino Masouris. "We opened it for them and a year later bought it," Morcate recalls.
The Los Gatos Cafe is known for its fluffy, four-egg omelets, which rise high above the plate and are crammed with cheeses, vegetables and meats; also popular are hot cakes that cover the plate and are smothered in seasonal fruits and nuts.
"My customers know what they like," says Morcate, who offers specials each day and breakfast all day long. Typical favorites are the Gorgonzola Scramble, with spinach and mushrooms, and the Papas Santa Cruz: breast of chicken with guacamole, sour cream, diced tomatoes, jack and cheddar cheeses served over "our great potatoes." The partners like to create menu items while taking turns serving as chef.
Lunch can be one of a variety of salads and specials like chicken Caesar on a baguette, flank steak tostada salad or crab quesadilla, created with the help of Sheila and Tina, both of whom are now full-time mothers at home with young children.
Morcate and Reno are partners with Morcate's brother, Raoul, and Eric Singer in another restaurant, the Cup and Saucer, next to Mervyn's on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose. All grew up within five houses of each other in a San Jose subdivision where their parents bought new homes when they were toddlers. They were neighborhood playmates and inseparable friends through school. The relationship continues today in business and on days off, when golf and family get-togethers are shared.
"We get a lot of offers to buy other restaurants, but we're raising kids," says Morcate, who believes firmly in keeping two days a week free of business for family. "In both areas, you have to be focused," he says.
Los Gatos Cafe, 340 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Open daily 6 a.m.-3 p.m. 354-4647.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
