Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by R.W. Bradford

Ron Levi, chef/owner of the four-week-old Brandon's of Saratoga, puts the finishing touches on one of his signature desserts.

Downsizing suits needs of Brandon's chef/owner

By Suzanne Cristallo

Ron Levi says his small and friendly cafe, Brandon's of Saratoga, embodies an attitude which is the antithesis of the corporate world he escaped not long ago.

In other words, small is good, and sometimes the bottom line is ignored to maintain the quality Levi wants at the price his customers love. He calls his fare "gourmet fast food."

Levi, 30, was born in Canada and moved to the United States at 15. He grew up working in restaurants after school, where he first learned to cook.

Convinced he could not make a living in the restaurant business, he entered the electronics field via De Anza College, and then moved into the fast-moving world of computer software.

But corporate politics were wearing him down. The last straw came when he slipped on a piece of Teflon wire. The month of disability insurance he collected as a result of the fall gave him the opportunity he had been seeking to break out of the corporate world.

The world of food called him back. In San Francisco, he plunged into cooking seriously, treating the city's courthouse staff to home-style cooking in a restaurant next door to the Hall of Justice.

An ad for a restaurant for sale in Saratoga caught his eye. With the help of a loan from his parents, he bought the former Mishka's Cafe on Big Basin Way.

Levi's pieces de resistance, which his mother calls desserts in "full dress," are cafe creme anglais, sticky pecan cheesecake, white chocolate mousse tower wrapped in chocolate lattice with raspberries or tiramisu torte, just $3.50 each.

Besides a variety of sandwiches in the $5 range, Levi offers dinner entres such as roast prime rib au jus with prawns sauteed in garlic and butter, roasted potatoes with rosemary and sauteed zuchini for $12.95.

Brandon's of Saratoga, 14515 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. Open seven days, Mon. 11a.m.-4 p.m., Tues through Sat. 11a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 11a.m.-9 p.m. 867-6955.