The Basin caters to patrons with its food and ambience
By Suzanne Cristallo
You've been to a late evening concert. It's 11 p.m., you're starved, and nothing appears to be open in Saratoga. But you spot some people coming out of The Basin, a restaurant at the far end of Big Basin Way. There's hope, you think. Sure enough. Even though they normally close at that hour, the sight of your hungry faces prompts owner Andrew Welch to open the doors wide and welcome you.
"We'll go out of our way to make a salad or a pizza at 11:30 p.m. instead of saying we're closed," says Welch, who believes his customers are more important sometimes than the hour.
That's the way it is at The Basin--comfortable. It's patterned after upscale San Francisco bistros, even down to the special martini menu and the latest City drinks. Acid jazz plays in the background. Strange yet benevolent beast sculptures by Ben Lomond artist Victoria Kern peer out from nooks and crannies in the dimly lit dining area. Executives from Silicon Valley bring their families for dinner or their staff for meetings in the technically sophisticated Atomic Lounge. The technical setup was done by co-owners Bill Foss and John Mittlehauser, two of the top 10 founders of Netscape, one of Silicon Valley's legendary dotcoms. Foss and wife Karen and Mittlehauser and wife Erica joined forces with Berit and Andrew Welch to open The Basin in April 1998.
The Welches are the working partners--she runs the back of the house while at the same time managing her interior design consulting business, and he manages all of the front operations right down to the frequently changing menu.
"Our food is American cuisine with Italian and French influences," notes Welch, who says the three Basin chefs--brothers Brennan and Graham McKibbon and Mat Sullivan--make all of their own stock and pastas. They use mainly a vegetable stock made from celery, onion, carrots, purified water and herbs, and reduced to the proper consistency. "We're one of a very few restaurants who use vegetable stock," he adds.
The present a la carte menu, ranging from $13 to $29 for entrees, offers freshly shucked oysters, grilled New York steak with bleu cheese, mashed potatoes, sesame-encrusted halibut with ginger-fried rice and a soy, ginger sauce, bucatini pasta with wild mushrooms, and a special vegetarian harvest plate of locally grown organic vegetables "picked that morning," such as Heirloom tomatoes, grilled summer squash or baby potatoes. A lengthy list of wines include selections from California, along with wines from France and Italy.
Welch, 33, has been working in restaurants since he started in his hometown of San Diego at 15. The allure of the world of food began with his belief that his sister's 22-year-old boyfriend, who went to work as a waiter in an elegant tuxedo, was suave and cool. He taught the teen all about good food and fine wines.
Andrew left home at 16, putting himself through high school and into Mission College, where he studied business while working in various restaurants. At 24, he was doing so well as a restaurant manager that his boss offered him a partnership to start up an Italian restaurant in Sun Valley, Idaho. A year later, he returned to the Bay Area, working variously at Cafe Marcella in Los Gatos, Il Fornaio in San Jose, Village Pub in Woodside and Picolo Mundo in Palo Alto. He met Berit on a blind date.
The Basin, 14572 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. Open Tues.-Sun. 5 p.m. Close weekdays and Sun. 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat 11 p.m. 408.867.1906.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
