 |
 |
|
August 14, 2002
Los Gatos, California Since 1881 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Photograph by George Sakkestad
|
|
|
Buca Fine Catering co-owners Susan
Ardizzone and Justin Perez will present fine
French food for the 10th annual fundraiser
for the Los Gatos Community Foundation. Perez
is Buca Fine Catering's executive chef.
|
|
|
|
|
Buca Catering brings the food of Moulin Rouge to Los Gatos
|
|
| By
Suzanne Cristallo
|
|
Creative energies are coming together to
mold an evening to remember this Sept. 14.
"Moulin Rouge" is the theme of the 10th
annual fundraiser for the Los Gatos Community
Foundation—a theme that will be complemented
well by the very French food of Buca Fine
Catering.
The menu, by Buca Restaurant and Fine
Catering's executive chef and co-owner Justin
Perez, is the centerpiece of the event,
requiring an army of people to prepare and
serve the food. Buca is a "hole in the wall"
eatery on Winchester Blvd. in Campbell,
according to Perez' partner, Susan Ardizzone
of Los Gatos, who, with her husband, real
estate agent Rick Ardizzone, has been
involved in the restaurant and catering
business for the past five years. While the
restaurant can serve only 40 diners at a
time, the food is prepared in a
4,000-square-foot kitchen that can
accommodate catered events serving up to
2,000 guests.
"It's an amazing thing to watch," says
Ardizzone, describing the preparation for a
large event. "There's a fleet of 20 trucks,
and an army of servers and people with
clipboards," she marvels.
A member of the Santa Clara Mountain Wine
Growers' Association, the restaurant
auditions many of its dishes at wine-tasting
events held at local wineries such as
Byington, David Bruce and Mirassou. But
another large part of the catering business
includes events at private homes, like the
Moulin Rouge garden party.
An expected 250 costumed guests that evening
will choose from a variety of classic French
dishes, which six cooks, led by Buca chef
Shannon Gibbons of Los Gatos, will have
prepared. The buffet-style dinner includes
hors d'oeuvres of cucumber with Dungeness
crab; champagne caramelized onion layered
with goat cheese baked on mini crostini; and
fresh eggplant tapenade, which executive chef
Justin Perez says involves "lots of labor
hours." The appetizers also include
house-made grilled sausage with red grapes
and a spicy dipping sauce.
In addition to a choice of four salads will
be three entrees: cassoulet (a classic
bean-style stew), bourguignonne (beef braised
in onions and red wine) and coq au vin
(chicken, bacon, onions and herbs slow-cooked
in red wine).
For dessert: an array of mini French pastries
created by Buca's pastry chef, Mary
Fastabend.
Local and French wines will be available as
well.
Tickets for the event are $150 each. Profits
benefit the Los Gatos Community Foundation's
grants and scholarship program.
Chef Perez, 32 and a Sunnyvale native,
started cooking at the age of 13, taking note
of his Sicilian mother's Old World
techniques. After holding a series of
food-related jobs in his teens, beginning
with cleaning the meat department at
Petrini's Market, managing Florentine's and
opening several other local restaurants, he attended the California Culinary Academy
in San Francisco and began his career as a
chef.
He has since developed a reputation for
excellence that customers are more than
willing to build.
"It's really a fabulous experience," raves Dorothy Peterson
of Los Gatos, who visited Buca's recently.
"I'm making a point of letting other people
know about them."
Buca Restaurant and Fine Catering is
located at 2081 Winchester Blvd. in Campbell.
Office hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. For
catering information, call 408.871.3131. For
information about tickets for the Moulin
Rouge party, call chairwoman Jane Goldbach at
408.356.0085.
|
|
|
|
|
|