There were crowds of locals attending opening night, many of whom were competing restaurant owners anxious to experience for themselves what they had been hearing about the restaurant: 4,000 square feet of rusty red carpeting, a full-service mahogany bar, 16 plushly upholstered booths—some in the boxed-in style of old-time North Beach ristorantes—and an exhibition kitchen with a brick pizza oven. It takes four chefs to keep this impressive kitchen running.

It all opens to a lushly planted, Mediterranean-style courtyard with overhead balconies. Service for 166 guests, indoors and out, is a full house. Kuleto's also handles breakfasts for the hotel and catering for meetings in its Monte Sereno and Vasona rooms.

"We're very affordable," says Steve Smith, a director of operations who is on loan for several weeks from The Puccini Restaurant Group, the San Francisco management company that will be running the restaurant. "We budgeted [for the number of dollars guests would most likely spend]. We want to be local, everyday. Don't worry about dressing up; it's just come-as-you-are casual," he adds. "We're not in ties."

The waiters, however, do wear black ties with their white shirts, black slacks and white jackets. There's a staff of 77, more than half of them local, and they'll be preparing and serving anything folks want, from a split salad before a movie to finger food at the bar to a full-blown five-course dinner.

Chef Tim Benham has been testing dozens of his creations on the management staff over the past few months. Among the winners are duck prosciutto with balsamic roasted strawberries and olive oil (an antipasti for $9.50); baby spinach salad with warm pancetta vinaigrette, sun-dried tomatoes, shaved sweet onions and hard-cooked egg (a salad for $7.50); smoked salmon ravioli with melted leeks, lemon cream and warmed cucumber (a first course for $14.50); honey-cured, double-cut pork chop with sweet potato puree and winter fruit chutney (a main course for $16), and a dessert of orange-basil crème brûlée or tiramisu.

Benham also roasts duck and rack of lamb, sears New York steaks, braises short ribs, stuffs chicken breasts with ricotta and skewers scallops, all within a price range of $15 to $25. The wine list includes 26 local and Italian vintages sold by the glass from $6 to $15.

Smith, 37, who jokes about starting his corporate career as a bouncer, says his company is very eager to be part of the community. The restaurant is devoting 90 percent of the proceeds from its Dec. 3 grand opening celebration to the New Millennium Foundation, which is raising funds to renovate the theater/auditorium at Los Gatos High School.

The adjoining Hotel Los Gatos has 72 guest rooms, a swimming pool and spa, conference rooms, a fire pit, fountains, patios and free valet parking.

"We never dreamed it would turn out with such understated elegance," says Terry Ogilvie, who toured the rooms with her mother, Diane Ogilvie. It was 83-year-old Diane who, about eight years ago, started working with the town to actualize her dream of a high-end hotel in Los Gatos. The Ogilvie family shares ownership of the hotel and restaurant complex with the Pinn Brothers Hotel Division. The cost of the complex reportedly is almost double the original $12 million estimate. Final costs are not in yet.

Kuleto's, 210 E. Main St. in Los Gatos, is open daily for lunch, 11:30 a.m.­2:30 p.m., and for dinner, 5­10 p.m. For more information, call 408.354.8290.