The Bell Tower Cafe, a Saratoga fixture for almost 10 years, is back open after a brief closure. Owner Danny Shafazand, whose mom and stepdad started the place in November 2010, and Antonio Serna, head chef from the beginning, are pleased to be once again serving popular items like breakfast burritos, the Bell Tower Express—eggs, breakfast meat and pancakes—Nutella crepes and eggs Benedict.
“We started getting calls from customers wanting takeout, so we decided to reopen,” says Shafazand. “We have curbside pickup in front of the restaurant, and we also have delivery via DoorDash and UberEats.”
Shafazand recently partnered with Saratoga Federated Church to deliver meals to first responders, courtesy of generous donations from church members. They’re cooking up breakfast burritos for hospitals, the Sheriff’s Office and the fire department, and are also working with Saratoga Federated to set up a resource counter to assist local small businesses.
Hero Ranch Kitchen is coming up on its one-year anniversary in Saratoga. Owner Angelo Heropoulous started the OPA! restaurant chain, which he sold to purchase a ranch in San Jose’s Almaden Valley. It is there that he farms produce for Hero Ranch Kitchen in the former Sent Sovi location where Manresa star David Kinch once held court. Hero Ranch Kitchen reopened in April for takeout and pickups Wednesday-Sunday, 3:30-8:30 p.m. Delivery on orders of $75 or more is free within a 4-mile radius.
Specialties include crab cakes, Mexican corn, buttermilk fried chicken, stuffed mushrooms, corn chowder with tequila prawns, apricot glazed pork chop, halibut and ribs. Family dinners include a half-pan of lasagna, Tomahawk steak, mac ’n’ cheese with Italian sausage and a Hero Ranch Feast ($200), which includes a 38-oz. Tomahawk steak, four lamb rib chops, six grilled prawns, onion rings and fries. Call 669-267-3183 or visit https://www.theheroranchkitchen.com to order.
Heropoulos is working on another restaurant in downtown Saratoga, which he planned to open this summer.
For 30 years, The Napkin Ring in Saratoga has catered corporate and private events throughout Silicon Valley. Early clients included Tandem and Applied Materials.
“We did corporate catering before it was a thing,” says owner Shirley Jay.
Due to COVID, she’s reinvented her business model with a new menu featuring family meals for two or for people for $60 and $100, respectively. She also has boxed lunches from $25 per person
“We lost $70,000 in bookings and hope people will start to plan celebrations once this lockdown is lifted,” Jay says. “This is my life’s work. I don’t want to reinvent myself.”
She hopes to continue employing and feeding much of her fulltime staff. Giving back to the community is important, and she’s currently preparing lunches for those caring for the elderly.
Family meals are themed and feature tacos, Petaluma chicken, “Chill Chili” or an Italian feast with beef, sausage or spinach lasagna, each of which comes with salad and dessert. Kids’ meals and salad fixings are available separately. Jay makes all her own sauces, uses fresh, organic ingredients from small farms and bakes cookies, brownies, lemon bars and apple pies.
All meals are packaged to be heated and served and are available for pickup Tuesday-Friday, noon-3 p.m., with delivery available from San Jose to San Mateo. Orders must be placed 24 hours in advance to 408-867-5588 or shirley@napkinring.com.
Many Saratogans fondly remember Andrew Welch, formerly of The Basin and now proprietor of ASA Los Gatos, where he offers takeout Tuesday-Sunday, featuring a “comfort menu” for easy curbside pickup. The menu includes soup, spare ribs, salads, pork and beans, oven-roasted chicken, trout, mac ’n’ cheese and exotic mushroom pasta.
To order call 408-540-7004 or visit https://www.asalosaltos.com/asa-los-gatos.
