All of us at Willow Street would like to happily confirm the renovation plans for our Willow Glen location as part of the overall Willow Glen project construction plans.
If current plans stay on course ground will break on the construction of a new retail and office space at the corner of Lincoln and Willow Street which will be know as “Town Center” in June of this year.
Town Center will be a state-of-the-art multi-story complex with a 2 level parking garage. It will house many of the same businesses located on the corner of Willow Street and Lincoln Avenue as well as providing space for new businesses.
Willow Street Pizza’s remodel is scheduled to be the first phase of the construction project. This remodel will include a new bar area and an expanded patio. This project will also greatly improve the parking situation and is scheduled to be completed in 2012.
The Willow Street Pizza remodel may be finished as early as the holiday season this year.
For information on the Downtown Willow Glen project please view our blog post here.
Once a month, come join us at the Los Gatos location 5:30 to 8 PM. Five for $10 tastes and free appetizers (on the patio if weather permits). Read more about this event.
The media has recently started to recognize that there are some serious issues with the beef and pork production practices across the United States.
Here is an article from the New York Times about the safety of beef processing titled “Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned” by Michael Moss. Read more in this article from the New York Times.
Willow Street customers can rest assured that we use all-natural Creekstone ground chuck and Niman Ranch beef and pork products.
Creekstone takes pride in their quality and ethical practices.
Their beef products are:
* USDA Certified
* Verified Black Angus Genetics
* Humanely Treatment
* Fed high Quality Corn-Based Feed
* State Of The Art Processed
* Two USDA Certified Beef Programs – Premium and Natural
The Niman Ranch mission statement is: Niman Ranch and its U.S. farmers and ranchers raise livestock traditionally, humanely and sustainably to deliver the finest tasting meat in the world.
They are proud that that all of their livestock is:
* Humanely Raised on Sustainable U.S. Farms and Ranches
* Never Given Antibiotics – Ever
* Never Given Any Added Hormones – Ever
* Fed All Vegetarian Feeds
The origins of the Willow Street thin crust Italian pizzas as told by Ed Rathmann, owner of Willow Street.
In the summer of 2008 Ed had reconnected with his relatives including his cousins from Northern Italy. They had decided to come for a two week vacation to visit with his family and see California. The visitors included: Rolando, his wife Daniella and teenage daughter Silvia.
Soon after the family arrived and Ed showed them the highlights of California Ed discovered Rolando’s talents as a chef. Ed soon came to realize that Rolando was a real pizzaiolo, and owned a restaurant in Rogno Italy, near the beautiful mountain lake of Lago di Iseo, not 45 minutes from the famous Lake Como.
His restaurant is called Le Bettule (which translates to “the Birches,” which is a coincidence as our restaurant is named Willow Street.)
Rolando cooked for them almost everyday of their trip and he soon realized that he was a remarkable Italian chef. He cooked them all types of Italian dishes, but most importantly, he shared his pizza dough and tomato sauce recipes (we would also like to mention that to my surprise he liked California tomatoes better than the ones he made his sauce with in Italy).
He also showed us how to toss and cook an authentic Italian thin crust pizza in our wood fired oven. His recipes were so scrumptious that when he left, we worked to perfect his recipes for the restaurants and in November of 2008, we added his authentic Italian pizzas on the the Willow Street menu.
This past summer Ed’s family went over to see him in Italy and he showed us all over and boy, did we have some great food.
Here’s a great video of Roland (who’s a real character) tossing pizzas at the Los Gatos Location:
Here’s him tossing pizzas at his own restaurant in Italy:
I hope you truly enjoy those authentic Italian thin crust pizzas!
1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.
2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?” Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.
3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.
4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right.
5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.
6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.
7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness.
8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.
9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition.
10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials.
11. Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.” Even if there are only two lobsters left.
12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.
13. Handle wine glasses by their stems and silverware by the handles.
14. When you ask, “How’s everything?” or “How was the meal?” listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right.
15. Never say “I don’t know” to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.”
This is just the beginning of this great list of this great list of “don’ts.” You can also listen to Bruce Buschel talk about his 100 do’s and don’ts as well as view the transcript from his recent appearance on NPR Radio.
Tell us your opinion: Think about your most recent dining experience (at any dining establishment). How well do you think the waitstaff measured up? What are some of your biggest pet peeves that restaurant staffers are prone to committing?
13. Culinary beverages with savory, fresh ingredients)
14. Micro-distilled/artisan liquor
15. Nutrition/health
16. Simplicity/back to basics
17. Regional ethnic cuisine
18. Non-traditional fish (e.g. branzino, Arctic char, barramundi)
19. Newly fabricated cuts of meat (e.g. Denver steak, pork flat iron, Petite Tender)
20. Fruit/vegetable children’s side items
What do you think will be the biggest trends of the year? Do you agree with this list? We think there is some truth to these trends really gaining some ground in the next few months and as you may have noticed Willow Street has jumped on board.
