1/6/2023 0 Comments Restaurant town and country![]() ![]() In August 2012, popular lunch spot Korean BBQ shuttered after operating on a month-to-month lease for years. Some restaurants that weathered the initial storm of change after Ellis Partners took over eventually didn't make it. You can't just be a funky old deli with grouchy people working in it and survive in this climate." The downside of that is that I have competition and it's hard. Now there's Mexican food, there's Asian food, there's everything. "We used to just not really have competition because you'd want lunch and (if) you were near here, you could go to Douce France or us or Kirk's. Ellis Partners offered to foot the bill for a remodel of the space that Hiken said she knew was necessary, along with a revamped business plan, to compete and survive. "It kind of set off this 'Oh, whoops,'" said Hiken, who bought the deli from the original owners in 2007. Lindsey Hiken, owner of Village Cheese House, said that the community uproar over losing the Cook Book helped the Cheese House, another old-fashioned community staple that's been at the shopping center since 1959, ride the wave of change after Town & Country was sold to Ellis Partners in 2004. There was the Cook Book, a homey breakfast-and-lunch restaurant so beloved by the community that when it was suddenly evicted in 2005 after 25 years of operation, community members created the website promised thousands of dollars to help owner James Kim relocate and wrote letters to owner Ellis Partners saying they planned to boycott the entire shopping center. Many Town & Country tenants who were years-, some even decades-long local favorites, have not outlasted the evolution. Though all the new blood is exciting for many, the evolution of Town & Country highlights a divide between old and new Palo Alto. Helena-born gourmet burger spot that opened last fall.īeyond restaurants, there's also Tin Pot Creamery, a Palo Alto homegrown small-batch ice cream shop run by a former Facebook pastry chef, and Kara's Cupcakes, a Bay Area chain. Perhaps the biggest newcomer is Gott's Roadside, the St. There's also Tava's Indian Kitchen and Mexican eatery Lulu's, which is owned by a local family. Mayfield also recognized a hole in the Palo Alto dining scene by adding an artisan cocktail menu this winter. The restaurant, serving California cuisine, bakes its own bread and roasts its own coffee. Fast." Diners can customize boxes of made-to-order combinations of meat, rice, vegetables, sauces and the like (all with an Asian influence).Īt Mayfield, each menu states at the bottom: "The following farmers made this meal possible." Before the restaurant even opened, Stannard had already built his own 5-acre organic farm in Woodside to directly supply his restaurants with local produce. He saw a prime piece of real estate - a property with ample parking on the corner of two major arteries in Palo Alto (El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road), across from a high school and a major university - where business owners like himself could sow the seeds for a higher-quality dining-and-retail destination.Īsian Box, a small chain run by restaurant consultant Frank Klein, has a similar tag line: "Real food. "They said, 'I don't know what you see here, Stannard.'" he recalled. Tim Stannard - founding partner of Bacchus Management Group, which operates Mayfield Bakery & Café - said he had to work to convince potential business partners that the "sleepy" shopping center was an investment worth making. "It looked like a tombstone," said Howie Bulka, owner of Howie's Artisan Pizza, which opened at the shopping center in 2009. Some descriptions of Town & Country Village of the past might seem unimaginable to anyone who frequents the boutique Palo Alto shopping center today. “Customers can either self-order for instant gratification or use the QR code, and we’ll get it out to them almost as fast.”Īnd one more nod: Wild Crush is completely cashless.Town and Country Village at sunset is illuminated with twinkle lights on Dec. Delsing says the ordering procedure was designed to be fun, fast, and accurate. Load up a card, and sample some glass wine or use a QR code (secured to every table inside and out) to order bottled wine, cocktails, and snacks. In another nod to the new normal, Wild Crush is a hybrid of self- and full-service. Full bottles are also available, with prices in the $30–$50 range, although some selections run north of $100 (such as Duckhorn Cab, at $142). Wines run the gamut from popular chardonnays (such as Sonoma Cutrer) and light French rosés to higher-end reds (such as Belle Glos Pinot Noir). A preloaded card allows customers to pour themselves a 2-, 4-, or 6-ounce portion of wine, all priced by the ounce. ![]() Logically, the wine and temperature-controlled dispensing system are the main draws.
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