IF JUSTIN PEREZ ever decides to hang up his career as a chef, he could have a future as a motivational speaker.
Perez, chef and owner of Campbell's recently reopened Restaurant O, has just emerged from two years of personal and professional hell with his sense of humor and spirit intact. And his food is still some of the most innovative you'll find in Silicon Valley.
After playing good Samaritan to a bleeding woman who ran into his garage fleeing her abusive husband two years ago, Perez and his family were victims of a campaign of violence orchestrated by the woman's husband and his brother who sought to intimidate Perez from testifying against them. Perez's house was firebombed, bricks were hurled through his windows and his family's lives were threatened.
As a result of the intimidation, Perez decided to keep a low profile and closed his popular restaurant. While he continued his catering business, he hoped to find a bigger location to showcase his inventive and eclectic cooking. The restaurant's drab, minimall location didn't fit with Perez's outsize cuisine. Meanwhile, the violence and threats put a strain on Perez's marriage.
While he was dodging bricks and psychopaths, he worked out a deal to open in Santana Row, arguably the most coveted restaurant location in Silicon Valley. But according to Perez, a management change locked him out of the deal and Tanglewood opened instead. Body blow.
Then Perez had plans to open in the Hotel Los Gatos, but his investors backed out because they didn't feel it was right. Contemporary Greek restaurant Dio Deka now occupies the spot. Another body blow.
But things have finally started to turn around for Perez. He reconciled with his wife and he has a new baby boy. In July, the trio harassing him and his family were convicted of various crimes and one of them was sent to prison for life. Having been shut out of two restaurant locations, Perez decided to make the most of his original location, this time without investors. After 2 1/2 months of do-it-yourself remodeling, Restaurant O opened its doors again in October. At last, Perez could start cooking again.
"I finally got my life back," he said.
He mostly picked up where he left off, adding a few new dishes and bringing back old ones. Perez describes his food "sensual." It's full of big, lusty, decadent flavors and surprising combinations.
Restaurant O offers a prix fixe menu and a more extensive main menu. The main menu dispenses with the traditional "appetizer," "entree" and "dessert" nomenclature in favor of the categories "bites," "pleasures," "temptations," "desires" and "afterglows." The names are a little too cute for me, but they're in keeping with Perez's rule-breaking style.
"Bites" translate as appetizers. For a clear expression of Perez's cooking, head straight for the escargot with truffle butter, pistachios and chocolate shavings ($9). Using chocolate in unlikely places is one of Perez's signature techniques and it's used to great effect here. Snails are always served in garlic butter, so this dish was a revelation. Presented on individual spoons, each snail explodes on the tongue with a heady, rich, sweet, nutty and chewy surprise.
The toasted brioche topped with duck egg and crisp foie gras was less successful. The crisp, fried edges of the egg had an off-putting metallic tang and the foie gras was aggressively livery. The crunchy autumn roll stuffed with spaghetti squash and brie, which shares the plate with dried cranberries and a tangerine glaze ($8), is a better bet.
The "pleasures" I tried were mixed. The huge baby spinach salad ($9) is sprinkled with walnuts and crisp bits of prosciutto and topped dramatically with a pancake-size ravioli filled with warm and faintly sweet mascarpone cheese. It's a delicious salad, but the ocean of tarragon champagne vinaigrette was enough to dress three salads. The equally large baked goat cheese salad ($8) suffered from the same deluge of dressing. The flavors of the nacho cheese-hued autumn pumpkin and crab bisque ($9) were great, but the portion was so large and the consistency so rich and thick it was hard to finish.
For me, the "temptations" (a.k.a. entrees) are where the menu really takes off. Perez is fond of cooking with game, and the elk chop with a blueberry chocolate reduction ($24) is one of his classic dishes. It's easy to overcook game, but here it's juicy and tender. The velvety, mildly sweet sauce is a luxurious accent for the big flavor of the elk.
With its crispy, deep mahogany skin and flavor-infused meat, the poulet rouge in a rosemary-olive sauce ($14) is the best, most seductive roasted chicken I've had in recent memory.
Veal osso buco in cabernet sauvignon demi-glace ($18) is the culinary equivalent of lying naked on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire. The slow-braised, spoon-tender meat and luxurious, deep-garnet-colored sauce is comfort food of the highest order.
Perez scales back a little on fish dishes. The lobster truffle butter drizzled over the seared kampachi (a sea bass-like Pacific fish) was delicious, but it didn't mask the simple, natural richness of the fish ($17).
At their best, most dishes sidle up to you like a seductive woman in a classy, strapless black dress. But some come on as strong as a drunk chick wearing a neon halter-top and too much perfume. The rosewater and mint granita palate cleanser served between first and second course was overkill. A few bites on a spoon would have been refreshing, but the half-full glass felt like an early dessert. The crisp sweetbreads (the thymus gland of a cow) in a glistening marsala chanterelle mushroom sauce ($15) started out good, but the oysterlike consistency of the meat paired with the thick breading and satiny mushroom sauce become too much. The cumulative effect of such unrelentingly rich and often sweet dishes is palate overload. I found myself longing for something simple like steamed broccoli.
Entrees are served a la carte, and while you won't find steamed broccoli, the selection of "desires" offers a list of side dishes and small entrees. The best I had were the balsamic-braised fennel ($5), sunchoke gratin ($8) and roasted cauliflower ($5). But unless you're looking for dessert, avoid the cloying beet and brie ravioli in chocolate hazelnut sauce.
Speaking of desserts (all $8), Perez converted what was a pastry kitchen into a 40-seat private dining room, so desserts are no longer made in-house. Instead, he collaborates with Los Gatos' Sugar Butter Flour, and the results are excellent. The wonderfully moist upside-down pineapple polenta cake is great as is the chocolate Earl Grey tea mousse. I ate all of the honey rosemary cake, but it wasn't easy. The chilled layers of cake and cream were so dense and unyielding they almost bent my fork.
Service is generally smooth and knowledgeable. Questions about wines and ingredients are answered with authority. But on both of my visits there were long lags between courses and a few slip-ups, as when one of my dining companions received the wrong appetizer.
Restaurant O's wine list features many excellent Santa Cruz Mountain wines that pair wonderfully with the menu. All wines are served with pricey Riedel glassware, a sign of the restaurant's commitment to a top-notch wine program.
There's a numbing uniformity to the food served at many high-end restaurants in Silicon Valley. It's as if restaurants are all working off the same menu. While not all of Perez's creations succeed, when he hits the mark his food is some of the most original, daring and delicious you'll find in these parts. The South Bay's restaurant scene is a more interesting place with him back in the game. Welcome back, Justin.
