Keeping a restaurant afloat for 45 years is certainly no small feat. It takes grit, determination, good help and a fair bit of luck. Yet year after year, seafood lovers are reeled into this Los Gatos eatery.
Despite the fact most restaurants have dispensed with linens, Steamer’s continues to operate in its signature style of white tablecloth service, a tradition which even many high-end restaurants have abandoned.
Says co-owner Paul Matulich, “It’s a higher level of sanitation, and it takes a lot more resources, time and expense. I am not a fan of plopping silverware down on a bare table, with no placemats. How can you be sure if it’s actually been cleaned? And if the silverware isn’t wrapped in a napkin, how do you know who last touched it? I insist on having tables thoroughly wiped off before tablecloths are put down.”
This is just one of the ways that Steamer’s has sought to differentiate itself over all these years. And, Matulich says, the tables are absolutely beautiful, made of exotic hardwoods that are hard to find now. “I’m afraid if I take the tablecloths away, customers would complain!”
Success also takes delivering on what customers want, which is not always easy. With that many decades in business, cuisine preferences change with the times, and sometimes what becomes an old favorite to someone falls off the menu.
“We had a guest in recently who told a server about a salmon dish she had at Steamer’s years ago, and she wondered if I could recreate it,” Matulich recalled. “I asked the server to find out what she remembered about the dish and she provided a couple of ingredients. I did what I could, but it was obviously not quite the dish in her memory banks.”
He says he’s been thinking about maybe bringing back some of the old dishes, from 45 years ago. We talked about clams casino. “I could maybe do cherrystones,” he mused. “They take longer to cook, so maybe I could do them in the pizza oven.”
He says he makes pasta vongole every night: someone always asks for it. Stay tuned to see what oldies make it back on the menu.
Meanwhile, regulars come in for such favorites as Asian BBQ glazed organic salmon with wasabi cream, Louie Louie with crab or shrimp, seafood linguine, petrale sole, grilled halibut with Blue Lake beans, blackened snapper, crispy fried fish tacos, or the yummy prawn BLT on green onion herb bread. For meat lovers, there’s steak cobb salad and the grillhouse burger.
For drinkers, one local special is the Hugo, a riff on an Aperol spritz: barrel-aged Negroni with locally made Venus gin. Bartender Kenny Bowes also can happily whip up an infusion of Earl Grey tea, Gray Whale gin, mint, St. Germain and Prosecco.
Oenophiles should take note of Wine Down Wednesdays, starting at 4pm, when all wines under $100 are 25% off by the bottle.
Bartender Jordan Afsharpour says the most popular drinks this summer have been margaritas, and martinis made with blackberry lime or pomegranate. He recommends Steamer’s own barrel-aged Old Fashioned made with Redemption bourbon, or a barreled Manhattan made with Dickel rye, both served over housemade round ice balls, which provides copious time for contemplation of what the future might hold.
