Saffron ice cream + more at this new creamery 🍨

This Los Gatos resident dreams of ice cream – then makes it for his creamery

When my brother and I were little, we wanted to open our own eatery called WiiFi’s Restaurant (pronounced “Wee-Fee’s”). We’d make a mess in the kitchen testing and developing recipes that we’d make up from our imaginations. Not surprisingly, every recipe tasted pretty horrible. With our lack of culinary prowess, WiiFi’s Restaurant unfortunately was not viable.

But for high school friends Marcel Khorsand and Nathan Gaudreau, their longtime dream actually became a reality. 

“I posted something probably in 2010 that just said, ‘One day it would be awesome if I owned a dessert shop or I sold ice cream,’” Gaudreau said. “And Marcel responded to that post and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it one day.’”

Khorsand said he dreams of ice cream flavors in his sleep and spends weeks perfecting the recipes. Since May 17, his ice creams have been available at their debut dessert shop, Petals Creamery in Los Gatos. 

Stay tasty,
Adrienne

Longtime friends open a creamery, bakery and cafe in Los Gatos featuring innovative ice cream flavors and Persian desserts

Marcel Khorsand is taking his dreams and turning them into reality – literally. The Los Gatos native recently debuted his dessert shop and cafe Petals Creamery in Los Gatos featuring all original creations, including many that he dreamt about.

Giant conchas come to Redwood City, a new Korean bakery opening in the fall and a popular barbecue truck reopens

• Con Azucar Café has opened in the former Cyclismo Café space in downtown Redwood City.
• A 35-year-old family-owned Korean supermarket is opening a Korean bakery across the street in Daly City.
• Craftsman and Wolves, a San Francisco bakery known for its inventive pastries, will open its new Mountain View location Saturday. Its founder Lawrence Lai died of cancer in April.
• Pico’s Barbecue will have its grand reopening Saturday at the Port of Redwood City. The barbecue truck was previously located in Menlo Park and has been temporarily closed since early April.
• Stanford Food Institute instructor Terry Braggs will teach cooking techniques at the Juneteenth Cooking Demonstration Thursday from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Redwood City Public Library.
• The third annual Silicon Valley Whisk(e)y Festival is happening Sunday from 3-6 p.m. at Domenico Winery in San Carlos. This ticketed event allows attendees to meet distillers and sample rare and unique whiskey.

Brunch at Navio

Navio’s weekend brunch buffet used to be an exciting, over-the-top spectacle that would blow my mind with its extravagantly organized chaos. It’s now a serene, upscale brunch restaurant with a high price tag and a fraction of the magic.

I’m not saying Navio brunch is horrible – I’m just saying it’s not what it used to be. For some people who like a quieter ambiance and often face decision paralysis, you might prefer the new version more, but I can no longer justify the $200 pre-tax, pre-tip price (parking is an extra $50.)

Prepandemic, Navio brunch was served buffet-style, with multiple rooms offering different cuisines. Guests could pile their plates high with blinis, creme fraiche and as much caviar as they could dream of at the caviar table. There was a sushi station, where sushi chefs would churn out roll after roll of fresh sushi, plus sections for dim sum, hot American breakfast, pastries and so much more. The open kitchen concept allowed chefs to serve up small, perfectly plated portions of steak, lamb chops and other delicacies (prior to the California ban, they even had fois gras.) Prime rib was cut to order with all the fixings. 

And the dessert station was what dreams were made of: Cabinets stacked with individually plated desserts for guests to grab as they pleased. A dispenser with thick, rich, velvety hot chocolate. A server cutting slices of pluot crostata and vibrant fruit tarts, scooping ice creams and sorbets per guests’ specifications.

I completely understand the format of weekend brunch had to change during the pandemic, but it means there are now a lot fewer dishes to choose from, and the service style makes you feel rushed. Ironically, the buffet style felt like a higher-quality experience than what Navio currently is doing.

Navio now offers 16 small plates (there is notably no sushi, dim sum or prime rib), and guests can order two of those plates at a time for 90 minutes. The problem with this system is that orders for the whole table can only be placed simultaneously. So if a guest isn’t ready to order, they miss a whole round of food, and orders show up randomly. This means some guests have completed their food and are hungrily waiting for the server to come by again, while others have just received their food and will feel rushed to select their next order whenever the server returns. 

Another thing to note is that the table is set with two croissants and two bread rolls for the whole party, a far cry from the more diverse pastry selection of the buffet days.

I ate four rounds of plates total, and if you dine with one other person, the two of you could easily try the entire brunch menu. I did try every plate on the menu, and the standout to me was the wagyu beef slider with shiitake mushroom, smoked pork belly and black garlic aioli.

However, when I ordered the lamb rack with sweet peas and fresh mint, my lamb was raw, which is a mistake that shouldn’t be happening at a place like Navio. The remake of the lamb was cooked perfectly and seasoned well.

After one and a half hours, the server comes with a tiered dessert tray similar to an afternoon tea experience, featuring four small desserts. Guests are allowed to box the desserts to go, but anything not consumed from the earlier part of the meal cannot be taken home.

While the overall quality of the food was high, it’s clear that the selection is not what it used to be, and it’s harder for guests to go at their own pace as they used to. 

Navio, 1 Miramontes Point Road, Half Moon Bay; 650-712-7000, Instagram: @navio_hmb. Weekend brunch available Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Five new Palo Alto eateries serving everything from jar cakes to Nepalese food
Head to these Midpeninsula spots serving a diverse array of cuisines

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