New American Bistro Opens on El Camino
By Cynthia Cheng
Forget about Denny’s. Santa Clara residents are flocking to Café Amilia, the new American café and bistro on 3590 El Camino Real at Lawrence Expressway at the location of the extinguished Flames Coffee Shop. Café Amilia serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with tasty eats such as its signature hazelnut French toast with grilled bananas, the satisfying “Angus” flat iron steak salad, and the creamy and light scallop and prawn fettuccini.
“While planning the restaurant’s theme and menu, I took into consideration that from Lawrence Expressway to Lafayette Street to El Camino, there are a variety of nice ethnic restaurants, but few real American restaurants. So I wanted to open up an American restaurant,” owner Yong Choi says.
“Food has been a hobby all through my life. I think food is culture,” Choi says. “To understand certain cultures, you have to understand their food. I can tell good food from bad food. I’m not a chef, but I hire chefs. Our chef here used to work for Viva in Los Gatos- he has many years of fine dining experience.”
Born in Seoul, Korea, Choi relocated to America in 1980. She lived in Berkeley where she gave birth to her son, Abraham. When Choi first moved to Silicon Valley, she owned and managed the cafeteria for a business in Milpitas. Then she worked in mortgage, an industry completely unrelated to food. When the real estate industry took a dive, Choi saw this as an opportunity to pursue her dream of running her own restaurant. So she bought Flames Coffee Shop and remodeled the facility to provide a more stylish and upscale dining experience.
Choi’s son, Abraham, has relocated from Southern California to help manage his mother’s restaurant. Abraham shares his philosophy about the food at the restaurant.
“We serve California cuisine during dinner time. We got a little Asian, Italian, French, Mediterranean,” Abraham says. “Presentation is very important to us. If it looks good, it’s probably going to taste better than something that doesn’t look good. If someone enjoys the ambience and décor, they’re also more likely to enjoy the food.”
Thus explains the restaurant’s swanky décor with the green and mustard painted walls, teal-colored table napkins against the starch white tablecloths, and the hanging pumpkin-shaped lights. Music-inspired wall art define the Music Room, which holds a stage area for the live jazz performances on Friday and Saturday evenings. The other main dining area is the Flower Room with the floral wall art and a quieter ambience.
Although the restaurant has only been opened for about five months, it is already securing a loyal clientele.
“Most of my customers are Santa Clara residents, and everyone tells me this is what Santa Clara needs. Whenever they say that, I’m very glad,” Choi says. “People want to go to nice restaurants without going to Mountain View or downtown San Jose, and now they have a restaurant in their own neighborhood.”
