Sunnyvale restaurant celebrates 40 years of feeding the community

For Julia Blom, being hired a year after Country Gourmet opened in Sunnyvale became the “summer job that never stopped.” Now, as owner, she is celebrating the eatery’s 40th anniversary and the customers who have loyally supported the business all these years.

“I realized a long time ago that the job was more than serving food,” Blom told San José Spotlight. “It’s about how people feel when they come in and their relationship with the staff. It’s watching the different generations of people interact, from the young to the older.”

Her love for her customers is evident in the three rows of photos of her regulars displayed clothesline-style in Country Gourmet’s lobby — and in her circulating among them in the dining room, checking on orders and taking a moment to chat.

The restaurant’s regular customers respond in kind: It’s impossible not to notice how many diners are wearing 40th anniversary commemorative t-shirts, such as Sylvia Lennon, as they gather in groups around the tables, comfortably chatting long after they finish their meals.

“I have been coming here almost since they opened,” Lennon told San José Spotlight. “So, I’ve got a lot of memories and history. It’s very warm, kind of a home away from home. You always feel accommodated here, which is a good thing.”

Lennon’s favorite menu item is the Mexican salad, which includes a spicy mix of greens, avocado, black and pinto beans, tomatoes and jack cheese on a bed of tortilla chips, dressed with a lemon-jalapeño vinaigrette.

“I’m a vegetarian and it’s just wonderful,” she said. “I like the crunch of it.”

Victor Martendale opened Country Gourmet in 1986 as a counter-service, no-smoking restaurant, very much ahead of its time. But most importantly, according to Blom, Martendale actively listened to employees and customers.

“He had been a family counselor and he really wanted to know how he was doing,” Blom said. “He asked everyone their opinions and was very supportive toward the employees. It felt good to be working for somebody like that.”

Martindale offered to sell the business to Blom and her husband in 2005. The Blom family maintained the standards of scratch cookery, sustainable sourcing and healthy, fresh ingredients and made sure to keep the “sacred cows” on the menu.

That includes Lennon’s favorite Mexican salad — using chips from the same supplier for all 40 years — the almond chicken salad, made with smoked chicken, grapes and pecans, topped with a homemade shallot vinaigrette, and perhaps the most sacred, eggs Benedict.

“We use house-made buttermilk biscuits and we make our own hollandaise sauce,” Blom said. “There’s a little bit of Tabasco in it, and people claim it’s the best they’ve had. It’s all in the way you whisk it.”

The eggs Benedict can also be made with the house-made gluten-free cornbread, and while the kitchen is not designed officially as “gluten-free,” Blom’s own issues with gluten inform a large part of the menu.

“When I found out I had gluten sensitivity, I felt like my world burst,” she said. “I couldn’t dine out with excitement because I didn’t know if there would be something I could eat. It’s important to me that people with dietary needs feel nurtured and welcome here.”

Of the 17 dishes offered for breakfast, 11 are gluten-free. The lunch menu has some gluten-free options as well, including enchiladas verdes, with a spicy, brisk tomatillo sauce served with whole black and pinto beans, and the star — the Buddha bowl.

“The Buddha I’m quite proud of,” Blom said. “You’ve got a good protein source from our beans. You’ve got cooked beets, which are wonderful for blood sugar. Purple cabbage. I feel like you’re set for the day if you order this. It’s just got all the colors of the rainbow and good nutrition.”

Reflecting on Country Gourmet’s 40 successful years, Blom said she is conscious of the number of restaurants that go out of business — a reality that makes her not take for granted her staff or the people who make a choice to eat there.

“We can’t control the world, but we can be kind in here,” she said. “I have this kind of hokey thing that I say. The ‘country’ in Country Gourmet is synonymous with ‘community.’ That’s what feeds me. That’s what I am most proud of.”

Contact Robert Eliason at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: The Biz Beat is a series highlighting local small businesses and restaurants in Silicon Valley. Know a business you’d like to see featured? Let us know at [email protected].