Warmly engaging with zero pretense, David Intonato hails from the Hamptons of Long Island, the son of a grade school teacher who dug clams on the North Shore during the summer to sell to restaurants.
The taste of those bivalves is a smile-producing memory for the executive chef of Gardenia Los Gatos. So are the thoughts of his very Italian grandmother’s simple yet pillowy gnocchi, made with russet potatoes. She was a chef for a nursing home, where she cooked regularly for 200 people.
“It inspired me to have a love for food,” says Intonato.
Growing up in a family of foodies engrained in him a desire to pursue a culinary career. While he could have gone to the CIA in Hyde Park, which would have been geographically a lot closer, a young Intonato headed south to Charleston, SC, where he attended culinary school, and fell in love with Southern cooking.
Later, he apprenticed with French and Belgian chefs before moving to Hawaii to pick up yet another set of influences. “I’ve cooked all over the country—in Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York and in Costa Rica, plus two tours in Hawaii.”
He and his wife Erin, met at a restaurant on Long Island and had their own place in Northport called the Purple Elephant, which they sold to friends in 2018. Opened in 2012 and still going strong with the same menu and staff, the restaurant is centered around fresh, healthy, plant-forward food.
“Our philosophy was on organic meals, sustainability and farm to fork,” says Intonato. “We had a vegan stroganoff. It was the first of its kind of menu in the area, and it really took off.”
Intonato loves to surf, which explains a lot of his moves, except the one to Aspen. Prior to moving to Willow Glen six months ago to helm Gardenia Los Gatos, he moved to Aspen to work at Pine Creek Cookhouse, where he and his wife lived in a remote cabin in the snowy woods.
“It was too cold for my wife,” says Intonato. “She wasn’t fond of snow starting in October and going through June.”
He appreciated the vibe of the mountain community, though, and enjoyed working with the local game, smoking and curing different kinds of proteins. “I lived at 10,000 feet in the wilderness. We had elk and bear in our backyard. In the restaurant, the No. 1 seller was elk. We also had a buffalo ribeye, venison and quail.”
Coming to the Bay Area fulfills a long-held dream of living where farm to table began, led largely by Alice Waters and those like Jeremiah Tower.
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“I’ve worked all over but I’ve always wanted to cook in the epicenter of fresh produce, cheeses, meats and seafood – and wine,” says Intonato.
Fast walking and always thinking three moves ahead, Intonato says he’s taking a careful, measured approach with the menu at Gardenia.
“We want to get it right,” he adds. “ I’ve opened six restaurants, and I know to go slow in the beginning.”
He’s ecstatic about the staff he’s working with, including his sous chef Christian Torres, who has worked at Michelin star restaurants. The key, he emphasizes, is to find people who are willing to work and to learn. “They must have a passion for it,” says Intonato. “It’s not rocket science.”
This fall he’s planning to add a cassoulet, and is thinking about game. “I’ve got a great rabbit dish I learned from a Belgian chef; it’s braised in a lambic beer.”
Intonato also has vegan recipes on deck which will be added as the menu changes seasonally. And he envisions a guest chef series.
Gardenia Los Gatos is located at 115 N Santa Cruz Ave. For hours and reservations, visit https://gardenialosgatos.com/visit.