NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EVENT

Best Places to Work 2008 Awards Reception

September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

E-Mail Express

Name:

Company:

E-mail:

Phone:

Caterers open cafe and bar in Sonoma Mountain Village

FORMER AGILENT SITE ALSO HAS SPACE FOR LARGE, SMALL MEETINGS

ROHNERT PARK – Sally Tomatoes caterers Gerard Giudice and Bill Pettibone have opened their first cafe and bar at Codding Enterprises’ dream green city in Rohnert Park.

Though much of Sonoma Mountain Village is still under construction and housing has yet to break ground, the two entrepreneurs have high hopes for the enormous space, which includes a bar, pool tables and one of the county’s largest commercial kitchens.

Since purchasing the former Agilent Technologies campus, Codding officials announced plans to create a $1 billion sustainable community. The 200-acre property will eventually include housing and a town center with retail businesses, a post office, farmers’ market, restaurants, entertainment and other amenities.

Less than a year into the project, the campus is still in its early development stages, although the cafeteria can draw customers from the AT&T call center and the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster on site.

Sally Tomatoes catering was formed in 2005 and works from the park’s 4,500-square- foot kitchen providing food for off-site and on-site events. The company also has a successful deli in Cotati, but the Sally Tomatoes Cafe and Bar is its first restaurant venture.

“We know we are going a little out on a limb here, but we have full confidence that there is plenty of business to be successful,” Mr. Giudice said.

The 3,400-square-foot cafe is built with the green amenities required by the community and features modern lighting and design with a very open feel and recycled redwood bar. The restaurant is situated in the center of the 20,000-square-foot convention center, which is completely operated by Sally Tomatoes.

Fresh muffins by Sally’s Da Bombe Desserts arm will be served from 7:30 to 11 a.m. and include flavors of blueberry and lemon mascarpone and tropical velvet with coconut, walnut and banana. Service will also include espresso, coffee, bagels, breakfast sandwiches and fresh fruit.

Lunch will have a variety of salads including chicken waldorf, prawn and snowpea and a balsamic roasted salad with mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini and fresh herbs. Chefs will also prepare fresh soups and deli sandwiches until 1:30 p.m. Deli meat is freshly carved and served with organic vegetables and bread.

Main courses include chicken parmesan, chicken rosmarino, manicotti, roasted pork loin with marsala wine sauce, tortellini Amatriciana, asparagus and pesto lasagna and Sicilian sausage and peppers. The cafe will only be open for breakfast and lunch daily in the beginning.

Mr. Giudice said the restaurant will have weekly specials like pizza and pint night and pasta feeds, and could host live music performances and other evening events in the future.

Besides the cafe and kitchen, the Sally Tomatoes center hosts large conferences and business meetings from a 5,000-square-foot meeting space adjoining the cafe. The space can be left empty for booths, networking and a stage or filled with dinner tables for food service.

The site also has a 1,800-square-foot board room that can be rented for smaller, more intimate meetings.

Though the housing piece of the Sonoma Mountain Village still hasn’t quite hit the ground, the center is not completely devoid of customers. AT&T operates a major call center at the site and several businesses work out of the project’s business cluster. The site is only a few miles from the highway, Sonoma State University and the population centers of Cotati and Rohnert Park.

Book of Lists Online