The two have been cooking together professionally since they met and married at UCLA in the early 1980s, he an economics major and she in anthropology. Ignoring their degreed fields, they followed their instincts, gaining hands-on experience with some of the best Los Angeles chefs of the time. Gary won awards and Vickie, sandwiching her chefing around the care of an infant daughter, made gains as the first woman to serve as saucier under famed chef Jean Francois Meteinger. Eventually she became pastry chef, a position allowing the flexible hours so important to a mother. For the past four years, Gary served as chef for the California Cafe in Los Gatos' Old Town.
Tapestry is the happy outcome.
While food styles are borrowed from a variety of cultures, he uses the fresh products of local vendors. His signature dish, Mongolian beef, won him the Kikkoman Grand Masters award and a trip to Tokyo. Diners can also enjoy a taste trip via his New Zealand lamb with curry and pomegranate. Vickie creates French-based pastries with an American twist. For example, she uses pastry dough instead of pie crust in her individual apple pie dishes and builds a light and airy chocolate cake by eliminating flour, achieving a souffle effect with her warm Molten Chocolate cake.