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Uploaded: Monday, June 11, 2012, 8:11 AM                                             

Italian eatery to replace Mike's Cafe in Ladera
Mike's Cafe owner transforming cafe into Portola Kitchen

Posted by Pat Pekary, a resident of Portola Valley, on Jun 12, 2012 at 4:23 pm

I was next to Mike's Cafe in Ladera, getting my hair done. They were jack hammering so loud it gave me a headache. The beauticians said it had been going on all day for 2 days! Very inconsiderate not to do at a time when the next-door business wouldn't be open with customers subjected to the non-stop deafening noise of multiple jack hammers! Several employees and patrons complained, and Mike's manager was uncaring and rude. Good thing there are many good Italian restaurants in the area - I won't be going to this one!

Posted by Rummy, a resident of another community, on Jun 13, 2012 at 7:44 am

Democracy is messy.

Posted by neighbor, a resident of another community, on Jun 13, 2012 at 8:43 am

Local laws require that the construction and remodeling work must be done during business hours -- no nights or weekends. It wasn't done to make your hair appt. unpleasant.

If the situation were reversed -- imagine that you were in the restaurant and the soon-to-open beauty shop remodeling noise bothered you -- you could either endure it, or just come back when the construction work was over. But you probably wouldn't write an online letter to the public saying you'd never patronize the future beauty shop business because they were following your town's strict construction laws.

Posted by neighbor2, a resident of another community, on Jun 13, 2012 at 9:36 pm

I was in beauty shop too. The issue wasn't construction laws. It was the manager's reaction to complaints from several customers, employees and the owner, the lack of concern for neighbor and customers, no advance warning so customers could have been notified & possibly changed appointment days and basically not being a good neighbor. Some accommodation such as limiting it to a couple of specified hours per day would have helped. There is construction noise, and then there is jack hammering cement -- the 2 are quite different.

Posted by james, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Jul 20, 2012 at 11:58 am

While hiking at the Baylands in Palo Alto on Saturday, July 14, 2012, I was struck on the side of my face by a goose attempting to land at the PA Airport. I know there will be jokes concerning this but it struck with such force that it knocked me to my knees, broke my glasses and left me in a stunned condition. I'm assuming it was traveling at 15-20 miles an hour and appeared as I was passing a tree. I had no warning and was lucky that it was the chest and not the beak which struck me in the temple. I might have lost an eye, otherwise.

It did, however, have the benefit of creating good cocktail conversation. People, be careful even in the wild.

Posted by Peter, a resident of Portola Valley, on Aug 6, 2012 at 6:13 am

We had brunch at the Portola kitchen on Saturday; it was awesome, great menu, superb service. We celebrated a birthday, and the dessert was spectacular. The food was impressive, and I will assure you, we will be back to this fine establishment ... and often. I really find the comments about the construction noise to be petty; the complaining lady's comments gave me a headache.

I would recommend the Portola Kithcen to anyone. It really was quite good.

Posted by Ursul;a, a resident of Portola Valley, on Sep 2, 2012 at 2:59 pm

Definitely not a destination. Located in a shopping center, across from a super market and parking lot. Far cry from really good Italian food. Would describe the food as slightly above mediocre and not a restaurant I would go out of my way to frequent. Would not recommend it