Karma in a fortune cookie

The first time I met “Tommy” (not his real name… I could spell it for you, but you probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce it.   It’s very Chinese and really cool sounding and fun to write! Be that as it may, for purposes of this article his name is “Tommy.”) Owner of the new “Jade Garden” restaurant in Pleasanton, I liked him immediately. He is an affable young man with a genuine smile, and a positively unimpeachable vibe that says everything in the world is going to turn out ok…

Jade Garden is a newborn baby for Tommy. He relocated here from Oakland not long ago because he liked the community that is Pleasanton, thought it a perfect place to raise his family, literally and figuratively. The funny thing is that long ago I lived in Oakland near a U.C. Cal Berkeley bar on Grand avenue called the “Golden Bear”. It’s a old narrow sports bar decorated with any number of East Bay sports memorabilia including, Raider jerseys, A’s jerseys, Cal banners, etc. and a hundred pictures noting heroes of yesterday. Any Cal Alum knows the place, and also knows that they don’t serve food. You have to go next door to “Lee’s Chinese” to order sustenance and they deliver to your barstool! Many a night I spent crying into my Chow Mein after a local loss… Anyway, Tommy used to be the chef there. There wasn’t the need to ask him if our paths had ever crossed then, I’ve got him beat age wise by a couple of centuries…

Time passes, things change. Tommy is starting a family, he likes our little town, and I guarantee you that you will LOVE his food! Here is a man who cares folks. Jade Garden is an extension of Tommy himself. Oh and by the way when you visit him the first time 3550 Stanley Blvd. Pleasanton, don’t be fooled by the rather Spartan interior. Tommy has grand plans for Jade Garden, Chinese lanterns, draperies here paintings there etc. Like I said, Jade Garden is just a baby, she will grow…

I will say the place does have a sort of hidden spirit even now… When I visited, I couldn’t help but notice a portrait on the west wall that features two wild Eagles soaring just above an angry sea. On the adjacent wall a portrait of wild horses, stronger and wilder than the surrounding landscape. I asked Tommy if there was any relevance to either of the two, and he emphatically answered of course!!! In his mind there is reason and relevance to everything. Destiny, spirit, risk, fortune, and Karma are a few of the words that escaped as he explained the portraits to me. Just how the eagle or the horse affect his soul are I believe for him alone, and all I need do is respect it. My belief in such things is irrelevant, it’s what Tommy believes that matters, and it is what gets HIM through each day. It’s also what keeps him grounded, interested, and dedicated to providing the best food, the best service that he, Tommy at Jade garden Pleasanton, can offer. (For posterity sake, I believe just about the exact same thing.)

Go to Jade Garden, tell Tommy that KEITH AT ‘Foodnearu’ sent you, and enjoy a wonderful meal. If you decide that you can’t or won’t be able to make it down there, simply go online to www.foodnearu.com or use your Smartphone to find the Jade Garden menu, and let the good people at ‘Foodnearu’ bring a little bit of Tommy’s heaven to your door.

 Happy dining everyone!