SILICON VALLEY STEAK MASTERS

4th Quarter 2024 - Dio Deka, Los Gatos, CA

December 11, 2024 |  Ron Zraick "RonZ" & John Poch "Chef Boyardee"

 

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OVERALL RATINGS​​

• Ron Zraick "RonZ" - 4/5

• John Poch "Chef Boyardee" - 5/5

• Bill Baron "The Chairman" - 3/5

• Gary Christensen "Wingman" - 4/5

• Pat Quinn "The Dictator" - 4/5

• George Reilly "Jorge" - 5/5

 

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Ron Zraick "RonZ"

 

Overall Experience:  4/5

• I really wanted to love this experience for a few reasons. First, I love Mediterranean food. It is the “food of my fathers” and is healthy, rich, and flavorful. Second, it’s always great to get together with the Silicon Valley Steak Masters. Third, I’ve enjoyed some wonderful meals and cocktails at the Dio Deka bar over the years. Always a fantastic experience. But as I reflect on the ties I’ve sat at a table, it’s always been a little disappointing. Finally, my wife held my 60th birthday party, complete with a Bossa Nova band, at the Los Gatos Hotel and Dio Deka catered it. Many of the SVSM members attended. It was an epic party, and the food was varied and delicious. Tonight was good, but the food fell a little short (pun intended).    

 

Food:  3/5

• The appetizers were very good with many traditional Mediterranean dishes including olives with feta, traditional dips (red pepper, tzatziki, and feta), grilled octopus (a sentient yet delicious creature). Less traditional, but just as good, were the meatballs and the pork ribs. The pork ribs glazed in honey with mint and lime were a wonderful surprise and my favorite appetizer. I’m sure the saganaki was good, but I didn’t try it. Since we were at a Mediterranean restaurant, I decided to try the lamb instead of steak. Ok, at least I didn’t order the Branzino. I asked the waiter which he suggested: the lamb shank or the lamb chops. He recommended the lamb shank, but because I told him I was gluten free the kitchen substituted the couscous for a very pedestrian white rice and left off the sauce, roasted tomato and mizithra. It was a terrible disappointment; I wish he had told me the item would be modified drastically. I would have ordered the chops. For dessert I tried the thyme-honey Greek yogurt, toasted sesame, assorted berries and a glass of Michters American Whiskey, both of which were lovely.

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Bar/Wine List:  5/5

• As previously mentioned, the Dio Deka bar is a treat, well-appointed and lively. Our bartender was attentive and quick to deliver drinks. They have an excellent whiskey selection, and I enjoyed my Michters, but a whiskey lover could go nuts there. Of course, Chef brought a selection of wine, and we began with the OUTSTANDING Vermentino from his Temecula vineyard. He followed that with a magnum Sea Foam Pinot Noir. The varietal is my favorite, and this example was amazing.

 

Service:  4/5

• Service was very good, although as mentioned I wished that I was informed of the menu modification. The pace of the courses served was good and the servers were unobtrusive.  As usual, we closed the place down.   

 

Ambiance:  5/5

• Dio Deka is a beautiful restaurant and bar, with just the right mix of old-world charm and modern décor. It is in the elegant Los Gatos Hotel, which holds very fond memories. I look forward to returning to dine at the bar.

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John Poch "Chef Boyardee"

 

Overall Experience:  5/5

• An incredible dining experience. Located in the upscale Hotel Los Gatos, Dio Deka is an elegant, high-end restaurant offering a chef-driven menu of Greek and Mediterranean-inspired flavors with an incredible meat offering from the grill featuring eight cuts of USDA Prime steaks and two different cuts on Lamb Chops. The food, service and ambiance are worth the visit.

 

Food:  5/5

• As for the food, we shared several appetizers for our large group. They were all excellent and the portions were very generous as they were set-up to share. All were very creative and unique in taste and presentation. The Sillogi came with thick, grilled house made pita bread along with a trio of spreads: tzatziki, tirokafteri, and melitzanosalata, perfect with the Vermentino wine. The Oktapodi was a mesquite grilled octopus tentacle with a smokey char that gave it a great crust cooked to just the right texture of a soft chewy meld with a splash of olive oil– excellent. The Soutzoukakia were lamb and beef meatballs served with tomato sauce and tender and flavorful – great if you like lamb – which I do.

• We informed our server that since we are the “Steak Masters” for our entree we want meat recommendations only (sorry Jorge). Rarely do you see a Kansas City Bone-In Strip Loin – and at 18-oz – on a menu, so when I do, I order it and it did not disappoint. The Kansas City Cut Striploin is carved from the short loin and it embodies the perfect balance of tenderness and flavor, with the bone contributing an extra layer of succulence. The touch of smoke from the mesquite grilled was the perfect touch. The steak was paired perfectly with the deep berry hued Alto Moncayo Campo Borja Garnacha wine followed by a Peter Michael Cabernet. The perfect wines from their list to stand-up to the mesquite grilled meats. Their foraged local mushrooms and the potatoes were the perfect accompaniment to the steaks. And if you want to a true Hellenic cuisine experience then you must try their signature dish – their “Barnsley Cut” lamb chops. I was hesitant when I saw the price point for 3 chops, but since this is their specialty, we got a platter for the table in addition to our entrée selections. We had them prepared medium rare but would recommend for medium next time (few were more on the rare side). The marinated lamb flavor was amazing and not overpowering, melts in your mouth once you manage to carve it up.

• As for dessert, we ordered their three classics and shared them at the table. The Loukoumades, traditional Greek beignets, were covered in a bath of honey and sprinkled with some nuts. The Yaourti featured thyme-honey Greek yogurt, toasted sesame, assorted berries and the “topper” was their Sokolatina – a ridiculously decadent chocolate cheesecake ganache dessert. All were delicious.

 

Bar/Wine List:  5/5 

• Bar area was exceptional, and one could easily choose to stay at the bar for dinner. The pours were generous, the presentation outstanding and a very attentive bar staff. Very well done. Few areas in the country are as wine savvy as the Bay Area. We are fortunate to have some of the world’s top wineries in Napa, Sonoma and the Central Coast and the Nor Cal restaurant industry has always welcome guests bringing wine. As a rule of thumb, I always order a bottle when I bring in a bottle. The wine list was outstanding with a great selection of wines from all over the world. I brought a few bottles of my Vermentino for the appetizers, and a special magnum of pinot noir and ordered from their wine list the Alto Moncayo Campo Borja Grenache as well as two bottles of Peter Michael Cabernet Sauvignon. All the wines were exceptional as the perfect pairings for our meal. Since we ordered four bottles of wine, they waived the corkage fees from the wines I brought to the dinner. Wine-savvy diners will always appreciate how gracious they are treated when reasonable corkage policies are in place and Dia Deka hit the mark for me.

 

Service:  5/5

• The service was exceptional from the receptionist to the bar and the incredible food service staff. Their knowledge of the menu, needs for fine-dining experience and attention to detail were noticed. From the hostesses, to the bartender and our waiter, all first-class.

 

Ambiance:  5/5

• Once you walk past the reception area and “enter” the restaurant with the full view of their open kitchen – you know right then you are in for a truly memorable Mediterranean dining experience. Excellent experience. While Dia Deko is pricey, the service and food quality were a 10/10 for me. This is the type of restaurant you want to go to if you want to enjoy a beautiful ambience, great service and amazing food. Come here willing to spend a few hours (and a few dollars) - so that you can really enjoy the bar, the food and the company. Our service was excellent. A restaurant that I will be visiting again with friends, family and business associates.

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Bill Baron "The Chairman"

 

Overall Experience:  3/5

• My evening started out as a 5-star experience. A very nice greeting, a super welcoming bar and further, a very nice pour with incredibly attentive service. So too was the walk to our table and the service team at the table—incredibly talented, kind and VERY service oriented. Where the experience fell was in mid-meal when the main attraction came along. The steak. Lord Mayor and I ordered a Tomahawk split to be prepared medium rare +. The cut was well undercooked and had a fair amount of tough grizzle. The outer sear was nice but other than that, uneventful. I rate highly based upon the star of the show…Steak. The steak we selected was a general disappointment. All that said, it is ALWAYS FANTASTIC AND HEART WARMING to be ALL together as an SVSM—10 of us—to share stories, laughs and even some tears over our lives. Such a special group.

 

Food:  3/5

• More on the steak. Well, no more on the steak. I have said my peace above. The other items including the appetizers were generally good including the grilled lamb chops. We enjoyed a variety of appetizers.

 

Bar/Wine List:  5/5 

• Chef Boyardee brought wine and once again we all enjoyed it. I enjoyed one cocktail from the bar—Tito’s up. Very nice pour and terrific service. And then after dinner, we all had one last round before the bus whisked us off. Again, nice pour and timely delivered.

 

Service:  5/5

• It is always a tragedy to me that in some instances, food quality/preparation does not match the service. For me, Dio Deka hit that mark unfortunately. Service was top notch and perhaps should drive an overall rating a bit higher…but just can’t bring myself to do so. The service team has a lot to be proud of at this venue. And perhaps with a different entrée, scoring would have been better.

 

Ambiance:  3/5

• It is a bit tired. The physical plant feels in need of an interior renovation to take it out of the 1990’s/early 2000’s. That said, it is clean and quite functional. I have no clue on the availability of parking as we were graciously dropped and picked up by Ditch Digger Transportation.

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Gary Christensen "Wingman"

 

Overall Experience:  4/5

• As always the SVSM dinners are a welcome event. This go around did not disappoint. Dio Deko is a fun place and once you walk through the door you will feel like you found a great spot. The bar is inviting, the servers across the board are attentive and the ambiance is comforting. I arrived late to a packed bar with friends and immediately felt right at home. 

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Food:  3/5

• For the appetizers, I didn’t try one thing I didn’t like. I had favorites but all in all everything was good. Some of the appetizers lacked imagination in their preparation but they were all very tasty. Prices here are stout, once you open the menu your expectations will rise. I had the bone in Ribeye priced well into the highest range we have ever encountered. The steak was good but when you factor in the cost it loses some of its appeal. I ordered medium rare and the steak was a little overdone. The cut was nice but didn’t live up to the price point. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t come back and try again, the steak was very good, just not great. 

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Bar/Wine List:  5/5 

• The bar area is cool. It's situated at the entrance to the restaurant and has plenty of seating. It's a bit narrow and also serves as a passageway for the servers. The bathrooms are exceptionally clean and nice. As a group gathered at the bar we found ourselves clogging up traffic a bit but the servers here are top notch and professional. Bartenders were attentive and drinks were made well, again the overall staff here was excellent. I would come back here just to hang at the bar. 

 

Service:  4/5

• We have had some pretty great service at the different venues we've visited but this staff was a finely tuned machine. All the food came at once and was presented as though they had rehearsed it all day. I have a shellfish allergy and once I mentioned it to our host I never had to mention it again to any of the wait staff. With that said the waiter actually forgot to take my order initially. Literally 10 minutes after everyone else had ordered I spoke up. To his credit, our waiter corrected the issue quickly and I received my steak at the same time as everyone else. I can’t really knock him for that. He also apologized several times which wasn’t necessary but was very sincere. 

 

Ambiance:  4/5

• This place is great, the ambiance is over the top. It’s extremely clean and the overall feel of the place is pretty awesome. It doesn’t really feel like a traditional steak house but overall it's a great vibe, comfortable atmosphere and great service. The food was very good, I just feel the steak should have been a little better considering the price point. 

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Pat Quinn "The Dictator"

 

Overall Experience:  4/5

• Dio Deka provides a very nice backdrop for an intimate dinner or a spirited gathering of friends as we enjoyed for our SVSM Holiday Edition. The bar area is ample sized, and the bar tender was very knowledgeable and accommodating. Though the restaurant was full we still had our own space to enjoy each other.

• At one point we added our own Holiday ambiance by surprising a good friend and his date with a few classic Christmas Carols. We were kept in tune by the Lord Mayor and fortunately not asked to leave!

 

Food:  3/5

• There were mainly supreme highs and one unfortunate low as we sampled and enjoyed many of Dio Dekas curated dishes. The highs include every one of our appetizer dishes, save the olive (just not a fan). The scallops were generously sized and perfectly cooked, Yum! The Greek ribs were little morsels of heaven, well-seasoned and tender. And my personal favorite and go-to at most any Greek restaurant were the huge and perfectly prepared grilled lambchops. Each bite was a triumph! Triangles of crispy seasoned bread were also welcomed treats.

• Per our SVSM charge, we choose a venue that features a breadth of steak offerings and Dio Deka features an impressive list from Tomahawks to Filets. I choose the Bone-In -Ribeye, usually a showcase cut for any steak house worth its salt(and pepper). I always order my steaks medium rare, pink center with a nice crisp on the exterior. When the steak arrived there was a visual cue of what was to come. While it was topped with a medallion of chef's butter, the exterior dark charcoal coloration was a red flag. Cutting into the reasonably sized rib-eye left me wondering "where's the juice!". My first bite left me wondering "where's the flavor"! The steak had been overcooked. Very disappointing for a $95 steak or any steak for that matter. I rarely rsturn a steak, but given the situation I was compelled to do so. This is when Dio Deka really shone, our server was extremely gracious and offered to prepare anything I wanted in short order. I reverted to my earlier favorite; the Greek Lamb Chops and they were delivered swiftly and perfectly prepared. I appreciated their effort to politely and efficiently course correct.

 

Bar/Wine List:  5/5

• The wine was and easy 5.0+ as it was provided and served by none other than Sir John "Chef Boyardee" Poch. As a wine grape grower and lifelong wine aficionado, John never misses the mark with his wine offerings, including my favorite Pinot Noir Sea Smoke. Mille Grazie Chef!

 

Service:  5/5

• Dio Deka's service team was top notch. Very attentive, but not intrusive and as aforementioned knew how to effectively course correct when needed.

 

Ambiance:  4/5

• Dio Deka was a purpose-built setting that has stood the test of time. They only minor design flaw is the distance required to arrive at the restrooms. Once arrived, they were clean. I had previously only been to this venue for private events and was very happy to enjoy the daily dining experience that Dio Deka provides.

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George Reilly "Jorge"

 

Overall Experience:  5/5

• Dio Deka has long been a favorite restaurant of mine. Great service, great food and great ambiance makes for a special place in Los Gatos to visit and experience as often as possible.

 

Food:  4/5

• Their appetizers are to die for….all of them!  My favorites are the Plevrakia (pork riblets with a honey glaze) and Soutzoukakia (lamb and beef meatballs).  On our visit I enjoyed a Kansas City bone-in strip which was spectacular.  Season perfectly and also a perfect medium rare.  All of the “sides” were also flawlessly prepared.  I don’t think I have ever not enjoyed anything and everything Dio Deka Chef prepares. 

 

Bar/Wine List:  5/5

• The bar is my favorite place to both drink and dine. Ruben the bartender hustles like few others and knows his drinks quite well. Dio Deka also has quite the wine list including a bottle of Screaming Eagle I was able to share in the past.  Our own Chef Boyardee brought his own wine this evening and of course paired well with our delicious meal.

 

Service:  5/5

• From the hostess greeting our group to the bar with Ruben serving up prompt cocktails to being seated and waited on everything was smooth and professional.  

 

Ambiance:  5/5

• Great location, well staffed, nicely appointed venue, you can’t go wrong visiting and enjoying what Dio Deka has to offer.   Truly a favorite of mine and with a Greek aura to boot!

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