Client Appreciation Dinner Party - 2010

This past week, I held my annual, private Client Appreciation Dinner Party. To be invited to the party, invitees must have either referred me to a prospective client (closed transaction or not) or have been a recent client that I represented on a purchase or sale that closed escrow. So, you too, can be invited by referring someone you care about for expert advice on the purchase or sale of residential or commercial real estate.


As in the past, we had a dinner party at Midori Japanese Restaurant in Sunnyvale. The manager of the restaurant, Jeff, made sure we wouldn't go about disturbing other patrons by reserving their tatami room for us. Food was excellent and included a selection of tasty sushi and sashimi appetizers, soup, salad with miso dressing, a wide variety of entree combinations, dessert and beverages (including adult beverages).


Each invitee was allowed to bring an adult guest and those that attended received a gift bag with a wonderful bottle of Steven Bannus Russian River Sauvignon Blanc wine, bag of chocolate truffles from Harry and David's and a gift card to use on their next visit to Elephant Bar Restaurant. Each attendee was eligible for drawings of wonderful gifts from Crate & Barrel that were specially chosen and wrapped by my lovely wife, Carol.

A second special gold gift bag was presented to those that had referred someone to me and those clients had closed on a transaction. The gold bag included a bottle of superb Beaulieu Vineyard's BV Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and their very own Passport Unlimited unrestricted gold membership card to save them money when dining at a great selection of fine restaurants!


Some of the invitees were attending their second or even third Client Appreciation Party!


The variety of invitees ran the gamut from first time home buyers to those referring prospective clients and came from as far away as San Francisco and included such occupations as a financial planning firm officer, architectural photographer, registered nurse, attorney, software engineer, residential mortgage and commercial loan professionals, insurance sales representative, stay-at-home mom, comedy club owner/operator along with my sons, David and Kevin, and wife, Carol. Just so you know -- she's my COO - Chief Organizing Officer! There were multiple, interesting conversations going on up and down the table on a variety of topics.


Everybody had FUN and didn't go away hungry! I know this because absolutely nobody complained!


I can't wait to have another Client Appreciation Party because I get to thank some of those that are the heart of my business. And, getting close to Valentine's Day, it makes perfect sense!


Thanks for reading my blog!

Real Eats -- La Paloma Restaurante, Santa Clara, CA

Have you ever wondered why you gravitate back to certain restaurants? Well, that's just what happened last weekend when my wife and I were hungry for La Paloma in Santa Clara. Patrons for more than 25 years, we enjoy the good value, authenticity as well as the great taste.

We usually start off with a simple side salad instead of appetizers as their chips and salsa are very good! Next -- what to have for dinner?

Since we're eating lighter, we opted for fish. My wife chose the Grilled Salmon Filet off of their regular menu. At $13.50, it included a fresh salmon filet that was char-grilled and served with your choice of our tangy tomatillo avocado salsa, or topped with their fresh mango salsa. Carol chose the mango salsa which she said was excellent. The dinner also included grilled garden vegetables, rice, and jalapeño tartar sauce.

For my dinner, I ordered the Char-grilled Red Snapper off of their specials menu. It too was $13.50, and was served over a tomatillo-avocado salsa and came with rice and beans which I asked to switch the beans with grilled garden veggies. The fish was perfectly flaked done and tasted wonderfully with the salsa and accompaniments. I chose one of their margaritas to top off the dinner. The margarita, I prefer them frozen and with salt, tasted great and was of great value.

Dessert -- who has room for any dessert? We passed on dessert as the dinner with the salad, chips and salsa was more than ample! Highly recommended.

La Paloma Restaurante
2280 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050

(408) 247-0990


If you'd like to enjoy great food and service at fine restaurants and obtain a discount in the process, please give me a call and I'll let you know how you can get a complimentary Passport Unlimited card.

I encourage you to leave a comment. Be sure to mention what your favorite restaurants are. Thanks for reading!