Voted the most romantic restaurant by about every newspaper and magazine in the Bay Area, the Shadowbrook restaurant is a very special place. It is built on the banks of the Soquel River, just a few minutes from the quaint village of Capitola. Once a small log cabin used as a summer home, Shadowbrook first opened the doors for dinner guests in 1947 in the Fireside Room, newly added to the original building.

Over the years, new wings and patios have been added on different levels: the Main Dining Room, the Garden Room, the Green House Room, the Redwood Room, and the Wine Cellar. The most recent is the arts-and-crafts style Rock Room lounge. It is beautifully constructed with exposed beams and paneling, recycled redwood from wine barrels, and a Brazilian cherry wood floor. All rooms have something special: three have fireplaces, one has beautiful glass windows with grapevine design, and the garden room has a live costal fir tree growing through the ceiling. An abundance of plants and flowers is everywhere; vines frame the windows and climb around wooden columns and beams; you almost don't know where the outside begins. One or more rooms can be reserved for receptions, rehearsal dinners, or private parties, and the entire restaurant, including the grounds is available for exclusive use during larger events and weddings. Receptions up to 225 guests can be celebrated daily between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. with an option of indoor or outdoor ceremony for up to 140 guests. Sunday and evening weddings and receptions are limited to 100 guests.

There are two ways to get to the restaurant' s main entrance from the parking lot above. You can meander down a lush garden path past the waterfall, Koi pond, and the herb garden; or you can take the charming red cable car, the hillside tram, for which the restaurant is famous.

In spring of 2004, twenty five years after he bought Shadowbrook, Ted Burke and I talked about the other additions not immediately visible. There is chef, Deane Bussiere, who incorporates mostly organic products from local purveyors and herbs from the restaurant's own garden; the updated kitchen and the new bakery, allowing their own preparation of breads, desserts, and even wedding cakes; and all the structural changes to make the venue earthquake-safer. An accomplishment which Ted is particular proud of is the Award of Excellence, which Shadowbrook received from the Wine Spectator for the restaurant's selection of fine wines.