As a child, I wasn’t fond of eating out. My family would eat out at least once a week, often more than once, and every time we went anywhere, but for a little place called Rivenee’s, it was a challenge for my parents. Rivenee’s was that lucky exception – I loved the place and this made my parents love it too. The place seemed so magical and fascinating to me then, when I was still an elementary school kid, and surprisingly, the place still very much fascinates me today. Just recently, when I visited my old family house for Thanksgiving, I was surprised and pleased to find out the place still operated and, in fact, was still run by the same family. Apart from the house in which I grew up, Rivenee’s is probably the dearest place to me in the little town, just outside of San Ramon, where I was born and raised. What is so special about the place? Well, it is hard to answer this question in just a few words.
First of all, Rivenee’s is a small and cozy place, and this is what probably earned my love in the first place. This, and the people who worked, and still work there of course. Unlike the bigger restaurants, diners and chain buffets my parents also took me to, Rivenee’s was a family-owned business run by a middle-aged couple, Janette and Derek. When I think about them now, I still remember their warm smiles and sincere care for everyone around them. Missis Jan, as I would call her, loved orange shades, both in her outfits and in the restaurant’s interior decor. Warm orange and yellow-pomegranate furniture, sunny-colored napkins and curtains, country-style hard wooden tables and stools at the bar – everything was solid and comfortable about the place. Missis Jan would always have something orange in her outfit – to match the place, as I then thought. Be it a bright orange ribbon in her hair, or a peachy neat cotton dress, or creamy red nail polish – this woman always belonged to the place like nobody else, and I doubt it was only the