La Foret Restaurant

What La Foret Restaurant does

La Forêt is a single-location fine French dining restaurant operating since 1978 at 21747 Bertram Road in the Almaden Valley foothills of San Jose, California. The business is housed in a historically significant building constructed in 1848 as a creekside boarding house — California's first two-story hotel — that was later converted into Cafe Del Rio in the 1930s before becoming La Forêt. The restaurant is listed among the 50 best French restaurants in the United States and serves affluent diners seeking authentic classic French cuisine prepared through labor-intensive traditional techniques, including slow-cooking marrow, wine, and herbs over extended periods to extract flavors from bones for sauces.

The core offering is full-service in-person dining Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays), supplemented by ticketed premium wine experiences (Far Niente Wine Dinner at $195++ per person, a $125 wine brunch, and additional winery partnership dinners such as the Beauregard Vineyard event), private event hosting for weddings, corporate functions, rehearsal dinners, birthday celebrations, and nonprofit luncheons, and gift card sales. The venue enforces a business casual dress code and accepts reservations via phone and OpenTable. Marketing is conducted through a Popmenu-powered website, Facebook, OpenTable, and direct sales for events and reservations.

The restaurant is privately held with no disclosed parent company, funding rounds, institutional investors, or management team information, and is part of a multi-property restaurant family group that includes Cafferiace, Grand View San Jose, Osteria Toscana Palo Alto, Grand View Farms SJ, and San Benito House. Revenue, headcount, and ownership identity are not publicly disclosed.

Name

La Foret Restaurant

Legal name

La Forêt

Website

https://laforetrestaurant.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

La Forêt is a single-location classic French fine dining restaurant in San Jose, CA, operating since 1978 in an 1848 historic building. It serves affluent occasion diners via a la carte service, ticketed winery dinners, and private events including weddings and corporate functions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fine Dining Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251), Food Services and Drinking Places (722)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Fine Dining Restaurants (THAFACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Special Occasion & Destination Restaurants (THAFACAK), Chef’s Table & Tasting Menu Restaurants (THAFACAG)

Keywords

• Fine dining restaurant
• French cuisine service
• Wine pairing dinners
• Private event catering
• Wedding reception venue

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Service: Traditional fine dining with a la carte menu offerings including entrees such as Elk ($69), Tournedos of Beef Chanterelle, Quail, and other French classics. Operating hours Tuesday-Thursday 5pm-9pm, Friday-Saturday 5pm-10pm, Sunday 5pm-9pm, closed Mondays.
2. Ticketed Wine Events: Special winemaker dinner events sold as tickets ($195++ per person for Far Niente Wine Dinner, $125 for Wine Brunch with 20% gratuity added at checkout). Five-course pairings with hosted wine selections.
3. Private Event Hosting: Hosting of private events including wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, birthday celebrations, corporate events, and nonprofit luncheons. Catering to groups with dedicated staff for upscale dining experiences.
4. Gift Cards: Sale of gift cards for dining experiences at the restaurant.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

La Foret Restaurant operates a classic French fine dining establishment in the historic 1848 creekside boarding house in Almaden Valley, San Jose. The restaurant serves authentic French cuisine prepared through labor-intensive traditional slow-cooking techniques using marrow, wine, and herbs, alongside ticketed wine pairing events (Far Niente Wine Dinner, Beauregard Vineyard dinner, wine brunch), and private event hosting for weddings, corporate functions, and celebrations.

Product overview

La Foret Restaurant operates as a single fine French dining establishment offering a unified hospitality experience. The core offering is classic French cuisine prepared using traditional techniques (marrow, wine, and herbs slow-cooked over slow heat). The restaurant supplements its dining service with ticketed special events including wine dinners (Far Niente Wine Dinner, Beauregard Vineyard Wine Dinner) and wine brunch experiences, private event hosting for weddings and corporate gatherings, and gift card sales. All services are delivered through one physical location in Almaden Valley, San Jose, with the website serving as the primary reservation and information portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fine French Dining Experience Authentic, classic French cuisine served in a fine dining setting in Almaden Valley, San Jose. Includes a la carte entrees such as Roasted New Zealand Elk, Tournedos of Beef Chanterelle, Quail, and Prawns Meunire, prepared using traditional French techniques.
• Far Niente Wine Dinner A five-course winemaker's dinner hosted at the restaurant with paired Far Niente wines. Includes cheeseboard, La Foret Salade, Quail, New Zealand Elk, Tournedos of Beef Chanterelle, and Tarte aux Poires. Priced at $195 per person plus tax and gratuity.
• Wine Brunch Ticket A 5-course wine pairing brunch experience. Priced at $125 per ticket plus 20% gratuity added at checkout.
• Beauregard Vineyard Wine Dinner A wine dinner event featuring curated pairings with Beauregard Vineyard wines.
• Private Events and Weddings Event hosting services including wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, birthday celebrations, corporate events, and nonprofit luncheons in the restaurant's historic 1848 creekside building with fully-trained staff.
• Gift Cards Gift cards available for purchase redeemable for dining experiences at the restaurant.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked among top 50 French restaurants in the United States

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• San Benito House: Another restaurant in the same family group as La Forêt. Comparable as a heritage/historic fine-dining venue serving event-driven and special-occasion diners in the Bay Area.
• Plumed Horse: Saratoga, California fine dining restaurant near the South Bay. Comparable as a premium tasting-menu and special-occasion French-influenced fine dining venue serving a similar Silicon Valley/South Bay clientele.
• Cafferata: Listed alongside La Forêt in the same restaurant family group. Operates in the same South Bay market with a similar upscale dining and private events proposition, making it a directly comparable peer.
• Grandview Restaurant: San Jose fine dining restaurant linked in La Forêt's 'Our Restaurant Family' footer. Directly comparable as a sister South Bay upscale venue serving an overlapping customer base for special occasions and private events.
• Manresa: Los Gatos, California destination fine dining restaurant. Comparable as a Michelin-recognized Bay Area fine dining venue with multi-course tasting menu format and similar special-occasion customer base.
• Grandview Farms: San Jose-based venue within the same restaurant family. Comparable as a sister fine-dining operator in the Almaden/South Bay region with overlapping clientele and event business.
• Osteria Toscana: Italian fine dining restaurant in Palo Alto also linked in La Forêt's restaurant family. Comparable as a sister upscale European-cuisine venue serving special occasion diners and private events in the Bay Area.

Broad incumbents

• The French Laundry: Iconic Yountville, California French fine dining restaurant by Thomas Keller. Comparable as a benchmark top-tier French fine dining venue in Northern California with tasting-menu format and significant brand prestige.
• Left Bank Brasserie: French brasserie chain in the Bay Area (Menlo Park, San Jose, etc.). Comparable as a French-themed upscale casual/special occasion dining competitor in the same Bay Area geography with broader footprint.
• Chez Panisse: Berkeley landmark farm-to-table fine dining restaurant. Comparable as a long-running (since 1971) Northern California destination restaurant with strong brand recognition and special occasion dining traffic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/laforetsanjose
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/la-foret-restaurant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about La Foret Restaurant