72 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} spanish delights iberiarestaurant.com home. A few years later, he opened an English restaurant in Menlo Park near the train station, and eventually moved Iberia Restaurant to that location, where the popular eatery drew notable guests such as Joan Baez. When the Menlo Park building was sold in 2015, Jose Luis was forced to relocate the restaurant. One customer in particular played an instrumental role in its future: John Arrillaga, the late local philanthropist and real estate developer whose parents hailed from northern Spain. Jose Luis had put a $300,000 deposit—all his savings—on a $2 million building in Belmont and was just five days away from closing on the sale when he learned the deal might not go through. “The appraisal wasn’t ready due to a clerical error, so the bank couldn’t move forward,” he says. At risk of forfeiting his deposit, Jose Luis called John to ask for a temporary loan, to be repaid with interest, until he could resolve the situation. “He asked me which bank I was working with and the next day, the bank called me and said everything was approved,” he says. “I still don’t know what he did!” The Belmont building, nestled against a hillside on El Camino Real, has been the home of Iberia Restaurant ever since. The blue, yellow and red color scheme matches the Villeroy & Boch china, one of Jose Luis’ first investments as a restaurant owner. The walls are covered in watercolor reproductions of 1920s and ’30s posters hand-painted by Jose Luis’ uncle in Spain, making it the kind of place that’s easy to enjoy. The bar area, outfitted with clubby blue leather barrel chairs, low cocktail tables and a long wooden bar, is a welcoming spot to unwind and catch up with friends over a glass of vermut (vermouth in Spanish) and a few tapas, while the adjacent dining room, ringed with high-backed wooden benches, invites guests to linger over a meal. “Creating an ambiance where people automatically feel comfortable has always been important to me,” Jose Luis says. “I want them to feel joyous and happy while they enjoy their meal here, whether they’re discussing business or love affairs or just the last movie they saw.”
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