“A grateful and generous heart is like a magnet. When you take the time to acknowledge the abundance in your life and share the wealth, you attract even more blessings and reasons to feel grateful…”
—Cheryl Richardson
No one embodies this aspiration more than our friends Tina and Wayne Levenfeld. The former owners of the Toll house hotel in Los Gatos are on the short list of two of the most generous people we know.
Tina threw a birthday dinner party for herself at Flights (formerly Hults), a tapas style restaurant in the quaint village of Los Gatos (The Cats).
Old school etiquette experts like Miss Manners would say throwing your own birthday celebration is pretentious since the traditional expectation is when you are invited to a birthday party you're expected to buy a gift. Friends of Tina and Wayne would say, “WRONG!”
Tina is known in her circle of friends to be kind, loving, inclusive and generous to a fault. Not only did she and her loving and devoted husband Wayne host the dinner but none of Tina’s sisterhood friends left her party without a personalized gift. Yes, you heard that right. She was the “bearer of gifts” at her own birthday party. How sweet is that? At a certain point during the festivities Tina took the time to address the group, thanking us for coming, telling us how much her family and friends mean to her. She is fond of reminding people,“Your presence is my gift.” Need I say more?
The venue was charming. Flights had a bit of a stylish nightclub feel and the drinks and food kept coming. Just when you thought it was done, there was more food to indulge the most heartiest of appetites. Restauranteur and former hockey player for the San Jose Sharks, Alex Hult and his wife Sarah, Miss Nevada (2011) conceived the idea for their trendy eatery while on vacation in Hawaii in search of the perfect flight of cocktails…Flights is built on the premise of serving comfort food and great cocktails to its customers at a reasonable price and in a casual atmosphere. Everything is served with a trio of different flavors whether it is food, wine, beer, cocktails and desserts like the three Angus beef sliders, three different types of Mac & Cheese, fried calamari, three types of meatballs, and delectable Vanilla Creme Anglais, Chocolate and strawberry Beignets that melt in your mouth. The friendly servers are called “flight attendants,” and it looks like Alex and Sarahs concept restaurant is ready for take off as new locations are on the drawing board.
Happy Birthday Tina and thanks for a wonderful evening! We love you and Wayne!
