Gary Kaplan

Gary serves as the restaurant's operations director and co-owner.  He first met Patana in 1971 while wandering through the south of Thailand in search of a locale for the opening scene of his first novel, Reunion in Singora--the story of a war-scared soldier who survived the horrors of death and destruction in Vietnam, on an improbable journey of penitance and redemption.

They married in Hawaii in 1973, where Gary finished his engineering studies, did graduate work in computer science, and (with Patana) brought the intricate shadow puppet carvings of southern Thailand to America and the world with their chain of Thai art galleries and subsequent international mail order business.

After moving to Eugene, Oregon in 1976, and celebrating the birth of Benjamin shortly thereafter, Gary seized the new opportunity present with the birth of the personal computer, and became one of the pioneers in the computer magazine publishing industry. While in this role of publisher, he founded a software and book publishing company and produced trade shows. He was also instrumental in teaching the world of music production to harness the increasing versatility of home computers.

In another series of career changes, Gary and Patana launched an international health-and-wellness business, helping many thousands of people worldwide; then, when son Benjamin graduated from Harvard, Gary helped him start a new publishing company to produce his bestselling book, How to Go to College Almost for Free. In mid-2006, while still working closely with Benjamin on his publishing and speaking business, Gary helped Patana realize a life-long dream of having her own restaurant.

Currently, Gary manages all aspects of the restaurant's operation.  In his free time, he enjoys walking on the beach with the family's rescued greyhounds.