High-tech execs regain their appetites

From crowded dining rooms to bustling coffee shops, small signs are emerging that dot-com-era dealmaking is mounting a comeback.

The full-roar of the tech boom has not returned, restaurateurs and bigwigs say, but the din is building. That means you can't always count on a walk-in dinner, last-minute room at the inn or an easy drive from point A to point B.

"It's just starting -- you can feel a buzz," said Silicon Valley developer Linda Law. "We go out to dinner every night. You used to get in everywhere and now it's back to reservations."

The ultimate barometer, Law said, is at the Starbucks on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park, less than a mile from Sand Hill Road.

"We're seeing a lot more activity in our local Starbucks, which for the last year was a lot of moms and kids, (and) is now guys in suits with their PowerPoint presentations."

Anne Le, co-owner of the Vietnamese restaurant Tamarine on University Avenue in Palo Alto, agrees. In 2003, the Nasdaq rose 50 percent, and Le's client base, which includes venture capitalists and executives from firms like Yahoo and Google, grew and began spending more. All told, her receipts rose 25 percent last year, and customers are now spending a slightly higher percentage of their money on drinks from the bar.

Le said the restaurant is also seeing more private parties from its customers, including from Yahoo and law firm Wilson Sonsini, and has had "several dozen bookings" counting this past holiday season. Next week, Oracle has a party scheduled.

As yet another example of the new spirit, she cited a group of seven bankers who came in last week and dropped $650 -- just on wine.

"They just came in and ordered like it was Christmas," Le said. "It's been interesting."

One of the big shots dropping cash in Le's restaurant has been Michael Elmer, a partner at the intellectual property law firm Finnegan Henderson. Elmer said he has noticed business ramping up not only at Tamarine, which he said has been "busy," but at some other restaurants, as well.

Of course, not all the changes are pleasant.

Elmer said commutes, which were cut in half when the bubble burst, are starting to lengthen again. He's noticed the rush hour lengthening along El Camino Real. Parking, as well, is getting tighter.

Restaurateur Jamis MacNiven has written the book on diner deal making, literally. His memoir, "Breakfast at Buck's," due out later this month, details some of the high-stakes deals hatched at Buck's, his famed Woodside crossroads, back in the dot-com heyday.

But as good as things were then, MacNiven said, they have only gotten better, at least recently, and at least for him. Things did slow down in 2001 and 2002, he said, although he couldn't figure out if people were buying fewer pancakes because of the economy or Sept. 11.