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Attendees at the sold-out “Pizza & Pinball” event at Paicines Ranch on Nov. 28 were treated to precisely that: a special dinner featuring a choice of four gourmet pizzas followed by an hour of exploring ranch co-owner Matt Christiano’s collection of vintage pinball machines.
“We haven’t had any kind of public access until very recently,” Christiano said. “I have fun nights where my friends come and play, but we’ve never had it open to the public. We’ve done this once before, and people seem to really enjoy it.”
Christiano began collecting in 1991, while living in Saratoga. A vendor in Campbell had a warehouse full of games and, after a few visits, he bought his first two, produced by D. Gottlieb & Co.: the 1977 “Cleopatra” and the 1977 “Solar Ride.”
“They looked interesting,” he said, “and they were inexpensive. They just looked like they’d be fun to play. And they were: they are some of my favorites.”
“Cleopatra” was the first electronic-based game produced by the company, shortly followed by “Solar Ride.” They are both “System One” games, notorious for their unreliability.
“Most collectors shy away from them because they break so quickly,” he said. “So many of them are around only in good cosmetic condition. But I design my own controller boards so I can keep them running all the time.”
Controller boards are the central electronic components that translate the player’s actions, such as pressing the flipper buttons, into game actions. They also control various elements, such as the bumpers and lights.
With a background in electrical engineering, having co-owned Globetrotter Software with his wife (and Paicines Ranch co-owner), Sallie Calhoun, Christiano thought that working with the boards would be a fun project. There are reliable aftermarket boards available, he said, but he enjoyed the challenge of this kind of do-it-yourself project.
“I had a friend up in Seattle who was doing the same thing at the same time,” he said, “So we traded notes and were able to get both of our board sets working.”
After his initial purchase, Christiano said his collecting became somewhat random, and often involved buying the games he spotted at auctions at first glance. When the couple bought Paicines Ranch in 2001, it gave him the space to pursue a more refined approach.
The earliest game that he owns is “Baffle Ball,” the first true pinball machine produced by Gottlieb in 1931. The machine lacks flippers, and players would launch anywhere from five to 10 balls at four cups on the playing field. There were no scoring mechanisms, so players had to mark their points by hand.
Christiano’s collection focuses on machines produced after 1947, when inventor Harry Mabs introduced flippers to control the falling ball. The first of these machines, the “Humpty Dumpty,” also manufactured by Gottlieb, is in the collection.
Those older games, he said, are his favorites because they are more straightforward to play and much more fun than the more complex machines being produced recently. Part of the problem, he said, is that the new games have rules that are so deep and complex that it is hard to figure out how they work.
“Older games were very simple,” Christiano said. “It was obvious what you needed to do. With new games, you hit this target five times and then go up this ramp and then do this other thing. That makes it more like work, and I’m not too interested in that.”
According to Christiano, the general public’s interest in pinball waned in the 1970s, following the introduction of video games like “Pong.” As more popular and reliable video machines began dominating arcades, pinball machines were slowly relegated to storage.
“Pinball is now mostly a home thing,” he said. “I think over half the games are sold into people’s private game rooms. But that’s changing a bit, with ‘barcades,’ where a bar will have seven or eight games in the back room.”
Currently, the Paicenes Ranch pinball arcade is not open to the public in any formal way. Christiano says he plays the machines with his friends and occasionally makes them available to attendees of the ranch’s seminars and meetings.
“It’s good for small groups,” he said, “like these dinners. But I’m not sure it would be good with a big crowd. But there will be specific days where we do this, and that’s good, I think.”
It was a remarkable experience to see the rows of machines, arranged by decade, lit up and ready for all challengers. Wandering through the collection brings back memories of my college years, heading to the Silver Ball Gardens near UC Berkeley after classes in the mid-70s.
I recognized several old favorites, like “Joker Poker,” all in excellent working order, and explored newer machines issued much later than my gamer years. A hurricane-themed machine that blows wind in your face as you play? An earthquake-themed machine that trembles under your touch?
Sadly, the wave of nostalgia brought back none of the skills I had mastered back then, as I watched the balls falling inexorably to the gullet of the machine, signaling the end of that round.
I will do better next time….
The Dinner
Paicines Ranch chef Krystle Vierra’s personal tastes might veer more toward comfort foods like chicken and waffles or meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but that evening, she was hard at work producing four gourmet pizzas for the pinball-playing guests.
“What isn’t there to like about pizza?” she said. It can be simple or complex; you can put anything on a pizza, and it’ll still be a pizza.”
The dinner choices were a mix of old standards—pepperoni and plain cheese—and more eclectic options—lamb sausage and vegetarian—that reflected the best the ranch and nearby growers have to offer.
The menu:
Spring Onion Croquette – Made with green onions sauteed with garlic and mixed with rice and spices, these spheres of pure goodness were creamy on the inside and crisp on the outside. An aioli lightly fused with a touch of whole mustard perfectly complemented the entire dish with a bit of sweetness and tang.
Kimbap – “Korean-like vegetarian roll, almost like sushi but not sushi,” said Vierra. “We use our housemade pickled vegetables and sushi rice, with a spicy soy sauce-based chili sauce. It’s really delicious.” The pickled goodness of these rolls bursts through the sweet heat of the sauce.
Vegetarian Pizza – Topped with tomato sauce, shaved bell peppers, blanched butternut squash and red onion. I tried the lamb (below) and the pepperoni “kid’s” pizza, but this one was my surprise favorite. The veggies just sparkled with freshness. “I love being able to showcase some of our local seasonal vegetables,” Vierra said, “and also what we’re doing here at the ranch. Highly recommended.
The house-made dough was fermented and refrigerated for several days before being cooked in the wood-fired oven. Vierra said that the process is responsible for the crust’s particular bite because it allows the gluten to loosen more than in a conventional pizza. The proof is in the baking: a thin, airy crust that still maintains a nice chew.
Lamb Sausage Pizza – Made with Paicines Ranch meat, it is topped with a garlic bechamel sauce, blanched leeks, ricotta and mint-infused Oils of Paicines olive oil. The aroma is intense, sneaking up on you as they bring the dish to the table. The meat is Paicines Ranch ground lamb made into a chorizo-style sausage. The hook here, if the lamb is not enough, is the spiral drizzle of deep-green mint oil, which works surprisingly well with the garlic in the bechamel and the hints of paprika in the sausage. The whole dish pops with flavor.
The Upcoming Winemaker Dinner
On Dec. 6, Paicines Ranch is holding a Winemaker Dinner highlighting wines produced from the ranch’s vineyards. The menu will be:
- Appetizer: Valois Farm Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Mac & Cheese Croquettes
- Salad: Valois Farm Caesar Salad
- Entree: Paicines Ranch Short Ribs, Evoo Smashed Potatoes, Valois Farm Vegetable Medley
- Dessert: Golden Raisin White Wine Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
Paicines Ranch
13388 Airline Hwy, Paicines
(831) 628-0288
Paicines Ranch on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkTree.
Editor’s note: Paicines Ranch owners Calhoun and Christiano have been longtime, major sponsors of local nonprofit news organization, BenitoLink. They supported both the 2012 Vision San Benito-Community Foundation for San Benito County Listening Sessions and 2022-23 Vision San Benito- BenitoLink Listening Sessions, which provided insight into the needs and aspirations of county residents.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
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