San Jose's Little Italy gets updated benches

A nice little placemaking touch has been added to the benches alone the Guadalupe River Park in Little Italy San Jose. The freshly painted benches now feature the colors of the Italian flag. The work was all done by volunteers and add a bit more character to this part of the park.

Source: The Downtowner

7th Annual Little Italy San Jose Italian Festival

The Little Italy San Jose Italian Festival is back this Sunday, October 6th. This is an action packed event going from 11am to 7pm, with an afterparty at the Italian Cellar Speakeasy from 7pm to 11pm.

The festival includes one of the largest Italian car shows in the United States, tons of authentic Italian cuisine, wine tasting, nonstop live music, arts & crafts, children's activities, and tours of the brand new Italian Museum (San Jose's first new museum in ages).

For more information, head over here.

Italian Museum Grand Opening Dinner & Concert

San Jose is getting a new museum, something which hasn't happened for quite some time. The new Italian Museum will be located in the heart of Little Italy San Jose. They are kicking things off with a special event featuring live music, a 4-course Italian dinner with wine, and a special tour of the museum exhibits.

The VIP grand opening is Friday, October 4th and tickets are $95 per person. You can find more info and tickets over here.

Little Italy San Jose has a Speakeasy

There is a brand new Italian Museum in Little Italy San Jose, and it has a secret. The basement was converted to a members-only Speakeasy. Memberships are only $50/year (open to anyone over 21) and the drinks are all reasonably priced. Plus all the proceeds from both memberships and drinks go to the museum. For more info, click here.

Hours

Wednesday: 5pm - 10pm

Thursday 5pm - 10pm

Friday 5pm - 10:30pm

Saturday 5pm - 10:30pm

Sunday - 2pm - 7pm

Culture Night Market today

The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy is hosting a Culture Night Market today right outside Little Italy in Downtown San Jose. The free event includes live music, a soccer tournament, a screening of Shrek (7:30pm-10pm), food trucks, and of course the vendors you would expect from a night market. It's going to be 77 degrees outside--perfect weather for an event like this.

The event is both kid and pet friendly and will run from 4pm-10pm at Arena Green East, 340 W. St. John St., San Jose, CA 95110.

Downtown San Jose getting not one, but two new underground Speakeasy's

Little Italy San Jose is about to open the Italian Cellar, an underground Speakeasy-style bar that is part of the brand new Italian Museum & Cultural Center. The bar will specialize in cocktails such as the Aperol Spritz, Old Fashioned, and Espresso Martini as well as Italian beers and wines. The soft opening is on Thursday, October 12th.

Downtown San Jose's newest neighborhood has expanded quite a bit recently, and also include a relocated Poor House Bistro and Littlest Little Italy collection of eateries and market. However, this won't be the only Speakeasy coming to Downtown San Jose.

An empty corner at 2 W. Santa Clara street will be getting an underground bar partially inside of an old bank vault. Not a lot of details on this yet, but there is a permit application on the window.

Little Italy San Jose Street Festival this weekend

The 6th Annual Little Italy San Jose Festival kicks off this Saturday, September 30th from 6-10pm and continues on Sunday, October 1st from 11am-7pm. It'll feature authentic Italian cuisine, entertainment, Cal-Italia wine tasting, Italian supercars, arts & crafts, and will of course highlight both the existing and new Little Italy San Jose businesses. There is also a silent auction to benefit the Italian Museum & Cultural Center which is located right inside Little Italy.

The list of sponsors includes some big names like Google and The Sobrato Organization, which is great since over 15,000 people could participate this year. It's always a fun event and a great way to explore one of San Jose's newest districts. I would recommend parking at San Pedro Square and walking over or using Uber/Lyft so you can really enjoy those Cal-Italian wines.

For more information head over here!

New Hotel proposed in Little Italy San Jose

Little Italy could get a significant addition in the near future. Developer BPR wants to replace a trio of single-family homes on West St. John Street with a six-story hotel (the homes would likely be relocated). The hotel would have 105 guest rooms and parking for up to 41 vehicles. I'm saying it that way because most of the parking spaces will have mechanical lifts to hold two cars each.

The exact location is across the street from Henry's Hi-life and next to Enoteca La Storia, two excellent restaurants. Bel Bacio Coffee and Paesano Ristorante Italiano are within a block. It would also be next to Guadalupe River Park with easy walking access to the SAP Center and San Pedro Square. This is a great opportunity to create a boutique hotel in an up-and-coming neighborhood that might be little but is big on character.

Source: SVBJ

3rd Annual Little Italy San Jose Street Festival

The annual Little Italy San Jose Street Festival goes down this Sunday (Sep 30) from 11am to 7pm. Almost 25,000 people attended last year and this year could be even bigger. You can expect authentic Italian Cuisine, local bands, children's activities, Italian Arts & Crafts, and more info on the future Italian Museum & Cultural Center. The event will be a blast and admission is free!

Parking is available across the street at the County Social Services building on Julian. For more info, head over here.

1st Annual Little Italy San Jose Street Festival

Little Italy is throwing a huge party this Sunday from 11am to 8pm! The very first Little Italy San Jose Street Festival will feature authentic Italian cuisine (of course), local bands, traditional Italian entertainment, children's activities, Italian Cars, Italian Arts & Crafts. There may even be a sneak peak into the future Italian Museum & Cultural Center.

Admission is free and the event is family friendly. Free parking will be available at 333 West Julian. For more info, head over to their Facebook page.

Enoteca La Storia coming to Little Italy

Little Italy is about to get another flagship restaurant across the street from Henry's Hi-Life. Enoteca La Storia will bring more fresh pastas, pizzas, and paninis to the neighborhood along with Italian cocktails and wines. They already have a very successful and highly rated location in Los Gatos (4.5 stars on Yelp) at 416 North Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. I can't wait for the San Jose version to open up!

For more info head over to the Enoteca La Storia website.

The Italian Family Festa is This Weekend!

The 35th annual Italian Family Festa is coming to Little Italy San Jose this Saturday and Sunday. There will be free entertainment, a grape stomp, bocce ball, wine tasting, arts & crafts, and of course tons a great Italian food. Last year I remember the fried zuchinni, meatball sandwiches, and eggplant pesto sandwiches being fantastic.

The event runs from 11am to 8pm on Saturday (August 29th) and 11am to 6pm on Sunday (August 30th). 35,000 people are expected to attend and seating is limited, so bring a lawn chair if you plan on staying for a while. You can see the full schedule below. Head over to the Italian Family Festa website for more info and details.

152 Terraine Street Torn Down

Some bad news today--unfortunately the historic Vogliazzo house at 152 Terraine Street was not able to be saved. The plan was to move it to Little Italy, but not enough money was not raised.

The home was razed to make way for the Silvery Towers project, which is supposed to officially break ground in April. However, it would have been nice to preserve this house and move it somewhere else in San Jose.


Destruction of 152 Terraine Street from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Vogliazzo Home About to be Torn Down

A historic Neo-classical home at 152 Terraine Street (across from the San Pedro Square Market) is scheduled to be torn down on November 30th to make way for Silvery Towers. In order to preserve this property built back in 1912, a group from Little Italy San Jose have put together a campaign to get the house moved to a lot on the Guadalupe River Park right next to Little Italy. For more information on the history of the house, a rare look inside, and the location of the move, please watch the short video below.


Please help us save this historic Vogliazzo home at 152 Terraine Street from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

This historic home is about to be demolished to make way for a high rise building in San Jose. Please help us save this home by moving it to Little Italy San Jose.

To make a donation: razoo.com/story/Save-The-Historic-Vogliazzo-Home?referral_code=share

For more information please contact:

JOSHUA DEVINCENZI MELANDER
Executive Director
jcmelander@yahoo.com
(408) 394-2893

DEBBIE CAMINITI
Assistant Director
dcami123456@comcast.net

Little Italy San Jose Sign is Up!

The Little Italy San Jose arch is finally in place and it looks amazing! Workers from S&S Welding put up the arch, which still needs to be accented with brick and marble. Completion is expected by November 14th. You can already anticipate a big celebration to mark this milestone in the neighborhood's history sometime in November.

Source: Anonymous, SVBJ

Little Italy San Jose Updates!

Here is a little Thanksgiving treat for San Joseans. We have some exciting announcements related to San Jose's new Little Italy district. All but details are below but the quick summary is:

1.) Bel Bacio Imported Italian Coffee is officially open for business and their Grand opening will be this Sunday from 10am-12pm! (can't wait to check this out)
2.) The first home restored by SV Home is already being shown off and the cast from HGTV's Flip it to win it was onsite yesterday.
3.) Architectural and landscaping designs are being finalized for the Little Italy Cultural Center and Museum (yay!)
4.) The Little Italy Arch is ready to start construction. They are just waiting for the work permit.

Thanks Josh Melander for sending this in!

~~~

Bel Bacio Italian Café Now Open!!

Today Monday November 25th is the first day of business for Bel Bacio - Italian Cafe. Please stop by this week to try their authentic espresso from Barbera in Messina Sicily.  The Grand Opening will be Sunday December 1st from 10am -12pm.

First Home restored by SV HOME reveal and Open House!!

Yes, It has been only two months and the first home purchased by SV HOME has been restored and the reveal with SV HOME and the TV crew from HGTV and the cast from Flip it to win it will be this Wednesday November 27^th from 3pm -5pm.  SV Home will be paying for catered Food from Paesano Ristorante and would love all of you to attend.  We hope you can see all the progress that has been made in Little Italy.

~ We also are looking for a few people to be involved in a live casting for the TV show to be on camera looking at the home

Status of Little Italy Cultural center and Museum

We are finalizing architectural and landscaping designs for the Cultural center and Museum.  Thus far we have the following…….

~ Cleanup, Demo, and Framing – Donated by SV HOME

~ Electrical – Donated by Best Electrical

~ Cooling and Heating – Donated by A1 Cooling and Heating

~ Architecture – Donated by staff from SV HOME and Davide Giannella

~ Interior Design – Donated by James D’Ambrosio

We desperately need………….. In Kind Plumbing/HVAC, Roofing, Drywall, Windows, and Painting

Little Italy Arch Finally ready to start Construction!!

We are finally just about ready to start construction on the Little Italy Arch!!  We will be re-submitting the application this week to obtain the work permit to start construction.

~ We had to redo the entire arch and move it over 6 inches to avoid an underground electrical box that PG&E did not discover previously and had to get all the maintenance approvals for the Arch.

Stay tuned for a Groundbreaking date…………………

Little Italy San Jose Updates!

So it looks like there is some movement in San Jose's new Little Italy neighborhood. First off, Paesano's is about to get some company. Bel Bacio Cafe should be opening any week now and they are also trying to get a Pizzeria/Wine Bar. The giant arch at the entrance of Little Italy is a go (design below). Last but not least, they are raising $360,000 to purchase and restore a 1910 Victorian house in Little Italy and turn it into an Italian museum to honor the contribution of Italian Americans in Santa Clara County. So far, they have already raised at least $280,000.

Keep on trekking guys, it sounds like you are making some serious progress!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joshua DeVincenzi Melander

Please Help and Spread the word. We have been working hard to raise $360,000 to purchase a property in Little Italy into an Italian American Museum and Cultural Facility. We have raised $280,000 and have secured the In Kind donations for renovation of the Home.

We need $80,000 in the next two weeks!!!

We have Bel Bacio Cafe opening in a few weeks, a 31 foot Arch going up soon, are in the works for a pizzeria/Wine Bar. Help us get the property for the museum!!!

http://www.razoo.com/story/Little-Italy-San-Jose-Museum-Cultural-Center-Project

Little Italy San Jose is Getting an Italian Coffee Shop!

The good news train for Downtown San Jose continues to get longer and longer. Last week Little Italy San Jose announced a new tenant to join Paesano Ristorante Italiano in Downtown's newest district. Bel Bacio Imported Italian Coffee is going to be serving up premium coffee roasted all the way in Messina Sicily. I'm expecting this coffee to be phenomenal and set a new bar for coffee Downtown.

Soon we should also have news on the Little Italy San Jose sign that will be put up on Julian and an exciting project involving more than just retail in the neighborhood (hint: it will be a mixed-use development). There's a lot to look forward to, can't wait to see what Little Italy will look like within a year or two and I'm already itching to try out Bel Bacio!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huge News for Little Italy San Jose!!

We are thrilled to announce the signing of Bel Bacio Imported Italian Coffee to
Little Italy San Jose. Little Italy's own Debbie Caminiti and her brother Dan
Buttitta will be serving authentic Premium Italian coffee roasted in Messina
Sicily.

Bel Bacio will be a welcome addition to Paesano Ristorante and The Sabatino
Memorial family resource center. We are very happy for Debbie and Dan and know
that their business will be a social gathering place for the Italian community.

Buona Fortuna!!!

Joshua DeVincenzi Melander
Executive Director Little Italy San Jose

The Italian Family Festa is This Weekend!

The Italian Family Festa is returning to the Guadalupe River Park this year, right behind San Jose's Little Italy! This was a great event last year--perhaps the best Family Festa I can remember--and it will continue to grow this year with even more activities and events.

Guadalupe River Park will be overflowing with booths featuring all sorts of specialty Italian foods and arts & crafts, there will be bocce ball, a grape stomp, and of course lots of entertainment.  The fun goes from noon to 9pm on Saturday and noon to 6pm on Sunday, so there are lots of opportunities to stop by and enjoy Italian culture!

For more information, you can take a look at the Italian American Heritage Foundation website over here.

Italian Night Earthquakes Game this Wednesday

From Little Italy San Jose:

Wednesday July 20th will be "Italian Night" hosted by Little Italy San Jose as the San Jose Earthquakes face off with the Vancouver Whitecaps in Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University. "Italian Festivities" begin at 5:30pm and the games starts at 7:30pm. Pasquale will sing the Italian, American, and Canadian National Anthem. We will have Italian games, Italian food and wine, and special Little Italy Earthquake jerseys signed by the entire team sold as a fundraiser. Tickets are $18 each and $6 of each ticket sold goes to Little Italy 501c3. Please buy your ticket from us to ensure we get credit.

Follow the Link to buy your Ticket:
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?pid=6965267&agency=MXED_TGS17

or send us an email for tickets jcmelander@yahoo.com

Buy "Italian Night" Tickets here