Rollati had added an Italian Mercato to Downtown San Jose

Rollati was my favorite new restaurant opening in Downtown San Jose for 2023. It brough upscale Italian cuisine to the City Hall neighborhood, nestled under the two MIRO high-rises across the street from the City Hall Rotunda. Now they have added a cute little Italian store with groceries and gifts on the side of the restaurant.

They're stocking pastas, cheeses, olives, salads, and an assortment of beverages. It's one more reason to check out an already exceptional restaurant.

Source: 408Nate on X

San Jose Mayor Mahan's plan to revitalize Downtown

Mayor Matt Mahan wrote a guest post for the Silicon Valley Business Journal highlighting his plans for Downtown San Jose. The overall goal is not just to rebound from the pandemic but to rebrand and reimagine what Downtown should be and that is the Downtown of Silicon Valley--not just San Jose.

His plans include working towards ending homelessness in San Jose, improving safety, improving the pedestrian experience (such as closing San Pedro St. to cars and potentially closing Post St.), encouraging public art, and providing incentives to attract more high-rise development. 

It's well worth reading the article linked below to understand where the ship is being steered. Personally, I've never felt more optimistic about Downtown San Jose.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose City Hall Block Party on Thursday, Oct 17th

Dozens of businesses around City Hall will be participating in the last Downtown San Jose block party for 2024. This is an up and coming area that is starting to get a lot of traction. Rollati, one of my favorite Downtown restaurants, is located in this district as well as the new and unique Paleta Planeta.

The event will feature live music, tons of food, over 100 local makers & artists, tours of new businesses, and activities for the whole family. Ground zero will be right in front of San Jose City Hall.

The event runs from 5pm to 9pm and there is free parking for 90min in city-owned garages or free parking all night on metered spaces after 6pm.You can also easily take Light Rail to the Santa Clara Station and walk two blocks.

San Jose Lowrider Day

Today enjoy a free event highlighting Lowriders at San Jose City Hall from 12pm to 6pm. The plaza will be filled with Lowriders from car clubs, while street parking in front of City Hall will be open to all low riders first come, first serve.

There will also be food trucks parked along 4th Street.

City of San Jose using AI to streamline government

San Jose is aiming to be an epicenter of AI innovation and development. It seems like City Hall is planning to practice what they preach and apply AI to identifying and solving problems. 

The current use cases are optimizing public transit, publishing translations, reviewing documents, and finding issues like graffiti, potholes, broken street lights, and illegal dumping. There are many more possibilities as well such as emergency response and routine city business reviews, monitoring air quality, waste management, and other services. Essentially AI is being leveraged to improve city services while at the same time reducing costs.

Given our city's goals, we should leverage AI to the maximum extent possible and set the benchmark for others. There are lot of encouraging quotes from city leaders and experts that this is the track we're on at the source link below.

Source: San Jose Spotlight

Rollati Ristorante - Downtown San Jose's newest flagship restaurant

I had the chance to try out Rollati across from San Jose City Hall on opening weekend and am happy to say it lived up to the hype. This restaurant is brought to you by the same group responsible for Left Bank, LB Steak, and Meso Mediterranean at Santana Row. I like all of those places, but Rollati is my new favorite.

Quick disclosure that this was not a sponsored meal. I paid for everything and my wife and I crushed seven courses and four cocktails, so we got a pretty good feel for the place. We also dined at 5pm since we have a baby at home. I'm bummed we had to leave before we could see Sonic Runway light up in front of City Hall through the massive floor to ceiling windows, but we'll leave that for another trip.

First off, it's gorgeous. Right when you walk in there is modern yet homely feel. The bar looks awesome and was completely packed by the time we left. You can see through to the kitchen and brick pizza oven and there is small shop by the host desk for take-home items and Italian condiments. Eventually they will also set up outdoor seating with fire pits and planters for privacy.

We started with the namesake dish, the Eggplant Rollatini with roasted garlic ricotta, spinach, and marinara. This alone was worth the trip. One of the best Italian dishes I have ever had, full stop.

We washed the Rollatini down with a Limoncello Spritz using housemade Limoncello, Elderflower, and Proseco and one of the most unique cocktail's I've even had... an Heirloom Martini with olive oil washed vodka, heirloom tomatoes, basil, and white balsamic. Yup, balsamic. It was like a taste of Italy in a Martini. I wouldn't order it on its own, but surprisingly it paired perfectly with the food. 

Next up were the Gnocchetti Alla Bava with pancetta and crispy sage. This was almost as good as the Eggplant Rollatini. We also went with a Traditional Caesar which sounds a bit basic to try at a trendy new restaurant but it had crispy parmigiano crisps and a rustic crouton that made it one of my favorite Caesars of all time. They nailed the sauce with just the right amount of anchovy flavor.

For the next round of drinks we got refreshing Bufala Negra which is bourbon with basil, balsamic, and ginger ale (yup another drink with balsamic) and a Black Manhattan which uses bourbon and multiple Italian Amaros. These were definitely up to "craft cocktail" standards and honestly I would be perfectly happy coming here just for the drinks at the bar.

Finally the real show, the main courses. A Spaghetti Alla Limon with Dungeness Crab. This had a lemon cream sauce, parmigiano, and breadcrumbs. We added on the crab as an option and it was outstanding. And then just when we think we've had our favorite course...

...a "Thousand" Layer Lasagna with Beef Short Rib Ragu. This was really something else and unlike any other Lasagna I've had before. It was crispy, soft, cheesy, and meaty in all the right proportions.

We were crazy so we also ordered a Braised Rabbit with polenta, pine nuts, and currants. This was my wife's favorite. It didn't taste gamey at all and was much more flavorful than let's say a chicken dish.

We were completely stuffed at this point. There were no leftovers, we ate everything. However, when every single dish is this good, you have to assume they are going to have great desserts as well. So we squeezed in a Fig Leaf Panna Cotta and I have no regrets. It was served with a Florentine cookie and fig compote.  

Final verdict? Was it worth $250 for two (in all fairness it was probably a meal for three or four)?

Yes. 10/10. 

Rollati is the best major new restaurant in Downtown San Jose since Petiscos (which is now San Jose's first and only Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant). If you live in Miro which is directly above the restaurant, I am very jealous and you're probably going to gain some weight.

Protip: you can park for free after 6pm in the neighborhoods around the Miro Towers and all day on Sundays. They also have valet parking and there is 90min of free parking in city-owned garages throughout Downtown San Jose.

New mural near City Hall

The corner of Third and East Santa Clara Street has gotten a beautiful new mural commissioned by the City. Enso bar and nightclub was willing to host the mural and even prepped the wall for the artists. The whole process of painting the mural was captured in the short video below.

Source: SJ Economy Blog

San Jose Women's March

Below is a beautiful photo that gives some idea of how many people showed up for the Women's March in January. This was taken by prawngeorge.

Source: cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum

Photo of the San Jose City Hall Rotunda

Check out this great photo of one of our most significant landmarks from Paul. The photo is entitled Citadel San Jose 02.

Source: cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum

The New San Jose Patent Office is Open for Business!

Silicon Valley's Patent Office is officially open at City Hall, taking about 35,000 SQFT between three floors. After fierce competition regarding where the office would be located, Downtown San Jose scored a huge win thanks to a lucrative offer from the city.

The Patent Office is currently open to the public. Not only are there several computers that can be used for patent research, but they are offering free courses on topics such as starting companies, trademarks, and the process for registering patents.

The Silicon Valley Business Journal grabbed some photos of the interior a couple weeks ago, and it looks more like a tech office than a government office (minus the court room). Hit the source link for more information and the full photo-set.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose Patent Office Officially Opening on October 15!

The first and only Patent Office on the West Coast will open the doors to its permanent location on October 15th. Considering that San Jose companies and residents submit more patents than any other city on the earth, the location in the the heart of Downtown San Jose is particularly befitting.

The office will be a huge quality-of-life improvement to local innovators and entrepreneurs who will no longer have to travel east in order to complete patent filings. It will also of course be a boon to the local Downtown San Jose community, since people from all over the Western States will be visiting this office. I'm sure that surrounding office space near the Patent Office will soon house complimentary services such as patent consultants and lawyers.

Its a big win for San Jose, and it all comes to fruition October 15th!

Source: SVBJ

Another Slick City Hall Photo

Cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum has found yet another cool Downtown San Jose photo. This one is by Alejandro Gomez:

Key Redevelopment Site Back on the Market

A key parcel across the street from City Hall is up for sale for $5.25 million. At 61,650 SQFT, this comes out to a very reasonable $85 per SQFT, especially when you consider this location. The block is zoned for a high-rise up to 285 feet tall and soon the only satellite US Patent Office on the West Coast will be located in City Hall. This corner would make an ideal office tower location, especially for corporate and patent lawyers and other support services complimentary to the Patent Office.

As for my dream scenario--I would love to see a mixed-use building here with retail on the ground floor, several floors of large floor-plate offices, and topped with hotel or residential. That would likely be the most efficient use of the space... but I would be happy with any high-density project here to be completely honest.

Source: SVBJ