Morocco's Dinner Theater - Raising the Bar for San Jose Dining!

I'm proud to say that I have been to almost every single restaurant in Downtown San Jose (over 90 restaurants, more if you include the ones that no longer exist). Among so many great options, my favorite downtown restaurant by far is Morocco's. The food, ambiance, and service are consistently outstanding. While these 3 criteria are usually how I judge most restaurants, Morocco's add's a 4th dimension that has to be factored in and I think for now I'm going to call it charisma. When you walk into Morocco's you don't feel like you're walking into your everyday eating establishment in San Jose. There is this magnetic charm oozing from every corner of the restaurant that goes beyond the sum of the 3 criteria I mentioned before.  Sure the food is phenomenal, the decorations are hand-selected from Morocco for authenticity, and the owners are passionate about treating you like family... but there is more. It's just difficult to describe, but the event below may shed some light on this 4th element.

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure to attend the opening night of Distance, a dinner theater experience that was put together from scratch by local artists and performers specifically for Morocco's. It was the perfect balance between a delicious 5 course meal and entertainment--basically a continuous flow of good times. There is comedy, professional dancing, and even an element of interactivity in the story (there is more than one ending, how awesome is that). The icing on the cake is that the performance is extremely intimate with only 30 or so seats in the room. This event is a perfect example of what San Jose culture should be like, providing fun in new and unique ways and exploring the talent and innovation that San Joseans have to offer. I have to say this ups the bar for fun in Downtown San Jose restaurants.

There are 6 performances left and you can book by calling Morocco's directly at (408) 998-1509 or by going to http://www.artsopolis.com/event/detail/58757.

South First Fridays Art Walk Tonight!

It's that time again! Today, not only can you enjoy art and music from 8pm-late in SoFA, but you can also walk over an check out Christmas in the Park which should be in full swing today. If you want to see downtown San Jose full of life, today is the day to go! It should be a perfect example of what downtown San Jose could be like everyday at some point in the future. As you walk around, also keep in mind that something like Halloween in the Park could extend the excitement by at least another month. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy the Art Walk tonight, it should be a good one!

Excellent Ad Campaign For Downtown San Jose

I stumbled upon this phenomenal ad campaign promoting downtown living at the SJDA site. I was so impressed that I had to share. Click the images to enlarge and read the text.

New SJC Terminal

Several weeks ago I took a Southwest flight down to the LA area and was lucky to get one of the 6 new gates in Terminal B! I think the terminal is already looking fantastic and should be a substantial improvement over terminals A and C when fully opened in mid 2010.

I was going to eat at all of the restaurants (I love food almost as much as San Jose... almost), but due to time constraints I opted to do Shark's Cage--one of the few places that was not available outside of the airport. The food was typical pub fare, but I was impressed by how they made the bar look like it was made out of ice and of course they went all out with Sharks paraphernalia. After walking into the Brit, I was also surprised to find out that a huge chunk of the new airport facing 87 is actually transparent! While it looks like a solid facade from the freeway, the metal is perforated to allow patrons to look out while still blocking most of the sun. Slick design move.

Below are a few snapshots:

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

New Blog Links

Just a quick update to let you know that I have updated the links on the right hand side. Again, if you know of any other San Jose blogs I should post to, just let me know in the comments. Thanks!

San Pedro Square Version 2.0

I was looking at the JRDV Architects website today and am still impressed at how awesome the San Pedro Square Urban Market renders look. When this gets executed, I really think it's going to dramatically reinvigorate the area and help draw people from around Silicon Valley to downtown San Jose. Take a look with me below:

Two Buck Tuesdays ($2 Art!)

Tomorrow you have a rare opportunity to purchase art for a steal at KALEID art gallery on 88 South Fourth Street Downtown. Small, original works of art are available for $2 and as an added bonus you get to mingle with up-and-coming local artists. The even takes place from 5-10pm and you can see a full list of talent at the Phantom Galleries website.