Monday, April 12, 2010
New San Jose Retail Opening! - The Usuals
Wow, this is rare. This Friday marks the grand opening of a new retail store... and it's an independent apparel and accessories store. Haven't seen one of those in a while =). The opening kicks off at 1020 The Alameda, Friday 4/16, 6pm-9pm, and features Josh Marcotte's work from Lost San Jose and music by San Jose's DJ Cutso and Aaron Squareweezy Aquino of The Bangerz. You may also be able to use the image below to get a 15% discount. For more info, check out their website here!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Saturday Stats - San Jose Restaurant Spending
Bundle is a killer site that aggregates all sorts of financial data across US cities and has a ton of interesting data related to San Jose. Last week we talked about San Jose having the 3rd highest consumer spending in the US. Today let's dig a little deeper and see what we're spending money on.
Since I'm a big fan of eating, I thought restaurants would be the perfect topic to drill down on first. We spend on average $521 per month on dining out, an average of $32 per dine (not per person, but per receipt I'm assuming). Where is this money going? Move your eyes down to the bullets below:
A friend and I were having a discussion last week about eating out. If he goes into a restaurant and orders something he doesn't like, he simply doesn't eat it. He then quickly pays the bill (if they charge him) and goes to another restaurant to order something else. I asked him why he does this instead of just compromising and trying to find something he likes at the restaurant, and he said something really insightful to me. We only get at most 3 meals per day over maybe 60 good years of dining (baring when you are too young or too old to really enjoy and appreciate the food). Over a lifetime, that is 65,000 meals. Strike out most breakfasts which most people don't really have a full meal for, and countless quick lunches, and you are really looking at the opportunity to have 35,000-40,000 good meals in a lifetime. My friend doesn't want to waste a single one of those meals on something he doesn't fully enjoy.
So my question to every San Josean is, why waste any of your 40,000 meals on chain restaurants you can eat at anywhere? Why not try something new and memorable, all the while encouraging restaurants that are more innovative with food than your cookie-cutter chain. It doesn't have to be expensive. Just go to Yelp, put in two dollar signs in the filter, and look for the highest rated places in Silicon Valley. Every week, I try to go to at least one restaurant where I have never been before, and I've had countless experiences that I'll never forget. It's the weekend, why not go for a little San Jose culinary adventure tonight? =)
Since I'm a big fan of eating, I thought restaurants would be the perfect topic to drill down on first. We spend on average $521 per month on dining out, an average of $32 per dine (not per person, but per receipt I'm assuming). Where is this money going? Move your eyes down to the bullets below:
- Starbucks
- McDonald's
- Cheesecake Factory
- Chili's
- Round Table Pizza
- Outback Steakhouse
- Il Fornaio
- Subway
- P.F. Change's
- BJ's
A friend and I were having a discussion last week about eating out. If he goes into a restaurant and orders something he doesn't like, he simply doesn't eat it. He then quickly pays the bill (if they charge him) and goes to another restaurant to order something else. I asked him why he does this instead of just compromising and trying to find something he likes at the restaurant, and he said something really insightful to me. We only get at most 3 meals per day over maybe 60 good years of dining (baring when you are too young or too old to really enjoy and appreciate the food). Over a lifetime, that is 65,000 meals. Strike out most breakfasts which most people don't really have a full meal for, and countless quick lunches, and you are really looking at the opportunity to have 35,000-40,000 good meals in a lifetime. My friend doesn't want to waste a single one of those meals on something he doesn't fully enjoy.
So my question to every San Josean is, why waste any of your 40,000 meals on chain restaurants you can eat at anywhere? Why not try something new and memorable, all the while encouraging restaurants that are more innovative with food than your cookie-cutter chain. It doesn't have to be expensive. Just go to Yelp, put in two dollar signs in the filter, and look for the highest rated places in Silicon Valley. Every week, I try to go to at least one restaurant where I have never been before, and I've had countless experiences that I'll never forget. It's the weekend, why not go for a little San Jose culinary adventure tonight? =)
San Jose Wolves
It looks like we have a new professional indoor football team called the San Jose Wolves! They're owned be Ryan Petersen, the CEO of San Jose-based OCZ Technologies. Their first game kicks off today at the Cow Palace (?). I'm still trying to find out why they are having their home games there instead of someplace more local. Maybe the HP Pavilion was too expensive?
You can get more information, including the full schedule, at the San Jose Wolves website right over here.
You can get more information, including the full schedule, at the San Jose Wolves website right over here.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Friday Flowers - Part 2
This is the second part (of four) of a weekly Spring feature showing off Kathy's work at Santana Row, and I'm sure she'll be able to bring the same level of aesthetics to her projects downtown ;). If you know anyone that needs a floral architect, her contact information is below. Time to decompress after a long week and enjoy the flowers.
Kathy Finley
Finley Landscape Design
(925) 785-5501
kathy@finleylandscape.com
Kathy Finley
Finley Landscape Design
(925) 785-5501
kathy@finleylandscape.com
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
EXCLUSIVE: The Mmoon Mission Statement & Photos
If you didn't catch it yet, please take a look at yesterday's post regarding the latest restaurant prepping for launch in Downtown San Jose, The Mmoon Empanadas. Below is their official mission statement as well as photos of their food (the open empanada is a vegetarian version) and Michael Mendez, the proprietor behind The Mmoon.
*******
The Mmoon Mission
We believe that empanadas made at The Mmoon are out of this world. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand it's simple quality that makes each empanada special.
Our mission at The Mmoon is to prove to the community that quick service and quality food are not mutually exclusive. Our food is fresh. We are passionate about how the food we source is produced and how far it is shipped before it lands at The Mmoon. Close partnerships with our suppliers allow us to ensure that their standards and values are consistent with ours.
Our menu is simple and we designed it that way so we can focus on providing quality over quantity. Our menu consists of nine kinds of baked-to-order empanadas, two salads, house-made dressings and sauces; and a selection of beverages.
The Mmoon provides a dining environment equal to the quality of its food. When customers walk through the door, they are greeted by staff who are proud to welcome them into a space that is sparkling clean, visually cool and eclectic; and filled with good music.
Conservation awareness is an integral part of our company and is reflected in many of aspects of The Mmoon's practices. We source food locally wherever possible, the major component of the art on our walls is recycled, we use green building materials when we can and our daily operations are focused on saving energy.
At the Mmoon, we value integrity, honesty, and creativity. And we respect our relationships with each other, our customers, and the planet at large.
Welcome to The Mmoon.
.jpg)
*******
The Mmoon Mission
We believe that empanadas made at The Mmoon are out of this world. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand it's simple quality that makes each empanada special.
Our mission at The Mmoon is to prove to the community that quick service and quality food are not mutually exclusive. Our food is fresh. We are passionate about how the food we source is produced and how far it is shipped before it lands at The Mmoon. Close partnerships with our suppliers allow us to ensure that their standards and values are consistent with ours.
Our menu is simple and we designed it that way so we can focus on providing quality over quantity. Our menu consists of nine kinds of baked-to-order empanadas, two salads, house-made dressings and sauces; and a selection of beverages.
The Mmoon provides a dining environment equal to the quality of its food. When customers walk through the door, they are greeted by staff who are proud to welcome them into a space that is sparkling clean, visually cool and eclectic; and filled with good music.
Conservation awareness is an integral part of our company and is reflected in many of aspects of The Mmoon's practices. We source food locally wherever possible, the major component of the art on our walls is recycled, we use green building materials when we can and our daily operations are focused on saving energy.
At the Mmoon, we value integrity, honesty, and creativity. And we respect our relationships with each other, our customers, and the planet at large.
Welcome to The Mmoon.
.jpg)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
EXCLUSIVE: San Jose Going to The Mmoon
The San Jose Blog has an exclusive scoop on the next major restaurant to grace Downtown San Jose! Situated on the highly-trafficked corner of Santa Clara St. and Almaden--below the Irish Innovation Center and next to The Brit--The Mmoon is gearing up to blow your mind with delicious empanadas. For those of you who have never had empanadas before, they are essentially stuffed bread or pastry turnovers similar to Calzones or Samosas.
The Mmoon will have 9 different types of empanadas, such as Tri-tip, chicken sun-dried tomato, sausage, and even a banana apple dessert creation. The empanadas themselves will be made from scratch on-site using fresh local ingredients and baked to order. Despite the effort involved to make each empanada, The Mmoon will still be in the quick-service category thanks to a high-powered oven, and what makes it even more appealing is that it will be affordable--around $9 for a complete meal (unless you can put down a half dozen empanadas like me).
Argentinian-born proprietor and chef Michael Mendez could have located his unique restaurant anywhere he wanted, and he choose Downtown San Jose for his first and flagship location. That already makes this a special restaurant for me without tasting a single empanada. However, what really pulls on my heartstrings is his plans to make a restaurant befitting of Silicon Valley's Capital. The ambiance will be eclectic with video projections making you feel like you're on the moon, "recycled" art on the walls, great music, an amazing outdoor patio with seating for 90 and built-in heat lamps, free WiFi, an interactive art program featuring local artists, utilization of social media, and a lot of interesting ideas using Twitter that I probably can't mention yet. Sure, it would have been substantially less expensive to create a generic environment like a Quizno's or Togo's (ironic example), but Michael is doing what entrepreneurs do best and that's shoot for the moon.
Tomorrow I'll give you the official press release along with photos! I'll also disburse additional information as The Mmoon gets closer to launch time (June/July).
The Mmoon will have 9 different types of empanadas, such as Tri-tip, chicken sun-dried tomato, sausage, and even a banana apple dessert creation. The empanadas themselves will be made from scratch on-site using fresh local ingredients and baked to order. Despite the effort involved to make each empanada, The Mmoon will still be in the quick-service category thanks to a high-powered oven, and what makes it even more appealing is that it will be affordable--around $9 for a complete meal (unless you can put down a half dozen empanadas like me).
Argentinian-born proprietor and chef Michael Mendez could have located his unique restaurant anywhere he wanted, and he choose Downtown San Jose for his first and flagship location. That already makes this a special restaurant for me without tasting a single empanada. However, what really pulls on my heartstrings is his plans to make a restaurant befitting of Silicon Valley's Capital. The ambiance will be eclectic with video projections making you feel like you're on the moon, "recycled" art on the walls, great music, an amazing outdoor patio with seating for 90 and built-in heat lamps, free WiFi, an interactive art program featuring local artists, utilization of social media, and a lot of interesting ideas using Twitter that I probably can't mention yet. Sure, it would have been substantially less expensive to create a generic environment like a Quizno's or Togo's (ironic example), but Michael is doing what entrepreneurs do best and that's shoot for the moon.
Tomorrow I'll give you the official press release along with photos! I'll also disburse additional information as The Mmoon gets closer to launch time (June/July).
Monday, April 5, 2010
April 2010 Downtown Dimension Highlights
Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:
- New initiatives for attracting and retaining businesses downtown was approved on Mar 16th. This includes suspending business license taxes and free parking.
- The San Jose Rotary Club is attempting to raise $1.5m to create a unique playground for all children--inclusive to those with disabilities--in the Guadalupe River Park. This will include "touch-sensitive features and flora full of aromas." They are hoping to open the park in the club's 100th year of operations between March 2013 and 2014. (I wish them the best of luck, sounds like a great idea and a way to bring more activity to our future central park).
- The 3rd Downtown San Jose open house attracted 150 potential buyers and 4 new sales.
- Broadway San Jose is gearing up for their second season and is expanding from 5 shows to 7:
- Burn the Floor - Sep 21-26
- Rain, a tribute to the Beatles - Oct 26-31
- The Color Purple - Nov 23-28
- Grease - Jan 18-23 (2011)
- Fiddler on the Roof - Mar 15-20 (2011)
- Stomp - Apr 12-17 (2011)
- Mamma Mia - Jun 7-12 (2011)
- Letcher Garage (later Oasis Nightclub) has been demolished to make way for 2 future high-rise buildings.
- Groundwerx ambassadors are helping to make downtown a safer place by checking garages for people loitering. Also if you don't want to walk alone to your car at night, you can call Groundwerx at 287-1520 and they will presumably walk with you.
- Irish Innovation Center opens at the corner of North Almaden and Santa Clara St.! (I also have an exclusive scoop on the restaurant going on the ground floor of that building, more on that later this week).
- The Art Glass Center of San Jose (a key First Friday participant BTW) has expanded into its neighboring space, allowing for: an expanded fine art gallery, torch-working area, video learning area, and a new space for an artist-in-residence program.
- Overland Storage is moving from Milpitas to a 21,000sqft space on 125 S. Market.
- Deloitte signed a new 10 year lease, keeping 900 employees downtown.
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