Ken Brenner at Pho69

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

Phantom Galleries is pleased to present "Color" by painter Ken Brenner at Pho69 Restaurant.
Artist's Reception: Friday, February 1, 7-11pm
Free and open to the public, part of the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk

Ken started painting in his early 20’s experimenting with acrylics and watercolors. At that time, he was teaching young children in Berkeley. With marriage and a growing family, his occupation changed directions. He entered the banking industry and has successfully developed his career over the past 35 years. He is currently President of Avidbank in Palo Alto. Only recently was he encouraged to take up art again. Ken has found the medium of oil painting an inspiring way to stimulate the mind and bring the beauty of the world around us to life. Painting has allowed him to develop a passion for creative expression.

In our world, color embodies a wide spectrum of feelings and emotions. It is used to convey power, joy, intellect, royalty, and purity among others. Each color represents its own purpose and meaning. In nature, color has evolved to communicate different messages. Poison-arrow frogs have bright, flamboyant colors to stand out as a warning signal to predators. The male peacock has extravagant colors in its eye-spotted tail, which are used for courtship. Other animals like the chameleon use color for camouflage, which enables them to remain hidden from potential threats. For Ken, color is an intense underlying theme throughout his work that allows him to truly express himself. The colors in his work give dimension, depth, and most importantly life to the canvas. It is Ken’s unparalleled eye for color that brings a unique quality and distinctive feel to each piece.

"Color" by Ken Brenner at Pho69
321 S 1st St
San Jose, CA 95113
Ken Brenner website
Pho69 website

How Silicon Valley Can Get its Groove Back

There was a great article that I have been meaning to post about entitled "How Silicon Valley can get its groove back, part 2." It's written by Greg Baumann, the new Editor in Chief at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

It starts off by implying that we are basically losing our edge against San Francisco and there has been a flight of young talent because Silicon Valley just isn't cool. I will say that I agree this is the perception, but when you look at actual numbers there really isn't much of a flight at all. If anything Silicon Valley is growing faster than San Francisco in terms of office development, employment, salaries, and number of tech startups. However, there is definitely a stigma that is floating around.

Greg's solution... Downtown San Jose. Young workers want to live in urban environments where they don't need a car, there are quality restaurants and cafes in walking distance, there is easy access to transit, and cultural facilities are nearby. Of all locations in Silicon Valley, San Jose has all of the raw materials needed to cater towards this demographic. Now it's all about execution of improving these ingredients and mixing them together into a cohesive experience that will attract young talent.

I'm going to toss in a few other benefits Downtown San Jose has that you won't find in SF: 1.) Great weather 2.) 5min access to an international airport 3.) Easy access to freeways and parking for those that do want to drive.

Check out the article over here and let us know what your thoughts are!

Source: SVBJ

Photos of Inaugural ANA Flight From San Jose to Tokyo

Our good friend from WMS Media -- which also happens to live in AXIS -- managed to get some great shots of the first Boeing 787 in the Bay Area. We wish this route much success, and it's off to a great start with the initial flight selling every seat. Also, as as sidenote look for the new 49ers stadium under construction in the last photo... had no idea it would be that visible from the airport.

Oplink Setting Up Shop in North San Jose

Late last year Oplink Communications purchased 86,000 sqft of R&D space in North San Jose. The Fremont-based company designs and manufactures optical networking components and products which they sell to other technology companies. Their new building is at 1710 Fortune Drive. The main drivers for the purchase were the site's location, signage opportunities, and build quality. They are expected to be increasing headcount as they occupy the space.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose has the Highest % of College Grads in the State

Here is a nice stat for you. The San Jose metro has the highest percentage of residents who hold at least a bachelor's degree in California. 86.9% of the population here has a high school degree or higher, and 45.1% of the population holds a Bachelor's or higher. We are still a bit behind nationally... the leader in the US is Boulder, Colorado where 59.1% of residents hold a Bachelor's. At least we are headed in the right direction and are leading the state.

Source: SVBJ

CONTEST: Die Hard Sharks Hoodie!

Our friends over at Die Hard Co. are so excited about the end of the NHL lockout, they are giving away a Sharks hoodie and a tee!

The contest is simple. All you need to do is follow the directions in the little widget below to enter. You can also get bonus entries from liking Die Hard Co. and The San Jose Blog on Facebook, following our Twitter feeds, etc. It's a neat little app and we will very likely be using it for future contests as well.

Good luck everyone! The contest runs until next Thursday morning. Winner announced on Friday the 18th.

Prada's Miu Miu Premiering at Valley Fair

More and more companies are choosing San Jose over San Francisco to introduce new luxury retail concepts into the Bay Area. The latest in a growing list is Prada's Miu Miu, a high-end brand for women's clothing with locations only in premier fashion destinations around the world. The store is opening up at Valley Fair in Spring 2013, around the same time as David Yurman. Other stores that have chosen San Jose over SF to launch include Hastens, St. Croix, and the Tesla Store.

As a side note, Valley Fair is also beefing up their luxury wing with new stores for Tiffany & Co, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton. Now if only they would get started on their 500,000 sqft expansion.

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday Wishlist: Michelin Star Restaurants (2013 Edition)

I do this rant every year and will continue to do so until San Jose nabs a Michelin star restaurant. For the non-foodies out there, a Michelin star represents one of the highest achievements and forms of recognition that a restaurant can get. There are three different rankings:

One Star - A very good restaurant in its category with cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard. A good place to stop on your journey.
Two Stars - Excellent cuisine, skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. Worth a detour.
Three Stars - Exceptional cuisine with distinctive dishes and superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey.

I have gone ahead and made a Google doc listing all of the 2013 Bay Area Michelin star recipients as well as the recipients for each year since Bay Area restaurants started being evaluated in 2007. This data was surprisingly not that easy to aggregate since it was hard to find the lists of early recipients. If you open the doc, you will also notice a Stats tab on the bottom that shows how things have evolved over the years.

In 2007 the Bay Area received a total of 34 stars across 28 restaurants. Only 2 restaurants were in the South Bay (7% of the total). For 2013, the Bay Area received 52 stars across 42 restaurants and 5 were in the South Bay (12%). So there is definitely some improvement for the region as a whole, but unfortunately there is yet to be a single San Jose recipient. I have been to quite a few on the list below (13 of them in fact), and there are at least two San Jose restaurants that should definitely be there. Le Papillion and La Foret, which are sister restaurants and offer phenomenal food and service equal to many of the places on the list. I also have high hopes that new aspiring chefs will decide to open up restaurants Downtown that may one day qualify for a star.

You can check out the full Google doc here. The South Bay restaurants are highlighted in yellow and the Peninsula restaurants in northern Silicon Valley are highlighted in blue.

P.S. Hat tip to All Spice in San Mateo for being the first Indian restaurant to make the cut in the US as far as I know.