Boudin SF Brings the Flavor of Fresh-Baked Sourdough to Almaden Plaza Shopping Center in San Jose on March 19

First 100 Guests on Opening Day to Receive Free Bread for a Year

Gloriously irresistible fresh-baked sourdough bread will soon be available at Almaden Plaza Shopping Center in San Jose. Boudin Bakery CEO Sharon Duvall today announced that the company will open its 11th Northern California Boudin SF location in Almaden Valley on March 19.

Boudin SF is a convenient, casual-dining restaurant where guests can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner. Residents of San Jose who have long enjoyed The Original San Francisco Sourdough™ can soon savor the unforgettable experience of breaking open an aromatic loaf in a new location close to home. Almaden Plaza Shopping Center marks the company’s second San Jose restaurant and follows the opening of Boudin SF in West Valley Center last April.

“We are thrilled to open another location in the South Bay,” said Duvall. “We are extremely thankful for our loyal Boudin sourdough fans and excited to welcome our new neighbors in the Almaden Valley community to the restaurant.”

Bread Winners

When Boudin SF at Almaden Plaza opens its doors to the public on March 19, the first 100 guests in line will win a year’s supply of The Original San Francisco Sourdough™. Boudin enthusiasts, affectionately known as “Bread Winners,” often camp overnight to ensure a spot in line and may begin queuing up at 5:00 p.m. on March 18. Boudin SF has reserved the first place in the Bread Winners line for Second Harvest Food Bank, a local non-profit that provides food to nearly one quarter of a million people each month and is one of the largest food banks in the nation. Boudin SF has long been a supporter of food banks and regularly donates fresh bread to local charities.

Boudin SF Menu

Ideal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Boudin SF features a comprehensive menu of both healthy and hearty fare to delight a variety of palettes. Boudin SF’s attention to detail shines through in every dish. Seasonal, organic, and locally-sourced ingredients are used whenever possible.

Boudin SF’s wide variety of sandwiches are a delicious and convenient option for lunch or a picnic. Guests may also choose from perennial favorites such as Chicken Pesto with chicken breast, tomatoes, arugula, pesto mayo, and balsamic vinaigrette on a sourdough baguette or the California Veggie with Havarti cheese, avocado, red peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, sun-dried tomato spread, and balsamic vinaigrette on multigrain bread. After a day of shopping or hiking, Boudin's classic New England-style Clam Chowder or Butternut Squash Soup in a signature sourdough bread bowl is warm and filling. Boudin SF is perfect for busy families and professionals. Stop by for a quick dinner or linger over a glass of beer or California wines. For a quick breakfast after dropping off the kids at school or an early morning workout, Boudin SF has everything from Vegetable Scrambles to Sourdough French Toast. 

Boudin SF also offers Web-to-Go service, allowing customers to place an order in advance and then pick it up quickly on the way to the park, office or home – no waiting in line. Available online at: www.boudinwebtogo.com.

Boudin SF at Almaden Plaza Shopping Center is located at 5353 Almaden Expressway in San Jose, CA  95118. Telephone: 408-513-1050. Open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.



About Boudin Bakery

Headquartered in San Francisco, Boudin Bakery is world-famous for The Original San Francisco Sourdough™, which is baked with the same Mother Dough, or sourdough starter, used since 1849. Born in the Gold Rush, Boudin is the oldest continuously operating business in San Francisco. Because each loaf is made from a portion of the original sourdough starter, Boudin Sourdough is one of a kind.  With its delicious tangy flavor, golden crunchy crust, and soft chewy center – along with its famous aroma – it has been described as “a sensory experience in a simple loaf of bread.” Boudin SF is a convenient, casual-dining restaurant with locations throughout California where guests can enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Boudin at the Wharf, located in the heart of San Francisco’s renowned waterfront, is Boudin’s flagship facility and home to Bistro Boudin, Boudin Museum & Bakery Tour, a demonstration bakery, Bakers Hall Marketplace and a Boudin Café. Boudin bread can be purchased at the Wharf and all Boudin restaurants located throughout California. Boudin also offers catering and operates a gift catalog business, which can be found online www.boudinbakery.com.

Visual San Jose, Citywide Photo Contest

The Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PAC*SJ) and San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission in conjunction with Content Magazine and our sponsors is hosting Visual San Jose, a citywide historic photo contest. The contest is free and open to professionals, non-professionals and students (under 19). The deadline for photo entries is April 17, 2015.

May is Historic Preservation Month and this photo contest will celebrate historic preservation through the eyes of Bay Area photographers. Our mission is to promote historic preservation by raising awareness of San Jose’s historic resources, to celebrate the efforts to preserve our city’s history and to recognize the irreplaceable historic resources that are threatened.

Finalists’ photographs will be included in the June/July 2015 issue of Content Magazine and on display locally in San Jose in early June. The contest awards reception, in conjunction with the Content Magazine release, will be held on June 16, where winners in each category will be presented with prizes from our sponsors.

Submission Requirements:

• What: Photographs of historic structures, sites or historic artifacts within San Jose
• When: Photographs taken between July 1, 2014 to April 17, 2015
• Where to submit entries: Submit photographs (limit 2) in jpeg format to Submit2015@VisualSJ.com by April 17
• Entries must include: name, date taken, category and a description of the photograph 
• Categories: professional (earns over 50% from photography), non-professional or student (under 19)

Entries will be judged based on photographic technique, photographic creativity, historical significance and the short written description. For more details and rules of the contest please visit www.VisualSJ.com. 2014 photo contest finalists can be viewed at www.SJhistoricalphoto.com.

Donations (tax deductible) will be gratefully accepted to go toward the cash prizes of the chosen winners. Donations may be made by mailing a check payable to the PAC*SJ with a notation that it is for the Visual San Jose photo contest. Mail your donation to: Preservation Action Council of San Jose, History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose CA 95112-2599. For questions or to donate, contact us by email at info@VisualSJ.com.

PAC*SJ is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving San Jose’s architectural heritage and quality of life, through education, advocacy and events.

The San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission supports and advises the San Jose Planning Department and the City Council on historic preservation issues.

Content Magazine is a bimonthly San Jose based magazine promoting the people, events, and businesses of San Jose. San Jose deserves a magazine that is able to articulate the unique life & style of our city.

Vander-Bend Moving to Renovation Row

Vander-Bend is a contract manufacturer with 500 employees that were scattered across several buildings in Silicon Valley, the largest of which was in Sunnyvale. The company has recently consolidated all of there employees under one roof at 2701 Orchard Parkway in a North San Jose area becoming known as "Renovation Row" (I think Nathan Donato-Weinstein from the SVBJ gets credit for coining that term).

Vander-Bend is leasing a total of 200,000 square feet, which makes it the largest lease in Renovation Row. They are also investing $7 million in renovations and improvements to the building.

Source: SJ Economy News

Think Bigger San Jose: Convert Rooftops Downtown Into Terraces

As usual, Mark has some bright ideas on improving Downtown San Jose. His latest blog post proposes converting Downtown rooftops to terraces or gardens. This is an idea I completely agree with and it only takes one visit up to the Capital Club or Scott's Seafood to see the potential "sky terraces" can have Downtown. This is a great way of taking underutilized spaces and turning them into assets that residents can use 300+ days a year.

Read the blog post over here!

Rotary PlayGarden Centennial Project

The Rotary Club of San Jose decided to do something pretty incredible as part of their 100th anniversary. They built an impressive PlayGarden on a 4.5 acre site in the Guadalupe River Park specifically designed for both children with special needs and those without to play side by side.

Again, this isn't a park exclusively for those with special needs and it isn't a park that just happens to have a couple of attractions that those with special needs can use. The idea is for all children to play together--a novel and innovative concept appropriate for Silicon Valley. Children with disabilities will gain access to the traditional playground experience and children without disabilities will learn about awareness and acceptance.

The park will officially open to the public either on the last Week of April or first week of May. Please watch the two minute video below for an idea of all the neat attractions in the park, which may be the best in all of San Jose. The Rotary did an exceptional job here!


San Jose Rotary PlayGarden Ribbon Cutting 2015 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

March 2015 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• Two bold ideas to rejuvenate St. James Park are in the works:
• To create a "Levitt Pavilion," a permanent music pavilion that would feature a minimum of 50 family friendly events each year ranging from 500 and 5,000 attendees. The Pavilion would either be at St. James between either First and Second streets or Second and Third streets.
• SPUR is suggesting a Parks Management District that would enable portions of the park to be offloaded from the city's Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services department. This would make it easier to make capital and security improvements to the park.
• M Eat-Play-Lounge at the corner of Second and San Fernando is now open (where PF Changs used to be).
• At Third and San Fernando, T-Mobile is opening a store in a space vacated long ago by Blockbuster.
• My Milkshake is open on South Second and allows patrons to design their own custom milkshake [Josh: have been here and they have great milkshakes]
• The San Jose Earthquakes will open their regular season in the new 18,000 seat Avaya Stadium. More than half of the seats have been snapped up by season ticket holders. The stadium also features the largest outdoor bar in North America--3,647 SQFT with 45 different beers!
• MidPen Housing has started construction on the $31 million Donner Lofts project at 156 E. St. John Street, which includes 102-units and 2,500 SQFT of retail.
• Core Companies is proposing a 105-unit apartment complex at the corner of East Reed and South First (in SoFA).
• The San Jose Fire Museum took a large step towards becoming a reality with a $1 million donation used to buy the Fire Station One building.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Veggielution Article

There was a great article in the Merc last week about Veggielution, San Jose's largest urban farm. Located at Emma Prusch (where Highways 101, 280, and 680 all meet), Veggielution volunteers grow a diverse range of organic veggies as well as eggs and honey. They also distributed more than 20,500 pounds of free produce in 2013 to serve the local homeless population. To read the article, head over here.

Santana Row March-May 2015 Happenings

San Jose, CA – A wine stroll to benefit veterans, a cultural cooking demo for Silicon Valley Reads and the return of annual events such as Mommy & Me kids’ program, Cars & Croissants and the Summer Yoga Series are all coming up in the weeks ahead at Santana Row.

Santana Row presents “A Taste of Diversity”
An event of Silicon Valley Reads 2015: “Homeland & Home: The Immigrant Experience”
Saturday, March 7, 11 a.m., Park Valencia

More than 140 free public events continue through early March at various Santa Clara County locations, including Santana Row. On March 7, chefs from local restaurants will gather in the park area across from Maggiano’s to cook various traditional cuisines from different cultures. The audience will be invited to sample the dishes and be given a recipe card to take home.

Silicon Valley Reads is an annual community program that selects books focused on a contemporary theme and offers free events in 12 cities throughout the county, including music, dance, poetry, panel discussions, films and storytelling. For more information, go to www.SiliconValleyReads.org.

Nowruz Celebration at Santana Row
Tuesday, March 24, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In partnership with the Iranian Federated Women's Club (IFWC), Santana Row celebrates the arrival of spring and the 2015 Persian New Year at Park Valencia. The free event features nationally-acclaimed musicians and performers, all free to the public. The Persian New Year, commonly referred to as Nowruz, is a spring festival of Persian origin, which has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years. It marks the first day of spring. The festival of Nowruz is celebrated in the Middle East, Central and South Asia.

Cars & Croissants Series Kick-off Event
Saturday, March 28 and every fourth Saturday of the month
9 a.m. to noon

Santana Row partners with 100 OCT again this year to present Cars & Croissants on The Row, a monthly gathering for exotic car owners and car enthusiasts. On the fourth Saturday of the month through December, exotic car owners are invited to park on Santana Row Boulevard from Alyssum Lane to Tatum Boulevard, display their cars and mingle with other enthusiasts. The morning meet-up for coffee, croissants and cars drew 400 people and 60 cars during the first event and continues to grow in popularity. This event is free and open to the public.

A look ahead to April and beyond…

Paws for Purple Hearts Wine Stroll
Thursday, April 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Join the wine stroll to benefit Paws for Purple Hearts, an organization that works with veterans in training service dogs for other veterans who are physically or psychologically scarred from combat-related injuries. Some of the vets and the dogs will be at The Row during the stroll.

Your $30 Ticket Includes:
• Wine Tastings & Light Bites
• Exclusive Discounts from Santana Row Shops & Restaurants
• Signature Santana Row Wine Glass

Paws for Purple Hearts (PPH) is the first program of its kind to offer therapeutic intervention for veterans and active-duty military personnel by teaching those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to train service dogs for their comrades with combat-related injuries. PPH is built upon the trusted and time-honored tradition of veterans helping veterans. For more information on this event please contact the Santana Row concierge, 408.551.4611.

San Jose Dancin’ Downtown Festival, Park Valencia
Sunday, April 26, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Santana Row and sjDANCEco has partnered again this year to bring together local as well as regional dance artists to celebrate National Dance Week. The free outdoor festival features the diversity of the area’s dance community.

Enjoy performances by sjDANCEco (Maria Basile, Gabriel Mata), Diablo Ballet, Pointe of Departure, Erin East, Visual Rhythm and Zohar Dance Company.

Summer Yoga Series begins May 2
Every Saturday through September, 9 a.m. Park Valencia

Free Yoga on Saturdays, presented by lululemon athletica begins May 2 and is held every Saturday through September, taking advantage of the best weather seasons!

Practice your sun salutations under the sunshine at Park Valencia every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The complimentary classes are held outdoors, with registration opening at 8:30 a.m. each week. For more information, contact lululemon, 408.557.8721.

Mommy & Me and Daddies, Too, season kick-off event
10 a.m. to noon, May 12

The popular kids’ club returns for the season with free entertainment, interactive games, crafts and educational activities designed for parents and their pre-school aged children. Special guest for the event is Buddy from Dinosaur Train. Families can also enjoy arts and crafts, face painting, music, balloon art, story time and more.

Details: 10 a.m. to noon at Park Valencia. Mommy & Me is a free kids’ club held on the second Tuesday of every month from May through December. For more information, call 408.551.4611 or visit www.SantanaRow.com.

Save-the-Date for the Annual Summer Fashion Show!
Saturday, June 6

This popular summer event returns for the seventh year with an exciting venue change: for the first time, the two poolside runway shows will take place at Misora, the newest luxury residential complex at Santana Row.

As always, the shows will feature the season’s best fashions for women and men as well as style surprises and special guests.
A portion of the sales will benefit a yet-unnamed charity.

Rainy Day Rewards, through March 31, 2015
Santana Row is optimistic that rain is on the way and wants to reward shoppers and diners braving bad weather. When there’s a 70 percent or greater chance for rain, they will be offered discounts that include 15 percent off purchases at participating shops and restaurants, a free signature Santana Row golf umbrella for customers who spend $150 anywhere on The Row and a $20 gift certificate to a participating shop or restaurant for customers who spend $300 on a designated Rainy Day.
No need to get wet: Customers can pick up a complimentary umbrella to use while shopping and dining and then return it before leaving. The yellow umbrellas are conveniently located throughout The Row: outside Concierge, Via between Village California Bistro and Lark Creek Blue and the valet parking lot in the Winchester Garage.

Twitter Promotion @SantanaRow invites Tweets and Instagram tags 
For a Chance to Win Gift Cards to Restaurants at The Row
Santana Row’s Twitter campaign and photo contest continues through the @SantanaRow Twitter handle. The contest invites anyone at Santana Row to Tweet or Instagram photos of a new outfit, haircut, meal, event or artsy shots and then tag it with the hash tag #LifeonTheRow. Every month, Santana Row will post an album on Facebook with all of the photos with the #LifeonTheRow hash tag. The person who took the best or most original photo will win a gift card to a Santana Row restaurant.