Apple Buys Another Building in North San Jose

It seems like Apple can't get enough of North San Jose this year. They have made yet another purchase, this time for a 70,000 SQFT former chip fab at 3725 N. First Street. It was previously used as a manufacturing facility for a semiconductor company called Maxim Integrated Products. What Apple will do with the space is anyone's guess. It seems too small to manufacture anything that Apple would put in their products, but could be used as a test lab. Perhaps Apple will tear it down to build a new facility. Either way, it is nice to see Apple continue to invest in our area.

The location is also notable. As you can see in the image below, the building could not be any closer to Samsung's shiny new North American Headquarters in San Jose. Talk about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

Source: SVBJ

Find the First National Bank Building

Do you know where the First National Bank Building is in Downtown San Jose? The building below was built in 1910 and still exists today, but looks completely different. To find out what the heck happened, head over to Think Bigger San Jose. We have several historic treasures hiding underneath fake facades unbeknownst to most San Joseans.

Warby Parker Opens in Santana Row Today

Warby Parker, a trendy eyewear store, is opening their 20th location in Santana Row. This will be their first location in Silicon Valley and the second location in Northern California (the only other being in San Francisco). They carry both prescription lenses and sunglasses and are known for reasonable pricing and their philanthropy efforts. For every pair sold, they donate a pair to someone in need around the world.

The Santana Row store opens today and the hours are 10am-9pm Monday through Saturday and 11am-6pm on Sundays. More details below.

San Jose's New "SmartPoles" are a Global First

San Jose has become the first city in the world to get Philips SmartPoles, which are perhaps the most technologically advanced street lights ever manufactured. Besides having energy-efficient LED lighting (made by San Jose-based Lumileds), they have two other distinct features. There is 4G LTE wireless infrastructure built right into the top of the pole, which is likely what gives it such a funky shape. On the bottom of the pole is a PG&E wireless energy meter, which previously required separate boxes on the street.

As a beta test, 50 of these will be manufactured and installed in Downtown San Jose and North San Jose. 14 have already been installed and the rest will be live by March 2016. These will add much needed capacity to cellular networks in San Jose. The best part is that the pilot program will cost nothing to the city. If everything works out, this technology will be deployed to other cities across the US.

I do wish they did not look like giant tampons, but hopefully that can be fixed in future design iterations.

Source: SVBJ

Permanent Light Show Under Highway 87 is Complete

One of the largest public art projects in Downtown San Jose has finally been completed. Many Downtown residents and visitors have been noticing the hundreds of blue circles underneath Highway 87 over the past couple months. The initial feedback when the project was in progress was a bit underwhelming; however, I'm pleased to say the that end result turned out quite well as you can see in The Merc's photos below.

This was all part of a $600,000 from ArtPlace America to illuminate Downtown San Jose and bring more art to public places. San Jose-based Philips Lumileds also donated the LEDs used in the installation.

"Sensing You" is the name of the project at Highway 87 and Santa Clara street. Every time someone walks or bikes through that underpass it will incite a reaction from the LED lights above. The more people that walk through it at the same time, the more dynamic the lights will become. There are up to 35 different "light reactions" that can be triggered.

A block away at Highway 87 and San Fernando there is another installation called "Sensing Water." Here you have paintings of water on both sides of the underpass and on the ceiling that is lit with blue LEDs.

I'm thrilled to see these projects go live. First off they are turning bland, uninviting, and sometimes even scary underpasses into interesting works of art. Second, they are helping build up a sense of artistic identity for San Jose. I have always felt that we should try to differentiate our artwork with projects that are digital, dynamic, and interactive. Those traits go hand-in-hand with the branding of Silicon Valley. The "Sensing You" is a great example of what we need more of in San Jose, and I hope it will inspire other projects not just in Downtown but throughout the city.

Source: The Merc

Highway 87 Underpass at Santa Clara Street

Highway 87 Underpass at San Fernando Street

Content Pick Up Party Today!

In celebration of Content's 4th anniversary, they are doing a pick up party for Issue 7.5 "Serve" today at Downtown ice from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. This issue is focused on those that volunteer in our community. It features Kristi Yamaguchi, Ryan Nyquist, Manresa Bread, Caffe Frascati, Orly from Cukui, Cinequest, PSRT, Cruels, and Ann Bridges.

The event will include disco skating, beer by Golden State Brewery, wine by Regale Winery, hot cocoa, and biscotti. Subscribers get one free ice skating pass and a gift from Roxanne Biscotti when you pick up your latest issue.

Unlike most of their events, this one will be outdoors so bundle up! If you are not a subscriber yet, you can learn more about this great publication over here.

Sourisseau News: Andrew Hill

In the latest edition of Sourisseau News, we learn about the man Andrew Hill High School was named after. He was a painter and photographer known for several iconic photos of places like Mission Santa Clara, Stanford, and San Jose's Chinatown. He even climbed the San Jose Electric Light Tower to get an 8-photo panorama which you can see in the video below.

Andrew Hill had a studio in the Dougherty Building on South Second Street, which burnt down in the 1906 Earthquake. He ended up moving his studio to his home, which is currently on display at History San Jose. Check out the two minute video below for your monthly dose of San Jose history!


Sourisseau News December 2015 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

San Jose Chinatown as photographed by Andrew Hill

Lark Creek Kitchen Review

I still fondly remember Yankee Pier, the first Santana Row sit-down restaurant. It ended up becoming the first of many in one of the South Bay's premier dining destinations. After several years, the space was remodeled and transformed into Lark Creek Blue, which was still heavily focused on seafood. Now in the third incarnation of this space, Lark Creek Kitchen opens up the menu dramatically and focuses on more creative and elaborate dishes. Executive chef Nick Tall previously worked at Amber, a Two Michelin Star restaurant in Hong Kong. You can definitely see the influences from both Amber and Nick's Miami upbringing in the dishes. The menu also changes frequently with seasonal items being added every two weeks or so.

The summary (if you don't want to get into all the specifics below) is that I loved it. This is now easily one of the best restaurants on Santana Row. Ask your server for the chef's recommendations for that week and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Smaller Plates

24 hour slow-cooked pork belly - This was both tender and crispy at the same time. It came with a flavorful side of morning glory (water spinach), a rare and hard-to-find topical plant used in Asian cooking but surprisingly hard to find in Silicon Valley.

Heirloom beet and buratta - This is a must-try appetizer if you visit! The buratta cheese was smooth and creamy and was accompanied by beets, dates, and pomegranate. I could eat three of these and call it a day.

Hamachi ceviche verde with avocado, kiwi, cucumber, green yuzu (Asian citrus) and plantain chips - Of all the great dishes we had, this one was my favorite. If you are a sushi fan like I am, you will love this. They use the fatty part of the hamachi (toro) for extra flavor. You can either use the plaintain chips to scoop up generous pieces of fish or use the lettuce on the bottom of the bowl to make a hamachi wrap (which I highly recommend, this helps you sop up all of the ceviche juices at the bottom).

Larger Plates

Yellowtail amberjack (cooked hamachi) with maitake mushroom, bacon, broken noodles, pickled cauliflower, and miso mustard glaze - Mind-blowingly good hamachi made from a dorsal fillet. A seaweed bacon infusion is used for the noodles.

Braised local lamb cavatelli pasta with homemade lemon ricotta, grilled fennel, roasted tomato, olive, three herb pesto - Perfect for a hearty meal when it's cold outside. There were a lot of flavors on the plate and it was very filling. If you feel like skipping the appetizers and getting down to business, this is a great choice.

Desserts

Cheesecake creme brulee, pink guava puree, cafe culce de leche - Very unique, I have never had a dish like this. This is a perfect hybrid of both cheesecake and creme brulee, two of my favorite deserts. I would order this again in a heartbeat.

Caramelized pineapple and preserved lemon tart, white chocolate zabaglione (Italian custard made with egg yolks, sugar, and a sweet wine), pineapple caramel - This one was my wife's favorite. The flavors were very balanced and the cubes of pineapple inside of the custard were a great touch.

Drinks

Unfortunately the cocktails were not quite up to the same caliber as the food. A place like this really deserves some true craft cocktails to go with the killer dishes. I tried the Cucumber Mule (hanson's organic vodka, bitters, lime, and ginger beer) and Broken Branch (rittenhouse rye whisky, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, amaro averna, bitters). They were fine, but I wouldn't come out of my way to grab a cocktail here. Wine might be a better choice with your meal.

Chef Nick Tall also has ambitions to bring local craft beer vendors into the restaurant for multi-course beer pairings. He happens to be a brewer himself and has a strong appreciation and fondness for the art. If he launches a beer pairing for his outstanding menu, I'll be the first one in line.