Friday, March 18, 2016
3rd Annual Whiskies of the World - March 24th
The third Annual Whiskies of the World San Jose is returning to the San Pedro Square Market next Thursday. The event will feature a whopping 200 whiskies to taste. There will also be food, whisky seminars, networking with the distillers, and optional classes on cigar pairings. Best of all, you will be drinking for a good cause as proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. To register for the event, head over here.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Olla Cocina, a contemporary Mexican restaurant and bar will open soon in Downtown San Jose
A new flagship restaurant is coming to Downtown San Jose in late April that will fill a critical 5,900 SQFT void on San Pedro Street. This two-story space was previously occupied by La Pinta, which was a bit mediocre for its location on one of Silicon Valley's most thriving streets when it comes to restaurants and bars.
Olla Cocina is a contemporary Mexican restaurant with regional dishes featuring fresh Californian ingredients. The bar will have a dozen craft beers, wines on tap, along with signature cocktails featuring Mexican staples such as horchata, Jarritos sodas, and aguas frescas.
They are planning to create a festive and casual environment. The restaurant will have capacity for 228 people in the main dining room and 30 people outdoors, making it one of the largest restaurants in Downtown San Jose.
I can't wait to try Olla Cocina along with Sushi Confidential across the street. The San Pedro area is thriving and these two will help elevate the area even more. Please see the full press release below for Olla Cocina. I'll do a full review after the restaurant opens.
Inspired by regional dishes from across Mexico and California’s fresh ingredients, the new restaurant is coming to San Pedro Square
San Jose, CA (March 10, 2016) – An exciting addition to the downtown dining scene, Olla Cocina puts a contemporary spin on traditional dishes from Mexico in a fun and casual environment. Slated to open in late April, the restaurant is located in San Pedro Square in the heart of San Jose’s urban center. Olla is a celebration of all that is Mexican: a strong community, vibrant culture and generous, fresh food along with a little noise and quirkiness.
The restaurant’s Executive Chef is Adan Ornelas, most recently from adjacent restaurant, The Farmers Union, and Dry Creek Grill, both in San Jose. Ornelas worked in tandem with Olla Operating Partner Armando Navarro of El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma, who oversees the menu.
Olla Cocina introduces innovative takes on regional Mexican food, elevating favorites with fresh, unexpected ingredients and flavor combinations. The menu includes fresh ceviches and a taco bar, as well as traditional dishes such as Carne Asada ($22) and Torta de Cochinita Pibil ($14).
Spotlighting the many regions of Mexico, the menu features small, shareable bites as well as larger entrees for a blended dining experience where the sharing of both is encouraged. Dinner starters include Roasted Chilies served with sea salt and lemon and Frijoles Fritos, featuring Rancho Gordo beans, Oaxaca cheese, jalapeños and totopos (both $7). Small plates include Ceviche Verde with halibut, lime juice marinade, tomatillo and avocado ($14), Vegetable Tamales with peppers, onion, zucchini, black beans, pasilla peppers, salsa verde and queso Oaxaca ($10) and soups such as Posole de Cerdo with pork shoulder, hominy, cabbage oregano, radish, onion, cilantro, chile de árbol ($13). Salads are tossed with surprising ingredients such as chorizo, masa croutons and crispy quinoa.
Larger plates include Tostada de Pollo with chipotle-braised chicken, black bean puree, cotija cheese, avocado, romaine, pico de gallo, spicy crema, cilantro ($15). The menu also features a variety of vegetarian options such as Camote con Mole, a salt-crusted sweet potato, mole sauce, almonds, rajitas of onion and peppers and house-made tortillas ($12).
The full bar will offer 12 local craft beers and 12 wines on tap, bottled Mexican beer, eight featured cocktails including a Margarita, Paloma and Sangria, horchata, Jarritos sodas and aguas frescas.
The dining experience takes place in an environment that’s both casual and special. Designed by restaurateur Doug Washington, interior décor touches include an authentic church pulpit repurposed into the host stand, witty Mexican artwork, beautiful tiles and decorative cinder blocks, intended to represent modern Mexico. A central design element featured in the main dining room and continuing to the outside patio is a ceiling trellis, made of repurposed reclaimed Douglas Fir from the garage across the street from the restaurant. Olla invites guests into a warm space with deft touches such as shoes hanging from the electrical wires that run along the ceiling, garage doors that open onto the front patio and Dia de los Muertos wallpaper. The dining area features walnut dining tables and two big, modern, custom picnic tables for communal diners. Sleek stool legs dipped in bright orange paint add to the festive environment. The eating space has low, dividing walls constructed from patterned concrete cinder blocks and capped with stained wood tops.
The 5,900-square foot Olla Cocina will seat a total of 228 in the main dining room and private dining room and 30 on the outdoor patio.
It’s in a prime location of downtown San Jose, near hotels, the convention center, offices and SAP Center, home rink for the NHL Sharks.
About Olla Cocina
Olla Cocina is a contemporary Mexican restaurant serving food and drinks in a casual, festive environment. The cuisine and bar program draw inspiration from many regions across Mexico and use seasonal California ingredients for a fresh take on traditional favorites. Located at 17 N. San Pedro St. in downtown San Jose’s popular San Pedro Square, Olla is a slice of modern Mexico with a fun and shareable menu of traditional favorites, signature cocktails and local beers and wine on tap. For more information, visit www.OllaCocina.com.
Olla Cocina is a contemporary Mexican restaurant with regional dishes featuring fresh Californian ingredients. The bar will have a dozen craft beers, wines on tap, along with signature cocktails featuring Mexican staples such as horchata, Jarritos sodas, and aguas frescas.
They are planning to create a festive and casual environment. The restaurant will have capacity for 228 people in the main dining room and 30 people outdoors, making it one of the largest restaurants in Downtown San Jose.
I can't wait to try Olla Cocina along with Sushi Confidential across the street. The San Pedro area is thriving and these two will help elevate the area even more. Please see the full press release below for Olla Cocina. I'll do a full review after the restaurant opens.
Inspired by regional dishes from across Mexico and California’s fresh ingredients, the new restaurant is coming to San Pedro Square
San Jose, CA (March 10, 2016) – An exciting addition to the downtown dining scene, Olla Cocina puts a contemporary spin on traditional dishes from Mexico in a fun and casual environment. Slated to open in late April, the restaurant is located in San Pedro Square in the heart of San Jose’s urban center. Olla is a celebration of all that is Mexican: a strong community, vibrant culture and generous, fresh food along with a little noise and quirkiness.
The restaurant’s Executive Chef is Adan Ornelas, most recently from adjacent restaurant, The Farmers Union, and Dry Creek Grill, both in San Jose. Ornelas worked in tandem with Olla Operating Partner Armando Navarro of El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma, who oversees the menu.
Olla Cocina introduces innovative takes on regional Mexican food, elevating favorites with fresh, unexpected ingredients and flavor combinations. The menu includes fresh ceviches and a taco bar, as well as traditional dishes such as Carne Asada ($22) and Torta de Cochinita Pibil ($14).
Spotlighting the many regions of Mexico, the menu features small, shareable bites as well as larger entrees for a blended dining experience where the sharing of both is encouraged. Dinner starters include Roasted Chilies served with sea salt and lemon and Frijoles Fritos, featuring Rancho Gordo beans, Oaxaca cheese, jalapeños and totopos (both $7). Small plates include Ceviche Verde with halibut, lime juice marinade, tomatillo and avocado ($14), Vegetable Tamales with peppers, onion, zucchini, black beans, pasilla peppers, salsa verde and queso Oaxaca ($10) and soups such as Posole de Cerdo with pork shoulder, hominy, cabbage oregano, radish, onion, cilantro, chile de árbol ($13). Salads are tossed with surprising ingredients such as chorizo, masa croutons and crispy quinoa.
Larger plates include Tostada de Pollo with chipotle-braised chicken, black bean puree, cotija cheese, avocado, romaine, pico de gallo, spicy crema, cilantro ($15). The menu also features a variety of vegetarian options such as Camote con Mole, a salt-crusted sweet potato, mole sauce, almonds, rajitas of onion and peppers and house-made tortillas ($12).
The full bar will offer 12 local craft beers and 12 wines on tap, bottled Mexican beer, eight featured cocktails including a Margarita, Paloma and Sangria, horchata, Jarritos sodas and aguas frescas.
The dining experience takes place in an environment that’s both casual and special. Designed by restaurateur Doug Washington, interior décor touches include an authentic church pulpit repurposed into the host stand, witty Mexican artwork, beautiful tiles and decorative cinder blocks, intended to represent modern Mexico. A central design element featured in the main dining room and continuing to the outside patio is a ceiling trellis, made of repurposed reclaimed Douglas Fir from the garage across the street from the restaurant. Olla invites guests into a warm space with deft touches such as shoes hanging from the electrical wires that run along the ceiling, garage doors that open onto the front patio and Dia de los Muertos wallpaper. The dining area features walnut dining tables and two big, modern, custom picnic tables for communal diners. Sleek stool legs dipped in bright orange paint add to the festive environment. The eating space has low, dividing walls constructed from patterned concrete cinder blocks and capped with stained wood tops.
The 5,900-square foot Olla Cocina will seat a total of 228 in the main dining room and private dining room and 30 on the outdoor patio.
It’s in a prime location of downtown San Jose, near hotels, the convention center, offices and SAP Center, home rink for the NHL Sharks.
About Olla Cocina
Olla Cocina is a contemporary Mexican restaurant serving food and drinks in a casual, festive environment. The cuisine and bar program draw inspiration from many regions across Mexico and use seasonal California ingredients for a fresh take on traditional favorites. Located at 17 N. San Pedro St. in downtown San Jose’s popular San Pedro Square, Olla is a slice of modern Mexico with a fun and shareable menu of traditional favorites, signature cocktails and local beers and wine on tap. For more information, visit www.OllaCocina.com.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Envision Silicon Valley - preliminary VTA project evaluations
The VTA has started doing very early research on a variety of potential future transit projects. It would almost definitely take an increase in sales taxes for any of these to become reality, but it is interesting to see the ideas that are being tossed around.
There were several projects in the study that are already well into planning-mode. These include BART to Downtown San Jose, a Light Rail extension to Eastridge Mall, a Light Rail extension to Los Gatos, and expanding the Express Lane system on our freeways. However, there were also brand new projects that I have never heard even mentioned before. This include a billion dollar Downtown San Jose Subway (nice!) that would significantly speed up the whole Light Rail system, a $1.5 billion Light Rail line that would go from Downtown San Jose to Santana Row/Valley Fair and eventually De Anza College, a new Light Rail line that would go from that NASA/Bayshore station to North Bayshore in Mountain View, and a ton of highway interchange improvements.
You can find some of the project "evaluation cards" below, but I recommend going through the whole list over here.
Source: Robertee from the San Jose Development Forum
There were several projects in the study that are already well into planning-mode. These include BART to Downtown San Jose, a Light Rail extension to Eastridge Mall, a Light Rail extension to Los Gatos, and expanding the Express Lane system on our freeways. However, there were also brand new projects that I have never heard even mentioned before. This include a billion dollar Downtown San Jose Subway (nice!) that would significantly speed up the whole Light Rail system, a $1.5 billion Light Rail line that would go from Downtown San Jose to Santana Row/Valley Fair and eventually De Anza College, a new Light Rail line that would go from that NASA/Bayshore station to North Bayshore in Mountain View, and a ton of highway interchange improvements.
You can find some of the project "evaluation cards" below, but I recommend going through the whole list over here.
Source: Robertee from the San Jose Development Forum
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
March 2016 Downtown Dimension Highlights
Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:
- Several restaurant owners are "doubling down" in Downtown San Jose with multiple locations and concepts, sometimes right next door to one another. Some examples are:
- Original Gravity and Paper Plane
- Phonomenal Noodle and On the Flipside
- Chacho's and Deluxe
- Oni Mexicatessen and Loteira Taco Bar
- B2 Coffee and Social Policy (opening this month)
- Konjoe Burger and Konjoe Tei
- Four new art crosswalks and one intersection design hit the streets to delight Downtown pedestrians:
- SoFA's 25-foot-by-20-foot abstract at the intersection of South First and San Salvador
- San Pedro art crosswalks on San Pedro Street (there are two of them)
- Paseo de San Antonio art crosswalks (two here as well book-ending the Paseo)
- WeWork has leased 75,000 SQFT for shared co-working office space at 75 E. Santa Clara Street.
- TechShop is moving to the former Zanotto's store at 38 S. Second Street.
- The SoFA Market has two new businesses. Vitamina with a roster of healthy smoothies and sandwiches, and Milk & Wood with gourmet gelato popsicles.
- With development proposals for the Diridon Area, the city is studying how to improve the "Confluence Area of Guadalupe River Park" to better prepare for growth. This includes potentially adding bocce courts, a dog park, skateboard park, cafe, outdoor stage, second bridge, measured walking loops, better lighting, more benches, and better transit access.
- The Children's Discovery Museum was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Super Bowl's "50 Fund" to help build a new 27,500 SQFT outdoor space scheduled to open in spring 2017.
To read the newsletter, click here!
Monday, March 14, 2016
Latest renders for Railyard Place in San Jose
Insight Realty Co. has big plans for 10.6-acres of land on the periphery of Downtown San Jose at the intersection of Coleman Avenue and Highway 87. The site sits between the Downtown core and the San Jose Market Center shopping complex. This "Railyard Place" project would include 230,000 SQFT of office space along with 476 apartments in buildings as tall as eight-stories. The design makes the project look like it was built around old industrial buildings. Heck, they even threw in a fake smokestack.
One nice feature about Railyard Place is how it incorporates the Guadalupe River. It looks like it will connect to and augment existing trails. The developer is also committing to building a new $5 million bridge over the river to connect to Autumn Street, something that would likely benefit the whole area.
Insight Realty is hoping to get approvals by October and break ground immediately afterwards.
Source: SVBJ
One nice feature about Railyard Place is how it incorporates the Guadalupe River. It looks like it will connect to and augment existing trails. The developer is also committing to building a new $5 million bridge over the river to connect to Autumn Street, something that would likely benefit the whole area.
Insight Realty is hoping to get approvals by October and break ground immediately afterwards.
Source: SVBJ
Sunday, March 13, 2016
The Alameda gets new crosswalk honoring LGBT heritage
Apparently interesting sidewalks and intersections are going up all over San Jose. The Alameda has a new rainbow-colored sidewalk near the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. These unique sidewalks make walking and driving around our neighborhoods a lot more interesting and safer (they slow down traffic for pedestrians).
I have to wonder how self-driving cars are going to handle these special crosswalks in the future, but we still have a while before we have to cross that bridge.
Source: SVBJ
I have to wonder how self-driving cars are going to handle these special crosswalks in the future, but we still have a while before we have to cross that bridge.
Source: SVBJ
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Saturday Stats: San Jose ranked as the #10 best place to live in the US
U.S. News & World Report has gone through the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States and ranked them in terms of best places to live. The study looked at factors such as affordability, job prospects, and quality of life. Thousands of surveys were factored into the study as well as statistics from the Census Bureau, the FBI, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
San Jose came in a respectable 10th place on the list. The obvious criteria that prevented our city from being higher is affordability. Hit the source link below for the full list as well as more details.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, hat tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in
2016 U.S. News Best Places to Live Rankings – Top 10
Denver, CO
Austin, TX
Fayetteville, AR
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Colorado Springs, CO
Boise, ID
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
San Jose came in a respectable 10th place on the list. The obvious criteria that prevented our city from being higher is affordability. Hit the source link below for the full list as well as more details.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, hat tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in
2016 U.S. News Best Places to Live Rankings – Top 10
Denver, CO
Austin, TX
Fayetteville, AR
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Colorado Springs, CO
Boise, ID
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Friday, March 11, 2016
Lively street art installed in SoFA
If you have driven past the intersection of South 1st Street and San Salvador Street, you already know about the vivacious street art that now covers most of the intersection. The work is called "Symphony of Style; Color, Light, and Sound" and was done by the artist Scape Martinez. The print is 25 feet by 20 feet and is reflective of the architecture, nightlife, and creative energy in Downtown San Jose's SoFA district. If you haven't seen it yet, it is worthy of a detour the next time you are in the area.
Source: Phantom Galleries
Source: Phantom Galleries
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