Searchlight San Jose: A bet, a beating, and a basket

Losing is never easy, especially when the prize is the Stanley Cup you and have to send the mayor of the winning city a basket of gifts. Long story short, Mayor Sam Liccardo had a friendly bet with Pittsburg Mayor, Bill Peduto. The mayor of the losing team would have to send over a basket of treats representing his city.

So what was in San Jose's basket? Schurra's Fine Confections, La Vic's Orange Sause, Greenlee's Bakery Best Cinnamon Bread, Gordon Biersch beer, Fruit cocktail (invented in San Jose), J. Lohr wine, and Chiaramonte's Sausage. These are all items made locally here in San Jose with the exception of the fruit cocktail. To see a full breakdown of each item, head over to Searchlight San Jose.

What do you think? Is there anything missing from the basket that would better represent San Jose?

San Jose hosts "The Swings"

Starting on August 4th, you will be able to enjoy "musical swings" in Plaza de Cesar Chavez. The swings are an award-winning interactive art project that combines both exercise and music. As you swing, you will trigger musical notes. When multiple people coordinate their swings, they can generate melodies.

Musical Swings will be in Plaza de Cesar Chavez for the next two months and are available from 10am to 10pm daily. There is no fee to use the swings.

This project was sponsored by the Knight Foundation, the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, the City of San Jose Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services, the San Jose Downtown Association, San Jose Jazz, The Tech Museum of Innovation, ZERO1, Team San Jose, Adobe, Applied Materials, and City View Plaza.

Source: SJ Economy News

Santana Row adding several new new retail and food options

You are going to see some new faces at Santana Row this year. Two stores have recently opened: Kendra Scott (1,470 SQF) which sells accessories and Makers Market (675 SQFT) selling handmade-in-America gifts. Below is a list of what else is coming in 2016.

Retail

• SuitSupply (4,425 SQFT) - trendy men's clothier
• Marine Layer (749 SQFT) - boutique clothing brand
• Aesop (1,081 SQFT) - Australian skincare company

Food

• Smitten Ice Cream (kiosk at Park Valencia) 
• Poke Bar (kiosk at Park Valencia)
• Tacolicious (2,191 SQFT)

Office

• Splunk (234,000 SQFT) - Okay, so this isn't somewhere you can shop at. However, having a thousand extra workers at Santana Row will help liven things up during the workweek. 

Source: SVBJ

Downtown San Jose Restaurant List Updates (2016 Q1 & Q2 Edition)

It has been a while since posting the latest list of Downtown San Jose Restaurants. We are up to a grand total of 268 eateries! This is yet another record-breaking number for Downtown San Jose. Our little database had 206 eateries just five years ago. 60+ new restaurants in such a short period of time is pretty amazing.

Every time I have compiled the list, there have been significant closures. Not this time. Amici's and Da Noodle are the most significant that I am aware of since the last time this list was posted. On the other hand, there are many notable additions:

• Sushi Confidential - Creative, non-traditional sushi that took over the former Sonoma Chicken space.
• Olla Cocina - Vibrant Mexican cuisine in San Pedro Square.
• 2nd Story Bakeshop - Killer bakery providing some of the highest quality baked goods in San Jose.
• Ola's Exotic African Coffee and Tea - Yet another candidate for the best coffee in town. Highly recommended.
• IPOH Garden - San Jose's first Malaysian restaurant.
• Ludwigs German Table - San Jose's second German restaurant, situated in a unique ornate building with a lot of history.
• SoFA Market
• Hawaiian Poke Bowl
• Milk and Wood
• Vitamina Juices & Blends
• COMING SOON (you can find all "Coming Soon" restaurants at the top of the list in the spreadsheet)
• Chromatic Cafe (2nd St.)
• Elyse Restaurant (1st St.)
• Origins Juicery (1st St., former Discovery Store)
• Mo's (W. Santa Clara St.)
• Tac-oh! (SoFA)
• Pizzetta 408! (SoFA Market)
• Toasted Craft Sandwiches (SoFA Market)
• Uproar Brewery (SoFA, former Zer01 Garage)

Below is the change log from the Downtown San Jose Restaurants Database:

11/1/2015	Fahrenheit on San Feranando has closed and is being replaced by Pieology.
11/1/2015	Added Sushi Confidential, coming soon to 31 N. Market
11/1/2015	Added Pieology, coming soon to 99 E. San Fernando
11/8/2015	McDonald's on San Carlos closed
12/12/2015	Added Jade Leaf Eatery and Lounge at S. Market St. Suite 170
12/23/2015	Added Takai Sushi and Sake Bar in the Fairmont Hotel (5 star Yelp rating)
12/31/2015	Ayola Closed
1/10/2016	Da Noodle closed on Santa Clara Street
1/10/2016	Added Elyse restaurant as coming soon, taking the old House of Siam place at 151 S. Second.
3/12/2016	Added Olla Cocina as coming soon to 17 N. San Pedro St.
3/21/2016	Added 2nd Story Bakeshop, now open at 138 E. Santa Clara St.
4/2/2016	Our House has replaced Mid GoGo at 185 Park Ave.
4/2/2016	Added Ola's Exotic African Coffee and Tea at 30 E. Santa Clara Street #120
4/9/2016	Chromatic Cafe is coming soon to 2nd Street
4/24/2016	IPOH Garden has replaced 8 Treasure restaurant at 150 S. First St.
6/4/2016	Added Ludwigs German Table, now open at 261 N. 2nd St.
6/5/2016	Replaced Oni Mexicatessan at the San Pedro Square Market with Crepes & More
7/2/2016	Replaced Amici's with Mo's at 225 W. Santa Clara St.
7/2/2016	Tac-oh! is coming soon to 399 S. First St. (formerly First to Market)

If you haven't bookmarked it yet, here's the link to the spreadsheet! There is also a permanent link over to the right entitled Downtown San Jose Restaurants.

Sushi Confidential is now open in Downtown San Jose

Randy Musterer's acclaimed sushi joint has finally opened its San Jose location. The original restaurant in Campbell has become a tremendous success, leaving little doubt that Sushi Confidential will become an anchor restaurant in the San Pedro Square area. The restaurant specializes in creative, non-traditional sushi in a hip environment.

You can find Sushi Confidential over at 31 N. Market Street, former home of the original Sonoma Chicken Coop. They are open from 11:30am to 11:30pm, seven days a week.

Source: SJ Economy News

July 2016 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• Groundwerx continues to get high praise from Downtown property owners. The latest annual survey shows:
• 92% satisfaction with the overall condition of Downtown
• 93% approval rating for Groundwerx clean teams
• 73% of respondents saw an improvement in overall cleanliness from last year
• 49% of respondents saw an improvement in safety
• 72% of respondents believe the overall image of Downtown has improved
• Music in the Park still has three more concerts this year at Plaza de Cesar Chavez:
• July 14: AC/DShe, The Killer Queens and The Drought
• Aug. 4: Ozomatli and Sonido Clash Session
• Aug. 25: Tower of Power with Super Soul Brothers
• The first BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) stations along Santa Clara Street are nearing completion and the entire project--including East San Jose stations--should be completed by early 2017.
• Voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase that will raise an additional $40 million each year. The extra funding will go towards:
• Basic road repair and replacement of major arteries
• Increase police staffing by 41 positions and community service officers by 19 positions
• Keep fire companies open, double officers in squad cars, and improve traffic signal technology for more efficient emergency and medical responses.
• Sund Construction is finishing the 850-bed Campus Village Phase 2 project just in time for the fall semester. This will bring SJSU's total capacity for on-campus housing to 4,000 students.
• Mo's (breakfast and burger eatery) is coming to 225 W. Santa Clara St., replacing Amici's pizzeria.
• Tac-oh! will serve 16 different tacos at 399 S. First St. (the former First to Market space).

City Hall Rotunda

Cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum has found yet another neat San Jose photo. The City Hall Rotunda has to be one of our top 10 architectural landmarks.

San Jose City Hall Rotunda by Night by Thomas Hawk, on Flickr

Saturday Stats: the San Jose Metro is worth $419 billion

Thanks to soaring property values and new flagship office developments, the value of all real estate in Santa Clara County has hit $419 billion. That is $30.9 billion more than 2015 (7.9% increase). The biggest increases in assessed property value came from Mountain View, Santa Clara, and Cupertino (due to Apple Campus II). San Jose proper appreciated at a respectable 7% which unincorporated parts of the county saw the least appreciation at 0.89%.

Source: SVBJ