Harvest Festival 2016 - Nov. 25-27 at the SJ Convention Center

The West Coast's largest indoor arts and crafts show is coming to Downtown San Jose in two weeks. The festival features thousands of American-made arts and crafts including original art, jewelry, clothing, toys, and home decor. Many of the gifts can be custom ordered or personalized.

To compliment the shopping, there will be an assortment of food, music, and live entertainment. Several bands will be performing throughout the show including James Garner's Cash Tribute. Holiday-themed entertainers will also wander the halls throughout the three day show.

While parents shop, kids can play at an interactive KidZone. Here the tykes can build their own art projects such as gingerbread cookie decorating.

The Harvest Festival will run from (Black) Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27th at the San Jose Convention Center. Hours are 9am-6pm on Friday, 10am-6pm on Saturday, and 10am-5pm on Sunday. Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for seniors and military, $4 for teenagers, and those 12 & under are free. You can print a $2 off coupon on this page (lower right). Admission includes the whole weekend, not just a specific day.

For more information or to buy tickets, head over to the Harvest Festival website over here.

"Fountain Gallery Alley" 2-Day Pop-Up Art Gallery in Downtown San Jose

 
SAN JOSE - Local artists, residents, and nonprofits come together to host a 2-day pop-up art gallery, “Fountain Gallery Alley” at Fountain Alley, a neglected alleyway in downtown San Jose. On Friday November 11 (12pm-8pm) and Saturday November 12 (2pm-8pm), Fountain Alley will be filled with live painting, community mural, music, performances, games, artwork, and interactive installations for a whimsical experience day to night. The goal off the event is to harness the power of local art, talent, and energy to re-envision the alley as a downtown gem and beautiful public space.

Fountain Alley lies between 1st and 2nd Street, just south of Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose. It is the alley that connects the downtown Santa Clara VTA station/Transit Mall.

Fountain Alley lies in the heart of the historic district of downtown San Jose, California. While next to downtown's most iconic building - the Bank of America tower, and surrounded by popular restaurants and nightlife destinations, the alleyway mostly sits empty and is plagued with poor public perception.

"I live near Fountain Alley and walk through it every day. I believe the space can do so much more for the community than what it is right now," said Rosalyn Lum, downtown resident and member of the Fountain Gallery Alley team.

Local artists and community members have yearned for change for many years and wish to see the space be an open, safe, and welcoming space for everyone.

The objective of "Fountain Gallery Alley" is to turn Fountain Alley to a greater community asset through a pop-up gallery showcasing local artists.  By making incremental yet impactful changes, and creating an environment that is open, inviting, and beautiful, the community aims to change the perception and connection people of the alley. "There is so much creative and dedicated talent in San Jose and when pulled together we can accomplish so much" says Erin Salazar, Director of the Exhibition District.

This project is supported by the Knight Foundation and 8 80 Cities through the Emerging City Champions Fellowship, and the San Jose Downtown Association.  For more information please visit www.opengalleryalley.com.

Wednesday Wishlist: Michelin Star Restaurants (2017 Edition)

Welcome to the 8th annual Wednesday Wishlist post where the topic is getting restaurants in San Jose worthy of Michelin starts. The Michelin guide is the most renowned rubric in the world for measuring culinary success. This is where I typically say something like: "I'm optimistic it will only be a matter of time until our food scene gets the recognition it deserves." Well guess what--not this year! San Jose finally has a restaurant with a Michelin Star, and the honor goes to Adega in Little Portugal. I could not think of a more worthy restaurant to be San Jose's first recipient of a star.

Michelin has three different star categories:

• 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.

There are also restaurants in the Michelin guide that do not get a star, but are considered "Michelin Recommended." This is already a significant honor that a very small percentage of restaurants achieve. Within this category San Jose scored a total of 12 restaurants.

I created a Google doc listing all of the star recipients for 2017, along with tabs for all previous years and some general statistics. Below is an image capture from the doc. This year there were a total of 54 restaurants that were awarded Michelin stars, which is up 4 from last year and an all-time high for the Bay Area. 61% of the restaurants are locating in SF, 19% in Wine Country, 19% in Silicon Valley (split evenly between the South Bay and the Peninsula), and 2% in the East Bay. This is the first year in which Silicon Valley tied with Wine Country when it comes to star distribution--thanks to Adega in San Jose and Madera in Menlo Park (which was added back this year). There are 7 new restaurants on the list for 2017 and only three from 2016 did not make the cut: All Spice, Ame, and Kusakabe (all located in SF).


San Jose Michelin Starred Restaurants:

• East San Jose
• Adega (* 1 STAR *)

San Jose Michelin Recommended Restaurants:

• Downtown
• Vung Tau
• Back A Yard
• Swaad
• The Alameda
• Zona Rosa
• Midtown
• Walia
• Din Tai Fung (New)
• North San Jose
• Smoking Pig BBQ
• South San Jose
• Bun Bo Hue An Nam
• Thien Long
• Lau Hai San
• Willow Glen
• The Table
• Camden
• Zeni

In addition to Adega, Din Thai Fung (Chinese) is the latest newcomer to San Jose's "Michelin Recommended" list for San Jose. We did lose two that were recommended last year, Fratello and Rangoli. Overall, this is far and away San Jose's strongest showing in the Michelin guide to date. I'm hoping the trend continues and Adega inspires other San Jose restaurants to shoot for the moon! 

Source: Michelin Guide

Bowlero opens its first Northern California location in San Jose

The old Bowlmor San Jose near Westfield Oakridge has been converted into a Bowlero, which is far cry from your traditional bowling alley. Bowlero features wall-to-wall screens playing movies and sporting events, hip music, arcades, a high-end bar with fancy cocktails, and a solid food menu. The ambiance and amenities align well with what is now expected in Silicon Valley.

Bowlero has 59 lanes across the 50,000 SQFT building. There is even a sectioned-off VIP room with 9 lanes and its own bar, ideal for parties and private events. The entire space is well appointed and has a chic luxury feel throughout.

The food menu also has several entertaining options designed for sharing--and photographing. The most interesting one was a 5-lb "Behemoth Burger" with a 14-inch patty (photo down below). They also have super-sized Party Pretzels and a S'Mores Skillet. On the bar side you have the Dunk Tank, which comes in a Fishbowl and is designed to share with 2-3 other people.

Bowlero San Jose is the 12th location to open in the US and the only location in Northern California. The address is 5420 Thornwood Drive and hours are Mon 4pm-1am, Tues-Thur 4pm-12am, Fri 12pm-2am, Sat 11am-2am, and Sunday 10am-12am.

For more info, head over to the Bowlero website.

November 2016 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• Two finalist designs emerge from the St. James Park design competition, CMG and !melk fre-ee. Both feature a Levitt Pavilion for live music, add new water features, and maintain the current historical features.
• Downtown Ice opens November 18th through January 16th at the Circle of Palms (120 S. Market St.). The rink will be generally be open from 5pm-9pm Mon-Thursday, 5pm-midnight on Friday, noon-midnight on Saturday, and noon-9pm on Sunday. Hours are longer during the Holiday break. Check downtownicesj.com for more specifics.
• The TiVo Santa Run 5k run/walk takes place on Dec 18th at 1pm. Register at santarunsv.com. 
• Hart's Dog Park is now open at 194 W. Santa Clara Street. The 2,000 SQFT parcel has been vacant for a decade and now includes artificial turf, benches, planters, toys, and a mural.
• The SJDA came in with a balanced budget for the third year in a row. 81% of the budget is used for events, marketing, promotions, and beautification of Downtown San Jose.

To read the newsletter, click here!

November is National Adoption Month

Guest post by: Phillip Bergman

November is National Adoption Month, an initiative spearheaded by the Children's Bureau, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of National Adoption Month is to increase awareness and bring attention to the need for permanent families for children and youth in the U.S. foster care system.

San Jose is home to an office of Seneca Family of Agencies - www.senecafoa.org - founded more than 30 years ago to help children and families through life's toughest challenges. There are about 100,000 kids available for adoption nationally, including thousands in the region. Seneca provides adoption and other important services for children and families in the area and statewide, and it is a great source of information for those considering adoption.

Call 877-380-5300 to reach Seneca Family of Agencies during National Adoption Month or throughout the year for more information.

Dandelion Chocolate pop-up shop at Santana Row from Nov9-Dec24

Dandelion Chocolate is a popular Bay Area artisan chocolatier that makes all of their chocolate in house (you can even tour their factory in SF). They are bringing a pop-up store to San Jose featuring their signature hot and cold chocolate drinks, Four Barrel coffee and espresso, and of course chocolate bars and gift boxes.

Fun fact--the very first batches of Dandelion Chocolate were made at Santana Row in a loft above Pizza Antica in 2010.

You can check them out starting November 9th next to Z Gallerie. The shop will be open 7 days a week from 10am to 9pm.

For more details, head over to the Dandelion Chocolate website.

ThreatMetrix raises $30M in financing

ThreatMetrix is a San Jose-based fraud prevention startup located in Downtown San Jose at 160 W. Santa Clara Street. The company was founded in 2005 and helps authenticate consumer transactions to minimize online fraud.

So far, they have raised a respectable $84 million from investors. This latest $30 million financing round will be used to expand its data center and expand sales and marketing teams.

Source: SVBJ