iChina hires a rockstar chef, obviously aiming for the stars

By aiming for the stars, of course I'm talking about those rare Michelin Stars. As our one and only Michelin Star restaurant--Adega--closed their doors in 2023, iChina is our next best shot.

Yesterday iChina announced that Singapoean Chef Chen Zhinengh is joining the team as Executive Chef. He has worked at multiple Michelin-star restaurants including Hakkasan in New York, Empress By Boon in SF, and 3 Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurants.

Below is the full text from the email blast. I'll look forward to trying iChina soon after his updated menu is live.

Introducing Chef Chen Zhinengh

We are thrilled to announce Chef Chen Zhinengh has joined iCHiNA to lead our kitchens. Because eight is an auspicious number, here are eight reasons we’re lucky to have him.

#1

Born in Singapore, Chef Chen started working in restaurants at the age of 16.

#2

He has cooked at some of the top restaurants in Singapore including the Mandarin Oriental and Ritz Carlton Hotels.

#3

Chef Chen was part of the opening team for Hakkasan New York and went on to help oversee all US locations.

#4

Prior to joining iCHiNA Chef Chen was Executive Chef at the Michelin-starred Empress By Boon, in San Francisco.

#5

A master of Peking Duck—one of our signature dishes—Chef Chen has combined culinary methods from top restaurants around the world to create a Peking Duck with  distinctive taste and a richer texture.

#6

Chef Chen has cooked at 3 Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurants.

#7

This video starring Chef Chen making dumplings has been viewed over 54,000 times. If it doesn’t make you want to try our dim sum, we don’t know what will!

#8

Chef Chen is developing some amazing specials to offer during Lunar New Year including 魚生撈起 (Prosperity Salad) and 红豆汤 (Red Bean Glutinous Rice Soup) to bring you health and prosperity in the new year. 

Book a table now for a taste of Chef Chen’s exquisite cooking. Some of his new dishes include Golden Tofu Lobster featuring lobster, pumpkin, and silken tofu and Black Bean Prawns with housemade black bean sauce and fresh gai lan.

World's first radio show was in... San Jose

SJtoday had a great post last week about a San Jose invention most people don't realize came from San Jose, the radio. Well, there is some debate on who invented the actual radio technology, but at minimum the first radio broadcasts were in San Jose. 

It all went back to the early 1900s, well before the Silicon  Valley era. Charles David "Doc" Herrold was the first radio broadcaster in the world and in 1910 created the first radio show. At one point, he had to tap into San Jose street car power lines for transmission. It's an interesting story and you can check it out at the source link below.

Source: SJtoday

New housing proposal near Five Wounds future BART station and urban village

The densification of the Little Portugal neighborhood around Five Wounds Church and our next BART station is beginning. There is a new proposal to replace two residential lots at 1271 and 1279 Julian Street with a 140-unit apartment building sitting on just under an acre. The seven-story building would have two floors reserved for parking and five floors with 1-3 bedroom apartments. 14 of the apartments would be reserved for very low income housing.

The development permit is going to be considered for approval this Wednesday. This would be one of several projects in the Little Portugal neighborhood, which could see up to 2,000 new jobs, 600,000 SQFT of commercial space, and 5,000-7,000 residential units long-term. The neighborhood is likely to look very different in 10 years.

Source: SVBJ

Sonic Runway

One of the most interesting and dynamic public art installations in San Jose lights up the block in front of the San Jose City Hall from 5pm to midnight every night. It creates a visualization of the speed of sound and was originally featured at Burning Man. You can park for free for 90 minutes at the 4th Street Garage and enjoy it all the way until January 1st, 2028.

Content 16.2

The latest issue of Content Magazine is about to drop (Silicon Valley's top publication on local arts and culture). This issue will come with a limited edition flexi disc vinyl record from Needle to the Groove, as long as you preorder or subscribe by January 31st.

To top it off, they will do a Pick-Up Party in partnership with Creekside Social on February 22nd at 20 Barack Obama Boulevard in Downtown San Jose. Subscribers always get some sort of perk at these parties--often a free cocktail, apps, or other goodies.

Here are some of the people featured in the upcoming issue:

Musician - Amara 林 | Videographer - Victor Aquino | Photographer - Britt Bradley | Rapper - Chow Mane | RecordLabel - Discos Resaca Collective | Dancer - Srividya Eashwar | Artist - Girafa | Rap Crew - Kid Lords | Photographer - Josie Lepe | Artist - Julie Meridian | Record Shop and Label - Needle to the Groove Records | Illustrator - Shaka Shaw | 2024 San José Creative Ambassadors - Dancer - Alice Hur - Artist - Pantea Karimi - Artist - Deborah Kennedy - Artist - Rayos Magos - Storyteller - Yosimar Reyes

To learn more or subscribe, head over here.

The South Bay is looking for more action from Super Bowl 60 than it received from 50

San Jose had a lot to gain from Super Bowl 50. There were major events throughout Downtown San Jose, including the SAP Center, San Pedro Square, and Plaza de Cesar Chavez. Hotels saw a huge boost. Plus most of the costs and risks were covered by Santa Clara.

Now for Super Bowl 60 in 2026, the South Bay is looking to better capitalize on the event. Of the $240 million of estimated economic impact to the Bay Area during the last Bay Area Super Bowl, San Francisco got a whopping 57% of that amount, San Jose scored 12%, and Santa Clara only got a sliver at 7%.

Fortunately, the numbers might swing more in the South Bay's favor the next time around. Several San Jose leaders are looking at way to attract more of the attention (and revenue) related to Super Bowl 60. Ideas include undercutting SF for major hotel events, host simultaneous music festivals, food festivals, tech showcases, charity events, and so on. 

It may also help that San Francisco's brand has been in decline with high levels of crime, homelessness, and squalor on city streets. However, it's never good to benefit from someone else's suffering. If your read the source article, the president of the Bay Area Host Committee believe by working together the pie will grow larger verses trying to compete with one another. That seems like the ideal perspective for maximum returns. We also have to do a much better job of marketing the assets we already have, and there are many.

It's a fascinating read. What do you think San Jose and Santa Clara should do to keep more Super Bowl dollars near the stadium where the game is actually held?

Source: San Jose Spotlight

Pianist Nicolas Namoradze performs for Steinway Society in San Jose

WHO: Steinway Society – The Bay Area presents

WHAT:  Nicolas Namoradze 

WHEN: Sunday, January 21, 2024 @ 2:30 pm

WHERE: Montgomery Theater, 271 S. Market St., San Jose.  Live and LIVE STREAMED

MORE INFO: https://steinwaysociety.com/

 

Pianist and composer Nicolas Namoradze came to international attention in 2018 upon winning the triennial Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada—among the largest prizes in classical music. His recitals around the globe have been met with universal critical praise, and recent album releases have received extraordinary accolades, including the Choc de Classica, Record of the Month in Limelight, Instrumental Disc of the Month in BBC Music Magazine, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, Editor’s Choice in Presto Classical and Critics’ Choice in International Piano.

 

Among the most critically acclaimed musicians of his generation, Namoradze was bestowed the 2020 & 2021 Young Pianist Award by the UK Critics’ Circle, which called him “very much more than a top-flight pianist.” Recent highlights include recitals at concert halls including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan; festival appearances at Tanglewood, Banff, Gstaad, Santa Fe and more; and performances with orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Sinfonieorchester Basel.

 

Namoradze earned his master’s at The Juilliard School and his doctorate at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in neuropsychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College, London, where his research interests include the effects of mental practice and mindfulness on musical performance. Namoradze is the author of the book “Ligeti’s Macroharmonies,” published by Springer in the Computational Music Science series, and his compositions are published by Muse Press.

 

”Set to become one of the truly important artists of his generation.”

–American classical pianist Emanual Ax

THE PROGRAM:

Bach-Busoni, “Ich ruf zu dir, Herr” BWV 639

Bach, French Suite No. 1 in D minor BWV 812

1.    Allemande

2.    Courante

3.    Sarabande

4.    Minuet

5.    Gigue

Bach, The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080

1.    Contrapunctus VI

2.    Contrapunctus VII

Fauré, Preludes Op. 103

1.    No. 3 in G minor

2.    No. 6 in E-flat minor

3.    No. 9 in E minor

Ligeti, Etudes

1.    1. No. 11, “En suspens” 

2.    2. No. 13, “L’escalier du diable”

3.    3. No. 16, “Pour Irina”

INTERMISSION 

Nicolas Namoradze, Memories of Rachmaninoff’s “Georgian Song”

Pärt, Für Alina

Pärt, Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka

Rachmaninoff-Namoradze, Adagio from Symphony No. 2, Op. 27

Scriabin, Sonata No. 4 Op. 30

 

TICKETS:

Single Tickets: $45 to $70 

General Admission: $70/$60/$50

Senior & student: $65/$55/$45

Livestream online: $25 per household / live + unlimited listens for 48 hours  

Purchase Tickets: https://steinwaysociety.com/

Box Office: 408.300.5635

Email: office@steinwaysociety.com

Bay Area Michelin Star Restaurants - 2024 Edition (Part 1)

It has been a long while since doing a post about Michelin recommended/starred restaurants--2019 in fact.

The Michelin guide is the most renowned rubric in the world for measuring culinary success. Unfortunately, we have some bad news this year. San Jose's first and only Michelin Star restaurant ever, Adega in Little Portugal, is now permanently closed. The silver lining is that it will be replaced with a second Petiscos restaurant. The original Petiscos is in Downtown San Jose's SoFA District and is not only featured in the guide but is one of San Jose's first two Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants (a step below a Star and signifying a restaurant is of outstanding value for the quality).

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.

New last year were "Green Stars" for restaurants that are at the forefront of sustainable, environmental, and ethical standards.

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. This distinction has gotten more rare since the guide now covers all of California instead of just the Bay Area. San Jose has a total of 4 Michelin Recommended restaurants (one of which is now closed), which is down 4 restaurants from 2019. LeYou Ethiopian is the only newcomer.


San Jose Michelin Recommended Restaurants:

• Downtown
• Petiscos $$ (Bib Gourmand)
• East San Jose
• Adega $$$$ (Closed)
• Midtown
• Luna Mexican Kitchen $$ (Bib Gourmand)
• North San Jose
• LeYou $$

I also created a Google doc listing all of the star recipients for 2023, along with tabs for all previous years and some general statistics. 2020-2022 were crazy years and I still have to update data there. I also expect new stars and restaurants to be announced this summer. There is no longer a physical book for California, but Michelin will update their site after new stars are awarded.

Below is an image capture from the doc. This year there were a total of 45 Bay Area restaurants that were awarded Michelin stars, which is down 12 from before the pandemic in 2019. 60% of the restaurants are locating in SF, 18% in Silicon Valley (split evenly between the South Bay and the Peninsula), 18% in Wine Country, 2% in the East Bay, and 2% in Marin. There are 3 new restaurants on the list for 2023 and several that no longer made the cut or were closed down. There were no new Silicon Valley restaurants on the list from 2022, but Selby's and Sushi Shin were both added post-pandemic.

This post is entitled Part 1. As previously mentioned Michelin will announce updates to the guide for Bay Area restaurants this summer. It will be interesting if San Jose can get back in the guide with a starred restaurant. There are certainly several that deserve it. Some of my top picks for addition would be iChina, Le Papillion, and Rollati. We'll have to see if anyone will come along and fill Adega's shoes in Part 2 later this year.