Mayor Matt Mahan will seek a San Jose convention center expansion and new 800+ room hotel

When the Convention Center South Hall was built in 2005, the big blue circus tent (pictured below) was never designed to be a permanent fixture. This land has been earmarked for a convention center expansion and potentially another hotel for quite some time. Now there is an actual reference to that project--and no this isn't an April Fool's joke.

As part of the Silicon Valley Business Journal's "Future of Downtown San Jose" event last week, the mayor stated:

"If we want to go attract big events, we need to eventually expand the convention center and add a headquarters hotel where someone could take down 800 rooms at a time," Mahan said. "That’s something I’m looking to pursue with all of you in the years ahead."

If this happens during his term this would be an enormous win for San Jose. It would attract bigger conferences while being able to better support world class events such as the Super Bowl and World Cup, both coming to the South Bay in 2026.

As for the hotel reference, the San Jose Fairmont including the annex had 805 rooms total, and that was the largest hotel in Silicon Valley. San Francisco has several hotels much larger that that, including the Hilton San Francisco with 1,900 rooms and the Parc 55 with 1,000... both of which have gone bankrupt with the change in San Francisco's popularity recently. 

A flagship brand as scale directly connected to an expanded convention center and a block away from the artsy SoFA District would be a major boon to Downtown and draw conferences not only from other parts of Northern California but across the country.

Source: SVBJ

Happy Easter 2024!

Below is an AI-generated image of "Easter in Downtown San Jose" using DALL-E 3. I like the floating eggs, not a bad idea.

Three new Downtown San Jose eateries casually announced

While reading reading an article titled "Tenant experience and convenience driving San Jose's downtown office market" I wasn't expecting to come across a surprise announcement for three new Downtown attractions. Here is the magic paragraph:

"Saign highlighted several of Jay Paul Company’s additions Downtown, including the developer’s plans to have a destination restaurant at 200 Park, a marketplace at the street-level portion of CityView Plaza at 185 Park and a café and lounge at 50 W. San Fernando Street (home of The Business Journal)."

200 Park is the 1 million SQFT beast behind The Tech Interactive museum (pictured below). A "destination restaurant" you say? That sounds very intriguing.

CityView will be a new project that will dwarf 200 Park when complete with 3.8 million rentable SQFT and 6 interconnected 19-story office towers. This is far into the future, but a new marketplace in central Downtown San Jose sounds amazing.

Last but not least is 50 W. San Fernando. This is next to the Signia by Hilton (former Fairmont San Jose) and is the building with the Capital Club on one of the two Penthouse floors. A cafe and lounge here will help fill another hole in Downtown San Jose's restaurant and retail landscape.

All three additions will be very welcome and I can't wait to learn more about the specific places coming to these projects.

Source: SVBJ

Easter Brunch in Downtown San Jose 🐣🥂

As usual, the San Jose Downtown Association has a list of all the great brunch options in Downtown San Jose for Easter weekend. They also have a brief history of brunch in America.

I'll call out Rollati specifically since they have a special Easter Menu with a Cocoa Pappardelle (lamb ragu, pistachio, and mint gremolata) and Italian Easter Bread pictured below. However, you can't go wrong with any of the restaurants below. I've been to all but one.

For your convenience, here is the entire DTSJ brunch list with links to the restaurant in the title:

Rollati

Brunch at Rollati is best enjoyed with a group of friends, so you can order the Aperol Spritz Tower for four, which is their featured Brunch Cocktail.  Brunch entrees include Italian Toast (Sweet Batard, Nutella, Maple Syrup) and Buttermilk Pancakes with Huckleberry, plus the entire lunch menu.  Brunch served Sat. & Sun. 11am to 3pm.

The FAB

The FAB brunch menu includes Egg Machaca, Pozole, and their hearty loaded dirty fries, served “breakfast-style” with a soft over-easy egg.  Brunch served Sat. & Sun. 11am to 3pm.

The Club on Post

The brunch menu at The Club includes Berry Waffles, Chilaquiles, Crab Cake Benedict, or a Club Burger, served brunch-style, with an egg on top of the Wagyu patty.  There’s a full bar and specialty cocktails, but the Fever Tree Sparking Sicilian Lemonade is worth a try.  Brunch served Sat. & Sun 11am to 3pm.

SP2 Communal Bar  & Restaurant

The Sourdough Machi Waffle, Tri-Tip Hash, Smoked Salmon Scramble (to name just a few) pair perfectly with imaginative cocktails that include an Elderflower Spritz, Passionfruit Bellini, and a drink called Corpse Reviver No. 2.  SP2 also has a preset Brunch menu that allows you to choose an entree, side and a salad for the fixed price of $45.  Brunch served Sat. & Sun. 11am to 2pm.

The Farmer’s Union

The Chuy’s Michelada at Farmer’s Union is practically a meal, but you will want to try the Chicken Fried Chicken & Eggs or the Huevos Motulenos with turkey, peas, cojita cheese, and friend plantain.  Brunch served Sun.11am to 3pm.

Mama Kin

Brunch at Mama Kin includes the usual brunch staples, along with Cajun Creole specialties of the house, but it’s mostly about the vibe.  On Saturday, the R&B Brunch and Day Party, features R&B tunes from the 80s to the 2000s.  Sunday is the Boom Box Brunch and Day Party, with a DJ playing music from the golden era of Hip Hop.  Brunch served Sat. & Sun. 10am to 3pm.

Poor House Bistro

Jambalaya Scramble, Pecan pancakes, New Orleans-style Beignets, and Pain Perdu (New Orleans French Toast) are just a few choices on the brunch menu at PHB. Doors open 10 am, but the live Blues on the Patio entertainment doesn’t start until noon.  Brunch served Sun. 10am to 2pm.

Whispers Cafe & Creperie

The sweet and savory crepes at Whispers are offered all day every day, but it’s a very popular place for brunch on the weekends. It’s also the longest hours for Brunch in the downtown, for early risers who don’t want to wait until 10 a.m. to eat.  Brunch served Sat. & Sun. 8am to 3 pm.

Fountain Restaurant

Located inside the Signia by Hilton San Jose, next to the Circle of Palms, offers a weekend brunch that includes Lobster Benedict served atop fresh artichoke hearts, generous Avocado Toast and Trout Toast, Pancakes, and Belgian Waffles. The weekend brunch menu also adds lunchtime go-tos like the tasty Fountain Burger with balsamic onion jam and gruyere, plus salads, sandwiches, and a crowd-pleasing kid’s selection with Mac n’ Cheese, Chicken Tenders and Sliders.

Rollati's Cocoa Pappardelle (lamb ragu, pistachio, and mint gremolata) and Italian Easter Bread

San Jose is using AI to scan streets for homeless people's cars

The city of San Jose is piloting using car-mounted cameras and AI software by SenSen.AI to scan for vehicles that people are living in. Why would we do this? The pilot was actually launched to systematically find all sorts of issues including potholes, trash, graffiti, parking validations, and illegal encampments. However, the encampments are the most controversial aspect of the scanning.

If the technology was fully deployed, then city staff could respond by sending outreach workers to small encampments before they become large ones. However, the accuracy was quite low with only 10-15% accuracy for lived-in cars and 70-75% for RVs. 

The intention of proactive outreach is positive despite the Black-Mirrorish nature of the pilot. Whether the program will move forward is yet to be determined, but both privacy and homeless-rights advocates are up-in-arms over this initiative. This may be one of the first projects of its kind but it definitely won't be the last. Hopefully there is a way to run these pilots ethically with respect to all parties involved.

Source: SFGATE

Still O.G. in San Jose

Original Gravity Public House was the first of its kind in San Jose. A bar completely dedicated to craft beers. Sure there were some places like Good Karma that featured a limited selection of craft beers first, but Original Gravity was truly the first of its kind in San Jose. The proprietors then went on to open Paper Plane, Miniboss, and soon will open they highly anticipated Eos & Nyx (more on that next week).

Now that craft beer is everywhere, the owners decided to turn Original Gravity into two new concepts: Still O.G. and Alter Ego.

Still O.G. still has craft beers, but they are also adding cocktails on tap and the vibe will be very different. Think analog with vinyl records all over the place and a high-end sound system. Still O.G. has been packed since it opened a month ago and is well worth checking out.

If you want a more relaxing atmosphere, you can head to the back where there is a completely different bar called Alter Ego featuring craft cocktails. It's a hidden bar within a bar, you can call it a modern speakeasy (last photo below). It looks amazing and will be yet another top destination for San Jose's nightlife.

You can find Still O.G. and Alter Ego at 66 S. First Street. More photos and info at the source link.

Source: SVBJ

Save-the-date for all the 2024 Block Parties

Below are the dates and locations of all six block parties in Downtown San Jose. Each will highlight the local restaurants and stores in the area and add additional amenities like food trucks or live music. The 2023 block parties were a lot of fun and all six of these regions have had new businesses open in the past 12 months. Mark your calendars!

SJC celebrates 75 years with a giant chick in Terminal B

If you have flown out of San Jose recently, you might be wondering why there is a giant inflatable baby chick at baggage claim. The bird is there to commemorate the airport's 75th anniversary. The first commercial flight at SJC arrived in 1949 with two pilots, seven passengers, and 2,550 baby chickens. Only the chickens exited at SJC, the rest of the passengers continued on to LAX.

For the full history of the airport and a contest to win some swag by taking photos with the chicks (there are multiple throughout the airport) fly over here.