Starlight Cinema - free outdoor screening of The Goonies Aug 3rd

Starlight Cinema is a beloved Downtown San Jose tradition featuring popular movies along with accompanying activities in Saint James Park. This weekend the movie is The Goonies starting at dusk (~8:35pm) on Saturday, August 3rd.

The pre-movie activities include a scavenger hunt at 7pm hosted by Secret San Jose, photo-ops with themed props, and Goonies trivia with prizes. Other free activities include:

• Henna body art with Henna Fairyy
• Build Your Own Boobie Trap activity with Children’s Discovery Museum
• Raffle hosted by The Tech Interactive
• Canvas painting activity with Guadalupe River Park Conservancy
• Bocce ball with Volo Sports
• Lawn games, rock wall by Climb On, & t-shirt press designs by Mobile Screen Printing Party, provided by Viva Parks

Things get more fun if you are 21 and over. From 5-7pm you can mention you are on the Goonies Bar Crawl and get discounts at Fox Tale Fermentations, Dr. Funk, Five Points Cocktail Bar, O'Flaherty's Irish Pub, and Tiki Pete (all excellent options I must say). Dr. Funk is perhaps the most appropriately themed for The Goonies.

If you swing by the SJDA Info Booth, you can also enter for a chance to win a #DTSJ treasure pack that include $100 in gift cards, 4 San Jose Earthquakes game vouchers, 2 Music in the Park tickets, and a Goonies tote bag. Taking a survey at the same location will get you a t-shirt and a chance to win a $25 Dr. Funk gift card, 2 Music in the Park tickets, and a #DTSJ tote.

The last Starlight Cinema for 2024 will be To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar on August 17th.

New mixed-use project with a beer garden opening soon near Levi's Stadium

Finally, 49ers fans will have a place in easy walking distance to hang out before and after games. A new mixed use project on Tasman will feature a Food & Beverage Garden that repurposes an old Carl's Jr. into an indoor bar with local beers, wines, and cocktails. The indoor/outdoor concept will feature food trucks and outdoor games like bocce ball and corn hole.

The residential building behind the beer garden will have 311 luxury apartments in an eight-story building, 100 of which come fully furnished. It also features a two-story fitness center, yoga studio, bike share, a resort-style pool, fire pits, and gaming lounges. 15,000 SQFT of retail will also be available in the ground floor of this building which are separate from the 14,000 SQFT beer and food garden with games.

The beer and food garden is set to open in a few months, just in time for the 49ers season.

Source: LinkedIn, Ensemble

 

San Jose's Little Saigon now has a Night Market

San Jose has the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the United States, which helps explain why we have the best Vietnamese food in the country. Little Saigon in East San Jose consists primarily of both an indoor and outdoor mall with dozens of and restaurants, many of which specialize in very specific Vietnamese dishes. Now you can add a monthly night market to a list of attractions there.

Officially called the "Story Road Night Market" it will be a Vietnamese-focused event in the Grand Century Mall parking lot. It'll features multiple food and retail vendors along with cultural performances. Not all of the vendors will be Vietnamese, they'll also have Mexican birria tacos, Nashville hot chicken, and Portuguese/Asian fusion egg tarts.

If you've never been to Little Saigon, this is the perfect opportunity to explore the area. The night market takes place today from 4-10pm at 1111 Story Road. Parking and Admission are free. The next events will be on Sep 6, Sep 7, Oct 11, and Oct 12.

Source: KQED

Rising popstar Celeste Doshi brings brat summer to town

It's finally the weekend, so what better time to promote a local San Jose artist. Celeste Doshi is an indie pop singer-songwriter known for her emotionally charged and edgy lyrics. Her debut single, "I Wish I Never Met You," was released on July 1st and showcases her brutally honest songwriting style, capturing the feelings of heartbreak and frustration. 

The song is produced by Emmy Award-winning composer Mike Meiers. Celeste's music has been compared to the style of Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray. She has performed at various venues in San Jose and Los Gatos and was selected to participate in the Mastermind Songwriting Retreat in Nashville in 2023. Celeste is working on her debut EP, "twentysomething," set to be released in 2025, which promises to delve deeper into the experiences of a sensitive young woman navigating the complexities of life.

You can listen to her first single here!

Other Links:

Spotify

Apple Music

Insta

TikTok

MOMENT Sidewalk Shops - new monthly popup event in Downtown San Jose

MOMENT has made great strides in bringing retail back to Downtown San Jose. The original four retail spots in San Pedro Square have been successful and MOMENT has recently expanded to the Paseo of San Antonio. Now they are doing a monthly pop-up experience at both locations.

Over 25 vendors will be right outside both clusters of MOMENT shops this Saturday, July 27th from 1pm to 6pm. For more info, head over here.

Source: 408Nate

Downtown San Jose gets a new retail store called Velvet House at 50 Post

Downtown San Jose is great for many things, but retail has historically not been one of them. This is slowly starting to change with great projects like MOMENT and pockets of activity here and there. The newest store I just found out about is called Velvet House and it's a women's "fashion forward" shop.

The owner Dayna Moya Gonzalez and her husband George are East San Jose natives that opened The Club on Post last year. This is one of Downtown San Jose's best brunch spots and has the absolute best Espresso Martini in San Jose. Velvet House is right across the street and is a brick-and-mortar extension of Dayna's online business.

The store features a variety of clothing and accessories. I am not going to pretend to know anything about women's clothing, but can say that there seem to be options for every occasion and prices are very reasonable. The location at 50 Post is right in the Historic District, steps away from great food and San Jose's nightlife.

For more info on Downtown's newest store, head over here.

New single family housing suburb proposed for San Jose's Almaden district

If you thought single family construction was over in San Jose, guess again. Latala Homes plans to build 177 new detached homes, averaging just under 2,500 SQFT per home at 20202 Harry Road. 36 of those homes will be designated as affordable for low-income households. The site is currently an empty field so no demo work would be necessary.

Before the urbanists get up in arms, this is already as deep into the suburbs as you can possibly get. There is nothing walkable anywhere near here and there probably never will be. If you're wondering where Harry Road is, it's where Almaden Expressway literally dead-ends. That is how deep this project is into Almaden. The silver lining is you can go horseback riding or visit one of San Jose's most romantic and isolated restaurants, La Foret, with a short drive.

Based on the area, I think most of these homes will likely go for around $1,000/SQFT, so you're probably looking at a range of $2M-$3M depending on how wide the range of home sizes will be.

Source: SF YIMBY

Angkor Chef has official ribbon cutting

Angkor Chef started their soft opening in November, but the restaurant and bar are now formally complete. I love this restaurant for a many reasons. It's the first dedicated Cambodian restaurant in Downtown San Jose, the food is delicious, it has clean modern decor, service is friendly, and everything is reasonably priced. It also has quite the story.

Chef Channy Laux is a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. At 13, she dealt with starvation, sickness, and repeated separation rom her family. In 1979 she made it to Lincoln Nebraska as a refugee and ended up earning a Bachelors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln followed by a Masters in Applied Math from SCU. She then worked as a Silicon Valley engineer for 30 years and now this is her passion project.

Angkor Chef features iconic Cambodian dishes with a focus on noodles, stir-fries, and umami-rich Prahok dishes. All the sauces are made from scratch using produce and herbs sourced from local refugee farmers and imported spices from Cambodia. Some of the sauces are also bottled and sold, one has even won awards (Lemongrass Paste). You don't have to take my word for it, Angkor has a rare 4.5 star rating on Yelp.

Angkor Chef is open Tues-Thur from 11:30am-9pm, Friday from 11:30am-10pm, and Saturday from 12pm to 10pm. It's closed on Sunday and Monday. You can also order pickup or delivery over here.