Little Italy San Jose Events!

Mask Making workshop with Carla Almanza-Dequant When: Sunday April 3rd - 11:00am - 5:00 pm Created By: Little Italy San Jose More Info: Mask making workshop with world famous artis, Carla Almanza - Dequant.  Lunch is included @ Paesano Ristorante. Cost $105 - Portion of proceeds will go to Little Italy 501c3. (Class requires a minimum of 5 participants) Details: Design and decorate a Venetian half mask.  All essential materials included. Blank "Carta Pesta" half mask, paints, ribbons, glue imported italian papers for decoupage, trim, gold and silver leafing, and glitter.  Please bring any specialty items you may want to add to you mask such as jewels, feathers, and lace. Carla will add her artistic touch to finish your mask. Reservations/Contact: Kathy Winkelman - gioiacustomerservice@yahoo.com Little Italy San Jose Wine Club Release #2 When: Tuesday April 19th - 5:30pm - 7:30pm Where: Paesano Ristorante (Patio) 350 West Julian #1, San Jose, CA What: Taste 4 Wines (La Tunella Biancosesto, Luisi Moscato D'Asti, Paolo Manzone Barbera, Attilio Ghisolfi Barolo) Details: $10 tasting fee (Includes tasting of 4 wines and Little Italy Logo wine glass) *If you buy wine at the event you will get $5 off your order from tasting fee Reservations: Contact Joshua DeVincenzi Melander (408) 394-2893jcmelander@yahoo.com Viva La Moto (Vintage Vespa & Ducati Show) When: Sunday May 22nd 12:00pm - 5:00pm Where: Little Italy San Jose (350 West Julian) Details: Festival with vendors and enthusiasts of Vintage and new Italian motorcycles.  Bring your own bike or enjoy those on display.  Food, and wine will be available. Price: Free

Paesano Ristorante Italiano Grand Opening Video

Grand Opening of Paesano Ristorante!

Little Italy San Jose is about to launch their first Italian restaurant! Information on the grand opening ceremony  tomorrow is below. I can't wait to try this place out!

We are excited to announce the long awaited Grand Opening of Paesano Ristorante will be this weekend.

 

What: Paesano Ristorante Grand Opening

When: Sunday December 5th (Main Grand Opening event) and Saturday December 4th (Additional Grand Opening)

Where: 350 West Julian #1

Phone # for Reservations - 408 - 217-9327

Details:  In addition to the Grand opening event on Sunday December 5th, we will host an Italian Christmas celebration with La Befana, Tree Lighting ceremony, and an Italian Choir.

 

Help us congratulate Giuseppe "Pino" Spatola and support our Little Italy business.

 

Thanks, Joshua DeVincenzi Melander

More Italian Family Festa Photos!

Thomas Wohlmut sent me a few shots from last weekend's Italian Family Festa that really show off the number of people that attended. This event was a huge success and hopefully will become a downtown tradition for many years to come.

Italian American Family Festa Photos

SJ21: A Sneak Peek Inside San Jose Little Italy

San Jose / Twenty-One has a great post about the new Little Italy project in San Jose, along with a few photos. I'll also post my several of my own photos on Monday. It's still not too late to catch the Italian American Family Festa that is going on today at Guadalupe River Park next to what will soon become Little Italy!

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A Sneak Peek Inside San Jose Little Italy

from S a n J o s e / T W E N T Y - O N E by DLo

"It's not about developing, it's about restoring." That's what developer Joshua DeVincenzi Melander says is the true intent of city's new Italian-American community, Little Italy San Jose.

An Italian wine bar will soon be in place at the main piazza.

Anchored in the River Street neighborhood, once a bustling Italian immigrant enclave, this new Little Italy will, in a sense, be an amalgamation of several of San Jose's oldest Italian communities (e.g. Goosetown, Luna Park) which the city either destroyed or neglected over the years. At one time, Italians were the city's largest ethnic group, so this new effort is more about bringing back what the city had (and lost) than creating something from scratch.

An archway on Julian will soon welcome visitors.

Like nearby San Pedro Square Market, Little Italy is ambitious in its scope. And yet, when completed, San Jose's Little Italy will feel very personable. Unlike the expansive Little Italys of New York City or Chicago, San Jose's occupies a relatively small space, primarily between River Street and The Guadalupe River Park. When completed, Little Italy will feel like an intimate Italian community. The intent here is here to create an authentic neighborhood experience with a string Italian-themed businesses, such as restaurants, gelaterias, and wine bars, as well as piazzas, archways, and bocce courts.

Future Italian-themes businesses.

One important milestone for both Little Italy San Jose and The Italian American Heritage Foundation of San Jose comes this weekend with theItalian American Family Festa (Saturday, August 28, 11 AM - 8 PM and Sunday, August 29, 11 AM - 6 PM; admission is free). This year the festival moves to its new home, adjacent to Little Italy, in the Guadalupe River Park. It is also its 30th anniversary, and will include the unveiling of the Piazza Piccola Italia. For the piazza, Little Italy solicited donations from the city's Italian-American community, who, in return, had personalized bricks placed into the design of the courtyard.

The Piazza Piccola Italia will be dedicated this weekend.

Little Italy is definitely a project to keep an eye on. It certainly has its work cut out for it, but the project certainly seems to be in loving hands. Speaking to Joshua DeVincenzi Melander, you quickly get a sense of the cultural pride that runs deeply through the project. They clearly intend to do this thing right. And they're off to a great start.

Buona fortuna.

Italian American Family Festa

Want to get a sneak preview of Little Italy? Why not head on down to the Italian American Family Festa, going on now in Guadalupe River Park! I was down there for a little bit this morning and there is tons of authentic Italian food, arts & crafts shops, bocce ball, and entertainment. Downtown San Jose wins big by netting great annual event, right next to the future Little Italy San Jose. I couldn't think of a better place in Silicon Valley to host this event ;)

WHEN:	Saturday, August 28, 11 am - 8 pm Sunday, August 29, 11 am - 6 pmPlease join us for the first event: Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (12:30pm, Saturday, August 28th)
WHERE:	The Festa's new home in Guadelupe River Park, downtown San Jose

Last Chance to Get a Little Italy San Jose Brick!

Want to preserver your family legacy and contribute to one of the most exciting projects in San Jose right now? There is only one week left where you can purchase a Little Italy brick engraved with your information or a message of your choosing. The bricks will be placed in Piazza Piccola Italia, which is the centerpiece of the Little Italy project. Picture a beautiful courtyard trellis featuring olive trees, lemon trees, and a fountain all surrounded by historic Victorian homes. This is the place where musicians, singers, and wine tastings occur according to the Little Italy website.

$100 really is a very reasonable amount to pay for something like this, especially considering where the bricks are going to be located. That amount is also tax deductible, so really you're looking at a net $50-70 cost... that's pretty much what you'll pay for a single dinner for two. To order your brick, click here!

Little Italy San Jose - Walking Tour

Old Little Italy Archway Concepts

It tuns out that I never posted the original archway concepts for San Jose's Little Italy. Sorry about that! Here they are:

To see the latest render click here!

New Potential Little Italy Arch Render

Below is another rendering of what the Little Italy arches could look like (this one was put together by Acadia Architecture). Also the first restaurant in little Italy, Paisano's Trattoria Italiana, is opening up within a couple months!

Little Italy San Jose

Another very interesting project that seems to be progressing nicely is Little Italy San Jose in the River Street area of San Jose (first settlement of Italian Americans to San Jose during the late 19th century). You can see this location in the first image below. Highway 87 is just to the right of that photo and the area is bound by Almaden Blvd to the east and St. John St. to the south.

The idea is to fill the lease-able areas in this district with Italian businesses, to have 3 welcome arches into the area, and to utilize the 87 underpass to connect the Little Italy with the proposed Italian Cultural Center off Notre Dame Ave (second image below), San Pedro Square, and the new San Jose Public Market. This new district will be minutes away from Axis by foot.

I've been reading up on the Little Italy San Jose Blog and Facebook page, and it looks like they have already leased out 2 spaces. The first is to the Sabatino Memorial Family Resource Center, basically an after-school program where kids can learn the Italian language along with Italian culture. I attended something similar when I was a kid for Portuguese language and culture, and I have to say it was worthwhile. The second business is a restaurant currently located in redwood city called Siciliano Ristorante. I always get excited when any new restaurant comes to downtown, so I'll definitely be there opening month.

Like the Public Market, I'll be keeping close tabs on this project and will post short blurbs whenever I get news or find out about new retail. Couple images below, again the first is the Little Italy region and the second is the proposed Italian Cultural Center.