This Thursday: Beta Tasting to Benefit the Bay Area Mobile Food Vendors Association

It's no secret that The San Jose Blog is fond of food; from restaurant openings, a full downtown restaurant spreadsheet, to the many Dishcrawls and Moveable Feast adventures -- we're simply addicted to eating!

So, when along comes another food truck adventure - we're happy to share it with others!

You may have already heard about it, but this Thursday is Beta Tasting! 

So here's the cheese:

There will be 10+ food trucks with varying cuisines, coming together to share over 20 experimental dishes. Tickets for the event are $2 each; all the dishes are priced $3-$5 each. So it's up to you what you'd like to try. After trying the dishes, you can vote for your favorites as well.

But this is more than just a food truck gathering. 

Proceeds from Beta Tasting benefit the livelihood and union of food trucks in the Bay Area through the Bay Area Mobile Food Vendors Association (BAMFVA).

I got in touch with a couple of the participating food trucks and asked the owners why they decided to participate in Beta Tasting and what they felt they'd gain in return by being part of this event?

As food truck owners, we are excited to have an association that represents us and our businesses. We are a group that has no representation when it comes to regulations, events, and legal representation.  Most food trucks are independent, and small businesses that need to have resources available to them to sustain their own business. When it comes to the food, we are a group of people that loves to cook, and want to be involved with presenting great food from truck.  

- Carol Wang & Robert Pei, Owners of Eat on Monday

I am a one of the members of the Board of Directors for the very new BAMFVA (Bay Area Mobile Food Vendors Association). The association is hosting this event in conjunction with Dishcrawl. It is our first fundraising effort to raise some money as we are still in the process of establishing the association. It will be the first event of its kind where each truck will be offering a brand new dish that no one else will have had the chance to try before! An opportunity to experiment with new recipes and for food truck fans to tell us what they think! 

- Nancy Nguyen, Owner/Operator, O Mi Ninja SJ - Vietnamese Street Food Truck

So what kind of dishes can you expect to see?

Eat on Monday will be featuring a Dungeness Crab Rangoon which is crispy fried wonton skin wrapped Dungeness crab, cream cheese, with a spicy and sweet Thai style dipping sauce. Along with that, they'll have an Egg in the Hole Burger and Fried Milk.

O Mi Ninja will be featuring Gluten-Free Vietnamese Carmelized Shrimp over Vermicelli Noodles, Honey Ginger Lemonade, Mini Pandan waffles with coconut whipped cream (see photo), Kumquat Limeade, Mini Ninja Banh Mi sandwich (A smaller version of their most popular banh mi combining all of their meats plus bacon and egg) among other items.

Some of the other trucks and their tasty treats include:

Waffle Amore: Lemon Bar Waffle, Frozen Fosters Waffle

Brothers Gow Chow: Lamb Sliders, Spanakopita, Dolmas, Greek Yogurt Parfait

Fairy Cakes: Banana Split Cupcake, Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcake

There are many more trucks that will be there. Be sure to check out Dishcrawl's event page for a full list. Maybe you'll find your favorite truck there and something new to taste!

Beta Tasting

When: Thursday, May 2

Time: 6p-9p

Tickets: $2

Location: San Jose Giants Parking Lot

588 East Alma Avenue, San Jose, CA 95112 (parking available nearby)

This event is hosted by the Bay Area Mobile Food Vendors Association, the first owner operated organization benefitting the livelihood of food trucks and presented by Dishcrawl.

April 2013 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• A seven-story mixed-use development with up to 235 apartments and ground-floor retail/office in South Market Street between Reed and Pierce has been proposed. They are shooting for a "modern urban project" that will "elevate the pedestrian environment downtown and make this a model for urban design." This will replace a parking lot and the buildings housing SLG Art Boutiki and Audio Design Car Stereos.
• Chromatic Coffee has purchased the Realty Building at 15-25 N. Second St. and has started micro-roasting coffee. Their ideal setup long-term would be to have a cafe on-site at the roasting facility [!].
• With all of the new dedicated bike lanes Downtown, there is now a proposal to ban riding on sidewalks in the Downtown core.
• MUJI is now open [Josh: please support them, we need more retail Downtown!]
• The first curb cafe is now up outside Chacho's and Love's Cupcakes [Josh: I hear Amir is applying for one as well]
• 61 solar-powered SmartMeters that accept VISA and MasterCard have been added on Market Street and Park Avenue around Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
• Wickedly Fast WiFi launches Downtown and is one of the fastest free outdoor WiFi systems in the country.
• Groundwerx has commissioned a team of artists to create a 200 foot long ribbon mosaic along South Second Street near Fountain Alley.
• The Friday Farmer's Market is returning on May 3rd.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Virginia Terrace Apartment Project

A brand new 238-unit apartment projects is going to be built in the area bound by East Virginia Street, Martha Street, South 5th Street, and South 6th Street. All of those units are going on a site that is less than 4 acres, so it is even more dense than it looks from the photos below. The project is just outside the Downtown core, but is close enough so that most of the residents will be utilizing Downtown's amenities. This looks like a great project for the area!

Source: Mark (from Think Bigger San Jose and Content Magazine)

"From Earth to the Spirits" by Alejandra Cano at Mezcal Restaurant

from Phantom Galleries by PG

The Consulate General of Mexico is proud to present:

From the Earth to the Spirits

a photography exhibit by Alejandra Cano

In this photographic series, Alejandra Cano tells us the the mystic path of Mezcal, from being a precious gift to the tavern, where it alleviates the troubled spirits

Through this wonderful collection of images that distill and life, the artist will take us on a journey from the to the cup; from the Palenque, its stills and its mules, that kisses and caresses, that absolves, comforts and resurrects damned.

Exhibition: April 24-July 7, 2013

Mezcal Restaurant

25 W San Fernando St,

San José, CA 95113

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 9th Best City for Nerds in America

San Jose has just been proclaimed the 9th nerdiest city by Movoto, a real estate site. How did they calculate this? Here are the metrics that were used:

• Number of annual comic book, video game, anime, and sci-fi / fantasy conventions
• People per comic book store
• People per video game store
• People per traditional gaming store
• People per computer store
• People per bookstore
• People per LARPing group
• People per science museum
• Distance to the nearest Renaissance faire

Based on the data, here are the 10 Best Cities for Nerds:

1.) Atlanta, GA
2.) Portland, OR
3.) Seattle, WA
4.) Sacramento, CA
5.) Minneapolis, MN
6.) Boston, MA
7.) Las Vegas, NV
8.) Miami, FL
9.) San Jose, CA
10.) Denver, CO

San Jose also ranked #1 for number of computer stores per capita. We have a computer store for every 1,991 people. Also, I have to say that I think San Jose should have ranked way, way higher in the list. I think the SVBJ would also agree, but I am going to focus on the metrics above.

1.) Distance to the nearest Renaissance Faire:  I am guessing they used the Faire in the Gilroy area; however, there is a brand new Downtown San Jose Renaissance Faire along the Guadalupe River 0 miles from the center of San Jose.
2.) People per computer stores: okay we ranked #1 here, but I think we would have gotten some bonus points if square footage was taken into consideration. Fry's should count as 50 electronics stores in other cities =)
3.) People per video game store: same as #2. We have the flagship Gamestop on Stevens Creek that hosts video game competitions and is the size of three or four stores.
4.) People per bookstores: who buys physical books anymore? Most people in Silicon Valley have kindles or tablets to read on, likely at a much higher rate than other cities. Digital sales should be taken into consideration.
5.) Jobs for nerds should also be a metric. Look at how many tech/engineering jobs there are for nerds in the area. I'm sure San Jose would kill the rankings here (and looking at available jobs makes sense for a real estate site).

Hope we do better in the rankings next year!

Source: Movoto (thanks Nick for the tip)

New San Jose Maserati Dealership + Mercedes Expansion

A sign of the times perhaps? The economy is heating up in Silicon Valley and that money has to go somewhere. San Jose is about to get a new car dealership on Stevens Creek... none other than Maserati. The 4,000 SQFT building will host cars that have a starting price of $120,000. Currently the closest Maserati dealership is in Redwood City (photo below) and there is another one north of SF in Mill Valley. The San Jose showroom should be ready by the end of the year.

That isn't the only car news in the area. Smythe is going to expand it's 10,000 SQFT Mercedes showroom with a new steel-and-glass building clocking in at 20,200 SQFT. This project should be done by the end of March 2014.

I know I have mentioned it before, but I might as well remind you guys about the new Tesla showroom at Santana Row. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to go check it out. It's about three times larger than the old one and is the the space previously occupied by Burberry. This is easily the coolest car dealership I have ever been to, and we can take some pride in the fact that their cars are the only mass-produced vehicles being built right here in Silicon Valley.

Source: SVBJ

Wing Box: Hella Good Chicken Wings

Hella good chicken wings.

That's what it says on the sign for the San Jose restaurant, Wing Box. And, so far I have to agree! The Wing Box is a small chicken joint with a simple menu consisting of five asian-inspired sauce covered wings (and drumsticks). 

Located on Lundy Avenue in a small shopping center filled with various other asian restaurants (sushi, thai, etc - quite an assortment, among some other stores as well) the Wing Box is a stylish little spot.

 

The decor is industrial, sleek, and simple. A giant chalkboard shows you the limited menu.

Your options are:

(Four wings with the rice and pickled carrots and daikon.)

• Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings
• Singaporean Street Wings
• Caramelized Tamarind Wings
• Thai Basil Chili Wings
• Red Sticky Wings

Your sides:

• Garlic Noodles
• Shoestring Fries
• Sweet Potato Fries

The drinks are even a little different as well:
House specialty sparkling lemonades - freshly squeezed / exotic fruits.

• Meyer Lemon
• Guava
• Lychee
• Candied Kumquat)

They also have Southeast Asian Sweet Teas

• Ginger-Mint, Lemongrass, Mango, Peach, or Pomegranate
  
• Thai Iced Tea
  
• Coca Cola (in a bottle)

and, the novelty item that caught my attention as much as it has some of the Yelpers out there - the Box Water.

Yes, they have a tall box of water (looks like a mini milk carton) for $2.50 

(However you can still get normal ice water for free.)

So - how'd this place make its way onto my radar? Well my husband and I work near the Wing Box (he's closer than I am by a few minutes) and he's been there a few times with coworkers. One day, the two of us were going to have lunch together and he suggested the Wing Box. Ok, I'm down. I've got mad chicken cravings so I wanted to give it a go. 

Alright so like I said, it's a little spot. Very little. There are two tables for four people, and a window seat bar with two seats. That's it. Thankfully the two times I've been there at lunch on a weekday, we were able to get seats. But if you get there and it's busy, have another idea of where you will eat your lunch. Don't skip out just because you can't find somewhere to sit! (Ok, this might be the food truck adventurer in me speaking, I'm pretty used to eating where I stand…)

My husband has had several of the flavors (if not all) and after a quick look at photos of the wings (that have more detailed ingredient listings) I chose the Singaporean Street Wings. 

Oh yeah - here's the thing. During the week, they have a special. For $5.80 you can get a large wing and drumstick, a scoop of rice, a small container of pickled carrots and daikon as well as a small scoop of their garlic noodles (you can sub fries if you like.) Perfect price! 

For me, this was plenty of food. If you are a lumberjack, skip that and go with the Wing Box Sampler: Two wings of each of the five flavors, four scoops of rice, and two trays of the pickled carrots and daikon. If you are with a small group, this would be a nice choice to try several of the flavors. 

I LOVED the chicken. It wasn't crazy soaked with the sauce (which was freakin' tasty) and that let the chicken stay crunchy. The inside was super juicy! The size of the wing and drumstick are larger than average as well. 

They have a few dipping sauces you can include as well. I like to have a small cup of the Sriracha sauce to mix with my white rice. Yum!

The second time I went, I chickened out (hah, see what I did there?) and ended up with the same flavor again. I didn't want to risk possibly not liking another flavor! I was craving the kind I had last time, so I had to go with that.

This just means I need to return a few more times to try the other flavors!

Oh and a small thing, that probably is just a detail for myself but -- the sparkling lemonades are mixed when you order. So I was able to try the Meyer Lemon lemonade without the carbonation (can't have it). It wasn't overly sweet which is a winner in my book. I think I'll try the Lychee version next time.

While I think it's great to have places outside of the downtown area - I really do think a place like this would fit perfectly either in the SoFA District or even better, at San Pedro Square Market.  

Have you been to the Wing Box yet? What did you think of the place?

http://wing-box.co/

1715 Lundy Ave #162

San Jose, CA 95131

San Jose's UCP is Going to IPO

Union Community Partners (UCP) is a San Jose-based homebuilder and developer who has just filed for a $125M IPO. They sell real estate lots for development to larger homebuilders or they build those lots out themselves using their Benchmark Communities brand. They currently control almost 5,000 residential lots in the South Bay, Central Valley, Monterey, and Puget Sound area. Not only is the IPO great news for San Jose, but it also shows how the housing market has rebounded since the bubble burst in 2008.

Source: SVBJ