Fahrenheit 9 Year Anniversary

Tomorrow Fahrenheit is celebrating nine years of being a part of the Downtown San Jose community. Their award winning cuisine features all organic and locally sourced meats, seafood, and veggies. To celebrate their anniversary they are offering complimentary hor d'oeuvres and champagne from 7pm to 10pm. Late night celebrations will run from 9pm to 1:30am and include 1/2 priced Craft Beers and Specialty Cocktails from 9pm to 10:30pm.

Music will be provided by various resident DJs and Yo Yolie. There will also be surprises and goodies throughout the event and entry will be free all night long.

Indian Motorcycle Opening Up Shop in San Jose

A new Indian Motorcycle dealership clocking in at 8,988 SQFT is schedule to open at 460 Meridian Avenue this summer in a space that used to host a Diddams party supply warehouse. The location will carry both new and used Indian and Victory brand bikes, parts, apparel, and will also have a service shop.

When it opens, it will be the only Indian Motorcycle franchise in San Jose and one of two in the Bay Area. The grand opening weekend is schedule for June 28-29 and they will be celebrating with food, music, prizes, and test-rides.

Source: SVBJ

Silicon Valley Restaurant Week ~ April 30 to May 7

The biannual Silicon Valley Restaurant Week is back starting one week from today! 50 restaurants will be offering 3-course fixed price meals at reasonable prices. San Jose is heavily represented with 11 Downtown restaurants and 8 others from across the city. Some of my favorites are on the list like Arcadia, The Table, Hay Market, LB Steak, and Fahrenheit. You can even get a free ride from uber to your dining establishment of choice. To see the full list of restaurants and book a table, just head over to the Silicon Valley Restaurant Week website.

April 2014 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• SPUR has generated six big ideas to help steer Downtown San Jose towards becoming a more vital and dynamic urban place:
• Welcome all kinds of uses Downtown, but hold out for jobs near regional transit (includes establishing minimum densities within a half mile of BART stations and eliminating minimum parking requirements for new developments).
• Make sure what gets built adheres to key urban design principals
• Promote a larger "Central San Jose" area with Downtown as its core
• Make it easier to get to and through Downtown without a car
• Retrofit Downtown to be more pedestrian-oriented
• Build on Downtown's strengths as the cultural and creative center of the South Bay
• KT Properties hopes to break ground this year for the largest residential high-rise project Downtown--Silvery Towers--involving two high-rises across from San Pedro Square Market and featuring 643 units.
• TONS of new Restaurants:
• Taurinus Brazilian Steakhouse is now open at 167 W. San Fernando.
• First to Market is open at 399 S. First.
• Seven Seas Sushi Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar is open at 130 E. Santa Clara St. (formerly Ninja Star).
• Da Kine Island Grill is now open at 23 N. Market St. (Hula dancing and reggae bands on Saturday, old-fashioned luaus on Sundays).
• Nick the Greek is open at 143 W. Santa Clara St.
• Cafe Eden is serving Mediterranean food at 2 N. First St.
• La Victoria is opening their 5th location this summer at the former Tico's Tacos site at 291 N. Fourth and Julian. This will be their 3rd Downtown location.
• ISO: Beers is now offering a huge selection of craft beers at 75 E. Santa Clara.
• Paper Plane at 72 S. First St. offers a craft cocktail bare experience and shareable food (same owners as Original Gravity)
• Fireworks are Back this Fourth of July!!! The rotary club is is celebrating its 100th anniversary and has agreed to donate $20,000 to bringing back the fireworks show. The last fireworks show we had Downtown was in 2009 (and these would attract as many as 100,000 people).
• Light Rail is now 25 years old.
• SoFA projects are well underway which will include:
• Illuminating SoFA way-finders to connect the district with the Convention Center
• Construction of a permanent shade structure for the new plaza at Gore Park
• A series of "pop-up tiendas" to support creative artists selling their work during events in SoFA.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Help Launch Strike Brewing Company's Taproom

Strike Brewing Company's own production brewery is scheduled to open shortly, hopefully this June, at 2099 S. 10th St., but to make sure that their taproom -- where people can actually have a place to visit, taste, and hang out -- opens around the same time, they're calling on the community for assistance.

Strike has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 to help fund the taproom. The campaign is more than half funded, but there needs to be more backers as the campaign closes this Saturday, April 26.

Visit the Kickstarter page to read more about Strike and the taproom story. As both a San Jose enthusiast and South Bay beer fan, I'm excited that Strike chose to build their brewery in San Jose. It'll be great if we could help them get to the $20,000 mark and play a part in building their taproom.

I've written a bit more about the Strike campaign on Examiner.com.

Prost! Gun bae! Cheers!

~Andy

Strike Brewing's Jenny Lewis (c) and Drew Ehrlich (r) joined by Santa Clara Valley Brewing's Steve Donohue (l), Credits: Andy Lee

LINQ at Berryessa Station

A new transit-oriented development is set to break ground in Berryessa this August and be ready for occupancy well before BART's arrival in 2017. The developer is Republic Family of Companies and the project is called LINQ at Berryessa Station.

In the plans are 230 residences with a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, skydeck (rooftop patio?), landscaped garden with BBQs and a gazebo. The ground floor will have 12,000 SQFT of retail space, and I'm really hoping they won't all be national chains. Also part of the project is a new one-acre park.

LINQ looks like it will be about five stories tall and will be an easy walk to the BART station. Light rail will be a one station hop away and several freeways are within two miles (101, 680, 880). I wish it was taller, but overall this looks like another interesting project that we have BART to thanks for.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose Stage Company Presents "An Iliad"

San Jose Stage Company Presents An Iliad

April 9 – May 4, 2014

 

San Jose, CA – April 07, 2014 — San Jose Stage Company presents the captivating epic tale, An Iliad, adapted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, opening April 9 and running through May 4.

 

Based on Homer’s The Iliad and translated by Robert Fagles, An Iliad is a breathtaking and relevant, modern retelling of a timeless classic which unleashes the thrilling tales of the Trojan War and delves into the psychology of passion and rage, ancient and modern. In this tour-de-force, one actor plays the Greek classic's famous characters Achilles, Hector, Agamemnon, and ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’ Helen of Troy. From Mt. Olympus Gods such as Apollo, Athena and Hermes come and go.

 

"Every time I sing this song, I hope it's the last time." So says ‘The Poet’ as he digs deep to sing Homer's epic story of war, honor, violence and the Greek siege of the city of Troy.

 

He's told this story for centuries. It’s a good story,” says the lone figure, emerging from the darkness, as he launches into this modern, enthralling adaptation of Homer’s epic poem that relives the glory and brutality of the Trojan War. Now in the shadow of war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, he unleashes the power of Homer’s classic poem for a modern audience.

 

Bay Area favorite, Jackson Davis, plays ‘The Poet’ in this lean, muscular, tour-de-force performance he combines the majestic language of Homer with the informal way we speak today.

 

As The Poet recites, comments and chats, he compels his audience to connect with his story, to feel what he feels, to believe in the importance of this story. Maybe if he tells the story one more time the violence will end. 

An Iliad premiered in 2010 and has been lauded by critics across the country, including The New York Times: "Mr. O'Hare and Ms. Peterson have telescoped the mighty expanses of Homer's great poem into an evening that scales the conflict of the Trojan War down to an intimate solo show illuminating both the heroism and the horror of warfare." 

Kenneth Kelleher directs the 100-minute performance. Mr. Kelleher has directed over twenty performances for The Stage, including The Threepenny Opera, the World Premiere of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Red, Reckless, Buried Child, On The Waterfrontand Rock ‘n’ Roll. He is currently the Artistic Director of Pacific Repertory Theatre and Resident Director of The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. He has also directed for San Jose Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, California Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Sacramento Theatre Company and B Street Theatre.

 

THE CAST:

 

Jackson Davis * (The Poet) returns to San Jose Stage Company, where he first performed in the Bay Area nearly 30 years ago inMixed Doubles, a trio of one act plays. He returns to perform in An Iliad, a piece he first performed last year at Pacific Repertory Theatre. His other theatre credits include The Fourth Messengerat The Ashby Stage, Happy End at American Conservatory Theater, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks at San Jose Repertory Theatre, The Best Man at Aurora Theatre Company, The God of Hell at Magic Theatre, MacBeth at The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Dead Man’s Cell Phone at SF Playhouse, Lovers and Executioners at Marin Theatre Company, Ben Franklin in Paris at 42nd Street, She Loves Me at Center REPertory Company and The Merry Wives of Windsor at Livermore Shakespeare Festival. He has also performed extensively with TheatreWorks in a variety of comedies, dramas, classics and musicals.

 

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

 

Run Dates:     April 9 – May 4, 2014

 

Previews:       April 9, 10 and 11, 2014

 

Opening:        April 12, 2014

 

Shows:            Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm

Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm

Sunday at 2:00 pm

 

Location:         The Stage, 490 South First Street, San Jose, CA

 

Tickets:           $25 - $50 with discounts for seniors, students and groups

 

Box Office:      408.283.7142 or www.thestage.org

 

Author:           Adapted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare

                        Based on Homer’s The Iliad, Translated by Robert Fagles

 

Director:         Kenneth Kelleher

 

Featuring:      Jackson Davis*

 

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About San Jose Stage Company:

 

Now in its 31st Season, San Jose Stage Company is recognized as the San Francisco Bay Area's Premiere Off-Broadway Theatre. The Stage is known for its devotion to new and cutting-edge work and for its commitment to showcasing high-quality local talent.

 

Ranked the 3rd largest professional theatre in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, San Jose Stage Company is a vital force in the community. The Stage has earned a reputation for artistic excellence by providing high quality, edgy theatrical experiences that engage, educate and provoke audiences. That includes 148 productions, 45 new works and 13 world premieres.

 

The Stage offers five core education and outreach programs and has housed over 250 independent performance groups. Located at the Gateway to the City's Arts and Entertainment District, San Jose Stage Company, the SoFA District's first arts anchor organization, continues to promote San Jose's stature as a burgeoning regional arts center by providing live theatre experiences that enrich the quality of life in the community.

 

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Saturday Stats: San Jose has the #3 Lowest Obesity Rate in US (For Large Cities)

We all know that obesity is a growing problem in the US, but the good news is that it is much less of a problem here than it is in other places. In a recent Gallup Well-Being survey, the San Jose area ranked as having the 3rd lowest obesity rate for any metro with a population of more than one million people. If you look at the largest 189 US Metros, we still fared quite well in 8th pace.

The most obese community in the US was Huntington-Ashland, where every two out of five people is considered obese. San Jose has half that rate with one one out of every five people being statistically obese.

Source: Gallup, Hatip to Filipe Medeiros