Dine Downtown returns with a super-sized 6 week program

The Dine Downtown program is back and better than ever despite COVID19. Not only will more eateries be included but the event has been extended to 6 weeks, running all the way to November 15th. Each participating restaurant will have a multi-course special just for the event. This time around even cafes are included with food and coffee pairings, which is a fantastic idea!

The list of participants includes many local favorites like 71 Saint Peter, District, Enoteca La Storia, Habana Cuba, Mezcal, Pastelaria Adega, and Farmer's Union. There is one notable addition, which for me is the most highly anticipated restaurant opening in Downtown for all of 2020... Petiscos by Adega. This is a new casual restaurant by the same owners of Adega (the first and only San Jose restaurant to ever get a Michelin Star) and Pastelaria Adega on Santa Clara Street. Petiscos by Adega will offer Portugal's version of tapas at the corner of First and San Salvador (above Haberdasher). It's inclusion on the list hopefully means it will be open by November.

The Dine Downtown press release is below and a list of participating restaurants and menus can be found here.

Dine Downtown San Jose returns for 12^th year, Oct. 1-Nov. 15

 

SAN JOSE – Dine Downtown, version 2.020, celebrates all Downtown San Jose restaurants currently open during the COVID-19 crisis. 

 

“This is our most popular dining event because it highlights downtown’s unique food cultures,” said Julie Carlson, marketing director for the San Jose Downtown Association, which produces the event.  “This year, we stretched Dine Downtown to include more restaurants over a longer period of time to make sure customers have plenty of time to explore new dining experiences AND revisit a favorite.” 

 

Downtown restaurants are eager to see their customers return for the extended promotion Oct. 1-Nov. 15 – that’s 46 days covering seven weekends to celebrate and support all the downtown San Jose eateries that have remained open for business during the strict pandemic protocols.

 

“Our restaurants are struggling because of the pandemic,” said Autumn Young, SJDA’s interim managing director.  “We wanted to bring attention to those businesses making their way through these difficult times so they can focus on what they do best – which is making delicious food!”

 

Cafes are joining in the program this year with creative food and coffee pairings. Dine Downtown in past years focused on white tablecloth dining with chef specials, prix fixe menus and wine/cocktail tastings.

 

More than 100 food establishments are open downtown offering take out, delivery and Al Fresco outdoor dining.   Of those, more than 20 will feature a Dine Downtown offer.

 

SJDA is still gathering offers from regular Dine Downtown participants, including 71 Saint Peter, Farmers Union, District, Enoteca la Storia, Habana Cuba and Hawaiian Poke Bowl.  One newcomer this year is the Petiscos by Adega Portuguese restaurant at 399 S. First St., which is scheduled to open during Dine Downtown’s run.

 

Examples of specials for this 12^th year of Dine Downtown:

 

·      Tiki Pete, 23 N. Market St. offers a food-and-drink pairing of Mai Tai and Shoyu Chicken ($20) and a Chef Special of ahi poke nachos ($10).  The Prix Fixe for two includes Cajun fries appetizer, seafood combo of shrimp, green mussels from New Zealand, dark clams in shell, plus choice of Dungeness crab, king crab legs or whole lobster, plus Hawaiian sausages, corn and red potatoes, and haupia for dessert ($90).

·      The Farmers Union on San Pedro Square brings back its offer from previous years of three courses for $30 of choice of creamy tomato soup or Caesar’s salad appetizer, entrée choice of Farmers veggie bowl, grilled flat iron steak, half-rack smoked ribs or salmon, and warm brownie and salted caramel bread pudding for dessert.

 

Many of the cafes, delis and coffee houses are excited to participate in Dine Downtown:

 

·      The Nest Asian Bistro, 312 S. Third St., offers 77-cent boneless chicken wings and $5 beer on Monday and Wednesday.

·      Cubamex, 325 S. First St., will add chips and salsa and soda to any sandwich order for $2 more.

·       MakiBQ on Fountain Alley has three chef specials:  Kimbap & Inari Combo with House Sauce ($6); Chicken Katsu Musubi with Cucumbers & Teriyaki Sauce ($6); Volcano - Fire Fries, Fried Chicken & Crispy Noodles Spicy ($8)

 

Other participants include Academic Coffee, Voyager Craft Coffee, Voltaire Coffee Roasters, Paper Moon Café and  Pastelaria Adega.

San Jose's new Better Bike Plan 2025

San Jose's 2020 Bike Plan led the city to become one of the most bike-friendly in the United States. It resulted in 392 miles of on-street bikeways and 62 miles of trails. Now, it's successor is looking to take things even further.

Better Bike Plan 2025 would call for 37 miles of new trails, 79 miles of new separated bike lanes, 101 miles of bike boulevards on slow-speed streets, and upgrading 293 miles of existing bike lanes with additional safety measures.

When San Joseans were polled, many said that they would want to bike more but were concerned about safety. This new plan attempts to alleviate those concerns by focusing on increasing safety such as adding protected lanes. 

If all goes well, the improvements, additional bike lanes, and trails could be fully rolled out over the next 4 years.

Source: San Jose Inside

New office building coming to North San Jose

LBA Realty has submitted plans for a new 125,000 SQFT four-story building near West Trimble Road in North San Jose. Amenities include two urban gardens, an amphitheater, a grove, and a greenroof terrace on the fourth floor.

This building is designed to compliment another approved 10-building project called NorthTown right next door which would span 1.28 million SQFT.

While the timing may seem off given the whole COVID situation, now is actually a great time to build preparing for a major rebound in 2021 or 2022. A lot of people (myself included) are missing going into the office and interacting with coworkers face-to-face.

Source: SVBJ

Cambrian Park Plaza Proposal

A once popular West San Jose shopping center is slated to be fully redeveloped into a mixed-use urban village. Cambrian Park Plaza is slated to have 58,000 SQFT of retail, a six-story apartment building with 305 units, 25 townhomes, 48 single family homes, a four-story assisted living facility, 229 hotel rooms and generous amounts of park space with include a children's playground, dog park, and community garden.

Weingarten Realty--the developer--was able to cram all of this into 18 acres by placing almost all of the 1,469 parking spaces underground.

The retail spaces are going to be between 1,080 and 5,000 SQFT, which will make it difficult for larger retailers such as BevMo to move back in but will be a convenient size for restaurants and small shops.

Cabrian Park Plaza drawings look pretty darn good so far and remind me a bit of Evergreen Village Square. This is envisioned as a signature project and effectively a downtown area for the Cambrian district. 

There is no ETA yet, but hopefully this moves into demo and construction by the end of 2021.

Source: San Jose Inside, SVBJ

Welcome Back to Downtown San Jose!

Parts of Downtown San Jose has been thriving lately despite the pandemic, but many businesses need our support if we want them to be around in 2021. I came across the video below that highlights many of our local entrepreneurs along with a new hashtag, #dtsjopen. Check it out and please patronize the restaurants and shops you care about!

LGBTQ business district launching Downtown

Post Street in Downtown San Jose is officially going to transform into a LGBTQ+ district called "Qmunity." The idea will be to create something similar to the Castro in San Francisco or West Hollywood at much smaller scale. The street stretches from 1st Street to South Market and has had LGBTQ bars and nightclubs for quite some time.

The San Jose Downtown Installation just installed new trees and programmable LED lights for the new district. Urban artwork is currently underway for both crosswalks and sidewalks. Soon there will also be a LGBTQ+ mural and banners to help build the identity of the district.

Source: San Jose Inside

Urban Confluence Silicon Valley Reveal Event

Urban Confluence Silicon Valley is going to build an iconic landmark across the street from the SAP Center. Last Friday, they narrowed down almost a thousand concept submissions across six continents to just three finalists.

Two of them use negative space to recreate the original San Jose Light Tower while providing platforms for visitors to climb the tower and take in 360 degree views. 

The third concept is a towering garden with over-sized plants and flowers. This one features walkways with glass on all sides--including the floor--that make you feel like you are floating through the garden..

Each of these finalists will receive $150k to perfect their concept and a final decision on which will go forward with will take place early next year. You can watch the full reveal of all three concepts below.

MIRO Towers being topped off

Below is a brief video from the top of MIRO, San Jose's future tallest set of buildings. The towers are currently at maximum height (just under 300 feet) and they should be ready for leasing some time next year. The views look quite stunning from up there.

Source: aphelion2100 from the San Jose Development Forum