As bon vivants who rub elbows with some of Silicon Valley’s most exciting arms, Mr. Harada and I are all too familiar with the bespoke lifestyle. So, while I wait on delivery of my custom Lamborghini Centenario (with full Levi’s denim interior and a Monster…
Articles by Kathy Manlapaz
Deluxe has all the trappings of a respectable hipster eatery. Casual jazz and hip-hop plays over brunch-time speakers. A neon Marilyn Monroe autograph rests above the door by the bar, which has a boomerang shape. A gaudy chandelier hangs over a dining room with high-top…
As new buildings sprout up around the valley, Mr. Harada and I sit back and casually observe the action from behind a pen and bar tab. Certain architectural trends and styles are more prominent than others, but one look keeps popping up as we pogo…
Humble cuts of meat contain the boldest flavors. Short ribs stand as the sweet, charred cornerstone of Korean BBQ. Ham hocks imbue Southern collard greens with smoky soul. And turkey necks exponentialize the flavor of any long-simmering pot of beans. But none hold a candle…
A few eateries on two blocks of Alum Rock does not necessarily make an ethnic hub, but a new restaurant in Little Portugal is attempting to address the gap in San Jose’s food offerings. Newly opened Adega takes the place of the long-standing Sousa, adding…
It was a stormy night, and Evil was a foot. It came in a Jimmy Choo sandal a size and a half too small. Evil’s toes hung off the front like refugees jockeying for position on a deflating raft. It seems a designer shoe, no…
The former home of a Wienerschnitzel, across the street from a Chevron in a sleepy San Jose strip mall, can’t be right for a vegan restaurant, right? Wrong. The bright yellow, steep-roofed eatery on the corner of Meridian and Fruitdale now shelters The Flying Falafel,…
An echo resonates in a dingy cellar after a bottle of 1969 Dom Ruinart champagne—one of only 19 bottles in the world—is popped. This is one of the many memorable pieces of cinematography in SOMM: Into the Bottle, a new documentary by director Jason Wise….
Americans corrupted sushi. The Japanese morsels of rice, vegetables and fish transformed stateside into state-fair spectacles—overstuffed tubes of rice-wrapped tempura drenched in heavy teriyaki-mayo. The rainbow flavor-blast can mask fish quality just as hazelnut creamer saves gas station coffee. Yet, these guilty pleasures remain in…
Silicon Valley is home to many a workaholic, but we all need a vacation once in a while. Lazy Dog, a Cupertino restaurant inspired by ski lodges along the slopes of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, brings a dose of vacation to the bustling corporate area a…
