EITHER I’M dreaming, or Sunday’s performance of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina was the best thing that ever happened at Opera San José. The West Coast premiere revealed an extraordinary symphonic score that its composer succeeded in subordinating to the great Tolstoy narrative and the richly complex characters destined for both doom and redemption. Moreover, this new production raised company standards across the board.
Attractions News - page 62
One of the largest dog festivals in the country takes place this Saturday at William Street Park in downtown San Jose. Grab the leash and lead the pack to the dog lover’s paradise.
Five reasons to look forward to the work week: DIY cheese; Tuesday Night Music Club redux; Pushcart-winner reads; Tegan and Sara at Streetlight (and HP).
La Costa del Sol specializes in Salvadoran food, but to cover their bets they’ve also got the full lineup of tacos, burritos and enchiladas. But it’s the Salvadoran food that stands out here. Salvadoran food isn’t like Mexican food at all. It’s not spicy and is rather simple and straightforward where Mexican food can be quite complex. This is Central American soul food—pan-fried steak and chicken with lots of onion, hearty meat and vegetable soups, fried pork and yucca and, of course, pupusas.
After attending Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, Adrienne Garcia was on her way to becoming a pastry chef. After a stint at Manresa in Los Gatos, she went back and forth from the savory side to the pastry side, eventually arrived at Menlo Park’s Marché. Along with executive chef Guillaume Bienaime, she creates highly seasonal menus that play with flavors and familiar concepts and presents them in new ways with delicious results.
In an age of musicals centered on pop groups or based on Disney films, nothing could be more refreshing than a play that aspires to something greater, as Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s new play produced by TheatreWorks.
Los Gatos jewelry maker Angela Keller says that being diagnosed with breast cancer put a whole different spin on her creative process.
Keller is a Bay Area regular on the art and wine festival circuit who has been manufacturing Venetian and Italian glass bead jewelry under the name Dolce Beada for years. But it wasn’t until she came down with cancer in 2009 that she really understood the true value of her work, Keller says.
As part of his ongoing collaboration with the world’s top culinary talent, Manresa’s David Kinch has invited Alexandre Gauthier of La Grenouillère (The Frog Pond) to join him for two “late summer harvest dinners” Sept. 11-12. The 31-year-old Gauthier is from La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil just outside of Montreuil-sur-Merin in the north of France. He received his first Michelin star in 2007.
When one thinks of combining tribal tattoos and clothing, what usually springs to mind are roided-out MMA fighters in Tapout tops or L.A.-trash brands like Ed Hardy.
But Cukui Clothing Company, the latest addition to San Jose’s Japantown, takes a whole different spin on merging body-art-inspired designs and garments. Skulls, cherries, fleurs-de-lis and flash art this is not—Cukui takes its original tattoo designs seriously.
Veggielution, San Jose’s premier urban farm, is holding a benefit dinner Saturday, Sept. 11 at Eulipia. I got a chance to sample some of what consulting chef Joseph Gaudet will be cooking up for the event. Taking inspiration from Veggielution’s one-acre farm, he prepared the preview meal right on the farm with delicious results.
