Five reasons to look forward to the work week: Harold McGee, Miss Arely, Anthony Bourdain, ArtRage, Zero Hour.
News
Blind tasting challenge at Artisan Wine Depot; Summit to Sea and Psycho Donuts Tasting Event; Winemaker Dinner at Cin Cin; Winemaker dinner at California Cafe in Palo Alto; Anthony Bourdain at Sur la Table; British pub crawl.
It’s no secret the real estate market is still depressed, especially when compared to Silicon Valley’s boom years. Those looking to capitalize on the down market will find many foreclosures available—there are more than 300 foreclosed properties listed in San Jose alone, and hundreds more throughout the valley.
Wine Enthusiast magazine named J. Lohr Vineyards the finest American winery of the year. The tribute recognized the vineyard for its wines as well as its contributions to women’s health and for going green.
The San Jose City Council voted 4-7 to postpone the payment of bonus checks to retirees for eight months.: The current pension system is $2 billion in the hole and unsustainable as is, warned City Auditor Sharon Erickson. Mayor Chuck Reed agreed, warning that if the city does not do something about pension costs, it will run out of money in 17 years.
San Jose is taking a giant leap forward to the next generation of public transportation with the Podcar City Conference. Pod cars are a hybrid form of public and private transportation, also known as personal rapid transit. They are electric vehicles that run on a track, like a train, but each car is for individuals and takes them exactly where they want to go, without stopping to let people on or off along the way.
Ten former San Jose Giants, including the entire postseason starting rotation, closer Brian Wilson and rookie phenom Buster Posey, will attempt to slay the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series starting tonight. Wilson and Posey will join starting pitchers Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, as well as Sergio Romo, Travis Ishikawa, Nate Schierholtz and Pablo Sandoval, as former San Jose Giants trying to break the San Francisco Giants 56-year World Series drought.
Soccer fans may have noticed that Earthquakes star Chris Wondolowski donned a bright pink wristband while he scored an unheard of three goals during the team’s Oct. 20 game. Instead of shying away from wearing pink clothing, Wondolowski and many of the team’s players and coaches sported pink attire at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara a week ago.
The South Bay does have vegetarian restaurants. They generally fall into two groups: south Indian food (dosa, utthapam) and Asian-ish restaurants that lean heavily on tofu and faux meat. I love south Indian food, but I think the fake meat thing is lame. If you’re going to cook or eat vegetarian food, embrace it. Why dress up food to look like meat?
Izakaya is Japan’s take on tapas, small plates of food designed to go with beer and sake. Silicon Valley has a wealth of izakaya restaurants, and while the range and execution of the dishes at Kyora put it somewhere in the middle tier of South Bay izakaya restaurants, it still deserves a place on the map.
