Michelin-star chefs make a grand meal at Adega
San Jose’s had its share of memorable dining experiences, but it’s hard to imagine one that beats the culinary and cultural showcase this week at Adega. The East San Jose restaurant hosted chefs from three other Michelin-starred restaurants specializing in Portuguese cuisine for three seven-course, wine-paired meals.
Joining Adega’s David Costa and Jessica Carreira were George Mendes of Aldea in New York City; and Alexandre Silva of Loco in Lisbon; and Pedro Lemos from his namesake restaurant in Porto, Portugal. Nearly 100 diners took part in the San Jose’s Michelin All-Star Experience on Tuesday and Thursday, paying $375 a seat, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting No Kid Hungry — a national campaign by the nonprofit Share Our Strength to end childhood hunger.
A third dinner was held Wednesday for more than a dozen food and travel writers, who ventured to San Jose from New York, Los Angeles and Portugal, as well as VIPs including Mayor Sam Liccardo and his wife, Jessica Garcia-Kohl; Councilman Raul Peralez and his wife, Victoria Ramirez; Team San Jose CEO Karolyn Kirschgesler; SVCreates CEO Connie Martinez; Team San Jose board member Michael Mulcahy and his wife, Kimberly Mulcahy; Goodwill Silicon Valley CEO Michael E. Fox Jr.; and Annabel Chang, Alaska Airlines’ Bay Area vice president.
The idea for the dinner came to Carlos Carreira, who owns Adega with his wife, Fernanda, during a Team San Jose trip to New York, where Costa and Jessica Carreira got the opportunity to share the kitchen at Aldea with Mendes.
“Tonight is a celebration of the amazing experience we’ve had this year,” said Carlos Carreira, who gives all credit to his daughter for pushing them to open the restaurant on Alum Rock Avenue. “We decided to invited some other talented chefs who have worked Chef David in Portugal to come here for a week to help us showcase what Portuguese is all about.”
Like I said, it’s going to be hard to beat as a culinary event, but Carreira’s going to try as he hopes to turn the Michelin AllStar Experience into an annual event. BAYMEC GALA IS BACK >> The Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee — known to all as BAYMEC since it was founded in 1984 by Ken Yeager and Wiggsy Sivertsen — is bringing back its annual gala this year with a brunch on Oct. 1.
The LGBTQ advocacy group’s Progress Never Stops brunch at the GlassHouse in downtown San Jose will feature a keynote address by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra — and there will be plenty of bottomless mimosas, too. Tickets start at $150 and can be purchased at www.baymec.org.
TALKING SPORTS >> If you’ve been missing Mark Purdy, Joint Venture Silicon Valley has just the event for you on Sept. 26. The recently retired Mercury News sports columnist will talk about all things involving Bay Area sports — and he’s got stories that go back three decades — in a “fireside chat” with Joint Venture communications director Duffy Jennings. “There will be lots of great stories, for sure,” Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock said. “But we’ll also talk about the bigger picture on professional sports and how they contribute to the health of the region.”
The 4 p.m. event is being held at SAP Center — and what better place to host Purdy than the home of our beloved Los
Tiburones, right? It’s free to attend, but you do need to register at jointventure.org/mark-purdy.
NEW FACES, NEW ROLES >> Teatro Visión has brought on Rodrigo García as its new Artistic Director, where he’ll be stepping into the role that Elisa Marina Alvarado has held since the Latino theater company was founded in 1984. Alvarado says she’s excited to pass on the position to García, who came to Teatro Visión as an actor in 2009 and directed the company’s popular Día de los Muertos play, “Macario,” in 201416.
Meanwhile, Mary Miller, the principal of Presentation High School is transitioning to a new position as the first president of the San Jose girls Catholic school. Miller, who has served as principal since 1993, will move into that role — equivalent to a head of school — next September as the school searches for a new principal.
ALL ABOARD >> There’s a hands-on element to the Los Altos History Museum’s Train Days, which has two days of rail fun Sept. 16-17. Besides the elaborate layouts of model railroads that attract nearly 3,000 visitors from around the Bay Area, a switching layout called the Timesaver from the National Model Railroad Association will give visitors the opportunity to experience running trains.
“With the addition of the NMRA’s Timesaver HO switching demo, children can try their hand at operating a switch engine to move freight cars to specified locations around a freight yard,” said event chair Kristen Fuller. Train Days runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the museum at 51 S. San Antonio Road, with admission $5 per person.
SIX YEARS FOR SPSM >> San Pedro Square Market in San Jose has lined up a full day of music on Sunday to celebrate its sixth anniversary, and many of the restaurants in the popular food hall will be offering $6 specials to mark the occasion.
The music starts at noon and features sevenpiece ’80s band Vinyl Replay, country-western band One Country, San Jose R&B band Given to Fly, the Jerry Sauceda Band, Latin rockers Tortilla Soup and the classic cover music of the OTR Band. Other activities include a craft table, where kids can draw and decorate an anniversary cake; a soccer skills challenge sponsored by the San Jose Earthquakes and a hockey puck challenge with Barracuda mascot Frenzy.