San Jose craft cocktail bar gets a ‘Miracle’ holiday makeover
A figure of Santa Claus cheerfully stands in front of a brightly lit Christmas tree. Giftwrapped boxes and ornaments hang from the ceiling. And all the beer taps have Santa hats on their handles. If the North Pole had a bar, this is where the elves would hang their jingle bells after a long day of making toys.
It’s Miracle on First Street, a holiday season transformation of Paper Plane, a popular craft cocktail lounge in downtown San Jose. The holiday spirit has definitely caught on here, whether it’s the colorful lights on bartender Mary Palac’s sweater or the positively festive glassware.
The Miracle pop-up concept was born in 2014 in New York City, where Greg Boehm turned his not-yet-completed lounge Mace into a Christmas cocktail lounge for the holidays. The idea grew to more locations each year and has now gone global. There are two other “Miracle” bars in Northern California, one at San Francisco’s PCH and a tiki version called Sippin’ Santa in Sacramento.
“We thought the community would really enjoy it, and people have been very receptive,” Paper Plane co-owner George Lahlouh said. “This is the first of many years that we’ll do this.”
The Paper Plane crew hired a professional decorator to transform the craft cocktail bar on South First Street into a bar any tipsy Santa could love in just 12 hours.
It launched the day after Thanksgiving to a huge crowd, and the crowds have increased as Christmas has gotten closer.
The Miracle cocktail menu was designed by Mace’s Nico de Soto and has the best names. There’s a hot milk punch called Bad Santa, a concoction of mulled wine puree and gin called Run Run Rudolph and the rummy (and yummy) Yippie Ki Yay Mother F***r for fans of that Christmas classic, “Die Hard.” The Santa-themed drinkware is part of the pop-up package and is available for sale, too, with a portion of some of the sales going to Action Against Hunger.
If you want to check out Miracle on First Street, don’t dawdle. It’s gone after New Year’s Eve. BUSH BIOGRAPHER AT
STATE OF THE VALLEY >> Jon Meacham, the presidential biographer who eloquently eulogized President George H.W. Bush, will deliver the keynote address at the State of the Valley conference in February. Joint Venture Silicon Valley CEO Russ Hancock clearly has impeccable timing when it comes to securing speakers.
Meacham, a contributing editor at Time who often appears on news and politics shows, should provide some interesting historical perspective to Silicon Valley’s current place nationally and globally. And no doubt he’ll have some thoughts on what’s going on in American politics today.
Registration for the Feb. 15 conference at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center is available at jointventure.org. Left: A figure of Santa Claus greets patrons at Miracle on First Street, a holidaythemed makeover of popular downtown San Jose cocktail bar Paper Plane. Bottom left:
A Snowball Old Fashioned is one of the special cocktails being offered at Miracle on First Street through Dec. 31. HITTING THE ICE >> Figure skating champions Kristi Yamaguchi and Polina Edmunds put on a show for kids from San Jose’s Bachrodt Elementary School on Wednesday at Downtown Ice. The holiday party, sponsored by Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation and Alaska Airlines, included a figure skating performance by Edmunds, an Archbishop Mitty grad and U.S. National champ, as well as a skating clinic by Yamaguchi, who won Olympic gold in 1992.
Meanwhile, the ice hockey teams from Bellarmine College Prep and Valley Christian High School are getting ready to take the ice at SAP Center on Friday for the second annual Stephen Caban Memorial Game. Caban, a Bellarmine student and hockey player, lost his battle with cancer in 2016. Funds raised by the game and its silent auction will support pediatric cancer research at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the Bellarmine Fund, which supports the school’s ice hockey program. Tickets can be purchased at www.barracudagroups.com/bells, and ticketholders are welcome to stay for the 7 p.m. game between the San Jose Barracuda and the Tucson Roadrunners.
MOMENT’S GOLDEN MOMENT >> While there has been a lot of construction around downtown San Jose, no significant projects were completed in 2018. But that didn’t deter the San Jose Downtown Association’s Design Committee, which annually presents a Golden Nail award to a project that has an impact on downtown. An Element of Distinction Award was presented this year to Moment, the quartet of micro-retail spaces carved out of the San Pedro Square parking garage.
Downtown Design Committee Chair Steve Cox presented awards Friday morning to representatives of San Jose’s Department of Transportation, Eaton Hall Architecture and design firm Gensler.
The award is a good reminder that Moment, which provides shortterm leases for retail startups, is a good option for holiday shoppers, too. The current lineup of stores is Fractal Flora, Empire in the Air apparel, Bobo Design Studio and Hapertas & Co., which specializes in handmade menswear accessories. You can check them out or stay updated at www. moment-sj.com.