This family turns fine dining into extravagant evening in
Like pretty much everyone else, San Jose residents Tom and Vickie Geary had to get used to a new normal because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of their pre-pandemic routine had been going out for fine dining once or twice a month and as last summer drifted away, Vickie realized how much she missed getting dressed up and sitting down for a fancy meal. So Tom suggested that in addition to a Meatless Monday, they start having Fancy Friday.
“We set the table with ‘good’ china, linens, crystal and candle holders,” Tom said. “Vickie — who is a great cook — prepares a more elaborate meal than usual and experiments with new recipes.”
The retired couple, along with their adult grandson Gunner, dress up, open a bottle of wine from Pichetti Winery in Cupertino and enjoy. Vickie said the menu varies with entrees including New York steak, pork tenderloin and cheese tortellini, along with sides and home-baked bread. Normally, she’d prepare a dessert or two to go with the meal — she usually holds a well-attended dessert party fundraiser for the American Heart Association in February — but the guys aren’t big on sweets and Geary figures she’d balloon up if she ate itall.
The family says it’s been a great way to break up the
monotony of staying home and have added another tradition to the week, inlcuding Silly Sunday. That means fun clothes, playing a board game borrowed from a neighbor and eating nachos for dinner.
“When we worked, we may have toasted to surviving another week,” Vickie Geary said. “Now, we toast surviving!”
AN IDEA WORTH BORROWING >>
East San Jose resident Maricela Lechuga says San Jose should take a look at creating a “special use district” zoning policy modeled after San Francisco’s Cultural District Initiative as a way to preserve parts of the city rich in cultural history but in danger of gentrification. Lechuga, an artist and aspiring lawyer, sent a letter to San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo requesting the idea be considered when the council sets its annual priorities this year.
“For a city that prides itself on diversity and innovation, we still have a ways to go,” she wrote. “We currently have a Little Portugal, Little Saigon, Little Italy, Japan Town, and the La Placita Tropicana on Story and King, but these San Jose landmarks are more akin to business improvement districts and are not afforded the same kinds of resources for public art or protections against displacement of legacy businesses and lifelong residents.”
San Francisco’s initiative, she said, has allowed neighborhoods like Calle 24, Japantown and SOMA Pilipina to flourish and become cultural destinations that attract visitors from all over the Bay Area.
It’s surprising, Lechuga says, that San Jose doesn’t have a designated Latino/ Mexican cultural district despite the historic contributions made by members of that community. And the city’s Alum Rock neighborhood could benefit from such a designation, she said, because it has been the center of Latino culture in the city for decades, but is very vulnerable to displacement as Silicon Valley continues to grow.
“Such a policy change would not only be a step towards preserving and protecting the multifaceted and diverse character of our city, but help our diverse communities thrive,” she said.
It’s certainly an idea worth talking about. Let’s see if the city council agrees.
REFLECTING THROUGH ART >> Momentum for Health honored nine students this week for outstanding work in the San Jose nonprofit’s “To Be Honest” art contest, which had the theme “My Mental Health in 2020.” The semiannual contest was open to a wide age group — 14 to 25 — and 111 submissions were received, including drawings, paintings, jewelry, music, video and digital art. That variety was all part of the plan, Momentum CEO David Mineta said.
“We tried to lift some of the restraints young people have been living under for the past 11 months by allowing them to choose their preferred mediums,” Mineta said. “This was also an opportunity for young artists to communicate to the community how the pandemic has affected their mental health.”
The winners in the three categories — 2D, 3D and 4D (digital art) — were Priyanka Patel (2D, first), Izzi Boustead and Kristin Demarquez (2D, tied for second); Zoe Li (3D, first); Breanna Contreras (3D, second), Laine Calhoun (3D, third); Sanya Gupta (4D, first), Oliver Austin (4D, second); and Kimberly Baum (4D, third). The submissions were judged by a panel that included Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, Republic Urban Properties West Coast President Michael Van Every, Los Gatos Mayor Marico Sayoc, Oak Grove High School art teacher Cera Renault and Cherri Lakey, coowner of the Anno Domini gallery in downtown San Jose. You can see the winning entries for the Fall 2020 contest at tobehonest.today.
WOMAN OF THE CENTURY >>
You can bet if there wasn’t a pandemic going on, tons of longtime residents of the Santa Clara Valley would be making reservations to celebrate the 100th birthday of Marge Valente on Feb. 22. Of course, Valente was known as the queen of reservations around here, taking RSVPS for countless charity events over the years.
Her volunteer work earned her the admiration of lots of friends and even the Medici Medallion in 2012 from the Santa Clara County-province of Florence, Italy Sister County Commission. And a lifetime of love clearly aided her longevity, as she and her husband, John Valente, celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in 2016. And there must be something to that notion because John lived long and well; he died just weeks shy of his 101st birthday in 2018.
In place of a party, video greetings were sent by friends and family, including her nephew, Jim Maggiore; the Rev. Peter Pabst; Helen Marchese Owen; Sharon Vignato; Pasquale Esposito; and George Guglielmo.