New event showcases restaurants, craft brews
Olla Cocina, Jackie’s Place among the eateries featured at this weekend’s Brews + Bites in downtown San Jose
Summer will get a sensational send-off this Saturday at Brews + Bites, a new outdoor event produced by the San Jose Downtown Association that celebrates restaurants around downtown and South Bay beers.
Caitlin Hartley, the downtown association’s events manager, says the event at the Circle of Palms between the Fairmont Hotel and the Museum of Art will highlight the diversity of downtown’s food offerings. It’s also part of a weeklong Yelp celebration called The Local Way to SJ, with special promotions going on around town. (Get more information at yelp.com/events/sanjose-the-local-way-to-downtownsan-jose.)
The plates being offered at Brews + Bites include tacos from Olla Cocina in San Pedro Square, special hand rolls by Sushi Confidential and Umi Hand Roll Bar; meatballs in marina from Farmer’s Union; and a chicken and waffle slider from Jackie’s Place, the popular new soul food restaurant in Japantown. Lee’s Sandwiches will be serving Vietnamese iced coffee (you weren’t the only one hoping for banh mi).
Beer offerings include tastes from San Jose breweries Uproar, Umunhum, Santa Clara Valley, Camino, Strike, Hermitage and Gordon Biersch, as well as Sunnyvale’s Off the Rails. Not into beer? There will be wine, cider and nonalcoholic drinks, too.
You can get tickets for five tastes of food only ($20), beer only ($25) or both ($40). VIP tickets are
being offered for $50 that provide early admission at 1 p.m. (Everyone else gets in at 2 p.m.) Get more details at brewsandbitessj. com.
JOIN THE CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK PARADE >> As part its 40th anniversary celebration, Christmas in the Park is bringing back its original parade Nov. 29 and has a great opportunity for neighborhood groups or community organizations that want to be part of it.
The “Parade of Neighbors” will feature up to 20 groups that will be provided the rental of a flatbed trailer, basic paint, fringe and a $1,000 budget to build their own float. And the three floats in the parade judged to be the best also will receive grants of $5,000, $2,500 or $1,000 for a designated non-profit group. Groups interested in applying need to do so by Sept. 15, and those chosen will be notified by Oct. 1.
Christmas in the Park Executive Director Jason Minsky said the creativity of the submissions will be taken into consideration and not all 20 spots may be filled, so come up with something good.
Go to christmasinthe park.com/p/other/2019christmas-in-the-park-parade for all the rules and to apply.
BEHIND ‘FIDDLER’ >> Rebecca Mason of San Jose emailed me over the weekend to rave about “Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles,” the new documentary about the creation of the beloved Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof” in the 1960s. “It is too wonderful not to share,” she said of the doc, which covers the origins of the play and later the movie, exploring how it has resonated with audiences for more than five decades.
The 92-minute film has a limited engagement in the South Bay, with showings at 3Below in downtown San Jose through Sept. 19.
Go to 3belowtheaters. com for showtimes.