It is almost impossible to describe what awaits you at San Jose’s Art Boutiki as anything other than “eclectic.” It is a serendipitously curated shop in downtown that combines a live music venue with a store that features graphic novels and comics, an art gallery and a large selection of Tiki items you never knew...
The Biz Beat: Milohas in San Jose makes divine empanadas
As you enter Milohas Pastries in San Jose, the enchanting aroma of fresh-baked empanadas fills your senses long before you can take in the display cases packed with a bounty of the golden brown pastries. They range from sweet and savory Colombian standards to imaginative takes on calzone ingredients. “People would come in, thinking we...
The Biz Beat: Try the grasshoppers at Mezcal in San Jose
Mezcal Restaurant in San Jose specializes in authentic Oaxacan cuisine, from the mole negro and mole coloradito—two of the seven famed Oaxacan chocolate sauces—to the chapulines, or grasshoppers sauteed in garlic, lime and salt. Umm… grasshoppers? “Why not?” owner Adolfo Gomez told San José Spotlight. “It’s a traditional item for us. People say we’re trying...
The Biz Beat: Rollati Ristorante in San Jose serves one spicy pie
After two and a half years of planning, Rollati Ristorante has already established itself as a destination restaurant in the two weeks since its mid-September opening. Offering an elegant twist on classic Italian-American cuisine in downtown San Jose, it is the newest of the Vine Hospitality Group’s restaurants, which include Santana Row mainstays Left Bank,...
The Biz Beat: Mama Roc’s rolls into San Jose with a taste of Puerto Rico
Easy to spot in her vibrant red dress, Rochelle Cartagena-Segura was set on hugging every person who showed up to celebrate the Sept. 16 opening of her Mama Roc’s Puerto Rican and Caribbean Cuisine at Evergreen Village Square in San Jose. “We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights,” she told the crowd. “It’s been challenging...
The Biz Beat: San Jose Italian eatery has an East Coast secret
One of the greatest compliments Jordanian-born George Keshek, owner of Ristorante da Maria in San Jose, ever received was when members of the Italian-American Heritage Foundation asked him to hold a class on how to cook his classic Bolognese. “Teaching Italians how to make Italian food,” he told San José Spotlight. “But we do it...
The Biz Beat: Discover San Jose’s gateway to world-famous falafels
Falafel’s Drive-In still serves hamburgers and hotdogs, a throwback from 56 years ago, when it was a Snow White Drive-In. But it was the homemade falafels that founder Anton Nijmeh added to the menu that gave San Jose its first taste of Middle Eastern cuisine and made the little diner world famous. “Dad just made...
The Biz Beat: A must try Ethiopian restaurant in San Jose
Ethiopian food is one of the oldest cuisines in the world, and one of the most communal dining experiences as well. For the last 11 years, the owners of Walia Ethiopian Cuisine in San Jose have shared their culture with customers who come from all over the Bay Area to dip their injera bread into...
The Biz Beat: San Jose restaurant touts Indian cuisine to-go
By applying a familiar quick-serve restaurant formula and turning it on its head, Sam & Curry in San Jose takes Indian cuisine to another level with a menu filled with burritos, tacos and rice bowls. But whether you eat your meal with your fingers or a fork, the dishes have an intensely authentic taste that...
The Biz Beat: San Jose restaurant unlocks beauty and depth of Venezuelan cuisine
Joanna Torres is on a mission to popularize Venezuelan food with her Willow Glen restaurant, Arepas. And if her recent catering job of serving 1,400 arepa sandwiches for Intuit is any indication, she is succeeding. Founded less than two years ago, Arepas in San Jose has a loyal customer base that stretches to Modesto. The...