Voodoo Lounge is Swinging

You'll soon be reading our rants and raves for Voodoo Lounge in the upcoming Readers' Choice issue, out July 22. The reason is simple: the Downtown San Jose venue is making relentless efforts to bring back the live music scene to the South Bay. What better way to accomplish such a feat than by bringing the swinging? On Friday, July 10, check out Royal Crowne Revue, with support from The Pimpsticks. You can purchase advanced tix here. See ya there.

New restaurant opens in Redwood City

Tonight marks the opening of Donato Enoteca, a new restaurant in downtown Redwood City. On Friday night, we had the pleasure of sampling the traditional Italian fare and we're still drooling over the marinated lamb skewers with olives; braised wild boar (our favorite); hand-made pizzas, amazing shrimp, and a bit of the exotica with squid ink risotto. Artisan olive oils play a large part in the cuisine, which prompted a tasting sampler on the menu of multiple olive oils.

Other highlights are the more than 80 Italian wines and a stunning grappa collection, the most abundant we've ever seen in a restaurant. The open-air kitchen adds an intimate touch. It allows you to watch the talented Chef Donato Scotti work his magic. Scotti has worked at the Michelin-starred Ristorante Del l'Angelo in Italy and at La Strada in Palo Alto more recently.



Here are a few other menu items: Carpaccio di Polipo – thin-sliced fresh poached octopus with olive oil, celery root and red rock salt ($8). Foiade di Funghi – organic buckwheat pasta with mixed wild mushrooms, garlic, parsley and Grana Padano ($12); and Bigoli e Coda – braised Neiman Ranch ox tail, Sangiovese, tomato, asparagus tips and “bigoli” pasta ($14). Costoletta Alla Milanese – pounded white veal chop breaded and golden with arugula and heirloom tomato salad ($23); Orata e Crostacei – Mediterranean sea bream sautéed with prawns, mussels, clams and tomato sauce ($18).

Interview and live video of Fremont's I The Mighty @ Voodoo Lounge, by Nick Veronin

Glasvegas, Von Bondies, Audrye Sessions at The Blank Club

Local radio station 104.9 must be doing something right. They've brought some really good acts to Downtown San Jose's The Blank Club recently. Last night was Scottish megastars Glasvegas, supported by Detroit rockers Von Bondies (their song "Come On" is featured on the Rescue Me TV show; Jack White of The White Stripes punched the lead singer in the face, etc.) and local boys Audrye Sessions, which had an amazing set. As always, The Wave was there to capture it all.

Exclusive invitation to ARITZIA pre-sale!

The fashion forward femmes of Silicon Valley joyously heralded the arrival of Canadian boutique Aritzia at Westfield Valley Fair in late 2007. The female contingent at The Wave has been shopping there regularly ever since, so it's our privilege to share with you a special pre-sale invitation from our good friends at Aritzia.

Simply print or download the vouchers below and bring them to the store for 20-50% off Spring/Summer must-haves from the store's assortment of edgy, trend-conscious labels.

Please join us at our special Private Pre-Sale June 12-17th, 2009. Shop our discounts before anyone else. Up to 20 - 50% off! Simply print out this invitation and present at the time of purchase. Find the nearest Aritzia here. Click here to invite your friends & family to the Pre-Sale and enter for a chance to win a $2500 Shopping Spree at Aritzia! One winner will be awarded per store. *Printouts must be presented at the time of purchase. No exceptions. *Offer valid at the following US Aritzia locations only: Aritzia Bellevue Square (Bellevue), Aritzia Valley Fair (Santa Clara), Aritzia Washington Square (Portland), Aritzia San Francisco Centre (San Francisco), Aritzia Water Tower Place (Chicago), Aritzia Northbrook Court (Chicago) Click here to subscribe to Aritzia's email newsletters. www.aritzia.com Aritzia | 611 Alexander Street, suite 327 | Vancouver, BC | V6A 1E1

The sale starts tomorrow, Fri. June 12, and runs through to Wed. June 17.

See you there!

Dine Downtown is an appetizing hit

We just got word from the San Jose Downtown Association that the inaugural Dine Downtown event in San Jose is a huge success. The event goes through Saturday, June13, making this the last weekend to sample some of the best food Downtown has to offer. For a complete menu guide to the three-course prix fixe dinners, go here.

Here's what some of the restaurants are saying about this amazing epicurean event:

Morocco's – Sham and Jay
Dine Downtown has been a blessing for our operation and we both are so thankful for it. From the bite kick off and the amazing traffic it generated. So many downtowners were so surprised to find out about us and that we have been around for 1 year. This event has allowed Morocco's to be advertised at levels that we just can not afford. Thank you once again for this great event.

Downtown Britannia Arms - Margaret
We didn't do as much at weekend as we did during the week. But still good.

Paolo’s - Carolyn
Seems that the promotion is going well although I have to say it is harder to gauge last week since there was a speaker at the CPA on Thursday and Bocelli at the Arena on Saturday which made those nights huge and may skew the stats a bit. This week may be more of a true indicator.

Inside The Grill on the Alley, by Chris Schmauch

The Grill - John
Over the weekend, they served more than 100 prix fixe dinners. They had a good turn out for the city bites which they served in their bar area. A lot of people asked for their menus. Overall the promotion is going well.

Mortons - Frances
They have served more than 100 prix fixe dinners so far.

Billy Berk’s - Brad
It's going very well for us, so far. I am thinking of how to do this year round.

PF Changs - Todd
They had a great weekend. On Sunday night, the manager talked to at least 10 tables that were there because of the promotion, and that was only during a short window of time.

Inside A.P. Stump's, by Chris Schmauch

AP Stumps - Shona
We have been very busy with restaurant week- which is great! They’ve had to alter their menu a little to keep up with the prix fixe orders and have already gone thru 100 customer surveys.

Fahrenheit - Eric
Its going great for us. We have seen a good 25% increase in food sales last week, with many tables per event coming in specifically for this program. We have done many programs with the downtown association over the past 4 years, and this has been the most successful by far.

SubZERO festival in Downtown San Jose

After gloomy weather the skies cleared up in time for the SubZERO art festival in San Jose's SoFA district. The blocked streets made way for dozens of booths and vendors, a couple of stages for live music, and of course tons of live street art, from performers to painters to just plain strange folk doing strange things. The SJ Fixed crew has a cool booth set up. During the early evening hours they had the largest crowd by a long shot, packing the street with bikes. The fest is still going on, so if you're reading this and it's still Friday, June 5, you should pack up and head to Downtown San Jose, as the street fest goes strong until around midnight. And as soon as the sun goes down, it's going to get even wilder. See you all there!

Be a part of the Exit: Stage Left live stream!

For those who don't know, EXIT: Stage Left will stream their season finale LIVE on the internet, something that has never been done before for a show like this. To be a part of the live broadcast audience filmed at San Jose State University, email tickets@lowrytheatercompany.com to request tickets. To read The Wave article about the show and the live event, go here. In the meantime, check out this quirky video of the event starring EXIT director Sinohui Hinojosa and lead actor Michael Navarra.