January 2010

Great Bay Area Coffee Tasting

01/17/10 -

California Academy of Sciences

“Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love” – Turkish Proverb This week’s piping-hot party features a coffee (and tea) tasting with an opportunity to learn more about the science of coffee and how it can be harvested and produced sustainably. The Bay Area’s finest local producers, including Blue Bottle, Ritual Roasters, Equator Coffee, Barefoot Coffee and Four Barrel Coffee.

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San Jose Urban Market

01/15/10 -

Mercury News

Details unveiled for San Jose’s new ‘urban market’

The best tamales. The best raviolis. The best dim sum. Throw in some public art, a range of small businesses selling high-quality items, maybe a string quartet for entertainment. And how about choreographed dancing in the streets?

That’s what developers of The Market at San Pedro Square envision when their downtown San Jose project opens this summer.

The first detailed plans for the urban market were unveiled Wednesday inside the Theatre on San Pedro Square before about three dozen people, including potential vendors, nearby business owners and some downtown residents.

The market would include 18,000 square feet of tenant space sectioned into small to mid-size stores. But what some call San Jose’s version of San Francisco’s Ferry Building won’t be “$6 truffles or caviar,” said general manager Steve Borkenhagen.

Instead, Borkenhagen talked about a casual, comfortable and affordable gathering place for residents, downtown workers, families and visitors, with an emphasis on different.

“We want to be off-the-wall, essentially a modern version of a European street market or Middle Eastern bazaar,” Borkenhagen told the group. No chain stores, no chain restaurants and products “you can’t get anywhere else,” he said — fresh fish, produce, baked goods and unusual imported items.

He added that San Jose-based Barefoot Coffee has signed on to be an anchor tenant, as has produce market Veggielution.