Archive for the ‘retail’ Category

Where the Summer Ends

Monday, September 13th, 2010

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Last year around this time I wrote about how the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival signifies the end of summer for me. We didn’t attend last year, but we did go this year on Saturday, September 11, 2010. This of course was the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001. To commemorate it the festival sponsor, Chamber of Commerce Mountain View, held a special Remembrance Ceremony to honor the heroes of September 11 and of the wars that followed.

We arrived a few minutes before 11:00 AM Saturday. We usually park for free in the garage at Villa (if we get there early enough) or on the street, but this year we patronized one of the convenient paid parking lots. It was adjacent to the festival and proceeds benefited Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC). The Remembrance Ceremony began with a single-file procession down Castro Street from Evelyn down to the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. It was a solemn march of men and women in uniform. At the front were boy scouts carrying their troop banner and a United States flag. They were followed by Mountain View fire fighters and police officers. After them were soldiers from various branches of the military, predominately Army. A policeman on motorcycle brought up the rear. As they passed, festival goers and vendors stood aside and applauded. Some of the soldiers handed out mini flags to children in the crowd.

At the Center for Performing Arts the procession assembled, stood at attention, and saluted as the flag was raised and two talented teens sang the National Anthem a cappella. Air Force Lt. Col. Sanchez addressed the crowd with a moving reminder of the sacrifices the armed services have made since 9/11. He was followed by Mountain View Fire Chief Bradley Wardle who spoke of the terror and bravery of that day. The colors were retired and the ceremony was over. It was brief but inspiring and many attendees took the opportunity personally to shake the hands of our local heroes and to thank them for their selfless service. Watch KPIX’ coverage of the event here. View my slide show below.

CIMG0322It was by then lunchtime so we diffused into the side streets and loaded up with savory delectables. With us was Paulette’s friend Melanie who was visiting us from out of town for the weekend. Among us we had a Thai wrap, jumbo chicken wings (sweet and spicy), pizza, and lemonade. For dessert we found something new: pot holes. They’re fried mini donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar and dipped in chocolate sauce. ‘Sbeen done, you say. Yeah, I retort, but these are made out of potato. “Pot holes,” get it? Apparently they’re not new to the planet but that was the first time I ever heard of or tasted them. I thought they were great. They tasted like donuts, but there was a distinct tater undertone, like a sweetened french fry. The irony is that my son loves the donut fries at Psycho Donuts: donut batter formed like french fries and served in a basket with raspberry “ketchup” and custard “mayo.” French fries shaped like donuts! Donuts shaped like french fries! Stop the madness!

CIMG0317The women went off in search of a jewelry booth that had been recommended by a friend. My son and I ambled Castro at our own less urgent pace from end to end, El Camino Real to Evelyn. Naturally we lingered at the El Camino intersection which I mentally named “Issue Ghetto” because of the political and spiritual free speech tables located there. I took some photos of the historic bell marker in Mountain View Plaza and noted that the nearby flag was flying at half-staff. I stopped at the California Welcome Centers‘ showpiece Airstream and asked them about the Welcome Center sign I had seen in San Mateo on my bus trip the week before. They told me there is in fact a brand new center in the Hillsdale Shopping center to cover the long un-welcomed stretch between San Francisco and Pismo Beach.

The oddest thing I saw was the nyckelharpa, a 600-year-old Swedish musical instrument that’s bowed like a fiddle but keyed with the left hand with a row of buttons, one key per note. It had a beautiful tone and Aryeh Frankfurter played Celtic tunes on it masterfully. The main music stage was at the Center for Performing Arts and we overheard a cover band knocking out some Michael Jackson tunes. Street musicians were scattered throughout the festival so you always had something in your ear. At one point we were sitting in a spot where we could simultaneously hear an R&B backbeat from one busker and some new age flute from another and you know, the resulting mashup was surprisingly groovy.

CIMG0319The festival had a green lean to it. The garbage cans weren’t labeled “garbage,” they said “landfill” instead to encourage you to use the accompanying “compost” and “recycle” bins. Towards the Evelyn end Whole Foods was handing out tasty goodies like bite-sized Lara Bars and Casacadian Farms samples. Cherry pie. Chocolate Chip Brownie. It’s a tough job saving the planet, but somebody’s gotta do it.

With the perfect 81° weather, eye-catching art, and sensory delights taken to near hedonistic excess it was easy for my mind to wander away from the somber anniversary. It pains me to say that; I never want to forget the losses and shining humanity of that day. But it was only nine years ago. This was the 39th annual festival. Mountain View was incorporated in 1902 and the roots of the town trace back to the stage coach stop established in 1852 on El Camino Real on the Rancho Pastoría de las Borregas, originally granted by the Mexican government in 1842. This festival demonstrates to the fullest what no terrorist can undo: when people of good will come together, love and life endure.

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Around the Bay in a Day

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

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Last November I took a bus ride up El Camino Real from San Jose to San Francisco and blogged my impressions and observations. To avoid giving myself whiplash, that day I only looked out the right side of the bus at the eastern side of the street and doggedly ignored the left side so the job was only half done. Last Friday, September 3, 2010, I completed the task, taking the reverse bus trip from San Francisco down to San Jose, observing the west side. Back in November I scribbled all my notes on the bus by hand in a notebook and ended up taking four months to type them all up. It’s not that I’m a slow typist, it’s just that the scope of the project was much larger than I anticipated. For the second trip I found a more efficient way: I live-tweeted my journey.

If you’re unfamiliar with tweeting, it means I used my cell phone on the road to type and send text messages to the Twitter service. Twitter messages, or “tweets,” are limited to 140 characters each so it enforces brevity. A great advantage is that every message was timestamped and geocoded by GPS so I have a complete record of what I saw, when I saw it, and where I was. I tried to live in the moment and just write what was on my mind which means whatever happened to catch my eye out the bus window. I know it’s a pretty pedestrian read (irony intended) but I hope I conveyed a sense of El Camino’s diverse profile.

Follow allcamino on Twitter

Below are my 167 tweets from that day from my brand new @allcamino twitter account. It took some effort to extract them all from Twitter’s web site. There are web apps that do this but they didn’t work for me because they rely on Twitter’s search engine which failed me, returning only six tweets (?!). I wrote a Perl script to convert their HTML to the format I wanted for the blog. To improve the readability I put each time stamp and location stamp against the right margin above each tweet. You can click the location links to open a Google map. My live-tweeting strategy worked great. Last year it took me four months to finish the writeup. Here I’ve done it in less than four days.

I cleaned the text up, fixing obvious two-left-thumb typos and grammar issues, but the content is largely raw and uncut. I’ve put a few editor notes in [square] brackets and added hyperlinks for your reference. I’ve written broader post-trip comments in between tweets in italics. You’ll see a bunch of the photos I took, many from the windows of the buses. Please excuse their quality. (more…)

Menlo Mondays

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

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Last month I hung out in Menlo Park at lunchtime three Mondays in a row. Despite my best intentions I tend to spend most of my El Camino Real time in my home county of Santa Clara. I don’t get up to San Mateo County often enough so I put forth deliberate effort to remedy that. I didn’t mean to make a series of it but once I realized what a cool title “Menlo Mondays” is, I had to go with it.

What started it all was the Music@Menlo festival and their free lunchtime events. Monday, August 2 I had the  urge to go catch a mini-concert but didn’t get an early enough start. I made the decision to go to Menlo Park anyway and just experience the town. It’s not that I never go there, but I figured this time I’d open my eyes a little wider and try to discover something new.

I drove up via US 101 and took the Willow Road exit, reflecting on how devilishly obscure it is to get to downtown from the freeway. None of the major roads go straight through to El Camino Real; they all dead-end at Middlefield. Sure enough, like a self-fulfilling prophecy I goofed and made a wrong turn into SRI International‘s parking lot. D’oh!

I extricated myself and took Ravenswood Ave toward downtown. I parked near the Caltrain station and walked up to El Camino. It was deep into lunchtime and I was hungry so I started walking south on the west side of the street, looking for a place to eat. There are many great eateries in the vicinity of El Camino and Santa Cruz Avenue so I followed my nose. I passed Lisa’s Tea Treasures (so that’s where it is!), Crêpes Cafe, Phil’s Treasure Pot, Sultana, Stacks, Mextogo, Trellis, Su Hong, Oak City Bar & Grill, Cafe Borrone, Applewood Gourmet Pizza, Cook’s Seafood, and the heart-tugging vacancy where Chili’s used to be. I scanned menus as I went but nothing was speaking to me. Then I saw it: Jeffrey’s Hamburgers. When I took my bus ride up El Camino in November, 2009 I had made a note of it and resolved to give it a try. This was the time!

CIMG1295I had walked quite a ways so I was now starving. Jeffrey’s has a sleek retro diner look on the outside which is matched by a classic 50’s car theme on the inside complete with a slice of a car hanging on the wall. I ordered a pineapple teriyaki burger and took a seat at the bar, eavesdropping on the conversations around me while oldies played over the sound system.  My burger came and it was tasty, but honestly it’s difficult to judge it fairly because it was dominated by sauce, just like I wanted. I’ll have to go back and try a plainer burger to see how it compares to those at my longtime local favorites Kirk’s, Clarke’s, and Kal’s. (Alliteration is good for the digestion, don’t ya know.) Jeffrey’s was good and I’d go back but I’m not in love with the diner decor. All the chromeCIMG1296 and stark white formica come off a little cold and clinical; it’s like eating in a morgue. Plus the employees don’t really commit to the theme. The other burger joints I mentioned are all funky and dingy but they are unpretentious and have warmth. This preference might be my subconscious working through the trauma of all the McDonald’s meals I ate as a kid.

While I was eating I noticed something unusual, a sign across the street that said Lydian Academy. It didn’t look like a school; it was a small commercial space above a Jenny Craig Weight Loss center. I Googled it and discovered it’s a boutique high school, fully accredited but very small, offering personalized instruction tailored to each student’s needs.

CIMG1304After lunch I ambled back up El Camino, admiring sights along the way like the Ravenswood Triangle Redwood Grove with its unique yoke-mounted El Camino bell. I had to cross a few streets and noticed something: the traffic lights in this part of Menlo Park are really really long. These intersections are quite busy so I guess the timings are optimized for maximum car movement. It’s a good thing it’s a pleasant stretch of road or else there would be a plague of peeved pedestrians. (Alliteration helps pass the time while you’re waiting for a walk signal, don’t ya know.)

CIMG1308I paused at the Trees for Menlo marker in front of Cafe Borrone and realized how prevalent the oak tree motif is in the city. It’s the city logo and is on all the street signs. Oak City Bar & Grill named themselves after it. Indeed I strolled up and down El Camino that day between Oak Grove Avenue and Live Oak Avenue. I guess unfortunately for Menlo Park the name “Oakland” was already taken when they incorporated.

I walked up to a used bookstore I had never been to, Feldman’s Books. I was on a mission to look for the Signposts books by recently-deceased Patricia Loomis and actually found one on the well-stocked California history shelves. I bought two more El Camino-related books. The first was Stanford: from the Foothills to the Bay by Peter C. Allen. Bonus—it’s signed by my old Stanford president Don Kennedy. The other book was Telling the Santa Clara Story: Sesquicentennial Voices, edited by Russell K. Skowronek. It’s a history of Santa Clara covering the mission, city, and university. I was wavering on whether to buy it but when I thumbed through it I found it ends with an essay by Paul Locatelli, S.J., the former chancellor and president of SCU who just passed away in July. It was a sign. I didn’t mean for my first visit to Feldman’s to be so morbid but really that’s the power of used book stores. In their dusty corners the whispered voices of the past are given new life when they change hands and find new eyes.

That was the end of my first Menlo Monday. I knew I’d be back soon for some music. Stay tuned.

Trash to Treasure

Friday, August 13th, 2010

The Sunnyvale Art Gallery is putting on a unique interactive art event tomorrow. This is a great place that has an inspiring vision of fostering a community of South Bay artists. Their gallery showcases local artists but they also provide studio space for work and for classes, an art supply store, and a cafe for mortal sustenance. Beyond the canvas they host open mic nights every Thursday for musicians and poets. Valley creatives…this is a place for you.

Saturday’s event will feature live painting and performances. They’ll have young artists bringing street sensibility, green painting where discarded items are turned into art, music, poetry, and a silent auction. Here’s their announcement:

Living Art Flyer

‘Trash to Treasure’ Living Art: An emphasis on Street Art

AUGUST 14, 10 AM – 8 PM

Join us Saturday August 14th, for a grassroots art event that will be like none before in the city of Sunnyvale.

Our goal for this event is to bring the young art community together with art, music, and spoken word.

Help us create something Amazing. We invite you to join us for this special event. The theme is LIVING ART: ‘Trash to Treasure’. This event will highlight ‘green painting’ as we turn discarded trash to beautif ul pieces of art. The event will last from 10am-8pm in the back parking lot of the sunnyvale art gallery. This is a FREE event, so let’s blow up the spot.

For artists, we will provide wooden panels as big as 8 x 4 feet to paint ‘STREET ART MURALS’. Panels will be limited so register early to hold a spot. For all other artists, we will provide discarded furniture, boards, and other elegant ‘trash’ items for artists to paint on. Bring your own if you have anything you’re inspired by. At the end of the day, there will be a silent auction where each artist can auction off their piece starting with bids at $10 if they want. The gallery will take a 10% commission for all pieces to help cover costs for the day. Please bring your own medium if you have (i.e.: paint, etc.) Otherwise, we’ll have extra household paint and brushes for sale at the gallery.

For musicians and poets, please sign up in advanced to secure a time slot during the day. A PA system will be provided. An open mic time slot will be available for all late registrants. Performers are allowed to promote their music with CD’s and merchandise.

Everyone else, come and enjoy.

To sign up or help volunteer, please send your info and/or comments to tim@sunnyvaleartgallery.com to reserve a time slot for music or an area to paint.

THANKS!!

Sunnyvale Art Gallery

http://www.sunnyvaleartgallery.com/
251 W El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 737-8188

What Is Hip?

Friday, July 30th, 2010

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a hipster: live in the cool places, wear the cool clothes, drink the cool beverages. Too bad that’s not my lot in life. I’ve spent my entire existence 37.5° out of phase with the rest of the world which means being hip has always been a mathematical impossibility for me. A little too much behind the beat but not enough to turn you on. I do know hip when I see it though, and I got more than an eyeful at The Usuals last week on The Alameda.

The Usuals is a clothing and accessories boutique that opened in April. It’s owned by brother-and-sister team Mike and Mari Millares, San Jose natives who have a longtime passion for fashion. They also have deep love for their home town so they created a shop that uniquely celebrates clothes and the San Jo’. This is most immediately evident in Mike’s Deadstok line of printed tee shirts, especially his iconic “I ♥ SJ” design with a teal shark-jawed heart. That’s how I came to learn of The Usuals. They had a booth at the Rose, White, & Blue festival and were selling “The Alameda” shirts. Pinch me. “Um…I’ll take one of those.” My first visit to the brick-and-mortar store however was Friday, July 23 when they hosted an event. What kind of event? That takes a bit of explaining. The best way I can describe it is: it was a San Jose mashup.

The Usuals is a clothing store, so clothes of course were the focus. They feature their own clothing designs as well as lines from other local designers. On top of that they host rotating art exhibits in the store so the Friday event was an opening reception for a Lost San Jose photography exhibit which will run until August 24. But wait, there’s more. In the back of the store they held a trunk show, showcasing jewelry from local artists. I’m not done. They presented a fashion show with some help from models from Ready2model, a talent agency. The models were styled on-site by 5 Color Cowboy, a salon further up The Alameda. The event was a fundraiser; they donated part of their Deadstok sales to the Trace Elementary School rebuilding fund to help them recover from their devastating July 5 fire. [Click here to donate by check or PayPal so classrooms can be ready before the kids start school in the fall.] They had a DJ from The Bangerz Crew providing atmosphere and an MC, Don Prahfit, freestyling during the fashion show. Inside they had refreshments provided by Chris Talosig. Outside they had ice cream and karaoke provided by Treatbot. Get the picture? I’m tired just describing it all.

Usuals Lost San Jose

Our whole family had quite The Alameda evening. We started with dinner at Tee Nee Thai. It was my wife’s first time and she loved it. I had the amazing Mussamun Lamb and asked for it hot but not “Thai hot;” I may be stupid but I’m not crazy. We enjoyed chatting with our friendly Tee Nee waitress who confirmed it’s a family-owned place staffed by cousins. She thinks an uncle  came up with the name because the place is so small. “You should see our kitchen,” she said. I think this is becoming my favorite Thai restaurant because the vibe is so warm and homey and every dish I’ve had there has been a winner.

IMG_9701Afterwards we rolled down to The Usuals, stepped inside, and my head started to spin from sensory overload. There was so much going on, I couldn’t process it. Clothes, photos, music, people, jewelry, live hair-styling. Most disconcertingly there were models walking around the store being photographed by paparazzi. I’m just not used to this. It seemed every time I stopped somewhere to catch a breath, I was in somebody’s way, awkward like an ox, so I did the only sensible thing. I stepped outside for some ice cream.

CIMG1270Treatbot was there with their van. Treatbot is one of the South Bay’s social-network-promoted roving upscale food trucks, a trend that’s sweeping the nation. They sell ice cream sandwiches and cones but they have a gimmick: there’s a karaoke machine attached to the truck. Instant party. A customer was serenading his family with “Superfreak” as I was placing my order. “Temptations, sing!” I ordered an ice cream sandwich on chocolate chip cookies and the flavor I chose was “408,” a lascivious chocolate concoction with caramel ribbon and Oreo cookie crumbs. It was sinfully heaven. I think the flavor is their own original creation; their ice cream is made locally.

CIMG1272Sufficiently bumped up to a higher energy level, I once again broached The Usuals and this time managed to sync up with my surroundings. I had a great talk with Josh Marcotte, the photographer behind Lost San Jose. His granddad was an old-time San Jose resident and history buff so Josh grew up hearing stories and appreciating our landmarks and neighborhoods. Recently however he became increasingly aware of how the past is fading away, either on its own or hurried along by development and progress. Parts of San Jose are becoming “lost.” At first he tried to capture some of the receding treasures in writing, then taught himself photography and took to the lens instead. He walks around and snaps images of aged architecture and decaying city scapes. The result is a haunting, evocative collection. His interest resonates with my El Camino Real obsession, and he has inspired me to kick my own photography up a notch.

IMG_9705IMG_9736I did in fact have my camera with me so I took a bunch of photos. Josh brought his enchanting collection of vintage cameras and had them on display in the store. Cameras as it turns out are extremely photogenic. Also photogenic was Eva, a model who tirelessly circulated around the store all night promoting Ready2model, cheerfully posing for anyone with a camera, your humble blogger included.

It was a great evening. I’m not much for nightlife so it was a real treat to get out and hang with the hipper set for a while. I love that The Usuals are on The Alameda. The Millares exhibit a blend of creativity, currency, and community-sense that will drive The Alameda’s Town Center to new pinnacles of cool. I may not be hip enough to go there with them, but at least I’ll be able to say I bought the tee shirt.

The Usuals

http://www.shoptheusuals.com/
1020 The Alameda, San Jose, CA
408.294.4500

See all my photos at Flickr.

Loaves and Fishes

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Andy's Pet Shop, Plate 2

You win some and you lose some. A couple of businesses in San Jose, neighbors on The Alameda, have found themselves on opposite sides of Fortune’s wheel. Greenlee’s Bakery happily is on the ascent, whereas Andy’s Pet Shop has sadly sunk beneath the horizon, never to shine on The Alameda again.

Technically it’s not Greenlee’s Bakery per se which is enjoying good fortune, but rather its flagship product, Greenlee’s Best Cinnamon Bread. Its popularity has increased tenfold in recent years and continues to grow and with good reason: it’s fantastic.

Christmas Eve, 2009, I was driving around town looking for gifts for family. Don’t judge; that’s how I roll. I was headed to a bookstore to pick up some goodies when I pulled up behind a Greenlee’s delivery truck at a red light. It was as if the heavens opened up and The Voice proclaimed, “Get thee to Whole Foods.” So I gat, and I got loaves of cinnamon bread for everybody, and they loved it. The first thing you notice when you pick it up is how heavy it is. The next thing is the amazing aroma. My car smelled like an enchanted gingerbread house by the time I got home with a half-dozen loaves in the back. Open up the bag, peel off a marbled-spice slice, pop it in the toaster to caramelize the gooey glaze, slather it with something sinful, and the result is pure joy.

Whole Foods Market is in fact how the bread is taking off. After catering just to locals who kept the secret well, Greenlee’s a few years ago widened their reach a smidge by branching out to farmers’ markets around the Bay Area. A Whole Foods buyer discovered the bread in Redwood City and now loaves are sold in Whole Foods stores up and down the West Coast. They’re not done; the Southwest and Midwest are next, and they’re talking about going national by the end of the year. Every loaf is still baked right at Greenlee’s Bakery at 1081 The Alameda alongside an assortment of event cakes, cookies, and muffins, though I imagine they’d have to add capacity to keep up with national demand.

In stark contrast, at the end of the block Andy’s Pet Shop has sadly vacated the premises after sixty years at that location. The iconic neon sign out front has been a landmark for decades. The building used to be a California Highway Patrol office, but after Andy Camilleri and his wife Geraldine took over it became well-known for its selection of unique and exotic animals and birds. After the Camilleris died the business changed hands a few times and is now owned by Lissa Shoun and Eric Bong who changed it over completely to a rescued pet adoption center supported by pet food and supply sales. It was the noblest of endeavors but sadly business dropped off so they had to move out. The animals were placed in temporary foster homes, the inventory was put in storage, and the neon sign is coming down. The owners are hoping to find an affordable location so they can open again. Their web site has a link where you can donate via PayPal to help defray the expenses of moving and preparing a new location.

The Alameda won’t be the same without Andy’s snails and puppy dog tails, but at least we can console ourselves with sugar and spice from Greenlee’s. Did I mention you can order it online?

Greenlee's Cinnamon Bread

New Trader Joe’s Opens in Palo Alto

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Trader Joe's

The brand new Trader Joe’s grocery store in Palo Alto will celebrate its grand opening this Friday, December 4, 2009. It’s located at Town & Country Village at the corner of El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road. There will be a ceremonial lei-cutting at 8:00 AM accompanied by face-painting, live music, and balloons. The interior is decorated with local flavor such as logos and spirit wear from nearby Stanford University, Palo Alto High, and Gunn High School. Residents have lamented the lack of grocery stores in the city, so many are looking forward to this latest addition.

Your pictures from Winkflash.com have arrivedWithout a doubt Trader Joe’s is a happy place. My fondest memory of TJ’s is from a family vacation we took to Monterey, CA many years ago. Our son was a young toddler so we rented a suite with a full kitchen so we could keep him fed with milk and Cheerios on our own schedule and not have to deal with eating out for every meal. We shopped for our groceries at the Pacific Grove Trader Joe’s. Sure we bought staples but since we were on vacation we also loaded up on a variety of tasty snacks like party mix, trail mix, chips, and cookies. It still ranks as one of our best vacations ever.

Ever since then I always associate Trader Joe’s with treats, not “serious food,” but we have several friends who do all their everyday shopping there. We’re not quite on that bandwagon since we live walking distance to a different chain grocery store. Also it’s a recognized fact in our family that as a rule Traders Joe’ses have…the…worst…parking lots. Always small, cramped, and awkward. We think they design them that way on purpose, maybe to encourage greener modes of transportation. Well it works for us. We walk…to a different store.

Speaking of parking, I expect it will be a challenge for the new Palo Alto store. When I was at Stanford twenty years ago Town & Country was languishing. I went there for Hobee’s but that was it. In 2004 the then-51-year-old shopping center was purchased by Ellis Partners LLC who set out to transform the place by painfully terminating some longtime tenants’ month-to-month leases and kicking off a multi-year $25 million renovation. It seems to have worked. It has the same funky charm but they have managed to attract a vibrant mix of restaurants and boutiques and the village now is packed. Some might say too packed, a victim of its own success. A couple months ago I thought I’d swing by at lunchtime on a weekday to grab a smoothie from Jamba Juice. I spent 15 minutes circling the entire center twice looking for a parking spot with no success. I finally gave up and went to a different Jamba Juice that had plenty of parking to get my Razzmatazz on. The Trader Joe’s will add some new spots but at peak times I know it will be a struggle. And don’t get me started on the bizarre left turn exit onto Embarcardero.

I don’t mean to be a killjoy. I’m genuinely happy for the many Palo Altoans who will enjoy their new store. I even expect the Stanford dorm parties to start serving better fare. In my day it was inevitably giant bags of pretzels and yellow popcorn from Costco; here’s hoping for baklava and Pirate’s Booty. No excuses! So go to Trader Joe’s, bring your own bag, and when you get home raise your glass of Two Buck Chuck in good cheer. Salut!

Trader Joe’s Grand Opening

Friday, December 4, 2009
8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA
http://traderjoes.com/

[Source: San Jose Mercury News]

Some People Fear It

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Spirit Halloween Store

Halloween is almost here…this Saturday, October 31 in case you didn’t realize. I’m not much of a Halloween aficionado, but I do enjoy an annual trip to the Spirit store. That’s the Halloween superstore chain that sprouts like mushrooms every Fall in cities all across the U.S. and Canada. There are literally dozens of these stores in the Bay Area but if you find yourself on my favorite road in need of a last-minute costume or some ghoulish lawn decorations, you’ll be happy to know there are three Spirit stores on El Camino Real ready to serve you: Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Redwood City.

Last weekend I took my son to the Santa Clara store to find some accessories for his Halloween costume. He was anxious to acquire some accoutrements of affluence, a.k.a. some bling, to round out his costume as a successful NFL player. We had a good time trying out all of the creepy talking ornaments and laughing at the gag costumes. I like to observe what the latest fashions in Hallo-wear are each year and this year to be honest nothing particularly stood out to me as new or original. For kids they seemed to be pushing “Clone Wars” and “High School Musical,” both of which were just as popular last year. For adults there were the same old standbys: hippies, sexy policewomen, etc. These are classics that are always fun to wear and there’s nothing wrong with them, but they are timeless which is exactly my point. I was surprised that the store failed to capitalize on the headlines, hits, and trends of 2009.

There was one timely display, a Michael Jackson section, but it was oddly placed, up by the registers, hard to see.  They ranged from the top-of-his-game Thriller-era sequined glove to Wacko-Jacko facemasks. I didn’t notice it in the store but apparently another hot item this year is the Kate Gosselin wig. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Where I did see a lot of innovation this year was in lawn and party props. The showpiece was an assortment of evil-looking babies: zombie baby, two-headed baby, demon baby, etc. The craftsmanship and realism was truly impressive, which pretty much makes them the worst things I have ever seen. I would never buy one. Bad juju.

Spirit Store Santa ClaraIt being the last full weekend before All Hallows’ Eve I expected the store to be crowded but it was not. In years past the checkout lines could reach halfway through the store but this weekend there was no waiting. It could be a sign of the economic times, or simply that the perennial big box stores, party supply stores, and online shopping have pulled customers away. It’s quite ironic to think about a downturn at the Spirit stores since their modus operandi is to exploit real estate doldrums by setting up for a few weeks a year in large vacant buildings. The Santa Clara store is in the old Mervyns building. Mervyns is the Bay Area-based department store chain founded in 1949 which sadly filed for bankruptcy, liquidated its assets, and closed all its stores last year. Oddly the liquidation began last Halloween.

We did our part for Spirit. My son got stunner shades, a dollar sign medallion, and a sparkling three-finger ring. We didn’t spend much but he came out looking like a million bucks. Afterwards we went next door to Walgreens drug store for some unrelated groceries and naturally wandered down the Halloween aisle. There in the middle of the aisle was the following display. Now that’s just wrong.

CIMG0106

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite costume store, Debbie Lyn’s Costumes in Sunnyvale, formerly Debbie Lyn’s Closet. They used to be right on El Camino Real but they moved last year not far away to 822 E Evelyn Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94087. They’re grandmothered into this blog as former residents of El Camino. They have a staggering inventory of high-quality rental theatrical costumes available year round. My wife loves telling the story of her first time there when she spotted a man in a business suit…wearing a banana costume. He was an Asian businessman no less, which just takes the whole thing to a whole ‘nother level, but I won’t go there.

The legend of La Llorona or “the weeping woman” persists throughout Latin America. Details and origins vary but the gist is she was a woman who centuries ago drowned her children in a fit of passion and now wanders the land for eternity weeping in anguish,  searching for their souls. Those unlucky few who encounter her under a full moon are terror-stricken, and misbehaving children are warned that she’ll get them. California scholar Craig Chalquist writes in his book Deep California that she is especially bound to El Camino Real because of its history of conquest and injustice. I can’t say for sure what will happen but I will say that if you intend to shop for a frazzled Kate plus zombie eight costume, you might want to get yourself to the Spirit store before this weekend is over because Monday is el Día de los Muertos [pdf]—”Day of the Dead” or “All Souls’ Day”—another mainstay of Latin American culture. And did I mention there will be a full moon that day? Who knows, La Llorona might be out, doing some post-Halloween bargain-hunting.

Update: That’s the spirit, Octomom!

Spirit Halloween Stores

http://www.spirithalloween.com/

MERVYNS PLAZA

2020 EL CAMINO REAL
SANTA CLARA, CA 95050
Phone: 408-615-8309

W EL CAMINO REAL

1236 W EL CAMINO REAL
SUNNYVALE, CA 94087
Phone: 408-730-5298

REDWOOD CITY

901 EL CAMINO REAL
REDWOOD CITY, CA 94063
Phone: 650-306-9514

I Heart C.J. Olson Cherries

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

Fruit Stand

When I first had the idea to blog about El Camino Real, the first topic which came to mind was C.J. Olson Cherries in Sunnyvale. Over the years this historic fruit stand has been one of our most frequent single destinations on the Royal Road, especially in the summer cherry season. We’ve become very friendly with the good folks there, including fourth-generation owner Deborah Olson.

Olson’s describes itself as located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. They’ve been there since 1899, well before silicon. (You know what I mean.) Before it became the high-technology capital, Santa Clara Valley was primarily agricultural, aptly known as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight.” That makes Olson’s the Valley’s Heart of Hearts. See, we engineers call that refactoring.

ms. independentI’m not done. Regard the cherry. With its indented top and peaked bottom it’s a ruby red valentine to the eyes and taste buds. Turn it around to where the lobes meet and it becomes subtly anatomical, though thankfully not grossly so. When you pop a cherry in your mouth and crunch down on its juicy goodness you don’t want to be thinking about atria and ventricles, but the symbolism is powerful. Olson’s extols the health benefits of cherries for preventing heart disease—something to do with flavonoids. Sounds like the purest sort of homeopathic remedy to me.

Local cherries peak in the summertime but the days are getting shorter and my beloved summer fruits are gone for now. Happily Olson’s is always fully stocked with the best seasonal produce. Still when summer ends I turn my attention to their delectable selection of prepared and packaged items: dried fruits, nuts, and baked goods. Oh…and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Truthfully when I refer to dried fruits, nuts, and baked goods, I really mean dried fruits, nuts, and baked goods all dipped in chocolate.

Next weekend Olson’s is hosting their annual Harvest Faire. They’ll be celebrating your favorite fall crops like apples, pumpkins, and candy corn (OK, I added that last one). Their signature locally-grown dried Blenheim Apricots are headlining these days. I also expect there will be plenty of sweet and savory goodies to sample. Stop by, say hi, and load up. It will do your heart good.

C.J. Olson Cherries Harvest Faire

http://www.cjolsoncherries.com/events.htm
Saturday, October 10th, 12:00 – 4:00 pm
348 W. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087

Exotic pumpkins and more will be the highlight of our annual harvest faire along with the new crop of fall apples. So mark your calendar, get out your carving tools, and join us for special tastings and demonstrations at our Sunnyvale pumpkin patch.

Julia Child’s Birthday Celebration

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Tonight only Kepler’s Books, El Camino’s treasured independent bookstore, is holding an open house and cook book sale to celebrate famed TV chef Julia Child’s birthday (she was actually born on August 15). There will be raffle prizes, champagne, and cake. I don’t know about you, but I have really really high expectations for that cake.

The biggest dilemma is afterward do you go watch Julie & Julia, or do you head over to Marché or Left Bank for a little French cuisine? Sacré bleu!

(She’s only 97.)

Thursday, August 20, 2009 Tonight!
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Kepler’s Books
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
http://keplers.com/
(650) 324-4321

Open House & Cook Book Sale
to Celebrate Julia Child’s Birthday!

Thursday, August 20, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

We’ll serve champagne and cake while you and your friends peruse our wonderful cookbooks!
20% Off All Cookbook Titles from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. (while supplies last)

There will be fabulous raffle prizes, including:

  • Two tickets to Draeger’s popular Cooking School classes
  • A red pate terrine donated by Le Creuset
  • Julie & Julia aprons, book bags, posters, and booklights
  • Mastering the Art of French Cooking blank journals
  • Cookbooks
  • Discounts on local dining, including Oak City Grill and Trellis restaurants
  • and more…