Nicolas Bearde performs at Cafe Stritch in downtown San Jose in 2018. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Space Information Group)
The information this week that beloved jazz membership Cafe Stritch wouldn't be reopening — after being closed for practically two years through the COVID-19 pandemic — is a intestine punch not solely to its longtime followers however to downtown San Jose itself.
Cafe Stritch was opened by the Borkenhagen household in 2013, occupying the identical bodily area as their earlier restaurant enterprise, Eulipia, however with a wholly completely different ambiance. The place Eulipia had developed right into a fine-dining, white-tablecloth institution throughout its 35-year run, Stritch felt informal and lived-in — satirically a throwback to the vibe at Eulipia in its early days, I used to be advised.
As soon as Cafe Stritch discovered its stability, it turned a hub for downtown exercise, internet hosting jazz reveals and open mic nights on South First Avenue. It was the place individuals met for a chunk and a drink earlier than heading off to Metropolis Lights, San Jose Stage or Opera San Jose. You can rely on a line out the door to listen to artists carry out Saturday night time units throughout San Jose Jazz SummerFest. Boisterous audiences gathered on usually quiet Monday nights for ShakesBEERience, watching a cavalcade of Bay Space actors carry out staged readings of the Bard, leaping round tables and giving soliloquies from the balcony — typically with a pint of beer or glass of wine in hand.
After which there was Rahsaanathon, the annual tribute every August to Rahsaan Roland Kirk — whose music impressed the creation of each Eulipia and Cafe Stritch — that includes artists together with Steve Turre, James Carter and Betty Neals. Each efficiency felt magical.
Past that, Cafe Stritch performed host to nonprofits and different teams that wanted occasion area and supplied catering for numerous others. (My spouse, Amy, held an occasion there for a number of years gathering donations of pads and tampons that HomeFirst would distribute to homeless girls and ladies. Cafe Stritch donated the area, appetizers and wine yearly.)
Given all that, Cafe Stritch’s closing must be a wake-up name to downtown San Jose. Not the whole lot goes again to the best way it was earlier than COVID. For downtown to outlive — not to mention thrive — it wants extra areas like Cafe Stritch, gathering spots that create group (and in the event that they serve a burger, that’s a bonus).
Former Stritch normal supervisor Andrew Saman is opening a brand new enterprise within the area known as Mama Kin, a reputation that additionally has some musical lineage to it if the Aerosmith track. I don’t anticipate it to be the whole lot Cafe Stritch was, however I’m wanting ahead to going there. And I hope it and different new spots that open in a post-COVID world might help preserve Cafe Stritch’s spirit alive in downtown San Jose.
BEST OPEN HOUSE EVER: CMT San Jose put collectively a enjoyable daylong occasion final Saturday for a whole bunch of supporters with “Studio 54,” a fundraising gala that additionally served as a showcase for the youth theater firm’s new Inventive Arts Heart on Parkmoor Avenue.
Creative Director Kevin Hauge advised me it was lots of enjoyable — but additionally lots of work — to place collectively what amounted to 4 occasions, two through the day and two within the night. Every progressive occasion took a bunch of 60 friends by way of two rehearsal studios and the scene/costume store. Every cease featured a separate present with CMT actors and alumni performing numbers from reveals together with “Hire,” “American Fool,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Chicago,” and “Les Misérables.” That final one, by the best way, shall be produced on the Montgomery Theatre in March as a part of CMT’s 54th season. You'll be able to take a look at what they’re as much as at www.cmtsj.org.
BEHIND ‘THE HOLLOW’: Should you’ve seen “The Hole,” which opened at Metropolis Lights Theater Firm in downtown San Jose over the weekend, you had been most likely blown away by the spectacular set design and props used to recreate a Nineteen Forties English nation home with a solid of 12 going out and in. Properly, you possibly can peek backstage due to Metropolis Lights’ streaming collection, The Subsequent Stage, which is able to characteristic director Doll Piccotto and props designer Karen Leonard offering a deeper have a look at the present. Leonard will even clarify how she made the totally inedible chocolate treats used on stage.
“Tales and Treats from ‘The Hole'” shall be streamed on Zoom at 7 p.m. Feb. 9. It’s free to look at, however you must register for a hyperlink at www.cltc.org/tickets.