When architect Thang Do opened SoFA Market on South First Street in downtown San Jose in September 2014, the food hall’s success was hardly a sure thing, with downtown still recovering — sound familiar? — from the Great Recession.
But when SoFA Market celebrates its 10th anniversary Friday, it’ll be a testament to Do’s vision and the resilience of the small businesses there. Do, CEO of San Jose-based architecture firm Aedis Architects, died of cancer in 2022 but his wife, Grace Liu, has kept his spirit alive at SoFA Market.
That will be on full display Friday, when the festivities starting at 5 p.m. will include some guest singers — including Mayor Matt Mahan, I’m told — joining San Jose Jazz’s U19 band for new renditions of “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?,” and a presentation on the early days of the SoFA district and SoFA Market from downtown boosters Steve Borkenhagen, Grace Liu, Nate LeBlanc and Fil Maresca. American Leadership Forum CEO Suzanne St. John Crane also will announce an upcoming project to honor Do, who was an ALF senior fellow.
Customers order lunch at Vietnoms in the SoFA Market in downtown San Jose on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. The South First Street food hall will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
A fraction of the size of San Pedro Square Market, SoFA Market caters to the nightclub and gallery crowd in downtown’s South First Area but gets a boost from events at the nearby San Jose McEnery Convention Center and other festivals. It hosts King Trivia on Tuesday nights and will soon have live jazz on Wednesday nights.
Jen Echeverri, owner of Habana Cuba — which, along with Vietnoms and the Fountainhead Bar, has been one of the food hall’s mainstays — recently took over as manager of SoFA Market. She said she’s got plans to continue improving the space with additions like the jazz night and pop-up vendors like a recent plant and flower sale.
“We’re just trying to make things happen and give people a reason to come here,” she said.
The celebration will continue with all nine eateries at SoFA Market offering a $10 special for the rest of the month. Fliers will be available at the 10th anniversary party with the details.
TURNING TRAGEDY INTO TRIUMPH: The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is a solemn day for many, but it has also turned into a day of service around the country, and on Wednesday, that included San Jose.
San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, center, speak to volunteers from Merill at the Bay Area Meal Pack for 9/11 Day at the Provident Credit Union Event Center at San Jose State University on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (Misti Layne/Zamost Public Relations)
More than 500 volunteers gathered at the Provident Credit Union Event Center at San Jose State to package more than 200,000 meals that were donated to Second Harvest Silicon Valley in partnership with the nonprofit 9/11 Day. More than two dozen organizations took part in the Bay Area Meal Pack for 9/11 Day, ranging from AmeriCorps and the Veterans Resource Center at San Jose State to Bridge Bank, Sutter Health, Cupertino Electric and Merrill.
San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan were both there, too, donning hairnets to help out, and in a moving opening ceremony, the volunteers heard from San Jose State Police Capt. Frank Belcastro, who was a commanding officer for the New York Police Department on Sept. 11, 2001.
HAUNTING EXPERIENCE: So this Friday is the 13th, and that makes it the perfect night for the Winchester Mystery House to open its latest Halloween event, “Unhinged: Hotel.”
These annual scarefests of recent years have been really popular for the San Jose tourist attraction, the 160-room mansion built by Sarah Winchester and home to about as many eerie stories — mostly fiction — as it has doors. For this year’s haunted hotel take, which runs on various nights through Nov. 2, guests will find some new jumps mixed in with the general elegant spookiness of the house, as well as the return of The Mists, an outdoor scare zone.
The Winchester Mystery House, photographed in 2018, will open its new Halloween event, “Unhinged: Hotel,” on Sept. 13, 2024. It will run through Nov. 2, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Also opening Friday is a Halloween Museum on the estate that will be free for guests to check out and includes a collection of vintage Halloween decor and memorabilia. You can get tickets and more information at www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/unhinged.