A major piece of the difficult puzzle known as downtown San Jose has been placed with the opening of Eos & Nyx, the new restaurant and bar on Paseo de San Antonio.
To begin with, it takes the crown for best looking space downtown — Rollati Ristorante had been holding that since it opened across from City Hall last year — and I’m hard-pressed to think of any restaurant or bar in the city or maybe even Silicon Valley that’s better right now.
Basile Studio of San Diego worked wonders on the 4,000 square-foot space. It makes good use of natural light to create a bright, open atmosphere during brunch and somehow takes on an entirely different personality at night for cocktails and dinner. It’s also filled with interesting details like the mirrored balustrade on the staircase leading up to the mezzanine bar, interior greenery including plants and trees that seem real even though they aren’t and the giant glass doors that open up to the patio. Ready for the check? It’s delivered in a little planter with a bonsai tree.
Even the bar shelves are special, using a bespoke carousel system to transport bottles from the ground-floor bar to the mezzanine and vice versa at the touch of a button. When it’s in action — like five little Ferris wheels for booze — it’s fun to watch from outside on Second Street.
The dancing bar shelves weren’t all that had people smiling at last Friday’s ribbon cutting.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was thrilled to be bringing in another restaurant to bolster downtown’s “experience economy,” sentiments echoed by Nanci Klein, the city’s director of economic development, and San Jose Downtown Association CEO Alex Stettinski. Urban Catalyst CEO Erik Hayden and Chief Operating Officer Josh Burroughs can celebrate the most visible sign of the transformation of the old Camera 12 theater into the Paseo building.
Burroughs described the opening as a key link on “restaurant row” — from Morton’s and the Grill on the Alley on Market Street to Scott’s Seafood, Urban Putt and Eos & Nyx. When you throw in other nearby options like Elyse, Angkor Chef, Mezcal, Petiscos, Il Fornaio and Original Joe’s, you’ve got a nice, walkable dining district in just a couple of blocks.
But the biggest smiles probably belonged to the ownership group — George Lahlouh, Dan Phan and Johnny Wang — who invested nearly two years and a lot of money into opening Eos & Nyx, which takes its name from the Greek goddess of dawn and the god of night.
They’re far from newcomers on the downtown scene: Phan and Wang opened Original Gravity, a craft beer bar, in 2012 and partnered with Lahlouh to open the award-winning cocktail bar Paper Plane two years later and then the arcade/bar Miniboss in 2019. They closed Original Gravity in 2023 and recreated it as the vinyl-spinning Still O.G. earlier this year.
“We believe in building spaces that not only serve great food and drinks but also reflect the culture, diversity and creativity of our city,” Phan said during the ribbon cutting. “We’re honored to contribute to the ongoing growth of downtown San Jose and we can’t wait to share this new chapter with you.”
HELPING HANDS: Longtime residents will remember that South Bay newsman Rigo Chacon started a nonprofit and scholarship fund called Abrazos and Books back in 1990, after being moved by the devastation created by the Mexico City earthquake. Chacon’s admirable goal for the past three decades has been to help students of any ethnicity who were in need because of poverty, disability or natural disasters.
Now, it’s Chacon himself who could use some help. He has been bed bound after a debilitating injury, leaving him unable to fundraise for Abrazos and Books as he normally would. But KCBS Radio’s Jennifer Hodges has stepped up to help and has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $15,000 for Abrazos and Books while Chacon recovers. You can find out more, or donate, at www.gofundme.com/f/support-rigo-chacons-legacy-of-giving.
NIGHT ON THE TOWN: There were a few more youngsters than usual in the California Theatre audience Saturday night for the opening of “La Bohème” at Opera San Jose. They were members of Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley, who contributed their voices during the boisterous second act and then got to watch the rest of the show. The adult singers did a great job, too, though they didn’t get to take a seat but stood for a couple of curtain calls with Music Director Joseph Marcheso and Michelle Cuizon, Opera San Jose’s director-in-residence.
Spotted among the opening night crowd: Opera Cultura Artistic Director Hector Armienta, whose own opera, “Zorro,” will have its Northern California premiere with Opera San Jose next April. You can catch “La Bohème” through Dec. 1. Get times and tickets at www.operasj.org.