[ Dining Index | San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]

Alfresco Agenda The downtown lunch bunch gets a new opportunity for white-tablecloth dining By Iris Blocks LAST WEEK BROUGHT GOOD NEWS to downtown San Jose workers in search of new lunch frontiers. Agenda Restaurant, a stalwart member of the SoFA district, added lunch hours to its palette of dining and entertainment options. The menu will be similar to executive chef Brad Kraten's nighttime offerings, with the inclusion of lighter dishes such as sandwiches made with crabcakes and portobello mushrooms. Hours for lunch are 11:30am until 2pm Tuesdays through Fridays. And that's not all. By the end of the month, the restaurant plans to open a new patio dining area, with seating for 80 available for lunch, dinner, private parties and corporate events. Agenda is open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays and is located at the corner of First and San Salvador streets. For information or reservations, call 408/288-9013. Something Brewing Speaking of downtown San Jose, a Colorado-based organization with the rather grandiose title of the Great American Beer Festival comes to the town to feature 19 California beers that took medals in the organization's 1998 festival. The evening of beer tasting and cuisine takes place at A.P. Stump's restaurant (163 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408/292-9928) on Saturday, Sept. 18. The event wraps up with a silent auction of Great American Beer Festival goodies, including a trip for two to the 1999 festival, to be held Oct. 7-9 in Denver, Colo. Wine drinkers won't feel left out this week, with two dinners planned in celebration of the grape. The California Cafe at Valley Fair mall salutes the fruits of Napa's Pine Ridge Winery on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 6pm with a feast prepared by executive chef Kyle Wiens. Dishes include a salad of butter lettuce, Asian pears and cashews and an applewood-smoked pork loin with couscous and cherry apple chutney. The price is $75 (including tax and gratuity), and reservations are required. Call 408/296-2233. The varietals of Grgich Hills Winery will be showcased Saturday, Sept. 17 at Rue de Paris Restaurant (19 N. Market St., San Jose); the culinary pairings include smoked salmon ravioli with a 1996 fume blanc, and a meaty combination involving ostrich filet in port demi-glace and rack of lamb in a garlic crust with a 1995 cabernet sauvignon. The price for this dinner is also $75; for reservations, call 408/298-0704. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]