Metro's Best of Silicon Valley 2002

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[whitespace] Editors Picks: It's All In The Name

Best Concept Name

Breakey Prosthetics Inc.
820 Malone Rd., San Jose 408.723.0883

The word in prosthetics for above-knee amputees is C-Leg. So says Breakey Prosthetics office manager Dolores Valladarez, who's worked there for 13 years and clearly knows her shit. The C-Leg is the Mercedes (or maybe the Corvette) of computerized knees, Valladarez explains. Walking with an artificial leg is a lot of work normally, but the computerized knee can help by acting as a sort of cruise control. Of course, it's not for the uninsured--or unwealthy; the C-Leg costs $50,000. Other Breakey products range widely in price, depending on a client's needs. For instance, a foot for a runner might cost about $3,500, while a less speedy foot might be $700. Lastly, it's just a fitting coincidence that Dr. Breakey went into the prosthetics business. Says Valladarez, "That's his real name."


Best Rolling Homage to Cheech and Chong

Delivery Trucks of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
795 S. Second St., San Jose 408.292.4229

We get that this is a catering company named after herbs--good, savory herbs used for cooking that these caterers employ often and well--not to mention a charming Simon and Garfunkel song. But we can't help noticing that PSRT's creatively painted delivery trucks evoke a slightly different kind of herbaceous--er--memory. Entirely swathed in sponged-on shades of greens, grays and olive drabs, these roaming green boxes on wheels remind us of the giant cannabis truck from the early Cheech and Chong movie Up in Smoke. This just isn't the kind of vehicle one sees driving around every day, let alone carrying delectable salads, pastas and platters extraordinaire. Well, anyway, it is just paint, but we like to imagine the other incarnation and what it would mean if this were a different kind of world, and this puppy rolled up to your corporate-catered event. Anyway, hats off to PSRT's nod to a funny movie, to two funny guys and to an even funnier time in history.


Tireless contributors to this year's editor's picks included Corinne Asturias, Michael Gant, Allie Gottlieb, Todd Inoue, Gary Singh, Sarah Quelland, Loren Stein and Gordon Young


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From the October 10-16, 2002 issue of Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper.

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