JUST IN TIME for Allhallows Eve, a renowned chef is leveraging his resources to support a local veterans organization, whose regular meeting facility is in danger of imploding.
This Friday, Jess LeDesma will transform the American Legion Hall property in Campbell into a haunted house with indoor and outdoor bars, live bands and food from his own company, the KOA Restaurant Group.
Known as Post 99, the veterans group operates a building overlooking the Campbell Percolation Ponds at 1344 Dell Ave. Due to a mountain of debt, the group is facing an uphill battle to keep the property from being sold. For years, old-timers and new-timers alike have regularly gathered, often just in need of fellow veterans to talk with. Many of them have nowhere else to go.
The American Legion Hall itself is a place virtually unknown by much of the general population. One must take a circuitous route from Winchester and San Tomas Expressway and then motor through an industrial no-man’s-land to get there. But behind the building, a unique patio view of the pond provides a calm and peaceful setting, perhaps the only environment of its kind anywhere around these parts. One can peacefully smoke and watch the Canada Geese float by.
“It’s a hidden gem of Silicon Valley,” LeDesma says. “For anybody that likes the water. When you look at that water, it’s very relaxing. It’s very therapeutic.”LeDesma, formerly of Forbes Mill Steakhouse and the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, just happens to be building a new place on Campbell Avenue, the Koa Restaurant. A Campbell native, he recently lost a cousin to the war in Afghanistan. He learned of Post 99’s plight and decided to lend a helping hand.”Being a Campbell boy and having traveled the world as a chef, I thought maybe I could throw a fundraiser to create some awareness,” he says.
As a result, the Halloween party will serve as a kickoff event for a new partnership LeDesma formed with Post 99 as its in-house caterer for events. Whoever wants to rent the space for banquets, parties, wedding receptions, corporate team-building events or island-themed luaus will have access to his catering talents. Meeting planners and destination marketing companies take note.
“We can do anything any big hotel or restaurant, any Ritz-Carlton or Fairmont, can do,” he says.
Since hardly a soul knows about the property and its potential for lucrative events, LeDesma is going high on the hog for the Halloween party. Some of the guests will even arrive in limousines.
“At this party, we’re bringing in a lot of different people from a lot of different places,” he explains, “politicians to big money people, local residents and what have you, just trying to get people and show them a great place. And bring more parties here and build more functions.”
I’m with LeDesma all the way. Aside from being a more-than-worthy cause, the American Legion Hall provides a wealth of historical tidbits. A few legendary punk shows went down at that place during the ’80s. Social Distortion, for example, gigged there in 1983, before they even had an album out. A handmade flier for that show currently adorns the men’s bathroom at the Blank Club in downtown San Jose, because the club’s owner, Corey O’Brien, was the one who organized the show. Talk about hidden connections.
In any event, it all proves why this valley is at the crossroads of everything—punk rock, famous chefs, corporate meetings and events planners, veterans organizations, hidden gems, historical travel, social causes and more.
“That’s primarily the reason why I’m getting behind this thing,” LeDesma says. “If we can make things work, and it turns around, then I know I’ve done a great gesture and helped a great cause.”
