Spent back-to-back evenings in downtown Gilroy last week.
Thursday night Station 55, Friday night Ceilto Lindo.
Spent back-to-back evenings in downtown Gilroy last week. Thursday night Station 55, Friday night Ceilto Lindo. First time Jenny and I have visited for dinner since Station 55 re-opened under the new owners Bobby and Fran Beaudet. What started out as a beer after work with the Dispatch staff turned into a nice dinner and a chat with Bobby and Bruce’s Tire owner Eric Howard, our downtown business association director. All the meals were good from the fish and chips to the salad to the steak. All that’s needed is 1066 ale on tap from the local English Ales brewery in Marina. The upstairs bar at Station 55 has always been one of the coolest spaces in downtown Gilroy and Bobby has a great idea to expand the patio off the bar over the alley. That’s exactly the type of downtown improvement project that needs to be fast tracked at City Hall and does Gilroy really need to hire a $100,000-per-year “economic ombudsman” at City Hall to accomplish that? All we really need is an attitude adjustment from “No YOU can’t it’s against these rules,” to “Yes, WE can and here’s how WE’RE going to get it done.”
How the city ever got along without a $35,000 bocce ball court is hard to fathom. Harder to fathom is why on crushed-gravel earth did MayorAl deem the topic worthy of 45 minutes at the once-per-year City Council retreat. Ah, now I get it … retreat is literal. It means retreating from serious city issues – matters of civic import – to discuss the “really serious” issues like a pet project $35,000 bocce ball court – and, if memory serves, the city ripped out a bocce ball court just a few years ago at Forest Street Park. At this point, all we can do is laugh, and head out to lovely Sarah’s Vineyard on Hecker Pass where there are beautiful bocce ball courts waiting for all Gilroyans to enjoy …
Thoroughly enjoyed the swearing-in ceremony Monday night for incoming District 1 Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman. Outgoing Supervisor Don Gage, now on the water district board, emceed the event. As impressive as Gage’s tuxedo and red bow tie were, they didn’t hold a candle to his aplomb at the microphone. Never – and I’ve witnessed many a Gage performance – has Gage been more relaxed and glib. Especially enjoyed the good-natured booing he requested – and received – upon introducing County Tax Assessor Larry Stone. Steve Tate, the mayor of Morgan Hill, attended as did Laura Perry from the Gavilan College Board of Trustees. Alas and again, as Gage read aloud the list of attending public officials not a single name from Gilroy’s Council. Seems our city leaders have forgotten that “Half of Life is Just Showing Up.”
Diego and Margarita are showing up – at dinner time now. The hard-working couple’s tasty Garlic City Cafe recently featured osso buco over a bed of risotto that Gene Sakahara and his lovely wife Kathy reported was “outstanding” and to-die-for rigatoni with eggplant, bell peppers, capers and tomatoes accented with spicy pepper flakes and garlic. So, Gene concludes correctly, Gilroyans don’t have to head for Maurizio’s in Morgan Hill any longer since Diego, formerly a chef there, now has the Garlic City Cafe open for dinner in downtown Gilroy.
Should mention that, though we didn’t have a public official at the Wasserman welcoming party, there were Gilroyans who showed up. That included the friendly Solis Winery affiliated Vanni clan, brothers Don and Dave with their wives, Sharon and Valerie. Also, Jim Currier of Flowstar and Dhruv Khanna, the owner of Kirigin Cellars on Watsonville Road. Dhruv reports that his plans for polo fields and an events facility are coming to fruition and that will indeed be another nice amenity to the growing list of pluses for South County’s burgeoning wine industry.
Pluses for downtown continue with the news that local chef Adam Sanchez has at long last signed the lease to re-open the former Harvest Time Restaurant – the place with the great curved bar topped by a classic western mural above – as the Milias Steakhouse.
Critical restaurant mass is one big key to downtown success, so the Council should get real and get creative when it comes to Joe and Gary Walton’s request to give them a financial break for the lease on the city-owned Old City Hall building where they operate Lizarran Spanish tapas restaurant. Extended work on Sixth Street next to the restaurant has hurt business and, meanwhile, the Waltons are engaged in re-casting the menu and have plans to enlarge the bar area. Both good ideas. How about insuring that Lizarran stays open to give the new plans a chance? A $1-a-month lease for the next year should do it. Gary has been a huge plus for Gilroy, building in the downtown, renovating, bringing forth ideas, holding community meetings and being a catalyst for positive change.
Change in approach desperately needed at our state representative’s office. Assemblymember Luis Alejo, the fine fellow who ordered the $37,000-plus new car on the taxpayer’s dime while other representatives were turning down that perk to save money while facing a $24 billion deficit crisis, announced a contest. The “There Ought to be a Law” contest is open to all residents of the 28th Assembly District and Alejo plans to introduce the winning idea in the state Assembly. Here’s my entry: Every member of the state Assembly should be required on an annual basis to introduce a bill that would eliminate 10 current state laws. How many laws are there? Well, nine rows of 20 volumes (thick books) on a normal bookshelf is the best answer I found, so thousands upon thousands. If my suggestion were enacted, by 2075 California the 80 state Assembly members could put a serious dent in those volumes and we could be once again be approaching a level of legislative sanity.
Perhaps insane, given the ridership numbers, is the public subsidy for CalTrain. But it’s just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to what we’re going to spend on high-speed rail unless the project gets summarily halted. Anywho, Christine Dunn, the media contact for Caltrain, says the cost of a Caltrain ride would go up 66 percent if subsidies were ended. So, near as I can figure from the website, a day pass, which would get you a round trip from Gilroy to San Francisco, would cost $41.25. Gas, parking, traffic … if train service was convenient and constant you just might pay that. Comments on the likely severing of Caltrain service to Gilroy welcome at ch*****@******in.com or there’s a meeting here on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m in the Gilroy Senior Center, 7371 Hanna St.
Meeting of NFL trains Sunday in the Super Bowl (hard to imagine I’ve been alive for each and every one.) Don’t take this to the bank, but … Green Bay Packers 24, Pittsburgh Steelers, 20. Hoping for a good game. Only days before the World Champion San Francisco Giants open spring training and only 642 days until … ah, hope springs eternal.
Reach Editor Mark Derry at ed****@****ic.com
