San Jose’s Oldest After-Action Report

Our plan for the day was clear, oldest winery, oldest Italian restaurant and oldest bar. We packed a picnic basket and drove up into the oak-studded hills above Cupertino, past Stevens Creek County Park and onto the “Beautiful Mountain”.

Tucked into a clearing on the side of Monte Bello Ridge is the Pichetti Ranch and winery. Grapes have been grown here since 1877 and it’s been a winery since 1896. We set-up our base camp at a picnic table tucked under a spreading coast live oak tree. Jen (Member #11) brought over a chilled bottle of Pichetti’s 2011 Brut Rosé. This sparkling wine, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, starts on vines in the Los Altos Hills and right here on Monte Bello. It’s a refreshing explosion of floral and dried cherry flavors across your palate. Yummy, to say the least. According to the winemaker, each bottle contains 47 million bubbles (How in the hell do they count them?).

We welcomed the two newest Society members, Gail & Joe (#72 & #73) and waited for the rest of our group to gather. By the time Steve (#22) arrived we’d finished the “champagne”. It was a short walk up the hill and into the tasting room for our happy band of HEAD Trippers.

Our guide to the day’s tasting turned out to be one of the winemakers and owners, Mattie Rose. The delicious Mattie Rosé is named for her. We formed our tasting phalanx and began working our way down the list. Honestly, these women (yes, it’s a woman-owned winery) know their stuff. Starting with Brute Rosé (again), we sipped our way through Pinot Grigio, Viognier, White Pavone, Chardonnay, Mattie Rose, Supar Tuscan, Malbec, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Vino di Vicino, Zinfandel (two vintages), Port and Reserve Angelica. We all found wines we loved and put together a take-out order of 15 bottles. Thank goodness for the 32% Wine Club discount!

Becky (#34), John (#13) and Alma (#15) packed up their wine and headed off to previous engagements. The rest of us headed down the hill, across the valley and into the heart of downtown SJ. Ready for a feast, we rolled into Original Joe’s, San Jose oldest Italian restaurant. This place is old school “I-talian”. My Sicilian relatives would feel perfectly at home in this place (for that matter, so would Tony Soprano).

Walking into Original Joe’s is entering a by-gone era. All the waiters wear tuxedos, know the menu by heart and provide amazing service. The place is a 1950s throw-back experience. I first went to Original Joe’s back in the 1960s. It looks exactly the same. As a student at San Jose State, my roommate and I would save up and head down San Carlos Street. Back then the Dining Commons was closed on weekends and dorm residents were left to fend for themselves on the seedy streets of downtown. Yes, back then the streets were seedy, so very seedy. But Original Joe’s was a beacon of class with big enough portions that starving students got two satisfying meals out of one order of spaghetti and meatballs (softball-sized meatballs).

Some years ago, back in the 90s I think, the owners (still the Rocca family) remodeled the place. With great care and an eye for detail, they made it look just the same as on opening night back in 1956. Tradition. Well, we slid into our oversized red leather booth and prepared for a feast worthy of Little Italy or my Sicilian Nana’s kitchen.

Many of us ordered the ¾ orders and still needed doggy bags. Every sauce is “homemade” and you can tell. The food is molto bene to say the least.

Filled to the brim, we started our four block stroll to San Fernando Street. Tucked neatly between a Chinese and a Mexican restaurant sits San Jose’s oldest bar. Born just after Prohibition’s repeal, Cinebar has been local watering hole for generations. This place is a textbook example of a dive bar. A prototype if you will. They even have PBR on tap. The bar’s inner darkness (a dive requirement) was broken by one television tuned to the A’s game and another showing the Giants. We saddled up to the bar and ordered. Some had cocktails, some had draft beer.

Towards the back of the bar, before the restroom is an old pool table. It looked like a fraternity house reject. Liz (#1) went over and made a happy discovery, no coin slots. Free pool in a dive bar, sweet! She racked ‘um up and our tournament began. I was reminded that you lose when you scratch on the 8 Ball. It turns out that new member Gail is the HEAD Society’s very own pool shark.

I read what Ira (#2) just wrote, and it is pretty complete, but he left out one VERY IMPORTANT part. After we finished our pre-wine tasting snack, we did indeed head up the hill toward the winery, but several of us detoured to the restroom, a small out building with two stalls. The good news is that there are flush toilets in them, the bad news is that they are a little dark inside when the door’s shut. As I was taking care of business, I noticed there was something on the floor. Was it a dirt clod? A dead mouse? A LIVE mouse? I squinted into the dimness and realized that whatever it was, it was looking at me. I was lucky I was sitting where I was…Anyway, I made it out of the bathroom intact and called for Ira. He ran to my rescue and identified "a cute little blue belly”. Lizard set free, we proceeded to the winery. The rest of the excursion went as Ira described with lots of wine, good food, beer and no other reptiles…