Downtown San Jose bars get back into the Christmas spirit

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas again at Paper Plane in downtown San Jose. After being forced to take a break last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the popular lounge is again being transformed into Miracle on 1st — a winter wonderland for the craft cocktail crowd.

The bar at 72 S. First St. was being decked out this week in preparation for Wednesday night’s big opening, with enough festive wrapping paper and ornaments to make Kris Kringle feel right at home. The drink menu is also getting a Santa makeover, with several “Miracle on 1st” favorites returning like the Christmopolitan, the Snowball Old-Fashioned (which will have a gingerbread flavor this year); the Bad Santa, a spicy take on the Hot Buttered Rum; and the SanTaRex, a tequila-mezcal concoction served in a mug in the form of a dinosaur wearing a Santa hat.

But the really fun addition this year is that 55 South, another craft cocktail hotspot in downtown San Jose, will become one of the Sippin’ Santa bars for the season when it also opens Wednesday night. The laid-back holiday vibe and menu is a mash-up of tiki and holiday culture — think of it like spending Christmas in Tahiti. The drinks are mostly rum based, including the Kris Kringle Colada and the Sippin’ Santa itself, but there are a few exceptions like the tequila-driven Azul Navidad and the Yule Log Grog, a hot drink made with gin and cranberry syrup.

The “Miracle” concept started by Greg Boehm in New York in 2014 and Jeff “Beachbum” Berry got involved a year later to bring the tropical “Sippin’ Santa” offshoot. Most of the drinks come in festive glassware that is also for sale, with a portion of those proceeds being donated to the James Beard Foundation’s Open for Good campaign to provide restaurant relief. There are also “Miracle” bars at Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco and the Double Standard in Oakland and a “Sippin’ Santa” at Kona Street Market in San Francisco.

The makeovers will last through Dec. 31, so you’ve got plenty of time to try them out. And with the two downtown San Jose bars they’re just steps away from each other on South First Street, so you won’t even need to hitch a ride on Santa’s sleigh to visit both in one night (though I’d certainly recommend grabbing a ride-share or designating a driver).

MINGLE AND JINGLE: Families driving by Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose may have noticed what looks like a bounce house in the middle of Christmas in the Park. Sorry to disappoint the kids, but the inflatable structure is Blinky’s Tavern and it’s only for grown-ups.

The 1,700 square-foot “cabin” weighs more than 500 lbs. and it sounds like we’re lucky it got here in time. After arriving at port from Asia, customs officials reportedly wanted it to be inflated to its full 40-foot by 60-foot size to see what it was. Blinky’s Tavern, which opens with Christmas in the Park on Nov. 26, will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Another interesting thing to note is that it’s staffed by Scholar Wine, a  Bay Area bar and catering service — started by Santa Clara University students in 2014  — that provides scholarships to low-income, first-generation college students.

Christmas in the Park Executive Director Jason Minsky said he’s wanted to try bringing a beer-and-wine venue to the park for a while and partnered with Bottomley Distributing to make it happen. It could turn into a great way to draw young adults to the beloved San Jose holiday display that is usually visited by people when they are kids and then again when they have children (or grandchildren) of their own. Beer and wine cost $12, but with the former Fairmont Hotel across the street from the park still closed through the holiday season, it might be just the ticket.

GOOD TIDINGS FROM SUNNYVALE: Kristi Yamaguchi helped open Downtown Ice, the San Jose rink that bears her name, on Monday night but that’s not the only outdoor skating to be had in the South Bay. The Downtown Sunnyvale Ice Rink on Murphy Avenue also opened last weekend, with performances by the San Francisco Ice Theatre and former Team USA member Angela Wang. More than 30 kids who are clients of Sunnyvale Community Services, the event’s nonprofit partner, also got to skate and — thanks to an anonymous donor — each received a $25 gift card to Leigh’s Favorite Books.

That’s not all that Sunnyvale Community Services is thankful for this season, either. Executive Director Marie Bernard says the agency is happy to finally be in its new facility this month after nearly two years of renovations and fundraising during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new building triples the space of the old facility and is big enough to have staff safely onsite, welcoming clients and volunteers, Bernard said. So far, the nonprofit has raised $17 million toward its $20 million capital campaign and is working hard to bridge the gap.