Cafe Stritch closing a wake-up call for downtown San Jose

The news this week that beloved jazz club Cafe Stritch would not be reopening — after being closed for nearly two years during the COVID-19 pandemic — is a gut punch not only to its longtime fans but to downtown San Jose itself.

Cafe Stritch was opened by the Borkenhagen family in 2013, occupying the same physical space as their previous restaurant venture, Eulipia, but with an entirely different atmosphere. Where Eulipia had evolved into a fine-dining, white-tablecloth establishment during its 35-year run, Stritch felt casual and lived-in — ironically a throwback to the vibe at Eulipia in its early days, I was told.

Once Cafe Stritch found its balance, it became a hub for downtown activity, hosting jazz shows and open mic nights on South First Street. It was where people met for a bite and a drink before heading off to City Lights, San Jose Stage or Opera San Jose. You could count on a line out the door to hear artists perform Saturday night sets during San Jose Jazz SummerFest. Boisterous audiences gathered on normally quiet Monday nights for ShakesBEERience, watching a cavalcade of Bay Area actors perform staged readings of the Bard, jumping around tables and giving soliloquies from the balcony — often with a pint of beer or glass of wine in hand.

And then there was Rahsaanathon, the annual tribute each August to Rahsaan Roland Kirk — whose music inspired the creation of both Eulipia and Cafe Stritch — featuring artists including Steve Turre, James Carter and Betty Neals. Every performance felt magical.

Beyond that, Cafe Stritch played host to nonprofits and other groups that needed event space and provided catering for countless others. (My wife, Amy, held an event there for several years collecting donations of pads and tampons that HomeFirst would distribute to homeless women and girls. Cafe Stritch donated the space, appetizers and wine every year.)

Given all that, Cafe Stritch’s closing should be a wake-up call to downtown San Jose. Not everything is going back to the way it was before COVID. For downtown to survive — let alone thrive — it needs more spaces like Cafe Stritch, gathering spots that create community (and if they serve a burger, that’s a bonus).

Former Stritch general manager Andrew Saman is opening a new venture in the space called Mama Kin, a name that also has some musical lineage to it if you know the Aerosmith song. I don’t expect it to be everything Cafe Stritch was, but I’m looking forward to going there. And I hope it and other new spots that open in a post-COVID world can help keep Cafe Stritch’s spirit alive in downtown San Jose.

BEST OPEN HOUSE EVER: CMT San Jose put together a fun daylong event last Saturday for hundreds of supporters with “Studio 54,” a fundraising gala that also served as a showcase for the youth theater company’s new Creative Arts Center on Parkmoor Avenue.