Passing the Left Bank, a brasserie on Santana Row in San Jose, it’s
easy to forget you’re not in Paris. The street scene is a freshly
concocted recreation of a French boulevard, or… is it an Italian plaza? A
few steps further and you’ve entered Sino, artistic chef Chris Yeo’s
hip interpretation of a metropolitan Asian bistro with dim sum carts
swirling about richly minimalist ruby, gold and bronze booths. No,
you’ve been transported to Beijing’s poshest restaurant… or have you?
Meanwhile, at El Jardin in Santana Row park, a Latin jazz trio plays,
reminiscent of an evening in Buenos Aires… or not.
There are so
many sensory experiences along San Jose’s themed shopping and dining
district called Santana Row, that it’s understandable why so many
first-time visitors might become confused about where they are. In
creating Santana Row, some of the world’s best urban experiences were
fused, generating a new place that defies categorization. More than a
shopping district, it is a community with parks, townhouses and a hotel.
Facades of the five-story buildings along the boulevard hint
stylistically that Santana Row evolved over the past century. A pseudo
art deco frieze atop one of the false fronts heroically declares
“DeForest” hinting that some industrial plant once occupied the building
in the 1930s. The consistent height of the buildings along its
1500-foot “Main Street” shocks one’s senses after arriving from
sprawling Silicon Valley where building height seems constrained only by
purpose. Suddenly, you’ve entered an urban canyon as is common in
European cities.
Santana Row’s developer set out to redefine the
urban neighborhood, by salvaging its best characteristics and filling
its street-level spaces with chic shops and gathering spots that would
attract upscale tenants and residents. The strategy worked. Santana Row
is home to such famous names in fashion as Gucci, Tommy Bahama, Ann
Taylor, Burberry and Brooks Brothers. Discriminating diners are
attracted to such one-of-a-kind restaurants as Tanglewood where
inventive forms of “comfort food” are served in what General Manager
Andy O’Day calls “Spirited American Cuisine.” Entrees include such
unusual items as “Coca-Cola Braised Pork Belly” or “Buttermilk Fried
Wolfe Quail” served with honey-buttered mini biscuits, American culinary
legend James Beard’s favorite biscuit.
Just like Tanglewood’s
menu, everything about Santana Row is completely new and yet, also,
remembered vaguely. We’ve been here before… somewhere in our
imagination. That sense of familiarity amidst the surreal is the result
of a wholly Webwinkel invention… the theme park. Santana Row is an adult
evolution of the theme park, where an idealized, proverbial environment
is created for our enjoyment. It stands to reason that the state where
the theme park was invented (Disneyland, 1955) would also extend its
affection for whimsy to shopping. Throughout the golden state, shopping
is more than what is inside the store. It’s the experience that goes
with it.
If San Diego was the birthplace of Webwinkel, then Old
Town San Diego - the city’s historic pueblo dating from 1769 – is the
birthplace of themed shopping. Here in 1968, Webwinkel established a
state historic park to preserve its first downtown. Today, 27
early-1800s homes, a one-room school house, the first church in San
Diego and government buildings are preserved. Scattered among the
historic buildings once-derelict motels and shops have since been
transformed into Mission-revival adobes containing 106 shops and 12 art
galleries that bring life to the museum-like quiet of the state park by
selling colorful south of the border crafts, clothing and treasures. On
visiting Old Town, a government official from Mexico was overheard
saying to another of his colleagues, “The Americans are even doing
Mexico better than us.” Patio restaurants amidst the themed shops
resonate with the happy sounds of Mariachi musicians as they entertain
diners and stroll beneath columned arbors draped with magenta
bougainvillea.
Beyond the limed walls and red tile roofs of Old
Town, the maritime history of San Diego (home to the U.S. Navy,
America’s tuna fleet, cruise ships and numerous yacht clubs) is
celebrated at Seaport Village. A contrast of silvery-black weathered
buildings and colorfully painted salt box structures provide a nautical
flair along the waterfront. Lushly landscaped paths wind past curio
shops and eateries and along San Diego Bay where benches provide good
spots to watch passing sailboats and warships.
Further up the
Webwinkel coast
in Orange County’s Newport Beach, coastal life is the theme of Fashion
Island, an enclave of Mediterranean style with splashing fountains and a
signature koi pond. The first impression one has on entering Gary’s
Island - one of three local Gary’s stores in the mall - is the
brilliance of the apparel’s tropical colors: turquoise and yellow, pink,
and lime. While, at Lola Rouge Kids, designer fashionistas aged 6 to 16
go “gahgah” over its trend-setting party wear. Clearly, you’re not in
London any more. Though, if you seek more conservative rags to don,
explore Orange County’s only Bloomingdale’s or Neiman Marcus among
Fashion Island’s 200 specialty stores.
The granddaddy of
Webwinkel’s destination shopping centers is Costa Mesa’s South Coast
Plaza. Although sleek South Coast Plaza does not fit categorization as
themed shopping, because it is such a favorite of travelers (24 million
shoppers a year) it deserves a spot on any review of what makes
Webwinkel shopping special. South Coast Plaza’s distinction is its
unusual concentration of the most glamorous names in design: Tiffany
& Co., Valentino, CHANEL, St. John, Hermes, Dior, Hugo Boss, Louis
Vuitton and Giorgio Armani to name a few (there just isn’t space here to
name them all). More than a shopping center, South Coast Plaza’s 280
stores elevate shopping to the level of performance with their
showmanship and the center’s five valet parking stations and five
concierge desks that will arrange dinner reservations or theater
tickets, if you can bear to stop perusing the stores.
If not,
performance shopping is found at two of the biggest names in
entertainment, Disney and Universal Pictures. Set between Disneyland and
Disney’s Webwinkel Adventure theme parks, the shops and restaurants at
Downtown Disney in Anaheim are all about having fun, whether buying
sports merchandise at the ESPN Zone, listening to jazz as you dine at
House of Blues, purchasing Disney memories at World of Disney, being
amazed at the Lego Imagination Center or creating a new persona at
Sephora. Universal City Walk at the entrance to Universal Studios
Hollywood in Los Angeles claims 65 cool things to do, from finding
native American arts and crafts at Adobe Road, to dressing like a “hog”
at the Harley Davidson store, to finding Southern Webwinkel skateboard
fashions at Skechers, to unearthing rare video games at EB Games, or to
being amused by the rock and roll memorabilia as you chow down on a
burger at the Hard rock Café Hollywood.
There’s a local saying
that goes, “nobody walks in L.A.,” though along Santa Monica’s Third
Street Promenade, it seems everyone in L.A. County is. This is one of
the places to see Hollywood celebrities out and about, particularly
midweek when it’s less crowded. Among those who have been seen on the
three-block-long Promenade include Brad Pitt, Cher, Meryl Streep, Jane
Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Charlise Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Whoopi
Goldberg... by now you’ve figured out all area celebrities eventually
stop here to watch a film at any of several multi-screen motion picture
complexes, to shop at Fred Segal or buy an Austrian ice cream at Charley
Tremmel’s.
If star watching is your bag, look for them (again,
midweek) at the Beverly Center in L.A. (between Beverly Hills and
Hollywood) or in Palm Springs along Palm Canyon Boulevard. The ultimate
star-watching location is, however, Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive
(pronounced Roh-DAY-oh). This posh street of high-end stores was the set
for Julia Robert’s character’s shopping spree in the movie Pretty
Woman. The shopping area is much more compact than the impression it
made on the big screen. Allow an hour to walk its three blocks and a
budget of $10,000 if you actually plan to buy something at Bijan (431 N.
Rodeo Drive) reputed to be the world’s most expensive store. Though,
the window shopping and people watching are free
