Food Traditional
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Bank of Italy is key part of downtown San Jose plan

Bertie A. Kinser

SAN JOSE — The Bank of Italy historic tower in downtown San Jose is slated for more than an eye-catching renovation: The iconic high rise could become an office, cultural, retail, and food hub under a revamp that a development alliance has proposed.

Global development powerhouse Westbank has teamed up with local developer Gary Dillabough to launch a wide-ranging venture that would usher in a dramatic makeover of downtown San Jose, and the Bank of Italy tower is one of the early efforts in the endeavor.

“The Bank of Italy is an amazing building,” said Andrew Jacobson, head of development for Westbank’s San Jose initiative. “The historic characteristics are unlike anything you will see.”

Street-level view of Bank of Italy office and retail tower, looking north along South First Street in downtown San Jose, with exterior staircase and entrance to Fountain Alley visible, concept. Bjarke Ingels Group / Westbank

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Food Traditional
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Which city’s food wins game day?

Bertie A. Kinser

For some folks, even die-hard football fans, Super Bowl food is as essential to game day as the game itself. And like many Floridians, Andy Hesman and Kenny Nadeau will be rooting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend. But when it comes to snacking, the two part ways, and voted quite differently in our city-centric Super Bowl Food Showdown.

Hesman, owner of AJ’s Press in Longwood, has Tampa roots. Years ago, he and his former business partner had a sandwich shop in Cigar City. Though it closed after sustaining serious damage during Hurricane Irma, its sister shop in Longwood still showcases Tampa love via its Cuban sandwich.

Nadeau, best known as the Kenny behind Uncle Kenny’s BBQ & Catering in Clermont, was born and raised in St. Louis, and though he’s been a proud Floridian since 1999, he’s just as proud showcasing the flavors of the Midwest via the

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Food Traditional
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How China presents opportunity for pet-food majors | Food Industry Comment

Bertie A. Kinser

Chinese consumers prefer to feed pets with imported products

just-food’s China market columnist Peter Peverelli digs into the country’s growing pet-food market.

Due to rising living standards and urbanisation, phenomena referred to as “empty-nest youth” and “empty-nest elderly” have soared in China.

The former will strike many western readers as odd, as empty-nest syndrome is typically linked to the elderly. However, remember the subject of the previous Eye on China column the growing number of Chinese young adults living on their own. They enjoy a level of freedom their parents and earlier ancestors had not even dreamed about but they are culturally still Chinese, with a communitarian inclination.

If you are not ready for regularly sharing your home with another person but still would like a companion, then a pet is an attractive alternative. The number of these empty-nest youths in China is expected to reach 92 million this year.

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Food Traditional
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New Cape Verdean restaurant coming to New Bedford’s Acushnet Avenue

Bertie A. Kinser

NEW BEDFORD — Two brothers from Cape Verde are bringing the food and music of their home to New Bedford this month. 

Mateus Barbosa, 39, and Salo Afonseca, 37, are opening Morna Lounge and Grill on Acushnet Avenue in the space that was once Tilia’s Cafe. It will be a restaurant and bar with a mix of Portuguese, Cape Verdean and American cuisine. 

“The idea started about two years ago,” Barbosa, a college professor and social services worker based in Bridgewater, said. “I wanted to start a business, a restaurant, but I wanted it to be in a community where there’s a need.”

As a UMass Dartmouth alumnus with family in the city, he said he felt there wasn’t a big, traditional Cape Verdean place for the city’s Cape Verdean community to go and enjoy food and music.  

Morna, he explained, is a type of Cape Verdean music that is

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