Sal Pizarro: Here's the Mardi Gras plan for San Jose's Poor House Bistro [Mercury News]

Feb. 26—For more than 15 years now, Poor House Bistro has been the epicenter for Mardi Gras celebrations in San Jose. And while the eatery was moved to Little Italy in early January, the new location won't be up and running until at least summer.

But worry not. The good times will still roll on Fat Tuesday at the Poor House — just on the covered patio that has remained active at its former location on Barack Obama Boulevard.

Owner Jay Meduri says the celebration will get started around 4 p.m., with live music by the Montegos beginning at 6 p.m. There'll be the traditional crawfish boil, along with king cake, beignets and other New Orleans-style menu items. And if anyone wants to get the party started early, Poor House will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday for a Lundi Gras celebration, especially good for anyone heading to the Justin Bieber concert that night at SAP Center.

Either way, it should be a festive sendoff before next year's party moves to Little Italy.

CHRISTMAS ... IN MARCH?: When Santa Clara County was hit by a surge of COVID-19 cases back in December, First Congregational Church of San Jose made the difficult decision to cancel its Christmas Eve service, a major event for the church's community.

But First Congregational will be making up for lost time next weekend when it celebrates its traditional Christmas Eve service at 10 a.m. on March 6. The choir will sing Christmas carols, the traditional prayers and readings will be given and there'll even be a candlelight rendition of "Silent Night." Coffee and Christmas cookies will be served afterwards in the courtyard of the church on the corner of Hamilton and Leigh avenues.

The holiday spirit doesn't care what the calendar says, right?

NEXT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: Community-based organization Catalyze SV was born just over five years ago in a San Jose living room, and now it's receiving its second multi-year grant from the Knight Foundation to continue its work on engaging residents on planned development projects. The $249,080 investment over three years has allowed Catalyze SV to hire Rocio Molina as its community engagement manager, becoming the group's second full-time staff member.

Catalyze SV has held "community visioning workshops" on projects since 2018, and Molina will consult with other organizations to help them use those engagement strategies and create more productive conversations.

"Since day one, Catalyze SV has focused on getting more of the community involved in talking constructively about development," said Alex Shoor, the group's founder and executive director. "When we started, our focus was on advocating for more inclusive, collaborative community engagement. Now, we also have a business that functions as a consultancy to help achieve this goal."

STUDENT SUPPORT SECTION: The Sobrato family is stretching out its philanthropic arms again, and this time their generosity will impact students at Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School and other Cristo Rey schools in the Bay Area. The family has made a $9 million gift to fund scholarships to Santa Clara University, which will immediately help 21 students who received early acceptance to the university, of which John A. Sobrato is a 1960 graduate.

And San Jose State University students are putting their networking skills to work getting the word out about a candlelight vigil at San Jose City Hall on March 4 to stand in solidarity with those battling lymphoma and to remember those who have lost their lives to the cancer. SJSU's chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America is inviting members of the public to join them at the 5:30 p.m. vigil, as part of a monthlong campaign called United Against Lymphoma.

SIPPING ARTFULLY: It looks like the Triton Museum of Art has its finger right on the pulse of the public — at least the drinking public. The Santa Clara art museum has a tequila tasting fundraiser coming up March 11 — with tacos and other beverages thrown in as well — to support its various programs. And if you've been paying attention to booze news, you might have read that tequila is on the verge of overtaking vodka as America's most popular spirit. So you can jump on the bandwagon now and impress all your friends with your tequila knowledge. Tickets to the tasting event are available for $80 (Triton members get a $10 discount) at .

TRIBUTE TO A SYMPHONY SUPPORTER: Symphony San Jose President Andrew Bales let me know this week about the death of Marie Bianco, who was an instrumental person in keeping orchestral music in San Jose. She had been a supporter and onetime board chair of the San Jose Symphony before it went out of business in 2001. Shortly after that, Bales started a new symphony within Ballet San Jose and was seeking donors to fund the initial marketing effort and turned to Bianco.

Now, she had been burned by the effort to keep the old symphony alive, but Bianco and her husband, Bill, knew the livelihoods of the musicians were at risk, so they fully funded that initial need. The support didn't end there, either. In 2008, the Biancos commissioned David Amram to write a piano concerto that was performed the following year by Jon Nakamatsu.

"Marie Bianco will be missed," Bales said, "but her legacy includes making Symphony San Jose a reality as it celebrates its 20th anniversary."

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