If you’re like me, you’ve spent much of the past few weeks gathering indoors at friends and family’s homes or hibernating in your own, emerging for holiday shopping excursions, family trips and walks in between raindrops. But now that the holidays are over, it’s time to take back our calendars and plan a night (or day) on the town.
Looking for a little creative inspiration to kick off 2025? Karla Kane profiles Half Moon Bay muralist Julie Engelmann, whose works are featured in cities around the Peninsula. Heather Zimmerman has the story on (Sounds Like) You Had to Be There, a festival at The Guild this weekend that’s billed as “the first-ever hybrid electronic, slowcore and shoegaze festival to grace the Bay Area.”
And if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to branch out culinarily, check out Adrienne Mitchel’s roundup of 15 eateries opening on the Peninsula this year. The list includes a cat cafe, a renowned chef’s restaurant in a new hotel and a cocktail bar in a historic spot.
Bundling up,
Julia Brown
Six Fifty Editor
editor@thesixfifty.com
Marveling at murals: Meet the Half Moon Bay artist behind vibrant public paintings around the Peninsula
Julie Engelmann’s artwork takes inspiration from local landmarks and symbols.
New festival at The Guild highlights electronic, slowcore and shoegaze acts
Kick off the first weekend of 2025 with (Sounds Like) You Had to Be There, a festival billed as “the first-ever hybrid electronic, slowcore and shoegaze festival to grace the Bay Area.”
15 restaurants and eateries coming to the Peninsula in 2025
The new year is set to be an exciting one already: A cat cafe serving Korean drinks and snacks will open in Santa Clara, a robotic food truck brand is debuting a restaurant in San Mateo and a “Top Chef” and “Iron Chef” winner is opening a restaurant in Sunnyvale.
Congrats to Nancy L. of Atherton, who was the first reader to correctly identify where last week’s photo was taken (it’s Selby’s in Redwood City!).
The first person to reply to this email with the correct place where the below photo was taken will win a prize from The Six Fifty and a shoutout in our next newsletter!
Fungal Fun: Jan. 5 Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District docents lead a 5-mile moderately paced hike focused on appreciating winter fungi.
DIY Chinese New Year Couplet Workshop: Jan. 5 Learn the basics of Chinese calligraphy and create couplets for Lunar New Year under the guidance of calligraphy artist Jojo Liu.
Celebrity Pickleball Bash Warm-Up: Jan. 6 Terrell Owens (TO) and Chris Mullen play pickleball live, sign autographs and do a Q&A at this Redwood City warmup event for the The Celebrity Pickleball Bash in February in San Francisco.
Community Poetry Open Mic: Jan. 8 The Burlingame Library hosts an open mic poetry evening with featured reader former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Sally Ashton, who will also sign books.
An Evening with Tommy Emmanuel: Jan. 10 Finger-picking guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel comes to The Guild Theatre.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar: Jan. 10-Feb. 9 Pianist/writer/actor Hershey Felder returns to TheatreWorks, along with actor Jonathan Silvestri, exploring the life of Sergei Rachmaninoff.
San Mateo On Ice: Through Jan. 12 Central Park’s seasonal outdoor ice skating rink is open through next weekend.
Yan Can Cook Live: Jan. 14 Beloved chef Martin Yan demonstrates how to cook dishes from his two new cookbooks, followed by a meet-and-greet and book signing.
Plan Ahead
Maryna Krut: Jan. 18 Ukrainian singer and bandura virtuoso Maryna Krut performs at Stanford.
The Beatles White Album Live: Jan. 18 Laurence Juber, Tal Bachman and more perform The Beatles’ “White Album” live in concert.
A John Williams Celebration: Jan. 18-19 Peninsula Symphony pays tribute to the movie-score maestro John Williams, including selections from “ET,” “Jaws,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and more.
Harajuku Lumpia Fest: Jan. 18 Check out what’s billed as “the Bay Area’s cutest foodie marketplace.”
Tia Fuller: Jan. 19 Grammy-nominated saxophonist Tia Fuller and her quartet come to Half Moon Bay.
Singles Speed Dating: Jan. 24 Alhambra Irish House hosts an evening of speed dating geared toward ages 35-49.
Palo Alto Lunar New Year Fair: Jan. 26 Celebrate the year of the snake at Mitchell Park Community Center.
Redwood City Lunar New Year Celebration: Feb. 1 Find musicians, dancers, free admission to the San Mateo County History Museum and more at this annual celebration.
Some of the Peninsula’s oldest homes are open to visitors. Here are 7 you shouldn’t miss
Visit these landmark estates and see what it was like a century ago (or more).
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