A Forkful of San Jose
The first definitive restaurant guide to San Jose and the south bay.
Written by Joseph Mangelli, Douglas Kincaid and Joseph Izzo, jr. and published in 1975 by Izkinelli Publications.
LA has them. New York has them. San Francisco has them. Now San Jose has one. A FORKFUL OF SAN JOSE is the first and only complete, definitive guide to dining in San Jose and the South Bay.
FORKFUL has researched, reviewed and rated over one hundred restaurants in San Jose and the South Bay. We have reviewed all restaurants as unannounced, paying customers and have not been influenced, persuaded or pressured by any motive or consideration other than to present fair, honest evaluation.
FORKFUL attempts to show what the reader may anticipate at the restaurants covered.
Growing up in the 1970s, my parent had a copy of this book on their shelf. It’s always been present in my life.
A while ago I “borrowed” my parents copy and thought “Are any of these restaurants still around?” Unfortunately that copy had some blank pages in it (I believe it was an oops copy that was given to my father). Luckily a co-worker of mine found another – complete – copy of it to give to me.
Finally, I’m going to attempt to answer that questions. Wish me luck and Bon Appétit!
Who are the authors?
Joe Izzo, Jr.
from Legacy.com
October 21, 1950 – January 5, 2012
Joe Izzo passed away peacefully at home on January 5, 2012, at the age of 61 from complications of bladder cancer. He was born on October 21, 1950 to Joseph George Izzo and Florence Graganella, both of whom preceded Joe in death.
After earning a B.A. degree and teaching credential at SJSU, Joe embarked on a long fulfilling career in education with the County of Santa Clara Schools from which he retired in 2007. In addition to teaching, Joe forged a career in the field of writing, co-authoring San Jose’s very first restaurant guide, A Forkful of San Jose, in the late 1970’s. He went on to publish his own restaurant guides, South Bay Hotplates and The Businessman’s Companion to the Silicon Valley, as well as spending productive years both with the San Jose Mercury News and the San Jose Metro as restaurant reviewer. Joe also authored and published many well-respected works of fiction over the years.
In his later years, Joe turned his creative touch to drawing hundreds of mystical mandalas, imbued with the quality of Joe’s own spirituality.
Joe and his writing partner, Joe Mangelli, wrote numerous screenplays, including, Lockdown, which was made into a film in the 1980’s. In 2009-2010, they produced an independent production of their Screenplay, Uncle Louie, which won 2 Awards of Merit at national film competitions. Joe was able to travel to Buffalo, New York in 2011, where Uncle Louie was an official selection to the Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival. It was a homecoming for Joe, whose parents were from Buffalo and where he still has a large and warm family. Uncle Louis also won the Audience Favorite Award at the 2011 Columbia Gorge Film Festival.
Joe’s other passion was surfing which was a life-long pursuit. He was a founding member of the Majestic Scribes, Social Athletic, 15 Metetr Yacht Club and Grill. An ordained minister in the Church of the Sub-Genius, Joe was able to ordain many others into this illustrious organization.
Douglas Kincaid
from Legacy.com
December 20, 1946 – March 10, 2006
Mr Kincaid, a graduate of San Jose State, taught at Lincoln High School and San Jose Community School, working with at-risk youth. He co-wrote and published five editions of the Forkful Dining Guides.
Mr. Kincaid was an avid sailor, earning his Captain’s license in 2004. He also played guitar and wrote restaurant columns for local newspapers.
Joseph Mangelli
I can’t really find much about Mangelli. The author information for the novel Guilty Parties (based on the 1933 kidnapping and murder of Brooke Hart) that he co-wrote with Izzo just states:
Joseph Mangelli is the author of 5 Guides to the San Francisco Bay area. He has written screenplays for film and also co-wrote a series for PBS television.
Mangelli is also listed as an officer for Izkinelli Publications. There is also a LinkedIn profile listing Majestic Scribes Films (which Izzo was part of).
Other possibilities, through a brief internet search, is that he may have been a teacher within the Santa Clara County Office of Education (which could be the PBS connection, as KTEH was, until the early ’80s, owned and operated by the SCCOE).
If you are Joseph, or know more about him, feel free to contact me.
Who am I?
My name is Ken Patterson. I was born a raised in the south bay (what used to be called The Valley of Hearts Delight, but known around the world as Silicon Valley). Except for about six years in the ’90s, I’ve always lived in the county of Santa Clara.
I’ve delivered news papers, sold books, worked in cinemas, plus a significant amount of my life in broadcasting (not so much the “King of all Media” but more like a Jack). I’ve also moved on to web and iOS app development.
My alter-ego, Sir Cumference, can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. on KFJC, 89.7, Los Altos Hills.
(image by Nicholas Chan ©2019 Metro Silicon Valley)
Help Me Out
I’m financially retired these days, so if you want to chip in to help me go around and visit some of these establishments – then please click the donate button.