Menlo Park Renaissance (Part 2)

Perhaps of all the American states, California, because of its wine country, has placed the most emphasis on cultivating a food and wine culture. Among our natural advantages, we count great local produce and local wine. In fact, Napa Valley has become one of the country’s greatest tourist destinations.

The second point of the positioning for Menlo Park is to become the food and wine capital of Silicon Valley. What Napa has done successfully is to attract great chefs to set up destination restaurants. They have also built an excellent public market, the Oxbow Market, which puts an emphasis on eclectic and quality cheese, meat, chocolate, spices, wine bars, produce, and so on.

Commercially, both strategies can be replicated here without too much difficulty. There is an affluent consumer base whose members are interested in availing themselves of such amenities. Extremely wealthy residents of communities like Atherton and Woodside, as well as Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Los Altos all shop, work, and play in these areas. And unlike in Napa, these consumers not only spend money during their leisure time, they spend on business lunches, dinners, coffees, and drinks.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that we also need a set of good, fun, sophisticated, but also affordable restaurants. One example that comes to mind from San Francisco is Pakwan, a Pakistani restaurant in the Mission and the Tenderloin where you can eat a fabulous meal for less than $20. Pakwan, however, does not boast a sophisticated ambience. If we could have that quality of food, at that price, but in a cleaner, more charming ambience, I think we would have the recipe for a class of restaurants that would perfectly complement the entrepreneurship positioning. Perhaps a food incubator like La Cocina would be a great addition to the tech incubator ensemble we put together here.

Applying the principles of product marketing, we have to think about differentiation. Napa remains the “play” destination to indulge in food and wine. But here in Menlo Park, we want to create a place where people can both work and play in style.

And speaking of style, the next positioning point is all about that!

This segment is part 2 in the series : Menlo Park Renaissance
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