Poppy & Claro

A Destination Rooted in Place

When the Capital Club, a private members-only dining room at the base of 50 West San Fernando, closed its doors in December 2024, Jay Paul Company saw an opportunity. The ground floor of their 18-story downtown San Jose office tower had long been an underutilized asset, disconnected from the pedestrian energy of the plaza outside. Their vision for what would become Poppy & Claro was clear: create a destination restaurant that activates street level, draws top tenants and talent to the building, and gives the broader workplace community a genuine sense of place to gather.

The challenge was making that vision real inside a 3,897-square-foot space that came with significant inherited complexity.

Working Through What Was Left Behind

The existing conditions required more groundwork than the space’s footprint might suggest. Clearing outdated MEP infrastructure and bringing walls up to current standards were necessary first steps before the design could take shape. The space was compact for the number of trades working simultaneously, and with no construction trailer or staging area available, the team had to get creative about storage and lift access throughout the build.

The exterior scope added another layer of precision work. Adding large corner windows to open the restaurant to the plaza required sourcing granite that matched the building’s original 1988 cladding. To keep the new stone from reading as a patch, the existing facade had to be power washed so the two materials could age together visually. Meanwhile, construction fencing had to be carefully managed around an active public plaza, one that hosts a holiday ice rink and Friday night dancing in the square, keeping the project moving without displacing the community life it was designed to serve.

Working inside an occupied building meant the lobby stayed open throughout construction. Restrooms were rerouted to the fourth floor near the leasing office, and the team implemented strict dust and noise controls to protect the lobby environment. The noisiest work was reserved for off hours, and the lobby entry door and associated tile and flooring work were held until late in the project to minimize disruption to the public.

DES brought particular value to this complexity. As Architect of Record and a firm with prior knowledge of 50 West and the Jay Paul Company relationship, DES provided technical execution, oversight, and continuity across the project, coordinating closely with Design Architect Cass Calder Smith and general contractor Level 10 to keep the design vision intact through every constraint the existing conditions presented.

The hearth oven at the heart of the kitchen required its own set of solutions. Rather than running a grease duct through the dining space, which would have triggered extensive sprinkler installation and a ceiling interrupted by access panels, the team configured the duct in a switchback above the kitchen. A highly specialized ozone air scrubber was installed in place of a conventional ventilation system, reducing both the maintenance burden and the mechanical footprint. The ceiling in the dining room remained clean and uncompromised.

California, Written in Material

A mix of Cass Calder Smith’s California Modern design language and DES’s technical execution gave way to a project filled with soul and form. The material palette is a love letter to the state: California Claro walnut runs through much of the millwork, and live edge slabs of the same wood clad the entry and private dining room, a detail so central to the identity of the space that it is embedded in the restaurant’s name. Poppy-colored upholstery nods to California’s iconic wildflower, while deep blues and greens in the tile evoke a moody coastline. Local art and ceramics were commissioned specifically to complement the palette and deepen the sense of place. The flavors on the menu mirror the materials on the walls: rooted, seasonal, and distinctly Californian.

Large corner windows dissolve the boundary between inside and out, pulling the energy of the pedestrian plaza into the dining room and extending the restaurant’s presence onto the street.

A Gem in the Heart of Downtown

Since opening in fall 2025, Poppy & Claro has resonated with exactly the mix of people Jay Paul Company hoped to reach: building tenants, downtown workers, and members of the broader San Jose community. Diners have called it “beautifully, intentionally designed” with colors that are “warm and inviting.” Others have described the interior as “absolutely stunning” and celebrated its location “in the heart of DTSJ.” For the tenants who work in the building above, the response has been personal: “What a gem of a place and the even better part is it’s in the building I work in. Poppy and Claro is a phenomenal location and a very nice touch to the downtown scene.”

What began as an underutilized private club is now a vibrant ground-floor anchor, one that connects a workplace community to its city and gives downtown San Jose a destination worth returning to.