"We don't do a cookie cutter situation," Srijith Gopinathan told the San Francisco Chronicle in August, explaining why he and Ayesha Thapar won't open another Copra or Ettan inside Hotel De Anza. Their Cal-India Collective group runs Copra in San Francisco, Eylan in Menlo Park, Ettan in Palo Alto and Little Blue Door in Los Altos. In San Jose they are taking on three concepts at the 1931 hotel on West Santa Clara Street, and none of them is built around Indian cuisine.
The building made that decision for them, and the building is also why the opening date keeps moving.
A Room With More History Than Most Downtown Bars
According to its National Register of Historic Places nomination, Hotel De Anza "officially opened for business on February 26 1931." The nomination calls the design primarily Art Deco with Spanish Colonial Revival features. It describes a Zig-Zag Moderne facade, a stepped parapet, a two-story lobby and wrought-iron balconies. The neon sign is still the first thing most people see from the street.
The Hedley Club is the hotel's bar, and it has a long résumé. The Chronicle reports that Eleanor Roosevelt visited in 1947 while she was First Lady. The same year, the room hosted the first broadcast of San Jose radio station KEEN. Over the following decades it became known for live jazz. By 2018 the Mercury News was mourning the end of its Wednesday jazz jam, which columnist Sal Pizarro called "a real community crowd-pleaser," in a column titled "No more jazz at the Hedley Club in San Jose? It's a jam shame." The photo with that column shows the Dirty Downtown Jazz Syndicate playing the lounge in September 2017.
The Chronicle reports the Hedley Club closed in 2024. That same year, two San Jose natives, Dhaval Panchal and Sean Curtis of MHP Hospitality, bought the 100-room hotel and started restoring it. The hotel has stayed open to guests throughout.
How a Regular Brought the Chefs to San Jose
Gopinathan and Thapar had looked at San Jose before. They once considered Santana Row, and a broker kept pitching the South Bay as a market with less intense competition than San Francisco. Neither idea won them over. Then Panchal, a regular at their restaurants, asked them to work with him on the hotel. The Chronicle says the pair were drawn to the property's history and character, along with the chance to work in a new part of the Bay Area.
"San Jose is such an important city. It's more populated than San Francisco," Thapar said. "Why wouldn't we be in San Jose?"
This team doesn't need a landmark to fill seats. Their work at Copra, Ettan, Eylan and Little Blue Door made them finalists for Outstanding Restaurateur at the 2026 James Beard Awards. Before that, Gopinathan led San Francisco's Campton Place to two Michelin stars. Eater SF notes that the Hotel De Anza projects bring Gopinathan back to hotel restaurants for the first time since he left Campton Place in 2022.
What Stayed and What Changed Inside
According to Thapar, the new owners liked the bar's "lovely, old-world feel" and built the refresh around it. The Chronicle lists the details:
| Kept from the original Hedley Club | Added in the refresh |
|---|---|
| Original painted ceiling | Walls in rose limewash |
| Hand-carved bar | Art Deco-style curtains |
| Ornate chandelier | "Eclectic, interesting furniture" |
Palm Court sits next door. The Chronicle describes it as a large open-air courtyard with greenery, mosaics and black-and-white patterned couches, serving the Hedley Club menu. The owners expect it to book often for private and corporate events, especially for nearby tech companies like Nvidia and Adobe. So a casual evening in the courtyard may depend on whether a company has reserved it.
A Bistro Menu Designed Around the Room
Gopinathan and Thapar decided their California-Indian style wouldn't suit a historic hotel bar. The Chronicle reports the Hedley Club will serve a "Northern California bistro style" menu built on Bay Area ingredients. Dishes named in the preview coverage:
- Sourdough pizza
- Raviolo al'uovo with melted kale and garlic-infused smoked ghee
- Pan-fried sea bass with kimchi butter
- A hamburger with fries and little gem slaw
- A butter chicken hot dog with a smoked sauce Gopinathan has been tinkering with for years
Eater's preview also lists a za'atar flatbread with dips. The hot dog is the one dish that hints at where the chefs came from, and Gopinathan says that's on purpose:
"We're certainly not intending to do anything Indian at Hedley but subtle touches will come that are natural. It would be dishonest to not do that."
Merrick Rodrigues created the cocktails. A press release quoted by the Chronicle says they "will nod to the grand hotel bars past and present," using artisanal California spirits and regional botanicals. None of the coverage so far includes menu prices, and we won't guess at them.
The Opening Date Has Already Moved Once
As of October 8, 2026, the Hedley Club's timing looks different depending on where you read about it.
| Source | What it says about Hedley Club and Palm Court |
|---|---|
| Eater SF, Aug. 25, 2026 | Both open in September |
| SF Chronicle feature, Aug. 24, 2026 | Both open in September |
| SF Chronicle anticipated-openings list, updated Oct. 6, 2026 | "Both slated to open in October" |
| Hotel De Anza's page on IHG | Restaurant and bar "currently closed," "Scheduled to re-open end of fall 2026" |
The most recent dated source is the Chronicle's list of anticipated Bay Area openings, and it still treats the bar as upcoming. The reservation selector on Cal-India Collective's website lists Ettan, Copra, Eylan and Little Blue Door. Neither the Hedley Club nor Palm Court appears there yet. We couldn't confirm a first night of service, so plan your visit around the October target and check with the hotel before you go.
The bigger project helps explain the drift. A report crediting the Silicon Valley Business Journal puts the hotel's renovation at $8.5 million, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2027. The scope includes renovated guest rooms, an updated lobby, exterior work, restored neon signage and refreshed dining and entertainment spaces. The bar is one part of a restoration that runs into next year, and a landmark building rarely keeps to a restaurant's schedule.
Tejer Comes Next, Further Out
Tejer is the third concept and the one furthest from finished. It is a Mexican restaurant led by chef Enrique Gonzalez, who cooked with Gopinathan at Campton Place. The menu draws on Mexico City and on Atlacomulco, Gonzalez's hometown in central Mexico. The Chronicle names an agave-wrapped lamb barbacoa braised overnight, several moles including a green one thickened with sesame seeds, and tortillas made from house-nixtamalized corn. The 95-seat dining room inside the hotel will feature a mural and handmade light fixtures from Mexico. An ahi tuna tostada with cacao nib salsa macha is also planned.
Gonzalez told Eater the goal is "something unique with the sense from Mexico, but with the ingredients from California." Eater's September roundup lists Tejer for December. The Chronicle's October 6 update gives a broader "Projected opening: Winter."
Two Confirmed Dates on the Downtown Calendar
The Hedley Club's date is still loose, but two downtown events this season have firm dates:
- Saturday, October 24, 2026. The San José Museum of Art holds its free Community Day: Día de los Muertos, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is free, and the museum says performance details are still to come.
- November 27, 2026 through January 1, 2027. Christmas in the Park returns to Plaza de César Chávez, open daily from noon to 10 p.m. with free admission.
If the October target holds, the Hedley Club will be open by the time Christmas in the Park lights up. If it slips toward the "end of fall 2026" date on the hotel's page, the bar and the holiday season could arrive in downtown San Jose at about the same time.
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