I’m so thrilled to announce the launch of the first-ever Hopper Holiday Restaurant Gift Bag! This is a last-minute idea, and I must be certifiably crazy to be doing this, but this elf has a few tricks up her sleeve and access to Santa’s spare turbo sleigh to make this happen. We all know how much our independent restaurants are suffering, especially this brutal month, and yet they still manage to make beautiful food and products and holiday treats that fill us with delight.
So just imagine an abundant gift bag packed full of some of the most delicious, local, hand-crafted, and exclusive restaurant treats! I’m talking about 17 or so stellar San Francisco Bay Area products, my friends, like the smoked egg bottarga from Atomic Provisions (the amazing pantry line from State Bird Provisions), Miss G’s pepper sauce from Miss Ollie’s (one of my favorite hot sauces, made according to chef Sarah Kirnon’s grandmother’s recipe), the black bean chili sauce from China Live (one of my top secret weapon condiments to cook with), ma’amoul cookies from Reem’s (traditional Arab cookies with espresso-date, walnut, and pistachio fillings), and some custom goodies you can’t even get, like Nopa’s chili honey that comes with their superlative fried chicken (obsessed!). Everything will be shelf-stable, so you don’t have to worry about getting anything into the fridge after you receive it.
The gift bag also includes a donation to SF New Deal, an incredible organization that has been helping restaurants feed our communities in need during the pandemic.
This run is going to be limited to 25 gift bags, so you’ll want to hop to it. This will be an extremely short order window, running until Saturday afternoon, and then I’ll be super-busy in Santa’s workshop for a couple days getting this all together. In-person pick-ups will be available at Nopa Tuesday December 22nd through Thursday December 24th (and you can pick up some house-smoked trout and cocktails while you’re at it). Delivery in San Francisco will also be available on those same dates for an additional fee. Sorry, no shipping (I’m crazy, but not thaaaat crazy), and I won’t be able to offer the gift bags any earlier than next Tuesday. There are additional terms as well, like no substitutions or custom orders, sowwy.
I’ll be finalizing all the products and final details by tomorrow (Wednesday), and will be sending another newsletter out as soon as the hopper shop is live. (I will also be announcing it on social media, so keep your eyes peeled!)
The Hopper Holiday Restaurant Gift Bag is going to be around $200, and 100 percent fabulous. You can order it for yourself, you can split up the gift bag into stocking stuffers for your friends, or you can even send a gift bag to someone who would really love it (and maybe can’t afford it right now). Imagine giving someone the gift of supporting local restaurants…I know, it’s a good one.
Okay, Champers the elf has a lot of work to do, stand by for the details and a link tomorrow. On behalf of all our local restaurants, thank you. I appreciate all your kind and generous support, and this gift bag will be a great way to share and show the love.
(If there are any elves who have a car and/or spare hands to help me out with product pick-ups or bag assembly on Sunday or Monday, I’d be so grateful! Please send me an email and I’ll get back to you. Mwah!!)
The smoked egg bottarga from the State Bird Provisions Atomic Workshop. Photo courtesy of State Bird.
