Ho ho howdy, hopper posse. I hope your holiday season has been merry and bright and full of delicious things. I know the latter is the case if you ordered a hopper holiday restaurant gift bag! It has been so fun seeing your pics and notes and reports of your favorite items and dishes you’re making. And let me tell you, it felt so good to be able to pay all these restaurants for their beautiful products and wares. They all send their gratitude.
Thanks to all of you for your generous support—the buyers, the volunteer elves, and especially to Nopa for letting me take over their restaurant dining room for two days of bag assembly (61 bags of 18 items each, you do the math of chaos!), and then distributing the gift bags to folks who opted to pick them up in person (and during their busy last days of takeout before their holiday break—whoosh)! Thanks, neighbors.
And thanks to everyone who bought a bag, we were able to donate $610 to SF New Deal! Fantastic! Speaking of, today is the last day you can make a tax-deductible donation to a non-profit, so please consider making a big fat donation to SF New Deal, the SF-Marin Food Bank (they have a matching donor right now), UndocuFund, Give2SF, the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program (BEAP), Feed Hospitality (CUESA), and the new 86Fund has a $10k matching donor right now! Thank you for supporting these organizations in their important charitable work, there is so much need.
Oh, and while we’re at it, can you please throw some money at our precious Twin Peaks Tavern? They need our help, and we simply can’t risk losing this historic and irreplaceable bar. No, sir!
So, to be honest, I was pretty wiped out from all the logistics of that last-minute gift bag, and then boom, it was Christmas Eve! I’m going to take a little time off to decompress, reset, and work on some exciting new tablehopper projects for 2021—I’ve got some ideas, and they need some time and space and attention for me to bring them to life. It looks like I won’t be back in your inboxes until January 12th, thanks for understanding.
But you don’t think I’d leave you without an end-of-year issue of the bore, do you? I take traditions seriously over here, as you may have noticed—although this year’s missive is a bit different. I hope you enjoy it.
Well, gang, it’s the last day of this blasted year. We made it—many of us, just barely. It has been so awful for so many. Too much loss, and grief, and sadness. I’m not going to get into it, it’s too immense. We’ve also seen so much strength, and generosity, and kindness, and grace, and love. And hope! I’m sending you my best wishes for this new year—we are not out of the woods, by a long shot, so I’m sending you fortitude, and optimism, and most of all, best wishes for good health. Stay safe. Raise a glass to your blessings tonight.
Buon Anno! XO ~Marcia
Some of my favorite doors in SF. Let’s open the doors to 2021 with love. Photo: © tablehopper.com.View tablehopper Newsletter from Thursday, Dec 31 2020
