How was your weekend of fun in the sun? I’m glad I played some hooky on Saturday, starting with this fab lunch you see here at Radish (including an ice cold beer, natch), shopping in the Mission, an alfresco dinner with my folks and sis in the alley at Gitane, catching a fire performer show at Union Square, celebrating chef Hoss Zaré’s 50th birthday, and finishing the night with drinks and bites at nopa. And I did it all on my cute powder blue Public bike, such a trusty steed.
For the first time in I can’t even remember how long, I didn’t have to set my alarm on Sunday—what a delicious thing. The other delicious thing was the annual Meals On Wheels Star Chefs & Vintners Gala that evening. I am always so blown away with the abundance of dishes and crazy talent in the room. I have to admit, going backstage this year proved to be the most impressive yet: the dishes were full of beautifully plated vegetables (so very Northern California). All the chefs were helping each other out, wielding a sea of tweezers (and, as one chef pointed out to me, there was an entire row of immersion circulators along the periphery—quite a few more than just a couple years ago). The event ended up raising a record $1.9 million, which equates to approximately 475,000 meals to homebound seniors. (I can’t wait for the day when I’m loaded and I can Fund-A-Route for $10,000.) Kudos to everyone there who contributed their time, money, and talent for this oh-so-deserving cause. You can take a look at my photo album of the over-the-top evening here.
While at Meals On Wheels, I had a number of people ask me if tablehopper was going away since I’m the new contributing food editor for 7x7. Again, the answer is no: I am not taking a full-time staff position, so tablehopper will still be in your inbox on Tuesdays. Business as usual, yo. In case some of you missed my announcement on Friday, you can read it here. Although Ms. Busy Lady (yes, me) is looking for some help at tablehopper HQ: check out the ad here.
What a crazy shuffle going on in media right now: Jesse Hirsch is taking over for Patricia Unterman at The Examiner (keep up with Patty on her new website—she is posting a bunch of reviews there), Jonathan Kauffman has left the SF Weekly for Tasting Table, 7x7’s Sara Deseran is now deputy editor at San Francisco magazine, and we just have to wait and see where Jan Newberry is off to next. You got all that?
As for me, in light of this month of monster truck deadlines, I am taking a much-needed 24 hours away from the computer, and will be driving up to Healdsburg tomorrow to stay the night on my friend’s ranch. Already counting the minutes until I put my car into first gear.
This Saturday is the sold-out tablehopper wine tasting/Languedoc event, I look forward to seeing you all there! Be sure to check out today’s socialite for another upcoming tablehopper event at Ramekins in Sonoma: I’ll be talking (and tasting) salumi with charcutier Peter Temkin!
Ciao/meow.
The shrimp po’ boy at Radish. Photo: © tablehopper.com.View tablehopper Newsletter from Tuesday, Apr 24 2012
