Ciao, tutti! Yes, your tablehopping zingara (gypsy) is back in San Francisco for the next month or so before I head back to New York for another stint. And I have some visits planned to Lake Tahoe and Sebastopol in the meantime, because this SF “summer” weather is already chapping me, and I have only been home for four days. It’s a good thing the sun is out today because I was on the brink of looking up flights back to Italy, not kidding. But I have also been SO HAPPY eating Mexican food every damn day since I have returned, from tacos to super burritos to ceviche to chilaquiles. Missed you, salsa! And you too, lacinato kale.
Many of you were following along on Instagram and Facebook as I ate my way through Roma, Abruzzo, and Sicilia for almost three weeks—it was sooooo good to be back in the land of pasta twice a day, freshly caught fish, dark espresso, sweet prosciutto, wine wine wine, blue waters, balmy nights, ancient buildings, and kindness everywhere we went. Italia, you warm me to the depth of my heart and soul, I swear. I loved exploring Abruzzo (that region is such an underexplored gem, people!), and my time spent with Rustichella d’Abruzzo was so informative, I can’t wait to share some highlights of what I learned about pasta with you!
I know some of you started getting some serious Italia pangs with all my pics. If you’re feeling a bit capricious, you should book the last few spots in Viola Buitoni’s upcoming culinary trip to Lucca this September 17th-25th—September is always my favorite month to be in Italia, and flights aren’t too horrendous either. Email her and drop the tablehopper name to get 10 percent off your trip! Buon viaggio! And if there’s room in your suitcase for me, let me know, k?
Who went to Outside Lands this weekend? Man, that was a tour de force. Remind me to build in a few more days to get over jet lag before I ever hit it like that again, jeesh. LCD Soundsystem really brought it, Duran Duran and Lionel Richie delivered such sweet and fun nostalgia, and Lana Del Rey was a vision. Was also great to reconnect and see so many of you! Extra thanks to Azalina’s, Three Babes, and Stones Throw for warming me up and putting some gas in my tank with their tasty vittles! Mmmmmeatballs. I love how spoiled we are with the quality food and drink choices at this festival, thanks for all the hard work—SF rocks.
If you feel like you missed out on some special eats this weekend, well, I have a treat for you. Check out this piece I did for Caviar on secret off-menu items at SF restaurants! Did you know about the cherry poppers at Merigan, or bacon fries at Bacon Bacon? Now you do. And you can order them right to your door! Use my special code and get $10 off each of your first two orders.
One more for ya: one of my last pieces for Time Out while I was in New York was for their Time Out San Francisco site on the 25 best restaurants in San Francisco. Yeah, that was a tough one to narrow down, but you gotta start somewhere.
You ready to dive in to some news from the past few weeks? Okay! Let’s.
I look forward to seeing you soon, mwah! Marcia Gagliardi
Raw gamberi rossi from one of my favorite meals in Sicily (at Da Vittorio in Porto Palo). Photo: © tablehopper.com.View tablehopper Newsletter from Tuesday, Aug 9 2016
