No, I’m not having horse for lunch—that was one of the tweaked songs one of the bands was playing at SF Chefs this weekend (I am imagining Wilson Pickett is rolling over in his grave). Wonky song lyrics aside, whoa, what a blast this past weekend was. I think many people are still recovering from the madness that was SF Chefs. The tent was packed all weekend, and it was great to catch up with so many colleagues and friends, and meet new peeps as well (thanks to all the tablehopper readers who came over to say hello!). The chefs were turning things out, and I have to hand it to David Bazirgan of Fifth Floor, who even had a second bite at his table for VIPs (now that is what I call making it soigné).
The caliber of the cocktails was totally ON—I think my pal Brock Keeling (editor of SFist) said it best: “I have to pace myself,” while grabbing a second drink for his other hand. Heh. (This is one reason why we’re friends.)
I posted a photo album of all my pics from the weekend here, check it out!
A personal highlight was moderating my panel on Saturday, The Real Restaurant Wives of San Francisco (here’s a pic of the fabulous ladies). It ended up being a very thoughtful, revealing, and inspiring conversation—I could have listened to their stories and insights for another hour (some other guests told me the same thing). My dream of one day having my own food talk show was sealed! Many thanks to E&O for hosting.
And in the midst of all this decadence, I was happy to learn that $20,000 was raised for Meals On Wheels of San Francisco at the illy Chef Challenge (good to know Chase Sapphire is putting those finance charges to good use—I’m only partly kidding). And another $5,000 was donated to the Golden Gate Restaurant Association Scholarship Foundation. Congrats to chefs Chris Cosentino and Elizabeth Falkner, who won the live cooking challenge against Dominique Crenn and Russell Jackson.
So, tomorrow I am actually heading back up to Lake Tahoe, my preferred remote office in the summer. I know, the joys of being able to work from anywhere. Besides, I need to work on a base tan before heading to Turkey at the end of the month—I can’t show up there looking like I live in San Francisco, I’ll fry.
Have a fun week, and I’ll be back in touch on Friday.
Cheers!
I was thrilled to meet chef Cesare Casella at SF Chefs.View tablehopper Newsletter from Tuesday, Aug 9 2011
