Whoa, how is Christmas in five days? Commence holiday shopping freakout right now. (Well, at least for me.) For those of you who were curious, yes, I survived the weekend (well, barely), and managed to hit seven of the eight holiday parties I had on my hitlist. Hopper holiday tip: always keep a few bottles of bubbles and booze in cute bags in your car trunk! (The trunk of my Alfa looked like a mobile bar this past week.) You never know when you’re going to end up at a party, and there’s nothing worse than showing up empty-handed. Party foul!
There is also a lot of latke making happening out there (I was lucky to get some on Sunday, plus brisket and matzoh ball soup—talk about a hangover helper!). Happy Hanukkah to everyone. (Psssst, did you see this hilarious photo Gael Greene posted last month from a Chinese restaurant in New York?)
So, I have some exciting news: I am currently writing not one but two city guidebooks! I’m updating the restaurants for the Fodor’s 2013 San Francisco guidebook, and am writing the restaurant section for the first Louis Vuitton San Francisco city guide! I know, two fantastic gigs. But since both are due in early January, yours truly needs to carve out some time to write. Type, tablehopper, type!
I am putting the tablehopper e-column on a mini-vacation, and will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday January 3rd. You can follow me on Twitter for updates on dining news, discoveries, and more since I’ll be doing a ton of dining out research for both books the next few weeks. Lord have mercy.
But before bailing on you, I wanted to be sure you had some New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day dining options lined up for your consideration. Check ‘em out!
Ooooh, one last thing! Feel like doing some holiday volunteering? You can call the St. Anthony’s Holiday Volunteer Line at 415-592-2829 to sign up—they have some definite needs in January. And if you are throwing a party and have excess food left over, please remember to call Food Runners, and they will pick up any excess food from businesses in San Francisco and deliver it to neighborhood feeding programs. Simply call 415-929-1866 to leave a message about your donation.
I’d like to take this moment to thank all of you, my fabulous readers, for subscribing to my column, sharing it with your family and friends, and for always being so informative and supportive. I couldn’t ask for a better community—you’re solid gold. I also want to profoundly thank my advertisers this past year who have supported my column—without your generous sponsorship, this column would cease to exist. Grazie!
Here’s wishing you all a meaningful and memorable holiday season. May it be warm, full of love, laughter, precious family, and dear friends. And delicious food and drink, natch. Let’s raise our glass to the happy memories of 2011, and here’s to good health, prosperity, and happiness in 2012! I’ll let the Swedish Chef show you how a good holiday toast is done. Buubbly buubbly!
XOXO!
Not sure if Santa was totally buying that I was a nice girl this year. (I might have been a little naughty, too.) Photo: © tablehopper.com.View tablehopper Newsletter from Tuesday, Dec 20 2011
