Howdy, gang. Or perhaps I should say, “High!” Some of you may have noticed I didn’t hop into your inboxes last week—boss of me decided to take last Tuesday off and celebrate 420 instead. Yeah, it’s a high holiday! I was invited to a private party at Sonoma Hills Farm in the Petaluma Gap, and it was a joy to be surrounded by the springtime green hills while dining on an incredible lunch prepared by Kim Alter (Nightbird) and her talented team. It was seriously the farm buffet of my dreams, with so many vegetable dishes, lamb chops and braised lamb, polenta from the farm, lamb liver tacos…and then, of course, a day smoking some of my favorite cannabis flower with some of the finest folks in the cannabiz. What a wonderful reunion. (I was not the only one on cloud nine.)
I’m also so excited that Chopped 420 came out on 4/20 on Discovery+—it’s the show I worked on earlier this year as a cannabis consultant! Watch two local chefs—Victor Aguilera of Arepas en Bici and Solomon Johnson of the Bussdown in Oakland—compete on this entirely new cannabis cooking show (you can read more about their participation in this SFGate piece).
Restaurant owners: the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grant program will begin accepting applications Monday May 3rd (12pm ET). Make sure all your paperwork is ready! To prepare to apply, please visit restaurants.sba.gov this Friday April 30th after 9am ET to create your account. (Try to register on Friday and download the latest forms, and submit your application on Monday.) Visit saverestaurants.com for more, and here’s an update from the National Restaurant Association. Relief is finally on the way (for those who made it this far).
Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday May 9th, and there are a bunch of tasty options, from dining out to takeout feasts. I have a Mother’s Day highlight going on my Instagram feed (I will be updating it often), and here’s another idea: buy a ticket to take Mom up to Nick’s Cove for a special brunch celebrating their new cookbook, Table with a View! (Tickets include a cookbook.) Upcoming dates are May 23rd, June 27th, July 25th, and August 22nd.
So, I am about to embark on an absolutely huge project this week: I’m painting my apartment! As someone who lives in a studio, this is a logistical beast. Let’s just say I’ll be excited when this is all done, but for the next week, my life is about to get pretty chaotic. I’m going to be down the rabbit hole (or should I say deep in the paint can), so I am signing off! I have a bunch of catch-up news and updates for you in the meantime, please enjoy this week’s column.
Ciao for now! Marcia Gagliardi
The annual wisteria show in SF never ceases to delight. Photo: © tablehopper.com.View tablehopper Newsletter from Tuesday, Apr 27 2021
