December 15, 2022 - This week's tablehopper: truly last call.

This week's tablehopper: truly last call.                    

This will be the last Hopper Holiday Gift Bag!

How are all my busy elves out there? I hope you’re having fun and spreading holiday spirit but staying healthy (speaking of, you can now order more free Covid tests delivered to your door, get yours and use ‘em!).

If you’re looking for Christmas Eve and Day dinners, latke parties, festive cocktails, holiday treats, and more, be sure to check my Instagram holiday highlight—it’s packed with ideas and getting updated every day. (I also have one going for New Year’s Eve dinners and parties.) Stand by for some fun New Year’s Day ideas from me soon!

In the meantime, I’m reaching out to you with a last call on the Hopper Holiday Gift Bag! Presales end this Saturday afternoon (December 17th). Thanks to all of you who bought one already, you rock!

Real talk time: unfortunately, we haven’t hit the number of sales I projected based on the last three gift bags I’ve done. I’m not here to guilt you into buying one, and trust, I know how tight finances are for many of us (ugh). But, if you were on the fence about getting one, let this be a gentle nudge from me, because THIS IS GOING TO BE THE LAST HOPPER HOLIDAY GIFT BAG. Since sales have dropped off, it’s too much work for me to try to do this again next year. Soooo, if you’re saying to yourself, “Maybe next year….”, well, this is it, babe!

Have you thought about going in on a bag with a friend? (You can take turns picking out your favorite goodies like siblings. Ask me how I know!) Or maybe you can forward this email to a friend who would love it? Any posts on social media are so appreciated! Many thanks for showing your support in many ways!

You can read all about the 13 awesome items in the bag below—it’s full of holiday cookies, sauces, granola, chocolates, coffee, a vintage neon pin, and more, all in a custom tablehopper pizza lover’s tote (it’s going to be so damn fun, I can’t wait for it to arrive). Each gift bag purchase includes a $10 donation Gumbo Social’s Kickstarter to help get their Bayview shop open.

Big love to La Cocina Municipal Marketplace for being our bag pick-up point next Wed-Fri—I’m going to share a list with anyone who orders a pick-up bag of some of my favorite Marketplace dishes to inspire you to take out some lunch when you snag your bag. Or, you can get the bag delivered by yours truly! Champers the elf, at your service.

Just in case you’re looking for additional gift ideas, have a look at my holiday gift guide from last week.

Cheers and thanks and fa-la-la-la-la to you! ~Marcia AKA Champers

the chatterbox

Gossip & News (the word on the street)

Last Call for the Hopper Holiday Gift Bag!

Hello, everyone! Ho ho ho! The last day to preorder the Hopper Holiday Gift Bag is this Saturday December 17th at 1pm! Don’t miss out on SF’s best collection of tasty holiday goodies and treats! Thanks to all of you for showing your support to the many makers and independent restaurants and pop-ups and food businesses featured in this annual gift bag, although THIS WILL BE THE LAST YEAR FOR THE GIFT BAG—sales have been lagging this season, so it’s too much work for me to keep on doing it. Soooo, if you’re saying to yourself, “Maybe next year…”, you’ll be missing out.

This abundant gift bag is packed full of some of the most delicious, local, hand-crafted, and festive treats, all curated by yours truly! I’m talking about 13 stellar, San Francisco Bay Area-made products, many of them from people of color, queer, and women makers, as well as small businesses that I know have been hustling extra-hard to stay afloat during these tough times. It’s a great way to discover some new businesses, while supporting some of our local and longtime faves, too.

You can order it for yourself, or you can split up the gift bag into stocking stuffers for your friends or as host/ess gifts, go in on one and share a bag with a friend, or give a gift bag to someone who could really use a lift (and maybe can’t afford it right now).

And: there’s a donation included with each bag sold to Gumbo Social’s Kickstarter—let’s all help founder Dontaye Ball open his first brick-and-mortar business in the Bayview!

CHECK OUT THE TASTY GOODS:

• Calamansi tea cookies by Buko Bakes (six). Founder Michelle Numbers of Filipinix baking company Buko Bakes is also part of the La Cocina family of entrepreneurs! These citrusy and lightly sweet tea cookies are the perfect afternoon treat (and if you ever get a chance to try Michelle’s trademark ube crinkle cookies, do it!).
• Hoisin sauce from The Slanted Door (6 oz.). It’s time to level up your hoisin game with this small-batch sauce inspired by the fresh hoisin sauce chef Charles Phan tasted in Vietnam. It’s full of complex flavor, and even has a nutty note from the tahini used in making it. Hoisin is typically used as a condiment for pho, but can also be used in marinades, stir-fries, soups, noodles, sandwiches, and as a dipping sauce for meats.
• Confections by Recchiuti Confections for A16, custom-designed by local artists Kelly Tunstall and Ferris Plock (Kefe Inc.) (four-pack). This collection includes a selection of Recchiuti signatures: burnt caramel, force noir truffles, Piedmont hazelnut truffle, and Morello cherry pâtes de fruits.
• Bayview dark roast coffee beans from Tallio’s Coffee & Tea (12 oz.). This new specialty coffee roaster and shop from Olton Rensch is one of the latest Black-owned businesses to open in the Bayview (after far too many snags and delays, which was very hard on this new biz). The Bayview blend is made with specialty coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico, with notes of baker’s chocolate, silky red wine, and deep, toasty flavors. It pairs really well with milk (and cookies, just ask Santa). Visit the shop and try their ginger brew made from a family recipe (from Suriname).
• Sara’s Granola by Dynamo Donut (12 oz.). One of my top granolas in SF, not many people know about it unless they visit the Dynamo Donut stand! It’s balanced and toasty and nutty, with ingredients like plump dried cherries, toasted coconut, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and golden raisins. Not too sweet, it’s just right. I adore it as a snack, too.

PLEASE NOTE THE F&F GLASS IS NOW OUT OF STOCK AND WILL BE REPLACED BY THE FORT POINT BEER COMPANY KSA DAY GLASS, a gold-rimmed, German Stange beer glass!

• Drinking glass from Friends and Family. This adorable drinking glass will be your new favorite vessel for enjoying a splash of wine while you cook, a cocktail, sherry, spirits, or as a water glass on your nightstand when it’s time to hydrate! Friends and Family is a woman- and queer-owned bar in Oakland, you should definitely come by for their cocktails, snacks, and excellent vibes.
• Chile oil from Noodle Stop (8 oz.). As soon as I tasted this magical chile oil with my bowl of Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup, I knew I was going to want to have it in the hopper holiday gift bag months later! This recently opened noodle shop on Noriega makes this notable chile oil that has deep, savory flavor and the perfect kick to keep you warm this winter. Their customers love it (including me).
• Thai cocktail nuts from Kitiya (5 oz.). Kitiya Ditpare is a La Cocina entrepreneur who makes fantastic Thai food at her pop-ups (and a line of sauces!). For the holidays, she’s offering these salty, sweet, and spicy Thai cocktail nuts, featuring a mix of walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashew nuts, garlic, cilantro, black pepper, and Thai chile. Shazam! They’re perfect for busy elves to have as a snack or enjoy with holiday cocktails.
• Habanero salsa from Los Cilantros (5 oz.). La Cocina entrepreneur Dilsa Lugos is famous for her tostadas de tinga and chile relleno, which you can find at the La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, and a side of her feisty habanero salsa always dials things up! Dilsa is going to be making and bottling up her salsa for us, an exclusive to the hopper holiday gift bag! This is the first time she’s been willing to sell this product outside of her kiosk/restaurant. (Gracias, Dilsa!) You’ll be shaking it on everything for a little kick.
• Cornbread mix from Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement (33 oz.). Fillmore-born and La Cocina grad Fernay McPherson is known for her next-level rosemary fried chicken (her shop is in Emeryville), and a side of her deeeelicious cornbread is always a must. Now you can make a batch at home and enjoy it with lots of butter (we won’t judge).
• Holiday cookies from Greens (six). During the pandemic, Greens executive chef Katie Reicher, pastry chef Jana Unkel, and their team started offering a fabulous cookie box filled with all kinds of holiday cookies. This year, we selected their peppermint brownie, shortbread, and gingerbread cookie (two of each!) for you to enjoy. Try to leave one for Santa, but we understand if that doesn’t happen.
• Vintage restaurant or bar neon sign lapel pin from San Francisco Neon (one pin). Help support this incredible organization that leads tours, talks, events, and more that celebrate, preserve, advocate for, and educate about neon signs and SF history. We have an array of four pins that highlight iconic neon signs and SF Legacy businesses: Li Po and Sam Wo in Chinatown, the Ha-Ra bar in the Tenderloin, and Tommy’s Joynt on Van Ness. (Each bag will randomly contain one pin, sorry you can’t choose.)
• Custom tablehopper “pizza slice” tote. To continue the tablehopper takeout bag theme over here, I thought it would be fun to create a spin on the classic (and weird AF) pizza takeout box that always makes me chuckle with its artwork that looks like two different people drew it. Enjoy your delicious moments! (Mil gracias to Meli for her design help!) This oversized, canvas market tote will become your favorite for schlepping and repping.
• $10 donation to Gumbo Social’s Kickstarter. Let’s all help founder Mr. Gumbo Dontaye Ball open his first brick-and-mortar business in the Bayview! We need to show up for Black business, and get this funded by December 21st! (Even if you don’t buy a bag, please check out his Kickstarter, thanks!)

PURCHASING DETAILS

Whew! So how’s that for an extravaganza of flavor? The Hopper Holiday Restaurant Gift Bag is $225 (click to order), and 100 percent fabulous. All sales are final, no refunds or returns.

Everything will be shelf stable, so you don’t have to worry about getting anything into the fridge after you receive it (but a couple items will need to be refrigerated after you open them, and don’t leave any cookies sitting around for too long). An ingredient list will be included (and/or listed on some items).

Unfortunately, there are no substitutions or custom orders. If there’s something you can’t eat or enjoy, I’m sure you can find someone who will! Thanks for understanding. If you need more details about any ingredients, please get in touch.

Items are subject to change and availability—since we’re dealing with so many items here (13!), there’s a small chance we’ll need to make a change or swap an item. Please trust it will be delicious. Thank you for understanding, we’ll keep you informed of any changes.

This first run is going to be limited to 36 gift bags since we only have 36 Friends & Family glasses, so you’ll want to hop to it. When they run out, the second version of the bag won’t include the F&F glass—it will now be the Fort Point Beer Company KSA Day Glass, a gold-rimmed, German Stange beer glass. Cheers!

You have until Saturday December 17th at 1pm PST to order. Email me to be added to a waitlist if it’s sold out.

In-person, pre-paid PICK-UPS will be available at La Cocina Municipal Marketplace on Wednesday December 21st, Thursday December 22nd, and Friday December 23rd from 9am-7pm each day. If you’re planning to pick up, please support the Marketplace vendors and place an order for lunch takeout before you head over (I’ll be sending you a list of some of my favorite dishes)! We’ll have more details for you as it gets closer. I’m very grateful to La Cocina for being our partner on bag fulfillment/pick-ups this year!

La Cocina Municipal Marketplace: 332 Golden Gate Ave. at Hyde. There’s a loading zone outside where you’ll be able to pull in. (Please don’t contact the marketplace for any questions you have about the bag. Hit me up instead.)

DELIVERY in San Francisco will also be available Wednesday December 21st and Thursday December 22nd for an additional fee of $15. Champers the elf, AKA yours truly, will be delivering the bags to you! (If you’re in the East Bay, get in touch and we’ll see what I can do! I delivered to a couple folks last year for $25. I will also be down in San Mateo on December 24th, let me know if you’re nearby and we can try to meet up.)

I will finalize your delivery time window after I get all orders in and can map things out. Please specify your preferred day and timeframe to start (morning is 9am-12pm; afternoon is 12pm-5pm, evening is 5pm-8pm). Available delivery time slots will be Wed morning, afternoon, evening; and Thu morning, afternoon, evening. Stand by for more details and a better ETA soon if you choose delivery. If you miss your delivery (things happen!) and there’s nowhere safe for me to leave it, you’ll be able to pick up your bag at La Cocina Municipal Marketplace. No delivery fee refunds (unless it’s totally my fault).

Sorry, no shipping (I’m crazy, but not thaaaat crazy, unless you want to throw crazy money at me), and I won’t be able to offer the gift bags any earlier than Wednesday December 21st (unless you want to volunteer stuffing bags!).

On behalf of all our local restaurants, bars, and food businesses, thank youuuu! We appreciate all your kind and generous support. Our Bay Area hospitality industry is so special, thanks for showing up for it. And a very heartfelt thank you to super-elf Martin Guerrero of Square, who always helps set up our online store for this!