“May God preserve within me the deep taste, and the sort of lucid ecstasy, that intoxicate me with the joy of Being — a joy drunk in as though from an everlasting spring … I sometimes feel an indefinable bliss when I remember that I possess — in a total, incorruptible and living Element — the Supreme Principle in which all subsists and comes to life.” — Teilhard de Chardin
Chubby Noodle North Beach salt & pepper shrimp
I hope you are holding on in these trying times, dear friends. I realize it’s one day at a time most days and fighting for Congress to pass the Restaurant Stabilization Act (contact your local reps here) is one of our last hopes for millions of our jobs, restaurants and bars to survive.
I continue the multi-weekly virtual industry panels, webinars and tastings. I am posting about all on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram @ThePerfectSpot.
Tomorrow, on our latest Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) Town Hall “Restaurants Rising” webinar at 2:30pm PST, I’ll be in conversation with a national panel of chefs/master sommeliers & restaurateurs:
—Roni Mazumdar: Owner, Rahi, Adda, Dhamaka, The MasalaWala, NYC
Restaurants
—Bobby Stuckey: Master Sommelier, Frasca Hospitality Group (Frasca Food & Wine, Tavernetta Denver) & Scarpetta Wine, Denver & Boulder
—Caroline Styne: Restaurateur, Winemaker & Sommelier, The Lucques Group (A.O.C., Lucques, Tavern, Larder Baking Company), Los Angeles
—Susan Spicer: Chef/Co-Owner, Bayona Restaurant, Rosedale Restaurant and Wild Flour Breads, New Orleans
—Cameron Mitchell: Founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell
Register (or view post-webinar) here.
Our GGRA webinars so far with a range of chefs, bartenders and food/drink industry on the navigating our post-pandemic reality, viewable after registering name and email:
May 7: Pivoting Stories: Creative Solutions in the Restaurant Space
May 14: Pivoting Stories: Innovation in Fast-Casual Concepts
May 21: Mental Health Resources for You and Your Employees
May 28: Shifting Your Models – Redesigning Restaurant Spaces For Success
June 11: Beyond the Plate: How Bay Area Bars are Navigating Crisis
June 18: Reopening Strategies in a Socially-Distanced World: Part 1
June 25: Reopening Strategies in a Socially-Distanced World: Part 2: Finance & HR
July 9: Reopening Stories: The Bay Area’s Restaurants Re-emerge
THIS ISSUE:
Pabu’s iconic “happy spoon” is part of their takeout dinner
Top Tastes — The Best SF Takeout to Celebrate a Special Occasion: Five standout upscale restaurants doing special takeout/delivery in pandemic times, from cheese and champagne tastings, or nigiri sushi feasts to upscale but “real deal” BBQ.
Top Tastes — June’s 10 SF Bay Area Restaurants for Outdoor Dining, Takeout or Delivery: 10 standouts around the Bay Area doing takeout/delivery or outdoor dining, from Jamaican to Mexican vegan, Modern Jewish to old school “red sauce” American-Italian, hip spots to OG classics.
Imbiber — DISTILLER Bottle Column: This month’s 10 bottle/spirits reviews include organic Cognac, rhum agricole, rock ‘n rye, American fernet, American single malt, gin, amaro and aquavit.
As your personal concierge who tells it like a good friend would, I create personalized itineraries; provide food and drink consulting for restaurants and bars; and classes at companies for the layperson wanting to dig deeper in food and drink (more info at virginia-miller.com).
Virginia