November 11, 2008

What a week last week, eh? I was definitely on party patrol this past weekend. Friday was the Red Tie Gala at Neiman Marcus, truly offering some of the best people watching of the year (gotta love the Italian old ladies in their sunglasses, minks, and heels—mixed in with the Little Sisters of the Poor, yup, it’s a contrast), followed the next day with a trip out of town to Petaluma for one of my favorite parties of the year: the McEvoy Ranch harvest party. I couldn’t leave without buying a bottle of olio nuovo—have you ever poured some over soft-boiled eggs, and mixed ‘em up in a bowl with Maldon salt, cracked pepper, and toasted ciabatta? You should! It’s the unofficial Gagliardi family’s favorite breakfast.

And on Sunday, the tablehopper did not rest, because that night was the Zen Hospice One Night, One Heart fundraising event with Elizabeth Falkner and Ryan Scott, who prepared a special meal paired with Murray Street Vineyards wines in the back of Stable Café (such a great venue!); I was invited to give a little tablehopper talk about what’s new in SF to the guests.

This week’s docket includes a preview of the new seven-course beef dinner at Bong Su (more on that soon), checking out one of the events at SF Wine Week (you can read more here, and please note they are offering $35 single-event/day tickets now), and then heading up to Healdsburg this weekend for the sold-out Michel Schlumberger annual Wild Pig Party (plus finally going to Scopa for dinner, and hopefully Diavola for pizza the next day!). I’ll be sure to update my Healdsburg jetsetter pieces with details for you! And I will also be working out at least two hours a day to keep up with all this.

In the mood to play? Well, this week I am giving away two pairs of tickets to the St. George Spirits open house next weekend (read all about it in the socialite)! To enter to win, please forward this week’s tablehopper newsletter to one friend or drinking buddy (or more, you star!!), telling them why they would dig a subscription to the tablehopper e-column (if you call it a blog, you are disqualified, no joke!), and CC or BCC luckyme [at] tablehopper [dot] com so I know you sent it—I promise I won’t use anyone’s email address. Deadline to enter is midnight on Friday November 14th. I’ll notify the two winners soon thereafter and get you and your guest on the list! You even get complimentary tastes of the absinthe and Tequila!

Cheers,
~ Marcia