This week’s tablehopper: another slice of New York. (free)

what’s cookin’

Howdy, hoppers. And wow, it’s Friday evening. Hellllloooooo, short week! Thanks for bearing with me on the late send this week. After the much-needed long weekend (we really need to make those a regular thang), which included such a fun day at BottleRock (read more below), I had a personal matter to attend to this week that took priority over everything. I’ll be back with the news in next week’s column (which will also be on the late train since I’m attending my great Aunt Helen’s memorial service in Sacramento on Monday). Sometimes, you just gotta take things one day at a time.

For today’s column, I have the remainder of my New York City jetsetter recap for you rad supporting subscribers (wait until you see Le Veau d’Or!). Don’t read this if you’re hungry.

A few notes before we take another bite of The Big Apple: 

-Cheers, baby: this weekend is Wine Fare!

-Fridays are better with pizza from Fatty Natty.

-Saturdays are all about peaches and cherries from the Foodwise Ferry Plaza farmers market.

-This Saturday afternoon/evening, my friends behind Werkbird are frying chicken at El Rio for EW.

-Have a look at Matthew Kang’s report on the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list reveal ceremony last night (O Canada!). The New York Times also shares a little context on the list, as well as their own take on The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now (25 places is impossible to whittle down to, but there are a lot of recently opened gems missing).

-I am beside myself with pure unbridled joy that Despacio is returning to Portola Music Festival this September 26th–27th. Thank you, disco heavens for that alignment! (I like to think Sylvester had something to do with it.) Although I’m sure the lineup of Robyn, DJ Shadow celebrating 30 years of Endtroducing…, Soulwax, Tricky, Four Tet, Groove Armada, Parcels, and Fcukers will all be amazing, for me, nothing compares to being in Despacio. I will be in that tent the entire weekend.

You can read my recap from last year’s Portola of this life-changing, soul-affirming, and incomparable musical experience (which I ended up chasing to iii Points at Miami a month later for another ride, it was that moving). Take a look at the incredible gallery of images from iii Points that Babycakes Romero just dropped, and you’ll see a few pics of yours truly having the time of her goddamn life with her Big Despacio Fan and wingwoman sister-from-another-mister, Diamond Lil. There are some swell behind-the-scenes peeks in that post, too. What a banquet.

I swore to myself I would never miss another Despacio, no matter when and where it was happening, and lucky me/us, it’s gonna be in our backyard once again. It’s such a gift. Don’t miss it. (Read my friend Vlad’s post on Magical Dancefloors for even more convincing and deep Despacio storytelling.) 

Tickets for Portola are on sale Tuesday June 2nd at 12pm. Party People Loyalty Presale for past Portola purchasers starts on Monday June 1st at 12pm. Register! And to my dear disco friends, I better see you on the dance floor. I mean it. You’ve heard me talk about this so much. POSSE UP. Despacio is happiness, something we all need in spades right now.

-In the meantime, don’t miss Total Accord Fest in June, The Seshen and Brijean are playing! And the prices are right.

-Book your reservation for Welly Wednesdays at Dingles.

-Please don’t tell me it’s true, this post says that Held Over on Haight is closing. It’s (reportedly) SF’s oldest vintage store, since 1978. An absolute gem of our vintage scene. Nooooooo. No!

-Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday! At this point, drop your ballot off in person at a drop box or polling place, don’t try to mail it.

Have a swell weekend. Glad it’s already here.

XO
~Marcia

the jetsetter

New York City: Part Two

This second installment of my springtime trip to New York covers a couple iconic French bistros that could only exist in New York, plus some tasty heroes, and a damn good slice. Supporting subscribers can read part one here. 

Besides Bartolo, the other restaurant that was top of my New York must-visit list was Le Veau d’Or (129 E. 60th St.), an Upper East Side/Lenox Hill restaurant that first opened in 1937, and was recently taken over and given a loving and respectful update from restaurateurs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson (Frenchette, Le Rock), which reopened in 2024.

Step inside and it feels like a time capsule from 1930’s Paris or a century-old Lyonnaise bouchon. It’s the oldest French bistro in New York City, which used to draw customers like Ernest Hemingway, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, and Oleg Cassini (a current obsession of mine). As a lover of vintage restaurants and cuisine and history, I couldn’t wait to dine there. 

Hope to see you again soon, New York. I won’t let so much time pass next time—you really fill my cup.

the socialite

I Love Rock ’n’ Roll: Daytripping to BottleRock

Last weekend, it was so much fun to return to BottleRock, even for just a day—the last time I attended, it was in 2015 to see Robert Plant! Yeah, things have definitely changed. I drove up on Saturday to meet up with some longtime friends, and after a couple small snafus with parking and media check-in, I still managed to catch the last half of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ set.

Damn, she is my new spirit animal, such a boss punk babe at 67. Whatever she’s doing, it’s working. Crimson and clover, over and over.

I’m so glad my music-head friend made sure I knew about Midnight Generation, an electro-funk-disco band (with some vintage synth-heavy and prog rock influences) from Chihuahua, Mexico. Their live set was so groovy and fun, they totally got us movin’. Would love to see them again. Don’t miss their tour!

MG was a terrific warmup to LCD Soundsystem on the main stage. It was a full-on dance party, thanks to them playing some of their older tracks (“Tribulations,” “Movement,” “Yr City’s a Sucker,” “On Repeat”) for the longtime fans who like to rock out (yeah, me), and I’m always happy to party to Sound of Silver (“Time to Get Away,” and “North American Scum” was the perfect choice for the moment right now), and they also gave the kids what they wanted (“All My Friends”), as well as “Dance Yrself Clean” and “Home.” Shut up and play the hits! 

Singer-keyboardist Nancy Whang just gets cooler every time I see her play. Personally, I think James Murphy (who was wearing a baseball cap, weird) was a little miffed they weren’t the closing headliner for the day—he kept on adding odd banter like he was some strange, off-Broadway cabaret act that the band would be wrapping up soon enough, and he was grateful for everyone in the crowd who was sticking it out, since they were just killing time for the Foo Fighters. Um, no.

We capped off the day on a side stage and went back almost 30 years in a hip-hop time machine with Arrested Development, serving up “Give a Man a Fish” and “Mr. Wendal” with a much-needed side of political commentary about ICE and how the current administration is taking voting rights away. Preach, Speech! Raise those fists in the air!

The BottleRock crowd reflects the lineup: eclectic and across all ages. I dig it. We got lucky with the weather (it was a perfect low-to-mid 70s on Saturday), and the real and synthetic turf throughout the festival grounds makes for a pleasant experience (barely any dust and dirt). I was happy to discover they were pouring a pleasant sparkling wine from Emmolo at the general drink stands (this is what happens when you host a festival in Napa Valley)—I wish Outside Lands and Portola did this. Give us the bubbles everywhere!

As for the food lineup, I had limited time to check things out since I was just there for the afternoon, but the team at Under-Study in St. Helena kindly invited us (thank you!) to swing by their disco-ball-outfitted booth to try their popular lobster corn dog with remoulade and a healthy serving of Tsar Nicoulai caviar ($34). While it’s deserving of its festival fame, as a BottleRock-experienced friend predicted, the real winner is the pretzel and crab dip ($22): the buttery and seeded pretzel was made like pain d’épi, so clever, and the smoked onion dip was reminiscent of the one we all know and love (break out the Ruffles), but with the luxe addition of Dungeness crab. The ahi tuna nachos ($22) needed some work—the toppings were sparse and oddly cut, so they didn’t quite come together for that nacho magic. I should have returned for their nitro French fry soft-serve—next time! 🍦

Become a tablehopper supporting subscriber and don’t miss a bite!