what’s cookin’
Your tablehopper is just barely touching down mentally and physically from my whirlwind trip to Miami (and outer space, thanks to Despacio). It was one of the most outrageously fun and uplifting weekends of my life, full stop. Once I fully committed to my heart’s desire to experience the Despacio sound system again (I JUST HAD TO) and to fly to the III Points music festival in Miami, it’s like the universe conspired to roll out the rhinestone-studded flying magic red carpet to not only make everything happen, but to level it up and make it fricking epic. Womanifestation is wild.
I owe all that grace to my amazing community, from my SF homies (special shoutout to Josh at Dark Entries Records) to my new dance floor friends who are now stuck with me for life (you know who you are). SO MUCH LOVE to the lion-hearted Vlad and his partner Desiree and their community for warmly welcoming this solo flier to roll with their posse of Despacio FANatics—literally, we were all there fanning everyone with our Big Despacio Fans that Vlad made, which originally attracted me to his crew at Portola (plus his shining vibes, naturally).
Hilariously, it ends up my sister bought me a Big Despacio Fan for my upcoming birthday before I had even booked my ticket to go to Miami for round two of Despacio. Obviously, the universe had looked into my heart and already knew I was going. (Sidebar: read Vlad’s hot-off-the-presses Despacio Portola writeup on Magical Dancefloors here. And I hear a second edition of his fans is coming.)
I have so much to write about the entire truly cosmic experience of abbondanza I just had, the stellar people I met, the absolutely batshit crazy incredible music played by 2ManyDJs and James Murphy, the life-changing sound from John Klett (I will never listen to Billy Idol’s “Flesh for Fantasy” the same way ever again), the glorious lighting, the top-shelf elevated vibes and connections, the never-ending generosity, and my ridiculous good fortune—it’s wild what a beautiful ride of a story it all is—but I can’t even start sharing just a little bit because I can’t stop. I need to write the entire thing down. I even had someone jack my iPhone out of my bag on Saturday night (clear bag policies really suck for this very reason), but I didn’t let those low vibes fuck with my epic adventure. It was a logistics problem for a moment there, totally, but whatever! Can’t touch this! Try me!
So, I need to catch you up on restaurant news first, since that’s why many of you are here. But, to share the running quote of the weekend: what a cool life!
I definitely had a tough landing home—the ongoing shituation I was taking a break from was/is still here waiting for me to come back and deal with it, blergh. And, I ended up coming down with a hideous cold, which I knew was on the docket of likelihood after four feral nights of dancing in Miami, but damn, it didn’t need to be so gross. I’ve been pretty flattened since flying home late last Tuesday night. At least it wasn’t Covid, and I didn’t feel enough body aches for it to be the flu, but I had my shots, so maybe it was the flu. Anyway. (It’s nasty out there, and definitely the season to boost my daily Stamets 7 Extract intake.)
And, real talk, the comedown and reintegration from three FULL nights of the Despacio experience, well, it’s rough like coming home from 10 days at Burning Man (with an unexpected playa fling with a handsome man sprinkled in) rough. Because Despacio is happiness. And the world right now definitely is not that. But, I am so deeply grateful I got to top-up my tank of soul-affirming joy until it was overflowing, and thank goddess for coming home to the cutest cuddliest baby gurl Fortuna who thankfully likes it when I dance with her, because she’s my cat like that.
I’ll just say this for now: if there’s something that will make you happy right now, even a little bit, you should say fuck it and go do it. Cue up T-Connection’s “Do What You Wanna Do.” Enjoy yourself. You deserve it. That’s what everyone keeps saying when I tell them about my over-the-top weekend. YOU DESERVED IT.
So, basta with the week of soups, it’s Scorpio SZN! My birthday is this Saturday, and since I already won the birthday showcase bonanza on my trip, I’m thinking this disco benefit (We Love You, BOO!) for DJ Bus Station John at the SF Eagle is totally the ticket. I’ll see you on the patio (the party is 9pm–2am), and the Halloween décor at the Eagle is really something. If you can’t make it, please throw some money at his fundraiser to help our Disco Daddy out with his recovery from his fall and shattering his shoulder. Boo! Everything helps, even $5.
Another fun thing kicking off on November 1st is the tenth Eat Drink SF/Fall SF Restaurant Week, running Saturday November 1st–Sunday November 9th. A complete list of participating restaurants is available now, and I’m running a giveaway to win gift certificates to two restaurants in today’s tablehopper! See below. Get lucky!
You should also know there’s an Eat Drink SF cocktail Party at EPIC Steak next Tuesday November 4th (5:30pm–7:30pm)—go enjoy a drink and bites like arancini and prime rib sliders after submitting your ballot on Prop 50! (VOTE!) Tickets here. And on Sunday November 9th, finish San Francisco Restaurant Week strong at a Closing Brunch at Piccino Presidio (11am–2:30pm). The menu looks like a feast.
Before we dive into the good stuff today, we really need to look out for our community members right now. As you have likely heard, due to the government shutdown, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits have cruelly lapsed and 90,000 households in San Francisco and Marin will have difficulties getting food on the table since they won’t receive their benefits on November 1st, and possibly beyond. Help the SF-Marin Food Bank respond to this crisis and make a donation today, which will be matched up to $25,000 by Max and Morgan Rettig. Donate now to double your impact. THANK YOU. Also, a huge thanks to the city of SF for recently stepping up to keep SNAP benefits intact, but folks outside of SF will still need support. For those who need help accessing meals, these Bay Area restaurants are offering free food to SNAP recipients. [Via Coyote]
And lastly, I want to send some love and condolences to all the friends, family, vast community, and Flore Store colleagues of Terrance Alan—I was shocked to read he unexpectedly died due to complications after surgery while I was away. Damn, so sad—he was such a youthful 73. He has been a big part of SF nightlife (viva la San Francisco Late Night Coalition, and the Crash Club at 34 Mason Street) and the cannabis industry as an activist and advocate for yearssssss, always with a sparkly and feisty demeanor. Rest in puff power.
Thanks for being here. Wishing you a very Happy Halloween, Samhain, and Día de los Muertos. 💀🕯️
With so much sparkly 🪩🥂 love,
~Marcia
the chatterbox
The Latest Location of Pasta Supply Co Is Actually a Kiosk at Spark Social
For longer than I can remember, chef-owner Anthony Strong of Pasta Supply Co has been telling me about a refrigerated food kiosk/vending machine concept that he has been workshopping for months—one of the many hundreds of ideas that course through his innovative mind every week—and he has finally done the thing! While local chefs are nerding out on sourcing and plating, Anthony has been deep-nerding on kiosk tech.
I swung by Spark Social on Monday to check out the new Pasta Supply Co kiosk/monolith, which is tucked in near the SPRO Coffee Lab truck in the Mission Bay food truck park. Walk up to the kiosk and you’ll see six shelves of Pasta Supply Co’s freshly made pastas and sauces (sized to make two big and very generous bowls)—you can get a container of their housemade campanelle that you can pair with their bright green basil pesto sauce, or fusilli and spicy tomato vodka sauce, as well as extras like PSC’s big juicy meatballs (four to a pack), sick lasagna, superfine grated 24-month Parmigiano (always needed), a really tasty pasta salad with ricotta salata and peas (get it!), their house salad, garlic bread, a sandwich (like their super veggie mozz pesto), and a couple versions of their panna cotta. It’s all priced so nice.
It’s like a mini version of the Pasta Supply Co shop shelves, stocking eight of each item, with 25–26 items total. There are some vegan choices as well. You’ll find some paper bags at the bottom of the shelves you can place your pasta bounty inside of, and you are good to go.
Everything will be restocked fresh one–two times a day, and items keep for three–four days in your fridge. You can scan the QR code outside the kiosk for instructions on how to make the dishes at home, as well as find some pasta tips in their Fall 2025 pamphlet at the bottom of the kiosk.
It basically operates like a vending machine with a hotel’s in-room refrigerator sensors: your credit/debit card will unlock the door, and anything you pick up from the shelves will be charged to your card. The kiosk maker is FoodSpot, a Taiwanese tech company that supplies fresh vending machines to college campuses. I’m going to be posting a video of Anthony introducing the kiosk on @tablehopper this week!
You can visit during Spark Social’s hours (the gates are open 8am–9pm daily), and it’s the perfect thing for those moments when you want to make a tasty and fast dinner at home or just grab a salad for work and skip the expensive delivery fees.
Anthony is monitoring the stock and supplies all day, and will see which items sell best to the neighborhood. He used to park his Stella van at Spark during the pandemic, so he already knows there are a bunch of residents and the medical campus nearby, and he’s hoping everyone finds the kiosk accessible and handy.
He’s really gunning for people to send him additional locations where they’d like to have him set up another Pasta Supply Co kiosk, like a school or business campus or apartment complex. Go ahead and reach out here with any ideas. You’ll find the PSC kiosk inside Spark Social at 601 Mission Bay Blvd. North, and 4th St.
Read About the Upscale Modern Filipino Restaurant Moving Into the Sons & Daughters Bush Street Location
A Trio of Beefy News Bites
The New Hedge Coffee Café and Roastery in the Mission Is the Latest Destination to See How We Do Coffee in SF
Specialty coffee fanatics and design aficionados will both be thrilled to visit the first brick-and-mortar café and state-of-the-art roastery location of Hedge Coffee, which has been operating as a specialty coffee roaster and coffee catering company for big-name clients like Apple and Airbnb for the past 10 years. Hedge Coffee is from partners in work and life, Alex and Olga Sobal, with support from longtime team members Kyle Bowes and Xiani Wang.
The new café just opened in the Mission as of last weekend (first mentioned by Eater SF). Come by for classic specialty coffee drinks (espresso-based and pour-over), featuring coffee roasted on a Loring S35 Kestral (considered one of the most environmentally friendly roasters) and they use Sovda products for optical color sorting and dosing machines (the roastery doubles as a showroom for Sovda). Hedge brings in coffee from a variety of origins, and supports regenerative farming practices and investing in relational sourcing so they know their producers and importers. With the new roastery, they plan on expanding their wholesale business.
The 4,000-square-foot space has an open concept so visitors can see the roastery as they order at the custom coffee bar built by Capsule MFG. The cafe’s courtyard features a 15-foot redwood tree under a large skylight, and redwood is used throughout the space, which has 20 seats for dine-in guests. It was created in partnership with architects from Boor Projects (The Mill, Tartine, Sightglass, LihoLiho Yacht Club), contractor Roman Hunt Restoration (The Mill, Pacific Cocktail Haven, Tallboy), with sound engineering collaboration between Chris Latina (Symu Systems) and Jonathan Carr (Physm Industrial), since music and all-vinyl DJ sets play a central role in Hedge Coffee events. Hours: daily 8am–3pm. 434 Shotwell St. at 18th St.
Tasty Tidbits
Congrats to the Gold Mirror on reopening after a two-year remodel! The Sicilian DiGrande family has owned the kitschy restaurant since 1969 (it was originally a New Orleans speakeasy in 1929), and you can see what the next generation brothers Domenico and Roberto Di Grande have done with the place in this Mission Local piece (let’s just say the castle walls are gone). Here’s to the hoped-for return of their epic veal cannelloni and cheers to the neon sign shining brightly in the Forest Hill fog. Hours: Wed–Sun 4pm–9pm. 800 Taraval St. at 17th Ave.
Slanted Door is celebrating their 30th anniversary this November, and while the family sadly canceled their anniversary event as they continue to mourn the tragic death of chef Charles Phan, you can still honor the occasion over some bites of their delicious food at this upcoming event on Thursday November 6th. Olle Lundberg of Lundberg Design (the firm that designed the Slanted Door restaurants) has a new book out, An Architecture of Craft, and he will be in conversation with John King, the former architecture critic at the SF Chronicle next week at the Center for Architecture + Design. Food, beer, and wine will be generously donated by the Slanted Door. Get your ticket here. 5:30pm–8:15pm. 140 Sutter St.
Some Closures, Both Temporary and Permanent
Gazetteer notes that the Tacolicious location in Noe Valley (previously Todo El Día) has closed. The Marina and Mission locations remain open. 4063 24th St.
The Calabrese couple, Filomena Azzolino Nevigato Florese and Maurizio Florese, who are behind Mona Lisa in North Beach are closing the restaurant on Friday October 31st, after almost 50 years of business. (No word of what’s happening to their vintage Fiat 500 with wood seats that’s always parked out front.) 353 Columbus Ave. [Via SF Chronicle]
the sugar mama
San Francisco Restaurant Week Returns November 1st—Enter to Win One of Two Gift Certificates to Dine in Style!
Attention all food lovers! Get ready for San Francisco’s most exciting culinary event in the fall: San Francisco Restaurant Week (running Friday November 1st through Sunday November 9th, 2025)! Celebrate the flavors of the City and enter to win a gift certificate at participating San Francisco Restaurant Week restaurants: we’re giving away a $100 gift certificate to China Live and B-Side (currently home to the hit Colombian pop-up Pacifico).
Delectable weekend brunch? Indulgent five-star dinner? SF Restaurant Week brings you lunch and dinner options from over 200 restaurants, including Abacá, Besharam, Delfina, Early to Rise, Shuggie’s, TIYA, Trestle and more!
Restaurants will offer special prix-fixe menus at one or more of the following price points:
- brunch or lunch (2+ items or courses): $10, $15, $25, $35, $45
- dinner (3+ items or courses): $30, $45, $60, $75, $90
Visit sfrestaurantweek.com to see all participating restaurants and to make reservations. You have until November 9th to go dine out!
To enter to win a gift certificate, visit this @tablehopper post on Instagram! Good luck!
the lush
First Look at an Incredible Bottle Shop in NoPa
Here’s a tablehopper supporting subscriber exclusive:
Pretend You’re Vacationing in Havana at the Latest Bar from Future Bars
Cheekies
A few adult beverage events for you:
This Thursday October 30th, XICA at Levi’s Plaza is pairing up with Nosotros Tequila for a tequila release party. Limited free appetizer spread from 5pm–6pm.
Next Wednesday November 5th, Bar Crenn welcomes Candelaria cocktail bar from Paris. Tickets include three cocktails crafted by Bar Crenn and Candelaria. An à la carte food menu of savory and sweet plates will be available.
Next weekend (November 8th–9th) is San Francisco Fall Cider Fest 2025: Camp SPARK Edition. There will be tastings from 30+ craft cider makers (featuring fall flavors like honey-sage, agave ginger, sour blood orange), 15+ gourmet food trucks serving autumn-inspired bites, fire pits, s’mores, candy apples, live music, camp games, and a pumpkin pie–eating contest. Saturday is 21+, while Sunday welcomes families. 12pm–4pm. 601 Mission Bay Blvd. North.
the archivist
Thank you for reading tablehopper! A subscription would be the best birthday present this San Francisco writer could ask for. 🥂
