Live your best SF life.

Subscribe to tablehopper and discover why it’s a must-read, insider newsletter for anyone who lives to eat in San Francisco, for 19 years and counting. Every Tuesday, columnist and curator Marcia Gagliardi serves up the latest SF Bay Area restaurant and bar news, events, culture tips, travel guides, and more.

The Starlet

August 11, 2009

I was told Kerry Walsh (U.S. Beach Volleyball Olympic Champion) was at Brix in Napa for her sister's wedding. At the SF Chefs. Food. Wine. event this past week, Rachel Dratch/"Debbie Downer" was in the mix, but most everyone was busy watching Thomas Keller…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 11, 2009

What’s Cookin’

August 11, 2009

SF Chefs. Food. Wine. Talk about a tour de force. I feel like I just got out of the Trang—well, an urban and epicurean one. I was deep in the culinary and cocktail jungle, four days filled with the rapid fire of bites of food from some of the…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 10, 2009

The Socialite

Ferragosto at Piccino

Flickr photo by xbluegoox. Now, ~FERRAGOSTO~ is traditionally held in Italy in mid-August—everyone goes to the beach or holds a picnic in the hills. Piccino decided to do their own little party, and let's just say a La Caja China roasting box will be figuring prominently. They…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 10, 2009

The Socialite

San Francisco Natural Wine Week

Another excuse to hit the bottle is here: ~SAN FRANCISCO NATURAL WINE WEEK~. Various locations around town will be featuring organic and biodynamic wines on their lists. No tickets are needed, just show up (but keep in mind normal reservation policies apply at both Uva Enoteca and Nopa). Follow the…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 10, 2009

The Chatterbox

August 4, 2009

~THE CORNER~, the newer sister restaurant to Weird Fish in the Mission is going through some significant changes: there's a new chef, Alex Jackson. Jackson's background includes Gramercy Tavern (he staged there for six months), a year at Fergus Henderson's St. John, plus Joel…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 04, 2009

The Lush

August 4, 2009

On Wednesday August 12th, be sure to come by the Ferry Building for the ~SUMMER FARMERS' MARKET COCKTAIL NIGHT~, when The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) and the San Francisco Chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild host this special boozy evening. Botanical-themed spirits will be…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 04, 2009

The Sugar Mama

August 4, 2009

Quite the one-of-a-kind culinary showstopper event is coming up on Tuesday September 8th at Robert Mondavi Winery: Papillon VIII. Timothy Hollingsworth, the chef de cuisine of The French Laundry and very special guest "Demon Chef" Alvin Leung Jr. of BO Innovation in Hong Kong will be showcasing their…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 04, 2009

The Starlet

August 4, 2009

Heard Robert Downey, Jr. dined at Picán. He had the heirloom tomato, peach and spinach panzanella to start and the fried chicken with truffle honey for his dinner. Chef Dean Dupuis also sent an amuse-bouche of beef tongue with crispy black-eyed peas that Downey reportedly loved.…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 04, 2009

What’s Cookin’

August 4, 2009

Ahhhh, it's good to be back. I had no idea how much that ever-looming book deadline was going to be constantly weighing on my mind—it was like a guilty conscience. And what a treat to make it to the finish line, turn that mother trucker in, and…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 03, 2009

The Socialite

Pie Ranch Farm Dinner

This is one heck of a way to celebrate summer: ~PIE RANCH'S UPCOMING FARM DINNER~. It will be a lovely meal in the field, each course created with local ingredients from Pie Ranch and nearby farms, all made by Bay Area chefs on beautiful Pie Ranch. Participating local…

Marcia Gagliardi • Aug 03, 2009