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.

What’s Cookin’

April 9, 2009

This weekend it was clear, Spring has sprung. All you had to do was look at the farmers’ market and Dolores Park on Saturday to confirm it. I had fun riding my bike all over town this weekend—highlights include Jordan Mackay’s reading (Passion for Pinot) and wine tasting…

Marcia Gagliardi • Apr 06, 2009

The Socialite

Star Chefs and Vintners Gala

Mark your calendar and reserve your spot for the ~22ND ANNUAL STAR CHEFS & VINTNERS GALA~ benefiting Meals On Wheels of San Francisco (MOWSF). The Gala is MOWSF's largest fundraiser, and its main source of charitable contributions for the year. Boulevard's Nancy Oakes is the gala…

Marcia Gagliardi • Apr 06, 2009

The Socialite

April 7, 2009

Tamales: definitely one of those things you don’t just whip up at home—and if you are going to make them, you need a posse of pals to help. Why not leave the handiwork to the pros? At the third annual ~A TASTE OF TAMALES BY THE BAY~, guests…

Marcia Gagliardi • Apr 06, 2009

The Regular

Phat Philly

Do you eat your pizza with a fork and knife? Then you're gonna have a problem at PHAT PHILLY, because you're about to eat one of the messiest, drippy, meaty sandwiches I've encountered since I had an Oki Dog in L.A. one stoned…

Marcia Gagliardi • Apr 06, 2009

The Chatterbox

March 31, 2009

~BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE~ is due to open their Ferry Plaza Marketplace café this Thursday April 2nd (it’s going into the former Oak Hill Farm spot). Now, while it’s not going to be as swish as the Mint Plaza location, it’s going to be a step up from…

Marcia Gagliardi • Mar 31, 2009

The Lush

March 31, 2009

Photo: Mathew Sumner Does this springtime weather have you in a tropical mood? Tonight, tiki legend Martin Cate is pouring a menu of vintage exotics in the library at ~BOURBON & BRANCH~. Get your Hawaiian shirt or hula skirt on and head over for some tiki classics—you can read…

Marcia Gagliardi • Mar 31, 2009

The Starlet

March 31, 2009

Ben Affleck, Mike Walrath (Senior Vice President, Yahoo—Right Media), and a third gent dined at a corner table at Spruce. Looks like Ben is a pork man, and they also enjoyed some fab wines. Gerard Depardieu and two male friends briefly hung out over two pots of green tea…

Marcia Gagliardi • Mar 31, 2009

What’s Cookin’

March 31, 2009

How to sum up last week? Well, it was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Let’s start with the good stuff, like the dinner at Ottimista Enoteca with Gemma, the visiting Piemontese chef. Her rabbit with peppers dish, and the dessert of meringata, an incredible…

Marcia Gagliardi • Mar 30, 2009

The Socialite

Napa Valley with Altitude

Okay, fellow winos, here’s a little bit of Napa that is coming to San Francisco, the annual ~NAPA VALLEY WITH ALTITUDE~ tasting from Uncorked Events, featuring over 100 wines from Spring Mountain, Mount Veeder, and Diamond Mountain on Napa Valley’s western edge (the Mayacamas Range). Virtually all of…

Marcia Gagliardi • Mar 30, 2009

The Socialite

Root Division: TASTE 2009

Root Division is hosting ~TASTE 2009~, an evening celebrating the beauty of art and food in San Francisco. TASTE 2009 will feature local chefs and over 15 visual artists for a night of food, drink, music, and art. Proceeds benefit local emerging artists, as well as Root Division’s free…

Marcia Gagliardi • Mar 30, 2009