The Tablehopper's Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco

by Gagliardi, Marcia

• ISBN13: 9781580081283
• ISBN10: 1580081282
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2010-03-09
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Summary

When itrs"s time to take your parents out to dinner or your girlfriend on a sexy date, or when yours"re looking for a hot venue for a birthday blowout or brunch with friends, who do you turn to for a spot-on recommendation? Why, the tablehopper, of course! Marcia Gagliardi is San Franciscors"s cuisine concierge, providing restaurant recommendations and helping thousands of diners find the right place for the right occasion. With her unique blend of enthusiasm, insider knowledge, and sass, Marcia bases her recommendations on the reason yours"re going out, who yours"re dining with, and how much money you have to burn. This first-of-its-kind guidebook has more than 580 reviews of the tablehopperrs"s top suggestions for: Girlsrs" Night Out Dates One, Two, and Three Bromance Cheap Date Guys Lunch (Dude Food) Group Dining and Buyouts Meet the Future In-Laws Old-School Power Lunch "Fun Client" Business Dining Meat Eater and Vegetarian Coexistence Late-Night Chow Flying Solo Cocktail Quests Covering a huge range of places for all tastes, ages, and budgets, this insiderrs"s guide also includes sections on the South Bay, Wine Country, top eats in the East Bay, and one-, two-, and three-day San Francisco culinary itineraries. Only a local and no-holds-barred eater like the tablehopper can offer visitors and locals alike such a knowledgeable and comprehensive look at the Bay Area dining and drinking scene.

Author Biography

Marcia (rhymes with Garcia) Gagliardi is a freelance food writer and culinary personality, known as the tablehopper. Marcia and her free weekly e-column are among the Bay Area’s most trusted resources for thoughtful recommendations on where to eat, drink, and hobnob. She has appeared on Oprah & Friends: The Gayle King Show, Playboy TV, the Martha Stewart Living Today radio show, and many local programs. She has been zipping around the Bay in her red Alfa Romeo since 1994, and has been writing about food since 2002.

Excerpts

Nice to Me(a)t You: An Introduction
 
Why, hello there. Thanks for picking up this book. You must be hungry, or perhaps looking for somewhere to celebrate your anniversary dinner or host your rager of a birthday party. Well, let’s hop to it.
 
But first, some backstory. Since I’m the daughter of an amazing cook (my mother) and a former pizzeria and deli owner (yes, my father is Italian, and I’ve got an “i” at the end of my last name to prove it), it would not be an understatement to say my entire life has revolved around food. And even better, good food. Homemade food. Food made with love. A random smattering of childhood memories includes watering our family’s garden full of tomatoes and fava beans, picking olallieberries, cracking crab at grandma’s, coming home from school to a house that smelled of homemade bread (I know, my mother is off the charts in cumulative Mom points), and rolling tiny meatballs for our Christmas lasagna. It’s really no surprise that I figured out how to make a living out of eating.
 
I’ve been adventuring throughout San Francisco like a culinary swashbuckler for the past fifteen years, and writing about food since 2002. I eat everything, from street food to sweetbreads to stinky fromage, and adore retro diners and four-star restaurants with equal passion. I launched my cheeky weekly tablehopper e-column in 2006 (you can subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com), and it has since become a trusted insider source for learning what’s new, coming soon, and, of course, delicious in the San Francisco restaurant and bar scene (and beyond). It’s chock-full of news and gossip, covering what’s hot and what’s opening or closing, along with restaurant reviews of both new and established places, mentions of culinary and wine events, weekend getaway ideas, and a very popular section covering star sightings in bars and restaurants. After taking a trip I include write-ups of the restaurants and bars I visited in those cities, from Sydney to New York to New Orleans. I also cover places closer to home, like the Wine Country, for those looking for weekend getaway ideas.
 
I have been an unofficial concierge for years, recommending restaurants to friends and family since I was a teenager. Once I launched tablehopper, my readers started to ask me for restaurant recommendations, so I launched my “tip please” service, acting as a restaurant matchmaker and answering more than 1,500 dining inquiries. Those recommendations became the inspiration for this book, since I soon realized that both locals and travelers don’t pick their restaurants by category (French, Financial District, $$$), but by occasion: dinner with the girls, first date, lunch with the parents. Diners plan their meals around their lives. Most guidebooks are organized by neighborhood, by cuisine, or even by their rating (and I use them all), but I thought there needed to be a guide organized by how we really eat: by occasion. And based on all the recommendations I’ve made, I think there are some diners who would agree with me.
 
 
 
How to Use This Book (Is This Thing On?)
 
Before we dive in, here’s a little something you should know about me. No, it’s not that I secretly enjoy eating Lean Pockets with ranch dressing (and, for the record, I don’t eat Hot Pockets either). But you may find this tidbit of information useful while reading my recommendations: I’m thirty-eight, which means I can appreciate places that have some style and verve, but my suggestions for date places might veer toward being too hip or noisy for some folks in their sixties (which is why I have special chapters on quiet restaurants, or dining with the ‘rents, or “serious” meals, like business dining). Only you know where you fall on the age spec

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Excerpted from The Tablehopper's Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco: Find the Right Spot for Every Occasion by Marcia Gagliardi
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.