Dearest Feastlings,
While it’s true I’m still waiting for final numbers from the kind-hearted people at Diamond Children’s Medical Center and its various associated clinics, I do know this much: we’ll be feeding approximately 300 front line workers next Tuesday, and a number of you have already called to offer your moral and financial support, which we’re as grateful for as they are, because it’s frankly the backbone of what’s keeping our doors open.
Yes, we also have wine tastings (two of them this weekend,) and frankly that’s another pillar that’s holding up not only the Temple of Mixed Metaphors but also the ceiling of Feast. Before I get a handful of concerned emails, the ceiling isn’t literally drooping, but the wine sales are certainly helping us during a challenging period of nearly five months with no guests in the dining room, Tucson’s normal summer slowdown, and everyone walking around with massive question marks hovering over their heads.
We also have Ferragosto just around the corner, a menu of Italian specialties, some traditional and others less so. And just like the list from my side, the list from your side is peppered with deadlines and reminders. So while we’re happy to take donations for the Diamond Children’s food deliveries well beyond Tuesday and apply them to future frontliner delivery runs, if you specifically want your donation to go to Diamond Children’s, you’ll need to call us by Sunday, as we’re closed on Mondays, and we’ll be hitting the ground running on Tuesday. Here are the details if they’re of interest to you:
the next deadline isn’t for the Saturday tasting, because that’s just wine, and if we sell more than we thought we would, we’ll just open up another bottle of each and keep pouring samples. You can order that one as late as your comfort level allows with the tasting beginning at 2 pm on Saturday the 8th:
But the Sunday tasting? Ah, the Sunday tasting. Gone are the days when we can simply keep a vast storehouse of ingredients handy to make more for last-minute joiners- our belts are tightened snugly now, and with the logistics of getting everything packed in boxes and giving you heating instructions and all the new bells and whistles, we need to have an accurate count by the time the day draws to a close tomorrow, as many of you would undoubtedly prefer to pick up your Sunday tasting at the same time you’re picking up your Saturday tasting. Not that you can’t pick up on Saturday, or even Sunday, but in a business where we suddenly know even less what we’re doing than usual, it would help us a great deal to know what to expect. that tasting begins at 3:30 on Sunday the 9th:
Summing up, all eight wines this weekend hail from Italy, in order to get you in the mood (and maybe introduce you to some wines you might light a 10% discount on) come August 15th, when we celebrate Ferragosto with a special menu. And as long as we’re on the subject of deadlines, if you’d like to be guaranteed the dish you want on the 15th, you’ll need to call us by Thursday the 13th:
We’ll make a few extras, but after the 13th, it’s a lottery. So if it’s certainty you’re after, call by next Thursday; if it’s adventure, wait until Friday or Saturday.
And of course, as ever, there’s today’s menu, available all day long, which can be found here, and ordered here: 326-9363. Give a call. We miss you.
Your buddies at Feast