Dear Feastlings,
I’ve learned over the years that the best time to send out a Feast email is just before lunchtime. People are still hungry, and even if they don’t drop what they’re doing to join us for lunch, they’re a bit more inclined to make an impulsive dinner reservation, especially if we have lobster bread pudding on the menu, or crispy duck salad, or the Exploradora (hint: we have all three on the menu right now.) But we’re living the pandemic lifestyle right now, which means not only that I’ve been stretched thin today, but that most people have already eaten dinner and are planning to retire for the evening around 7:30.
So why am I sending this email? Partly, as I’ve said before, for its therapeutic value- I see so few people that it’s nice to tell you all about my day. Partly as well because there’s no small number of you that keep tabs on my emails (I know, there’s not a lot to do all day when you barely leave the house,) and I’m likely to get a few emails either checking my own well-being or asking if they’ve somehow fallen off the email list. The answers are, 1) I’m fine, thanks, and 2) you haven’t fallen off the list- I’m just sending this out impossibly late.
Why? Partly because I’ve had a busy little day- I went down to campus today and dropped off 300 meals for vaccine volunteers, which was an event in and of itself, like the country mouse in the city- a huge loading dock, so big it needs its own traffic lights, and kitchens that rival- nay- dwarf- what big hotel kitchens I’ve been in in my limited mom-and-pop career. Anyhow, I was treated with politeness and expediency, and I expect the volunteers will be treated with the same, and trundle back to work sated thanks to your generous donations to the crews here at Feast and at the U of A Student Union, who’ll be heating up what we’ve made and serving a hundred and fifty people today and another hundred and fifty tomorrow. So thanks, all the aforementioned, for accomplishing this:
Then I went to drop off some fish to my friend Jeff Azersky at Kingfisher- It’s a rare friend you can call and ask to borrow fifteen pounds of sea bass, and rarer still one who says, “sure, I’ll drop it off to you in an hour.” So thanks, Jeff and Murph both. Now we’re square again.
I returned to finish lining up our speakers for this Saturday’s wine tasting, an assortment of Pinot Noirs with different oak treatments so we can taste the difference between neutral and new oak, and between French and Hungarian, and no oak whatsoever as well. Here’s the skinny on that tasting, and there’s ample time to sign up for it.
After that, a few loose ends to tie up for our upcoming wine tastings, a tasting of Barbera from various spots around Italy and the New World as well, a tasting of curious smaller appellations in France, our Last Sunday of the Month tasting of wines from important vineyards, and more- Picpoul, Aussie wines, and South African stuff that they aren’t currently allowed to sell in their own country. You’ll be hearing more about all of these as they draw closer.
That was followed up by check-in on our upcoming special menus, a simple corned beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick’s Day
and a slightly more complex one for Passover
Easter is still in the works, but with less to do tomorrow, I should be able to get that menu done by the end of the week. But I’m still touching base on a couple of fundraisers- gift card for Nourish, for which there’s still nearly a week to participate
A fundraiser for Nourish AND your favorite restaurants, whichever ones they may be
and figuring out some details on the Feast for Families event we’re doing with Child and Family Resources in four weeks’ time.
https://www.childfamilyresources.org/feast
And there’ll be more about that as it approaches, along with our upcoming donation runs now that we’ve handled the extra-large one to the U of A POD volunteers. More about those as I get dates selected with our friends at Primavera Men’s Shelter, Sister Jose Women’s Center and Casa Alitas. All I can do is be grateful that the crew here is able to keep this menu going
https://www.eatatfeast.com/dining/menus/lunch-dinner/
while I sort the logistics on everything else, and keep baking beautiful breads and pastries besides. I know you’re practically ready for bed by now, but I thought I’d keep you posted nonetheless, and thank you all for keeping us chugging along. You’re the best extended family we could ask for.
Love,
Doug and everyone here at Feast