Dear Feastlings,
Some 22 months ago, I was thrown into a panic- we got word that restaurants had until 8:00 pm on March 17th to shut their doors for an indeterminate period of time, opening what amounts to a figurative speakeasy window to shove takeout meals through, and those of you who were reading our emails back then may or may not recollect that I was in abject terror. Thus began my email barrage which has lasted far longer than any of us wanted it to.
Here we are now, at the tail end of the second year of this mess, and as I watch our numbers slip, disappointed as I may be that we’re about to deal with another in a series of frustrating hurdles, I’m also marveling at how little it affects me anymore. “Oh, we only have 22 reservations? Oh, more than half the wine tasting attendees canceled? Oh, four members of the staff are out and we can’t cover their shifts?” I may not even blink. On the one hand, every new hardship hardly seems like a concern anymore- I’m mostly considering us lucky that we’re not dealing with staffing difficulties and guests jumping ship as we also deal with tornadoes, floods or wildfires, like so many other people are. After all, we can get away with fewer staff when there are fewer guests, and truth be told, if we went back to strictly takeout, I’d have a little personal time again. And I must admit, during that long stretch last time, I did acquire a taste for living like a normal person. Those forty-hour work weeks are a pretty sweet deal. Had I but known.
In the meantime, I’m using this slow day to get this week’s wine tasting posted,
and to send emails back and forth with my buddy MonaLisa, the tenant specialist manager at several- four that I know of, anyway- of Compass Affordable Housing’s properties.
I’m also getting the jump on this month’s Last Sunday wine tasting, the February menu (though I know I won’t get that done until January 30th or so,) Valentine’s Day, which at this point may or may not be for carryout. Fingers crossed.
Either way, we hope you’ll join us Saturday, as the wines are fun and new and frolicsome. And we’d like to be fun and frolicsome as well.
Your friends at Feast