Dear Feastlings,
I know it’s coming and I’ll get an earful, this time from the people I don’t usually get an earful from. I guess I’m ready for it- people adore telling me what they think, whether it’s a reply to one of the scores of emails I send, or yelling in my face on the curb, or giving us a terrible rating on Yelp, Resy or TripAdvisor. If there’s anything I’d be happier to do away with than the mask that traps the heat in my rapidly graying beard all day each day, it’s the cocktail of righteous indignation and vituperative sniping that gets splashed in my face a few times a week.
The fact is, though, that for the time being, at least, Pima county is officially now a “low-risk” county, speaking strictly in terms of Coronavirus transmission. So today, the signs that have been taped to the front doors for the past two years have come down. We’re squirrelling them away in case they have to come back out for a wave of BA.2, but fatigue has finally made it to this faraway outpost of Covid-related vigilance. It’s weakened our resolve. It’s changed the rules for us, and therefore for our guests. No more will I be yelled at by a guy filled with angry anti-mask talking points: “It’s like trying to stop a mosquito with a chain link fence!!!!!” Instead, I’ll likely be yelled at by someone from the other end of the spectrum: “This thing is far from over!!!!”
Whatever the case, I’m making the bold proclamation here and now: whether your mask is Thalia or Melpomene, N-95 or Gucci, it is, for the time being, purely optional at Feast. That’s not to say that we won’t reinstitute them if infection rates go back up, but for now, let’s imagine that this thing is finally waning, now that other disasters are growing in strength and number as we speak. Here are the numbers:
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view?list_select_state=Arizona&data-type=CommunityLevels&list_select_county=4019
So in our little nudge toward normalcy in a decidedly abnormal world, you can wear a mask if you prefer, and eschew it if you’d rather. You still make the deal to behave like a civilized human being by coming in here, however. No Star-bellied Sneetches will be tolerated bullying a Plain-bellied Sneetch, nor vice-versa. For the love of God, people, just be kind to one another.
For our part, we’ll start our niceness with the kickoff of the April menu, which began today, it being the first Tuesday of the month. The staff tasted through this afternoon, and doggone if the new dishes this month weren’t a hit. Come taste them, if you like.
https://www.eatatfeast.com/dining/menus/lunch-dinner/
Likewise, come and taste some wine with us on Saturday.
We’ll have menus up soon for Easter and the impending wine dinner with Mitch Cosentino, owner/winemaker of PureCru, and we’ll hope to see you, masked or not, soon.
Cautiously, but maybe not as cautiously as you’d like, or maybe more cautious than you’d like,
Doug