Dear Feastlings,
I had coffee with a friend who used to work here the other day, and this is more or less what she said to me: “I no longer watch the news. I no longer listen to the news. I read the paper, and it takes me about ten minutes to get through the New York Times, because I read the headlines and invariably decide the articles will be too upsetting, and I pull out the Arts section and call it a day.”
As someone who feels more of a need to be informed, but who’s equally triggered by a steady stream of news about how diametrically opposed we’re becoming to one another, and how outrageous it no longer is to react with vitriol and hate to whatever we may disagree with, and what’s little by little becoming normal to do with no repercussions, I handle it differently. I self-soothe.
Maybe I’ll fritter away an hour doing a crossword puzzle, or numb myself watching something moronic on the internet, but my preferred self-soothing method has been, for as long as I can remember, good art, good music, and good food and drink. And while there’ll be no live music here at Feast in the foreseeable future- I’ve learned from watching my brother crowd his restaurant with musicians whose fans welcome the opportunity to see their favorite band without paying a cover charge or purchasing anything while a staff drums their fingers in hopes of doing something besides refilling water and tea- on Sunday, September 7th, we’ll open the doors to Feast from 2:00 to 4:00 pm so that, whether you knew Bruce McGrew or not, you can come and admire his paintings, and at 5:00 pm, you can sit beneath one of them and drink deliciously interesting wines from Bodega Pierce, eat food that’s been specifically paired with each wine, and self-soothe enough that you’ll be able to read the news without having a psychotic episode.
https://www.eatatfeast.com/events/2025/08/bodega-pierce-dinner-with-dan-pierce/
If the news is too triggering for you to wait until the 7th to self-soothe, you might consider this Saturday’s end-of-month wine tasting.
https://www.eatatfeast.com/events/2025/08/two-roads-diverged-in-a-yellow-wood-2/
You’re also welcome and encouraged to avail yourself this one last week of our summer wine pricing, before we’re overtaken by Labor Day.
https://www.eatatfeast.com/events/2025/05/return-of-the-summer-wine-deals/
But if you find yourself in need, there’s special art on the walls here, there’s special wine in the bottle, and there’s special food on the table every Tuesday through Saturday, until the news wins out. But if I have the art and the food and the wine, the news will never defeat me.
I hope you’ll join us for a reprieve.
Love,
Doug