That lush, green grass on the other side of the fence

Good morning, Feastlings.
Not to get overly self-referential, but it’s feast or famine around here. Sunday night I went home a bit early, grumpy that not only are we struggling with our point of sale system, but my own computer shuffled off its mortal coil, and we had yet to even clear a thousand dollars in sales (Feast’s breakeven point during normal times is just of $5200,) so I left feeling envious of the Blue Willow’s spacious open patio with a shade over it, thinking how good they have it over there, until I chatted with my friend Rebecca, who, it turns out, runs a restaurant just like I do. So after hearing about the rain damage that had her spending from 4 am to 8 am patching the roof and cleaning up soggy drywall in order to start making omelettes at 8, plus the normal restaurant stuff- out of tortillas, so a frantic grocery store run, a guest ordering something for the wrong day and the kitchen crew making the order anyway, I’m ready to look back at my own meager patch of grass through different eyes.
I do still wish I had a patio like they do so we could actually seat guests, though when we did have one, it looked out over a parking lot, and the overhang didn’t do us much good at keeping the heat down, so it serves us far better as a wine shop. Plus if it were still a patio, we’d wonder why Kevin was hanging around it all the time. At least in the wine shop it makes sense that he’s there.
Anyhow, it’s been painfully slow, and we’ve had very little to tell you about, so there haven’t been so many emails, and as the Instagram and Facebook posts go, we can only post so many photos of brown paper bags before our eyes glaze over, let alone yours.
This week, however, I’ve once again bitten off more than I can chew, so I’m hoping for a feast that helps offset last week’s famine. We’ll start with the menu: today being the first Tuesday of the month, we’re finally beginning the July menu, which looks like this.

And then, chronologically, everything else we’ve got going on in the immediate future. We’ll start with Friday, when we’ll be delivering meals to the now-inundated-again frontline hospital workers, this time at Banner University’s Emergency Department, and evidently an entire floor of COVID ward at Saint Mary’s Hospital (I’m still waiting to get details and final numbers on who we’ll be feeding over there, but we’ll keep updating the page at this link.

Then Saturday, we’re back to normal with our weekly wine tastings, and this Saturday’s tasting is all French wine, a sort of prelude to Bastille Day, which is only a week from today. Here’s that tasting.

Sunday will likely be quiet again, but this Sunday I’ll actually be grateful for it, as people will begin picking up their meals for the Primavera Cooks event that we’re doing our level best to make special. It’s normally a great event, raising lots of money for the homeless in Tucson (can you imagine being homeless right now? In Tucson? During a pandemic? I’m just saying…) and so we’re hoping that this thing we’re in the midst of putting together while our computers are in disrepair and our spirits are, well, challenged, let’s say, will be delicious, enjoyable, educational, and a benefit to the community at large. That happens on Monday the 13th, while we’re closed. You’ll have to contact the Primavera Foundation if you want to participate, so here’s the link to what that’s all about, and it includes a yet another link to their contact information. If you’re thinking about doing it, decide soon, because we have to order all the ingredients in by tomorrow afternoon.

Then Tuesday, we’ll be offering a special menu for Bastille Day, and ten percent off every French wine on the list (and, mind, you, we’re already selling the wines at retail, so that’s below retail pricing.) The specials are here.

And by that point, I’m sure I’ll be itching for another really slow day again. Maybe I’ll go have dinner on Rebecca’s patio, with the next table six feet away. Thanks, everyone.

Your friend,
Doug

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