On the Fly by tablehopper

Today’s episode of On the Fly is with Trinh Banh, a co-founder of Good Good Eatz, an ad hoc initiative that has sprung up to help support Oakland Chinatown businesses in a number of impactful ways during these extremely challenging times. They’re helping immigrant-owned businesses get set up on social media, providing marketing assistance, PPE and protocols, and even creating new systems and business models. 

Working with Tommy Wong of Chinatown Improvement, these two can-do, roll up your sleeves, get ‘er done folks have sprung into action in many ways, including creating a Fund A Lunch program, designed to provide meals to communities in need from neighborhood food businesses that also need support, many of them struggling weeks before the shelter-in-place was announced. 

In this interview, you’ll hear how Trinh and Tommy are nimbly customizing their support and solutions for each business. Their grassroots model is applicable to many immigrant-dense neighborhoods who really need extra assistance and attention right now

Good Good Eatz is attracting an ever-growing group of volunteers offering their services and talents and skills, which goes to show how many people want to help in some way during these traumatic times, to contribute to something greater than themselves. We can help in many ways, and it can be easy: whether we go visit one of these places mentioned for take-out, follow them on their new Instagram account, order some cookies for a friend, contribute financially to Fund a Lunch or Save Our Chinatowns or directly to a restaurant’s GoFundMe, or even sharing this podcast with your friends, thanks. Or, looking at how you can support your own neighborhood immigrant-owned businesses.

Good Good Eatz: https://www.goodgoodeatz.com/

@goodgoodeatz: https://www.instagram.com/goodgoodeatz/ 

Fund a Lunch: https://www.goodgoodeatz.com/fund-a-lunch

Chinatown Improvement: https://www.chinatownimprovement.org

Save Our Chinatowns: https://www.saveourchinatowns.org/

@saveourchinatowns: https://www.instagram.com/saveourchinatowns/

Berkeleyside Nosh article: https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/05/14/relief-recovery-and-reinvent-good-good-eatz-guides-oakland-chinatown-businesses-to-pivot

Two-Top: 

1.  Tay Ho: http://www.tayho-oakland.com/

2.  Huangcheng Noodle House: https://www.huangchengnoodle.com

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode of On the Fly is with Roberta Economidis, a San Francisco-based attorney who is a partner in the boutique hospitality law firm, Georgopoulos and Economidis, aka GE Law Group. Roberta and her partner Zach count numerous restaurants and bars and other hospitality-related businesses as their clients, and have been working so hard to help them navigate through this crisis the past two months. 

One of the greatest concerns for restaurants and other small businesses to be able to even return from the COVID-19 shutdown is how are they going to be able to pay their rent, when their business and income are going to be anywhere from potentially 50 to 70 percent less for the foreseeable future? The implications are devastating, which is why Roberta has been working with hospitality colleagues and Senator Scott Wiener’s office on an amendment to SB 939 that would allow for small businesses to renegotiate or terminate leases early. 

Roberta helps walk us through why renegotiation of leases is so critical for our restaurants and other F&B businesses to have a remote chance of future survival, and to avoid a sea of bankruptcies, costly litigation, and ruined lives and communities. Please look below to learn more, and see how you can help show support for this legislation

GE Law Group: https://www.gelawgroup.com

How to support the amendment to SB 939 for rent relief

Read the press release and fact sheet.

Please download this letter of support and email it to Miles Horton on Senator Wiener’s staff and cc: [email protected]. 

Review the toolkit for social media, phone call, and email messages/scripts. 

Subscribe to the Bay Area Hospitality Coalition newsletter for updates.

Two-Top: 

1. https://bit.ly/undocumentedFAQ

2. https://www.samovarlife.com

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Our tenth episode of On the Fly is with one of my dear friends and my homie, chef Rob Lam of Perle Wine Bar in Montclair, Town Square Eats in Jack London Square, and his upcoming pet project, Lily, which was on track to open on Clement Street in SF in mid-March, but remains in a state of suspense.  

I originally called to just check in on him, catch up, hear what was the latest, and how he was doing, but as I was listening to everything he's trying to figure out, I realized that I should actually be recording our conversation. Rob covers a lot of ground, from the role of technology in helping them rise to the current challenge of converting three restaurant concepts to takeout and delivery, to the brutal finances, to looking ahead and mulling over ideas on how to format happy hour, the dining experience, the menu, even what kinds of drinks will work best. 

He also talks about how they're looking at launching their new restaurant through takeout, and how that experience will tell the story of Lily. I was impressed with his positive mindset about how to approach all these business challenges, and how he believes it's all making him a better restaurateur. But, like any true hospitalitarian, Rob is concerned about what hospitality will look like in this new world—what will be left behind in the guest experience as we knew it, and what’s to come? Thanks for listening in. 

Perle Wine Bar: https://www.perlewinebar.com

Town Square Eats: https://www.townsquareeats.com

Lily: https://www.instagram.com/lilyonclement/

Two-Top: 

1. WesBurger 'N' More: https://www.wesburgernmore.com

2. Roam: https://www.roamburgers.com

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode of On the Fly is with Karri Kiyuna, the bar director for the PlumpJack Group (founded by our governor, Gavin Newsom), and she is currently overseeing Wildhawk in the Mission. Karri has been tending bar in San Francisco since 2003, and talks us through what it’s like to turn a bar into an e-commerce website. She shares their current setup, and what she’s starting to envision for the bar’s future layout and more.

Wildhawk has also partnered with the Hilda and Jesse pop-up—Kristina Compton, the pop-up’s chef, is also a barback for Wildhawk—and they’ve been serving brunch boxes and snacks to go along with Wildhawk’s cocktails and wine to go. 

Karri also shares what her F&B neighbors in the Mission are doing during this strange and challenging time. This episode is a quick one, consider it an aperitif, because it’s only going to make you even more thirsty and hungry for some of Hilda and Jesse’s pancakes without boundaries and pockets. It’s a good thing Wildhawk is open over the weekend, a perfect time for a spritz kit. Cin cin.

Wildhawk: 3464 19th St., SF https://www.wildhawksf.com, @wildhawk_sf

Hilda and Jesse: https://www.hildaandjessesf.com, @hildaandjessesf

Two-Top: 

1. Pinoy Heritage https://www.pinoyheritage.com, @pinoyheritage

2. Elda https://eldasf.com, @elda_sf

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode is with Jennifer Bennett, an owner of the 28-year-old Zazie in Cole Valley, a San Francisco Legacy business well-known for its eggs Benedict, legendary home fries, and the kindest staff, as well as its progressive business practices. (She is also the owner of Lovina in Calistoga.) Early this year, in January of 2020, after owning Zazie for 15 years and working there for 20, Jennifer sold the restaurant to three long-time employees, although she remains a 25-percent owner and oversees the business.

But when the shutdown happened, she sprang into action like a two-hundred-percent owner, fighting hard for her 38 employees, and draining her 401K, maxing her home equity loan, and selling her life insurance policy to do anything to help keep the business afloat. After hemorrhaging all available funds, and with takeout business just not covering what they needed in order to operate and make payroll, they made the hard decision to temporarily close Zazie. 

But 10 days later, a Covid miracle of miracles happened, and they just received a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan, enabling them to reopen and be able to pay their employees. On the day of our interview, it was Zazie’s reopening day, with a new online menu for takeout, and new kits for Mother’s Day. Jennifer shares with us her perspective on navigating this brutal business experience, as well as some plans and ideas about what the future of reopening Zazie for dining could look like. As one of our city’s most progressive restaurateurs, this interview is one to listen to.

Zazie, https://www.zaziesf.com, 941 Cole St., San Francisco

Two-Top: 

1. Izzy’s Steaks, https://www.izzyssteaks.com; Feed Frontline Hospital Workers GoFundMe: https://www.izzyssteaks.com/izzys-feeds-frontline-hospital-workers.  

2. The Melt, https://www.themelt.com; Melting Hearts for Hospitals: https://www.themelt.com/mh4h-2020. 

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode is with Fernando Pujals, the Senior Director of Communications and Clean Operations for the TLCBD (Tenderloin Community Benefit District). This episode is a follow-up to our previous episode with chef Joanna Karlinsky, who has been directly feeding the unhoused on the streets of the Tenderloin and other encampments around the city. When I interviewed Joanna, she revealed folks have been asking her for water due to diminished access—she’s been filling containers and buying water for them on her own. 

It was a distressing piece of information, and led me to connect further with the TLCBD about what to do. I’m so grateful I was able to speak with Fernando for today’s episode, who offers us some perspective on the crisis happening on the streets of the Tenderloin during this pandemic, how the city is responding, all the ways the TLCBD organization works with the neighborhood, and how we can support the Tenderloin restaurants and food businesses that are still open. 

Be sure to listen to the very end, when Fernando talks about a grant program On the Fly listeners can donate to and DOUBLE the aid going to restaurants and food entrepreneurs. You have until noon on Sunday May 3rd, 2020, for the match, but if you’re getting to this later, you can always email [email protected] and mention tablehopper and they’ll make sure your donation directly supports Tenderloin food businesses (it doesn't seem you can leave a note in PayPal when donating directly via the TLCBD website button). 

TLCBD: www.tlcbd.org

List of open Tenderloin restaurants (and more on the mini-grants for small business): https://tlcbd.org/economic-opportunity

Fundraiser to help Joanna Karlinsky feed and bring water to the unhoused: https://tinyurl.com/ycr5p7po

District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney’s fundraiser for masks and sanitizer: https://tinyurl.com/yc92uvw9

Lava Mae fundraiser for hand-washing stations:
https://bit.ly/handwashingstations

SF New Deal: https://sfnewdeal.org

St. Anthony's: https://www.stanthonysf.org/

Two-Top: 

1. Sai Jai Thai, http://saijaithaisf.com/

2. Tycoon Thai, http://www.tycoonsf.com/

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode of On the Fly is with chef and restaurateur Joanna Karlinsky. Anyone who has lived in SF for more than 20 years remembers her famous Meetinghouse biscuits. Joanna is also known for her big heart—she is a steadfast volunteer and advocate for Food Runners, a longtime SF organization working to recover and redistribute discarded food to community programs. And at the moment, Joanna has taken to running her own one-woman-army effort to bring food directly to unhoused people who are on the streets and in encampments. 

It is a desperate and heart-breaking scene on the streets of SF right now. Anyone who has driven or walked through the Tenderloin recently or looked down an alley in SOMA should be shocked by what they are seeing. I know I am. It’s the worst I have ever seen it. People desperately need help, and masks, and more hand-washing stations, and sanitizer, and space, and food, and when you listen to this episode, you will also learn that what they really need right now is water. Which is terrible. 

In an attempt to help in any way she can, Joanna has been filling containers and bringing water as well as food on her weekly drops. She has been cooking out of her own kitchen and was self-funding this incredible effort until recently when some friends decided to launch a Facebook fundraiser for her (which you will want to contribute to after you hear this interview).

Like many chefs, Joanna lives and loves to feed people. But the herculean effort she is making to take care of people during this pandemic is beyond heroic, even though she will cringe hearing me say this. As a cancer survivor, she deeply knows the importance of health and the value of our precious lives. She’s working so hard and bravely to protect and preserve the lives of people who have been mostly neglected by our city. I hope this episode will help illuminate the dire situation that is happening on our streets, and is only escalating. We need to demand more services, and help, and hotel rooms, because we can’t allow this to get any worse. Look below for ways to help—we can make a difference, each and every one of us. Joanna is shining proof of that.

Fundraiser to help Joanna feed and bring water to the unhoused: https://tinyurl.com/ycr5p7po

District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney’s fundraiser for masks and sanitizer: https://tinyurl.com/yc92uvw9

Lava Mae fundraiser for hand-washing stations:
https://bit.ly/handwashingstations

Learn more in this Facebook town hall video from 4/27/20 with Senator Scott Wiener and community service/food bank leaders who discuss the current state of food insecurity: https://bit.ly/wienertownhall

Food Runners:
http://www.foodrunners.org

Two-Top: 

1. SF New Deal: https://sfnewdeal.org

2. St. Anthony Foundation: https://www.stanthonysf.org/

Donate money: https://www.stanthonysf.org/donate/

Clothing donations (and more): https://www.stanthonysf.org/essential-donations/

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode of On the Fly is with Geetika Agrawal, the program director of La Cocina, an incredible nonprofit business incubator dedicated to supporting working-class food entrepreneurs—primarily immigrant women and women of color—in building successful food businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. Geetika works closely with La Cocina entrepreneurs to support their businesses and leads growth initiatives for the organization. 

She talks about the dramatic impact the coronavirus has had on all their talented entrepreneurs, from their catering businesses to their brick-and-mortar locations, and some of the adaptations they’ve made, including the brilliant weekly La Cocina Food Box they recently launched. Geetika shares details with us about the much-needed financial aid the La Cocina Emergency Relief Fund is providing to 58 La Cocina businesses while federal relief remains elusive. 

Please be sure to visit bit.ly/lovelacocina for a continually updated list of all the La Cocina businesses and what they’re serving for takeout and delivery, their hours, links to their gift cards, GoFundMes, and more. You can also find links to the relief fund and food boxes and more in the episode notes. These businesses have fought so hard to get to where they are, thank you for supporting them, and La Cocina, in any way you can.

Updated list and links to La Cocina businesses: bit.ly/lovelacocina

La Cocina Emergency Relief Fund (to provide their entrepreneurs with cash payments to cover basic expenses): https://lacocinasf.org/relief-fund

La Cocina Food Box (menu goes up on Saturdays!): https://lacocinasf.org/foodbox

Two-Top: 

1. Hamano (SF): www.hamanosushi.com, @hamanosushi.

2. Miss Ollie’s (Oakland): www.realmissolliesoakland.com, @missolliesoakland.

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode is with Evan Kidera, the co-founder and CEO of Señor Sisig, a beloved food business that got its start in 2010 as a food truck during the beginnings of the SF street food scene. Popular for their Filipino street style dishes, like their groundbreaking sisig burritos, the business has expanded to six food trucks, and they just opened their first brick and mortar location in the Mission at the end of 2019. But with the disappearance of their downtown lunch crowd during the stay-at-home order, Kidera tells us how a couple of the trucks are moving on to other locations around the Bay.

In honor of their tenth year of business, they launched #Sisig4ThePeople, an initiative with the goal of raising $100,000 to help fund the preparation and delivery of meals to the community. 

They’re also part of another inspiring initiative, Filipinos Feed the Frontlines, joining their fellow Filipino restaurants to provide meals to healthcare workers and food-insecure communities while trying to stay open. Thanks for listening, please read the episode notes for links to these initiatives, where you can track down their sisig nachos, and more.

Señor Sisig: www.senorsisig.com 

#sisig4thepeople: www.senorsisig.com/sisig4thepeople

The City Eats: www.thecityeats.org 

Filipinos Feed the Frontlines: www.kultivatelabs.com/frontlines

@senorsisig: www.instagram.com/senorsisig 

Señor Sisig truck locations:

3001 Junipero Serra Blvd., Daly City

3333 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland

An up-to-date schedule can be found here: https://www.senorsisig.com/find-us. Guests who want to avoid waiting in line can order in advance from order.senorsisig.com or opt for delivery (available via Caviar, Doordash, and UberEats). 

Two-Top: 

1. Free temporary loading zone application for SF businesses: bit.ly/loadingzone 

2. Kahnfections, 3321 20th St. in San Francisco. Open daily 8am–1pm; pre-orders and same-day orders for most items: kahnfections.com/shop. Delivery available through DoorDash. 

Purchase a gift card here: bit.ly/bakeforSFGHnurses. For the recipient address, please put [email protected]. Then, in the personal message, please put “For SF General Hospital Nurses.”

@kahnfections: www.instagram.com/kahnfections 

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

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Today’s episode is with Kim Alter, the chef and co-owner of Nightbird and the adjoining Linden Room bar in Hayes Valley, which are currently closed to customers during the crisis. But the lights are still on as her small but mighty team is cooking hundreds of meals daily for initiatives like SF New Deal and Frontline Foods. Kim is known for her commitment to local farms and sustainability, and she’s proven to be a leader in leveraging her longtime relationships to support farmers as she sources ingredients to go into these low-cost but high-quality meals. She also shares with us a day in her extremely busy life right now—you’ll be exhausted just hearing everything she’s doing. Thanks for listening to her inspiring story. You’ll find links to Nightbird’s GoFundMe and more in the episode notes, please take a look. Thank you.

Nightbird: https://www.nightbirdrestaurant.com

Nightbird GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nightbird-employee-relief-fund 

SF New Deal: https://www.sfnewdeal.org 

Frontline Foods: https://www.frontlinefoods.org

Bay Area Hospitality Coalition: https://bayareahospitalitycoalition.com


Two-Top: 

1. Dining Out for Life/Dining IN for Life: https://www.doflsf.org 

2. La Ciccia: http://www.laciccia.com, @lacicciasf

If you’re a Bay Area business or individual and want to be featured in On the Fly, please fill out the form at bit.ly/ontheflyguest.

Support the show