I rarely talk to the Asian owner of a day spa across the street from my shop, but today I went in and reintroduced myself. I told her what happened yesterday was really scary, and if she or her employees or customers EVER feel threatened, to come right over to us. She cried!
In happier news, our store did so well this year, I was finally able to start covering my manager Sarah's health care. Thanks, everyone, for not supporting Amazon! It has real life consequences.
I'm printing out all the online orders from this weekend, and am tearfully joyous. I thought I'd be paying my employees out of my own savings by now, but you all are making it possible to keep paying them through the business. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. I won't forget it.
@dog_rates
When we adopted our dog from a crowded shelter in NM, she seemed to love the QUIET. She lay between us on the bed, on her back, and just looked from one of us to the other into she fell into a deep sleep.
This is my absolute favorite children's cookbook. It imagines an apartment building with immigrants from all over the world, each cooking a different national dish. Check out the images on my website:
What happens in Albuquerque doesn’t always stay in Albuquerque; this sweet girl is coming home with us!! Busted her out of a shelter and renting a car to drive back to San Francisco. Welcome to the good life, Pip!
A guy called the shop today to shyly ask if his not-tech-savvy aunt’s pre-order went through for his book coming out in spring. It hadn’t, but I asked if he was sure we had his book listed already - “what’s your last name?” He said, “B-a-r-a-g-h-a-n-i.”
I have some great news about my bookshop! Omnivore made $60,000 more on new cookbooks (as opposed to vintage) in 2018 than 2017. Yay - books are here to stay!
When you're celebrating your 23rd anniversary and you gift each other the same exact BLEND of whisky. And your neighbor hears you screeching with laughter.
Today was the day I finally scored a first edition of The Joy of Cooking. Privately printed by Irma Rombauer in 1931, she had just 3,000 copies made, so it’s extremely rare (especially in this condition). Soon to be on our website, but too excited not to say something!
I pay $22/hr. + vacation time & all holidays, and let her work a contract job online while at my shop. I offer full health care benefits. I keep excellent whiskey & mezcal in the back for both of us in times of need. I installed a ceiling fan.
It's rough having Amazon charge less for some cookbooks than I buy them for wholesale. All I can really say is, thank you to those who support me, authors & publishers by paying cover price, & I understand that some of you just can't afford to. I get it.
I'm cataloging an incredible cookbook collection for an auction house, and got my first peek at Rufus Estes' 1911 Good Things to Eat, the first cookbook by an African American chef. Wow.
I wasn't expecting her to feel so moved - this felt like literally the least I could do. Well, let's all do it. Tell an Asian/Pacific Islander neighbor, shop owner, mailman: I am here for you if you need me. I have your back. I value your presence. Turns out it means a lot.
@dansaltzstein
When I was 19 and had an internship at Christie’s, and workmen unloaded Robert Mapplethorpe’s entire apartment into a preview room, and I was left alone in there playing his pinball machine. Surreal.
Can I just express the frustration that I've been talking about writing a cooking-from-your-pantry cookbook for a year, and no editor thought it was a good idea.
@kumailn
I want to be bored shitless with any article about our administration. I want to find Washington Week as dull and mind-numbing as I did at 14. I want the PBS NewsHour to be something I catch once in a blue moon because there’s so little to report.
Good News! We just got word from our governor that we can open our bookshop for curbside service on Friday! Come say hi, crane your neck into the shop, and tell us what you'd like - we'll be there 11-3.
A new customer in Ohio wrote to me today that her sister was so happy with the books I’d chosen for her as gifts, she would like to have me send her one cookbook a month of my choosing. This is the best job ever!
I usually can't remember anniversaries since we had to get married so many times. But today marks 14 years since
@GavinNewsom
opened the doors of City Hall for us to marry in the rotunda, surrounded by flowers sent from strangers around the world.
The time Jonathan spent hours perusing, gossiping, laughing, critiquing in my shop with me, and no one else came in the whole time, was something I'll always cherish.
You guys.
A really heartwarming thing happened.
A Twitter friend I've never met,
@GuilbaultRenee
, has agreed to have her company sponsor a replacement Free Cookbook Library for our vandalized one.
Can I get a hallelujah?!
Sometimes, people are good and restore your faith.
I'm cataloging a scarce African American cookbook from 1929 (The Lone Star Cookbook by A. Fillmore, chef of the Lubbock Hotel). He rubberstamped this in the back of each copy.
Okay fine. I failed at quitting Twitter. I had a customer beg me to stay on here, and I melted like cheap chocolate. Here’s an awesome 1912 menu from an iconic SF restaurant just in:
It’s official: Paula and I are the worst bakers ever. This is our attempt at shortbread cookies using an embossed rolling pin.
This is not a test batch. And we’re not even stoned.
A girl around 13 just came in with her dad for a birthday present, and mentioned loving Max Miller. I said, "Dude! We have his new
@TastingHistory1
cookbook right here." She literally started dancing up and down with excitement.
Folks, the kids are all right.
Here's a sad commentary: A man just walked by the shop speaking Italian into his phone, so I closed my eyes for 30 seconds and pretended I was in Venice and that was my big trip for this year.
When you buy an early copy of The Taste of Country Cooking on eBay and the buyer warns there “may be some writing inside.” Surprises like this are what I live for.
@davidfrum
Or, joined in protest against a war, like so many students before them. (And yes, I'm Jewish and if I was still in college, would protest Israel's treatment of Gazans, which is not at all the same as being pro-Hamas).
This couple has been in here over an hour, and as they talk about favorite recipes and dishes, I can see they’re falling deeply in love with one another, and each giggle and furtive glance is quietly thrilling me.
Welp, I found an alternate reason to get into a hospital in the middle of a pandemic. Broke my ankle in three places leaving the post office, damn it. Surgery tomorrow - wish me luck! (Sarah is at the shop shipping orders for the foreseeable future).
Per city orders, Omnivore will be closed until at least April 7 (though I’m happy to fill any online orders). I plan to pay my manager, Sarah, her full salary during this time.
My dad (85) collects blue & white transferware. I couldn't stand seeing him in a raggedy cheap medical mask, so surprised him with this today. To say he was thrilled is an understatement.
This article by Amanda Shapiro about Samin Nosrat made me tear up - I am so proud of Samin for rising up, and reaching down to bring up so many unsung food folks. She is one of the most generous people I know.
It's amazing to me that more retail businesses haven't figured out how to challenge Amazon. Make your store a destination, offer in-store events etc. that demand a physical presence, carry unique products & imports. I love it; it's like a game for me.
There are some very upsetting closures starting to pile up, but I think dim sum palace Ton Kiang has hit me the hardest. We’ve spent every Christmas morning there for 20 years - a nostalgic tradition I always savored.
@Alyssa_Milano
I didn’t get video, but every person on our block in the Castro was screaming out their window, “You’re fired!” What a wonderful noise to wake up to.
A customer asked me a great question: what vintage cookbook should they look out for at thrift stores? Answer: The Amy Vanderbilt Cookbook, published in 1962 and illustrated by a young artist by the name of Andrew Warhol.
@spoilers4tv
@juliareinstein
As a teen, I could turn my radio to the end of the dial and hear the boy next door (1 year older) on every single cordless phone call. It was HEAVEN - I still get a shot of adrenaline when I hear a phone like that ring.