You know that right after those pumpkins of Halloween and Thanksgiving appear, it won’t be long until those Hallmark specials seem to be playing on every cable station and garland and boughs adorn every shop window. And though the release of three effective vaccinations since last Christmas put a little hope in people’s hearts early this year, the emergence of the delta variant still hasn’t allowed the world to return to business as usual. Supply chain shortages, ongoing distancing at indoor settings, labor shortages and intentional Postal Service slowdowns still pose ongoing challenges to businesses. And ongoing hate crimes against Asian Americans just add another barrier added to COVID-19. So my message remains the same as last year, buy early, support local especially those in the Asian American community. An online retailer coined the term “shipocalypse” as retailers may not be able to produce products in a timely manner due to labor and supply chain shortages and shippers may be backlogged getting these products to you.
Food is a Good Start
Restaurants were hit hard by the pandemic, first with mandatory shutdowns then with indoor seating limitations and finally with both supply chain and labor shortages. That’s why most of my Christmas gifts this year will once again be restaurant gift cards specifically from smaller, locally owned restaurants. In the Bay Area, you can do the same including these establishments:
Restaurant Nisei
Chef/Owner David Yoshimura first started as a pop-up restaurant serving 10-course tasting meals around the Bay Area in 2019 then eventually partnered with Mister Jiu’s selling gourmet bento while also providing charity lunches to the senior community via the Japanese Community Center in San Francisco and just 3 months ago, finally opened his brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Russian Hill neighborhood.
2316 Polk St, San Francisco, CA
(415) 827-6898
Gift cards can be purchased online at: https://restaurantnisei.com/gift-cards
Kusakabe
Chef/Owner Mitsunori Kusakabe who hails from Kyoto opened Kusakabe in May 2014 featuring Kyoto Kaiseki cuisine in Jackson Square and was award a Michelin star just 5 months later.
584 Washington St, San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 757-0155
Gift cards can be purchased online at: https://app.yiftee.com/gifts/egift_and_gift_cards/kusakabe-san-francisco
Izakaya Sozai
Owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Ritsu and Suemee Osuka, Sozai serves typical izakaya small plates, yakitori as well as ramen in the Inner Sunset district for over 10 years.
1500 Irving Street, San Francisco, CA 94122
(415)742-5122
Gift cards can be purchased online at: http://www.izakayasozai.com/gift-card/
State Bird Provisions
While not owned by Asian Americans, the top four positions in the kitchen including the Executive Chef, Sous Chef (Nancy Vo), Executive Pastry Chef (Kathleen Kwuan) and Pastry Sous Chef (Lisa Chan) are all Asian American women including Executive Chef and Hawaii expat Gaby Maeda who is one of Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs of 2021. The cuisine also reminds me of Cal-American dim sum as servers rotate through the dining area with small plates.
1529 Fillmore Street, San Francisco CA 94115
(415) 795-1272
Gift cards can be purchased online at: https://the-workshop-106410.square.site/
Goldbelly
While not a restaurant itself, Goldbelly does ship food created from many destination restaurants on most foodies’ food lists. I have ordered succulent ham from arguably the most successful female pitmaster, Melissa Cookston who is a 2-time Memphis in May World Grand Champion and 5-time Whole Hog Champion from her Memphis Barbecue Company as well as pulled pork from 11-time Pork Shoulder Champion Chris Lilly from his Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q. I’m even willing to ante up for the additional $20 to $35 extra shipping cost to the 50th which is a lot cheaper than a round trip ticket. Late last year, Goldbelly also highlighted foods from Asian chefs:
https://www.goldbelly.com/asian-food-makers
Dinnerware for Your Take-Out
If you decide to support local restaurants by ordering regular take-out, you can dine-in straight from the take-out containers or you can zhush-up your meal dining from handmade ceramics. Two of my favorite locations are right in the heart of Japantown, San Francisco. Ever since I found those aluminum rice pots that no one uses anymore other than Mom Tatsumoto, I always make a trip to Soko Hardware to either purchase omiyage or a new cooking implement for my own kitchen. Another obligatory stop is Sanko Kitchen Essentials where I always brought back another happi coat for home use and though they just sell kitchenware now, I still make that last visit before returning to the 50th.
Arakawa Pottery
For handmade pottery where you actually meet the artisans, Thomas and Kathy Arakawa create vases and dinnerware in San Jose. If you’ve been confined to working from home during the pandemic, nothing the day than a simple flower arrangement in a handmade vase.
5588 Sweigert Rd, San Jose, CA 95132
Gift cards can be purchased online at: https://ikebanavase.com/products/arakawa-pottery-gift-card-1
Nichibei Potters
The husband and wife team of Mikio Matsumoto and Cheryl Costantini have been creating vases, dinnerware and home décor out of Sebastopol for over 35 years. Due to the ongoing pandemic, their pottery is currently sold through the Etsy website.
1991 Burnside Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472
(707) 823-0950
Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/search?q=nichibei%20potters
And since you might visit their Etsy webpage, I’ll also give a shameless plug for my niece; Amy Kealoha Hiraki who creates scrunchies from her HelloStitched Etsy page.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HelloStitched?ref=shop_sugg
And while I’m shamelessly highlighting family, I’ll also shamelessly plug the two publications that I write monthly food, wine and nutrition columns for:
https://www.nichibei.org/gift-memberships/#online
Nichi Bei
1832 Buchanan St., #207, San Francisco, CA 94115
https://www.thehawaiiherald.com/membership-account/membership-levels/
Hawaii Herald
917 Kokea St., Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 845-2255
Both publications offer both print and digital subscriptions that make EXCELLENT gifts and because the Nichi Bei Foundation is a non-profit, any donation is likely tax deductible.
So even with Ebenezer COVID still with us, we can still make Merry!
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