A recent post on our Instagram account has lead me down a nostalgic path. I've always been fortunate but looking back over the years, I had to work really hard to get so lucky!  (with the great Annie Sommerville from Greens Restaurant) People forget. I forget! In the early days, I sold the beans almost exclusively at farmers markets. I couldn't get into the Napa market (which was idiotic but a tale best saved for another time), so I did the Yountville, Calistoga, and St Helena markets in Napa. I quickly expaned to the Grand Lake market in Oakland and...

My much too glamorous and clever friend, Carrie Brown, has a new book, The New Christmas Tree. When she told me about it, I thought, that's nice. I'm a little bah humbug about the holidays but this book lit a fire under me. There are all sorts of beautiful and wacky trees to inspire, but there are also very practical instructions on how to make them and the ornaments and you really are a cold fish if you don't find this fun. Of course a new book deserves a book launch party and we had one at our Ferry Building...