Hi, I’m Melanie.
Maybe you want a quick meal using what’s already in your pantry. Or a nice recommendation for a family Sunday adventure in the city by the bay. Or even better: a date with your partner to wine country. And when none of that is possible a cocktail to have while the children run around you screaming.
I have three kids ranging from 2 to 12, a full time job in the wine and spirits industry, a husband who runs two restaurants in downtown San Francisco and a small flat near the Golden Gate bridge where we all live. My mom lives with us in what we lovingly refer to as the Harry Potter Room since she lost her home in the Tubbs fire a few years back. This warm, cramped, loving, disastrous house is where we have built this beautifully wild family. We are entrenched in the bar and restaurant industry here in San Francisco and have lived in the Bay Area most of our adulthood. Our sweet kids have enriched our life, but we are still bartenders at heart and have folded our kiddos into the SF foodie culture. Journey with us into making easy foodie food for kids, wine country excursions and making the most of this eclectic diverse city in our backyard.
I could use less whining in my life…
But venting is very necessary. Especially for us parents. It’s important to remind ourselves the compounding of conflict we deal with is deserving of a medal. We were humans deserving of fun before we made these incredible little people. It can’t just be all about diapers, food fights and parent meetings. Let’s bond over adult shit and cute kid quotes too but let’s feed our happiness first so that it overflows into the future generation.
my pledge
To be honest, transparent and vulnerable. This will be a difficult but important test of courage and letting go. I will encourage respectful discourse but will not allow for shame and name calling. If our kids can’t do it then we should abstain as well. That doesn’t mean you can’t debate. One is for learning the other for hurting.
keep it fun
This is meant to be a space for laughter, learning and solidarity. I want to share the beauty and depth of SF, our love of food and wine and the places we find ourselves having the most fun. And all the little artful, hidden, playful places in-between. Come play with us!