Over the past month, a lot of folks have asked me how to best help restaurants through this pandemic. Truth is, there's not a silver bullet or one simple way.

But here are some ideas for the public. (Please share others.)

[a thread.] Check in directly with your favorite restaurants, whether that's via @instagram, website, a phone call or whatever. See what they need, and how you can help them.

Many have started crowdfunding campaigns. A running Bay Area list:

https://twitter.com/lucchesi/status/1241841125452738560

This is a fun thought exercise/bar argument.

What about the Bay Area? What are the (12?) restaurants that opened since 2010 that defined this decade of eating in the Bay Area?

https://twitter.com/JeffGordinier/status/1202576552879427585

Ok, first draft:
*Mission Chinese: Opened up so much. Revolutionized pop-ups forever.
*State Bird: Dining as theater, event. Still the toughest resy in town.
*Nyum Bai: Shattered conventions about blockbusters, and what kind of restaurants can (should!) be nationally celebrated.

Virginia Ramos, a.k.a. the Tamale Lady, died today.

Back in 2014, I began working on a story about her. As her restaurant stalled continuously, the story never came to fruition, but I’d like to share some snippets from my time with her.

1/ sfchronicle.com/news/article/V… After she was banned from selling at Zeitgeist, she began the process of opening her own restaurant.

Step one was navigating the city’s tangled permitting system, which meant meeting with city officials in an empty conference room at City Hall.

2/