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(eeventonline.com) - Just when we think we’ve heard it all about California Warden Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “ill-advised” outing to The French Laundry a few weeks ago, well, we haven’t. For people who aren’t familiar with Napa, for all intents and purposes the entire county is one small town (my family first settled in that area in the 1890’s, though they all moved south about 40 years later).
The locals all know each other, and don’t always have the best impression of the outsiders who jet in for the weekend to take advantage of the “quaint” lifestyle. Think of it as the Hamptons of the West Coast.
When weekenders who happen to be a little famous are rude and dismissive to the locals, whether a chef or a shop owner or even the lowly wait staff or hotel janitors, all of the locals know about it. When the weekender happens to be the Governor, and he’s out dining with a large party of lobbyists and special interest group execs in the middle of a pandemic, breaking his own rules, then lies about it when he’s caught, well, there’s no way that all of the details don’t eventually come out.
After photos of the dinner were released last week, other attendees – including two executives from the California Medical Association – were quickly identified.
The (very) occasional voice of reason among Democrats in California, San Francisco’s Willie Brown, took Newsom to task in his weekly San Francisco Chronicle column on Saturday, with his last line being the chef’s kiss, if you will (emphasis added):
I’M NOT SURE WHICH IS THE BIGGER “STORY,” NEWSOM BREAKING HIS OWN RULES OR LAUGHING IT UP WITH HIGH-TICKET LOBBYISTS IN ONE OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN AND EXPENSIVE RESTAURANTS IN THE COUNTRY.
AND BY THE WAY, I HEAR THE WINE BILL WAS $12,000.
Whoa. Whoa!
If there were eight people there, or even 10, that’s more than $1,000 of wine per person. Just how did these people get home? We know Newsom said he arrived late and that he drove there.
On Monday journalist Adam Housley, who hails from Yountville, where The French Laundry is located, had a few more things to say about the wine bill, the number of attendees, and whether the party was held indoors or outdoors.
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