Napa restaurateurs struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic met the news that California governor Gavin Newsom isn’t practicing the COVID guidelines that he preaches with outrage, despondence, and resignation.
“Disgraceful,” was the reaction from Napa Chamber of Commerce board member and world-renowned truffle chef Ken Frank. Could Newsom, who was pictured sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with prominent lobbyists at an upscale Napa Valley birthday dinner earlier this month, ever recover? “I don’t know. But he made his own bed, now he has to sleep in it,”
Extremely disappointed,” Bettina Rouas, owner of riverfront bistro Angele, added. “We’ve all been doing whatever we can to follow suit — and then to have our governor eat indoors, with a party of twelve, with no masks, and it’s not even family members. It was disappointing and disheartening.” Mick Salyer, who started in the Northern California restaurant scene 30 years ago in the dish pit and now owns Napa staples Zuzu and La Taberna, described himself as a “pretty strong supporter” of Newsom. But the stunt, which the governor apologized for — “I need to preach and practice, not just preach,” Newsom said Monday — still stung, especially after photos were released showing the governor lied in his apology about the dinner being held “outdoor.”
The photos, obtained by Fox LA, show Newsom, who is not wearing a mask, conversing with someone while standing near the dining table. The table is set up in a hybrid space enclosed by large sliding glass doors, which are closed in the picture. According to a witness, the doors were open when the party arrived but were eventually closed due to noise complaints from nearby diners. Also in attendance at the dinner, which was held for the birthday of a longtime lobbyist and Newsom adviser, were top officials from the California Medical Association, which has lobbied the state government on COVID-testing requirements. “It’s just hard, because we’re taking such a hit, such a sacrifice, that that happens,” Salyer told National Review. Chef Curtis DiFede, who opened Miminashi — an acclaimed izakaya-style Japanese restaurant — in downtown Napa nearly five years ago, announced last week that he was closing due to the pandemic. He said Newsom’s actions were “not a shocker.”
“I just kind of feel like every politician is a hypocrite at this point in time,” he stated. “And, I don’t condone what he did, but also it doesn’t faze me at all.”
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