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Attention visual artists and illustrators! Join us for Art Night at The Ruby, co-led by Rubies Reina Takahashi & Anastasia Tumanova. Please bring whatever supplies you’d like to work with. After a round of intros, we’ll doodle and draw, and snack and chat.
Come play Mahjong at The Ruby's Mahjong night. (6 to 6:30 p.m. will be a quick refresher in how to play mahjong. Come at 6:30 to play!)
Or come join our circle of knitters and crafters led by Ruby member Jourdan Abel. Crocheters, embroiderers, darners... all are welcome!
This Happy Hour, join Theodora R. Lee from Theopolis Vineyards.
Theopolis Vineyards is a small lot vineyard and hand-crafted winery located in California’s prestigious Yorkville Highlands of the Anderson Valley. Situated along Highway 128 in southeastern Mendocino County near the border of Sonoma County, the AVA is a highly elevated, rugged interior wine-growing area. Established in 2003, Wine Critic Robert Parker bestowed upon wine made from grapes harvested from Theopolis Vineyards a stellar rating of 94-96 points, a spectacular showing for the vintner’s first harvest in 2006.
Emboldened by the great fruit produced by the land, its owner and founder, Theodora R. Lee aka Theo-patra, Queen of the Vineyards, a bold and dynamic Texan and San Francisco trial lawyer, is now bottling her own award winning wines. In addition to bottling the richly intense and flavorful Petite Sirah and Rosé of Petite Sirah, Theopolis Vineyards strikes a lighter note by bottling a Symphony, a white wine, which is a crossing of Muscat and Grenache Gris. Theopolis Vineyards also bottles an Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, a Yorkville Highlands Pinot Noir and a Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir.
Join talented Ruby musicians — Rebecca Garza-Bortman, Heather D'Angelo, and Ainsley Wagoner — for a performance and Q&A (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.).
About Love Jerks
Love Jerks is a San Francisco duo who make dream-pop ballads and glam-rock anthems with a flair for the cinematic. The offspring of two lead singers—Bryan Garza of Scissors for Lefty (vocals, guitar) and Rebecca Garza-Bortman of Happy Fangs and My First Earthquake (vocals, bass)—the band was born when these two jerks, yes, fell in love. They met in a rock club; got married in a rock club; and somewhere in between they discovered a mutual affection for Grimes, The Pretenders, and French pop from the 1960s. Love Jerks is for anyone who’s ever gazed out a train window, starring in their own John Hughes movie in their head. (Maybe there’s a smidge of David Lynch.)
About Heather D’Angelo
Heather D'Angelo is a member of the indie dream-pop band, Au Revoir Simone, founded in Brooklyn in 2003. Au Revoir Simone has released four LPs and was recently featured on Twin Peaks: The Return. Since moving to San Francisco in 2015, Heather shifted creative gears and began to compose perfume; she launched her sustainable fragrance company, Carta, in 2017.
About Silverware
Led by Ainsley Wagoner and her ethereal voice, Silverware plays sparse, atmospheric, and bittersweet pop. Wagoner weaves lyrics on the feminine experience together with sounds inspired by her hometown of Lexington, KY. With a subtle but moving sound, Silverware gets the audience to tune in and feel all the feels.
Let's talk about money! Money Talks is a new discussion series we're hosting at The Ruby: At "Money Talks," we'll talk all about what we should be talking about more. The goal is cultivating more consciousness and intentionality around money; the goal is fiscal empowerment! At Money Talks, we'll talk honestly and openly about money — how we approach it individually, what works for us and what doesn't, what we're worried about and what we're doing well. We'll look into various approaches to handling money, especially as artists and freelancers. We'll bring in speakers, read books, and discuss larger economic topics. And so much more!
For our first meeting, we'll be reading and discussing Money Diaries, the new book that comes from Refinery 29's very popular series. Pick up the book at The Ruby and come ready to discuss it!
PLEASE NOTE: For Ruby members, the book is free with attendance ($15 without attendance).
About Money Diaries
Whether you read that viral Money Diary by the intern with an allowance or just got caught up in all the talk about it, you’re likely familiar with Money Diaries, edited by Refinery29’s Work & Money Director Lindsey Stanberry to give women the opportunity to reveal, and speak honestly about, the most intimate details of their financial lives.
In the Money Diaries series, women candidly share how they spend their money over seven days, allowing millions of readers to see the specifics diarists don’t even dare to share with loved ones. Enter REFINERY29 MONEY DIARIES: Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About Your Finances...And Everyone Else's (Sept. 4, 2018; Touchstone; Trade Paperback Original; $19.99; 978-1-5011-9799-4), where Lindsey presents ten brand-new diaries as the catalyst for hundreds of pages of accessible and actionable advice, providing an essential toolset to empower women to make the most of their money.
Join Dr. Erin Burke and the Modern Fertility team to talk through hormones, fertility, menopause, egg freezing and more.
We'll go over a quick overview of the female reproductive system (because for most of us it's been some time since we were in a sex-ed class!) and then a deep dive into hormones. What do they do in our body? Why are they so important? What do they tell us about fertility, family planning, and more? How can you measure your fertility to better plan your career, your goals, and your life in general? We go deep into the science of this so you can understand exactly what is happening in your body related to fertility, how to track it, and what this means for you and your goals.
After hormones we'll dive into the practical piece of all of this. How does egg freezing really work? What about IVF? What even is menopause, beyond hot flashes? We'll talk through all of this and more!
About Dr. Erin Burke
Dr. Erin Burke runs Research and Clinical Operations at Modern Fertility. She comes to us from Yale, where she completed her PhD in Biological Anthropology. As part of her doctorate, she was the lead researcher for the Yale Gay Father's Project where she tracked hormone changes in gay fathers.
More side projects than you know what to do with? Want to apply to that thing but can’t bring yourself to press “send”? That’s where this group comes in! We’ll check in with each other about projects we're working on, offer resources and encouragement, and then get to work on anything we want to do outside of the things we have to do.
Whether it’s a business, creative outlet, application, or something in-between, come get time, space, and support for it.
PLEASE NOTE: We've set this at 3 hours to make sure you have enough time to make a meaningful dent in whatever you're working on. We will have pizza! Come for pizza and passion projects!
More side projects than you know what to do with? Want to apply to that thing but can’t bring yourself to press “send”? That’s where this group comes in! We’ll check in with each other about projects we're working on, offer resources and encouragement, and then get to work on anything we want to do outside of the things we have to do.
Whether it’s a business, creative outlet, application, or something in-between, come get time, space, and support for it.
As gifted artists and writers, many of us have amazing, game-changing projects that need seed funding, visibility, and support. It's not an easy process to seek out and secure funding, and although the application process is not often complicated, the writing itself can be laborious and intimidating, even discouraging.
During this workshop, Ruby member Cristiana Baik will provide some practical nuts-and-bolts tips related to grant writing: doing your due diligence, building realistic timelines, building your budget (and communicating your budget in a clear way to funders) and discussing the writing style that funding committees often look for in "winning" proposals. She'll also provide some basic templates related to grant proposals/narratives and budgets.
About Cristiana Baik
Cristiana Baik is a writer working and living in San Francisco. Currently, she works as the Director of Development for the Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS), one of the largest mental health agencies serving the Asian/Pacific Islander community in the Bay Area. She has been doing development and sustainability building work for nonprofits for more than a decade, having raised nearly $10 million in foundation grants and $30 million in government contracts for nonprofits in California, Minnesota and New York in the past five years. In the past, she has led grant writing efforts for arts-based nonprofits, including ART21 and the San Francisco Art Institute.
Join us for a Ruby field trip! We'll be heading to the Rosie The Riveter World War II National Park in Richmond, California, for a Rosie Friday: We'll watch a film about the park, and hopefully meet some real-life Rosies. We'll wrap up the trip by getting some lunch and cider nearby. Join us! Carpool details and more to come.
This Happy Hour, join Dalia Ceja from Ceja Vineyards.
Ceja Vineyards is an ultra premium Latino family owned winery founded by Amelia, Pedro, Armando and Martha Ceja – first generation Mexican-American winegrowers in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
Hosted by Ruby member/quiz master Sarah Chamberlain, Trivia Night at The Ruby gives you the chance to show off your smarts, win prizes, and raise money for a great cause. We'll have five rounds of trivia ranging from pop culture, to music, to history — all focused on women. This event is co-ed and open to guests!
You can round up your own squad, or join forces with other Rubies on the night of (6 team members max please). Food, drinks, and friendly competition await you!
Beer will be provided by Fort Point.
Ticket sales benefit Ruby neighbors La Casa de Las Madres.
PLEASE NOTE: Though tickets are free for members, we encourage a suggested donation of $10 for La Casa de Las Madres.
The world of whiskey can feel daunting — how it's made, how to talk about it, what makes a brand better than another, and how it goes best in drinks — unless you have a framework to understand it. In this class, taught by Ruby member Shanna Farrell, you'll get a primer on the history of whiskey production in the U.S., learn the basics of what makes whiskey a bourbon, rye, or single malt, how to describe it, and some tips on how to order it in a cocktail. And you'll learn how to make a cocktail yourself, so you can whip up fantastic drinks for friends at home.
About Shanna Farrell
Shanna Farrell is an interviewer at UC Berkeley's Oral History Center, where she works on a wide variety of projects and specializes in contemporary cocktail culture. She is the author of Bay Area Cocktails.Her writing has appeared in Imbibe, PUNCH, Gravy, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Edible San Francisco.
Watercolor is a wonderful art form that is portable and easy! In this workshop, we will learn all the basics of painting with watercolor including different blending and layering techniques and how to compose an image. We will go over the ins and outs of choosing brushes and styles of watercolor paint (pan vs liquid watercolors), how to use watercolor pencils, and when to use waterproof pens while doing several exercises to get comfortable with the materials. Once everyone is ready, we will practice painting from a still life composed of fruits, plants, and other fun items! Everyone will go home with several finished paintings ready to adorn your walls and all the supplies you need to keep painting!
PLEASE NOTE: There is a materials fee of $20, payable at the start of class. (Nonmembers, this is included in the price of your ticket.)
About Jennie Lennick
In addition to being a Ruby member and neighbor (check out her shop at 3043 24th Street!), Jennie Lennick is a San Francisco–based artist, entrepreneur, and teacher. As a child in the Midwest, Jennie became enamored with traditional domestic craft, learning to sew and embroider. In 2010, She moved to the Bay Area to attend the San Francisco Art Institute, where she studied painting. Inspired by the natural beauty of Northern California, Jennie launched Jenny Lemons (jennylemons.com), a collection of modern block printed and hand painted women’s clothing and textiles. Jennie's work has been featured in publications like the San Francisco Chronicle, Brit + Co, and San Francisco Magazine. Her retail store in the Mission District of San Francisco is a community space where she facilitates DIY workshops, produces her products, and showcases the talents of other local artists.
Come learn how to make effective, all-natural cleaning products with simple ingredients from your kitchen and medicine cabinet. After making your own, you probably won’t see the cleaning aisle at Target and Walgreens the same way. This is the first in an environmentalism event series at The Ruby called Green Rubies.
After this 2-hour class, you’ll walk away with:
countertop spray
all-purpose cleaner
dishwashing detergent (recipe and demo)
glass cleaner
toilet bowl cleaner
shower and sink scrub (recipe and demo)
We’ll begin with a 10-minute guided earth meditation. Lavender and eucalyptus essential oils will be available for infusing your cleaners with scent, but feel free to bring your favorites!
PLEASE NOTE: Materials fee is $10, payable at the start of class. Non-members, this cost is included in your ticket.
About Kat Koh
Kat Koh loves impactful environmentalism. She's been dedicated to “voting with her dollar” as much as possible after learning that earth-friendly purchases, the sharing economy, and adopting a DIY lifestyle send a powerful signal to the market. She started making her own household cleaners, de-odorizers and laundry solutions after re-connecting with the magical powers of vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and salt.
Join us for a roundtable discussion about "Motherhood & Daughterhood." Three sets of Ruby mothers and daughters — of different ages — will be at The Ruby to talk about their relationships, ups and downs, parenting (and being parented!), and intimacy. Let's talk about our own mother/daughter relationships — our particular approaches, challenges, and hopes.
You're welcome — and encouraged! — to bring your mother or daughter as a guest.
Food & drink will be provided.
We have a lot to celebrate! Join our resident Ruby authors in toasting the 2018 releases of books from members Maggie Hoffman (The One-Bottle Cocktail), Rachel Levin (Look Big: And Other Tips for Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds), Jill Diamond (Lou Lou & Pea and the Bicentennial Bonanza), Jennifer S. Cheng (Moon: Letters, Maps, Poems), Rita Bullwinkel (Belly Up), R.O. Kwon (The Incendiaries), Georgia Freedman (Cooking South of the Clouds), Anita Felicelli (Love Songs for a Lost Continent), Mia Malhotra (Isako Isako), and Caroline Paul (You Are Mighty).
Snacks & drinks provided, and books available for purchase.
Join us to share your works in progress. Read from a book in progress, show us your sketches, sing a few lines from a song in the works. We'd love to see (or hear/feel/smell/taste) what you're working on! If you'd like feedback on your projects, this is the perfect opportunity to share your work in a supportive setting.
Let's gather for an evening filled with flowers, mistletoe, and fun! In this seasonal offering, Gina from the Bloom Generation will be teaching the origins of the wreath and the how-to's of creating your own. You will make and take home a handmade holiday wreath.
PLEASE NOTE: There is a materials fee of $30, payable at the start of class. (Nonmembers, this is included in the price of your ticket.)
About Gina Rose
It all started with being a professional doodler: working with pens, paint, chalk, and charcoal, I mastered the craft of sign making. And then came calligraphy, and then my introduction to the event world. Then came the call to flowers, inspired by my mama, florist by trade, I began to learn. Certified in floral design, I have worked weddings, events, bridal parties, bachelorette parties, baby showers, holiday parties, and more. I also work with the natural healing powers of flowers, studying the language of flowers, flower baths, and more. I'm a certified yoga teacher and reiki healer, blending the magic of art and healing in my offerings.
Attention visual artists and illustrators! Join us for Art Night at The Ruby, co-led by Rubies Reina Takahashi & Anastasia Tumanova. Please bring whatever supplies you’d like to work with. After a round of intros, we’ll doodle and draw, and snack and chat.
Come play Mahjong at The Ruby's Mahjong night. (6 to 6:30 p.m. will be a quick refresher in how to play mahjong. Come at 6:30 to play!)
Or come join our circle of knitters and crafters led by Ruby member Jourdan Abel. Crocheters, embroiderers, darners... all are welcome!
It goes by many names—Sculpey, Fimo, Premo—and it’s an exceptionally easy-to-use sculpture material. Get the time and materials to whip up some colorful gifts, ornaments, or other decorations. Learn how to use a familiar material a new way, or just come and play.
PLEASE NOTE: There is a materials fee of $15, payable at the start of class. Nonmembers, this is included in the cost of your ticket!
About Kathryn Jaller
Kathryn Jaller develops content, campaigns, and experiences for creative brands and business. Most recently she led the digital team at Chronicle Books and prior to produced content of all kinds at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. She’s also an avid maker who has shown at West Coast Craft and her recent Necklace Aura Reading project about the intersection of identity, anxiety, and fashion was featured by Kickstarter. See her other creations at freundthings.co.
In this introductory workshop, Ruby member Heather D’Angelo, founder of the sustainable fragrance brand Carta, will guide students through the process of designing and crafting a custom fragrance. Students will have the chance to work with a palette of over 30 essential oils, absolutes, and natural isolates, including a few rare ingredients that Heather personally sourced from the Amazon rainforest and were featured in Carta’s debut fragrance, Moena 12|69.
The class will cover the structure of perfume, including basic technical info on top, middle, and base notes in relation to fragrance families, the tools of the trade, recipe development, how to build accords, and simple blending techniques. Heather will also go over how to read material safety data sheets in order to provide students with an understanding of essential oil safety, and the importance of sustainable sourcing when choosing natural materials.
Students will leave with a bottle of fragrance that they have developed under Heather’s guidance, as well as information about how to continue their exploration with fragrance at home.
No previous experience with fragrance design is necessary.
PLEASE NOTE: For Ruby members, there is a materials fee of $30, payable at the start of class. For nonmembers, your materials fee is included in the price of your ticket.
About Heather D’Angelo
Heather D’Angelo is a San Francisco-based perfumer, musician (with the band Au Revoir Simone), and ecologist. The dream for Carta originated while she was collecting botanical samples from the Malaysian rainforest as part of her research at Columbia University. After several years of working with plant-based aromatic compounds, she developed an understanding that scent, like music, is a transformative instrument. Both have the arcane power to suspend moments and places in time.
With Carta, D’Angelo explores the artistry of perfume craft through her mastery of musical composition and ongoing scientific inquiry. Rooted in her passion for environmental conservation, D’Angelo’s romance with perfume is shaped and driven by a commitment to conscious practices and a desire to share the stories behind Carta’s ingredients.
Ruby members, let's gather together to continue discussing The Ruby: what's been working, what could be better, and how we might improve operations going forward. Come with ideas, and ideas for solutions.
Come, also, with your ideas for events we might host, cooks/chefs/makers we might feature. Come with your ideas for how we might do good in our community, and ideas for how we can work toward making The Ruby an even more inclusive and diverse space, welcoming to women and nonbinary people of all ages and backgrounds. Let's gather to brainstorm the programming that supports this goal of inclusion and diversity.
Are You Ready to Break Free from the 9 to 5 and Launch Your Big Dream?
If you’re ready to launch your side hustle in 2019, there are three things you need to do to begin your journey as a bonafide hustler. One, you need to abolish those negative and unhelpful thoughts that hold you back from moving forward. (Spoiler alert: “I don’t know where to begin.” is one of those unhelpful thoughts!) Two, you need to get creative in expanding your Vision. Three, you need to set small, strategic steps towards making your dream a reality.
In this workshop, New Year, New Hustle, you will learn how to:
Identify, acknowledge, and reframe the negative and unhelpful thoughts that are holding you back in all facets of life
Embrace creativity in developing the vision of your future hustle
Connect to your unique purpose and calling in regards to your dream
Notice when you are being overtaken by new negative thoughts, and learn quick tools for ‘shaking it out’ mid work-session
Create resonant action steps on how to move forward with your hustle.
Set accountability strategies to make sure 2019 is your best year yet
This workshop is perfect for any individual who has a desire to embark on a new dream or endeavor, but is feeling stuck in anxiety, fear, or overwhelm. Whether you are starting something new, or simply developing a new phase of your hustle, this workshop will have plenty of nuggets to propel you confidently into action in 2019.
About Gieselle Allen
Gieselle Allen, CPCC helps ambitious women boldy break out of the 9 to 5. She has helped dozens of individuals around the globe embark on a new chapter in their lives. Her clients have written books, started and scaled businesses, quit full-time jobs to become digital nomads, moved countries, and the list continues. Prior to coaching, Gieselle broke out of the 9 to 5 for the first time in 2014 when she became a freelance television producer and started her marketing consultancy. Now, instead of creating narratives for television and marketing, she empowers women to rewrite the narrative of their careers. She believes any woman can make their own bold leaps and to step fully into their power. When they believe it as well, Gieselle will be there to lovingly support them in the journey.
Join us for a Queer & Trans People of Color mixer at The Ruby, co-hosted by Rubies Sana Javeri Kadri and Celeste Chan.
The Ruby is an arts & letters–focused work and gathering space for creative Bay Area women of all definitions. All are welcome with RSVP (regardless of membership status or gender identity.) No walk-ins, please; we will send you details about our location via email!
A note about accessibility: The Ruby has a set of stairs leading up to it; please email staff@therubysf.com to let us know if you require assistance, and we are happy to help!
Each month, at The Ruby hold Do Something Dinners where we gather with one another to engage with current topics facing our communities and take political action. Each dinner will focus on one or two specific issues; corresponding information about these issues and action items will be provided.
A wholesome dinner and nonalcoholic beverage will be provided (BYOB and wine — to share, if you are able!). We believe that gathering together as a community is at the foundation of sustained activism. The Ruby is a work and gathering space for women-identifying and nonbinary folks in the Bay Area. Children are welcome as long as they are supervised.
Do Something Dinners will be open to suggestions for specific actions (send them our way!), and may feature rotating guests. We will be addressing immediate political concerns with action and engagement. While these dinners will not require anyone commit to a certain political stance, all actions will be centered around creating equality for all peoples, and dismantling systems of oppression. While no political affiliation is required, these dinners are centered around resisting and dismantling white supremacy, the patriarchy, misogyny, homophobia/transphobia, attacks on religious and ethnic communities, etc. Hate speech of any kind will not be tolerated. We will be resisting many of this current administration’s policies, so be forewarned.
No experience of being politically active? Overwhelmed by all there is to be done? Not sure where to begin? No worries, these dinners are for you. We’ll provide info about the issues and actions you can take, whether it’s calling your reps, writing letter to elected officials, or organizing online or IRL. Join us, and bring your friends!
Suggestions for specific actions? Email us at staff@therubysf.com with the subject line “Do Something Dinners.”
PLEASE NOTE: Dinner is $10 for women-identifying/nonbinary nonmembers. We ask that Ruby members bring a drink to share, or contribute $10 to our supplies/meal costs.
And a note about accessibility: The Ruby is on the second floor and has a set of stairs leading up to it. Unfortunately we do not have an elevator. Please email staff@therubysf.com if you require assistance and we will be happy to help!
Somewhere along the way, you may have absorbed the idea of the “tortured artist”: that creative work is hard, painful, and may prompt insanity and/or death. Van Gogh cut off his ear, Virginia Woolf drowned herself in a river, and then there’s all those musicians.
In this 6-session coaching group, you’ll gain powerful tools and skills to help you spend less time and energy “feeling blocked” and “working really hard” so you can direct it toward creative projects that really matter—within an intimate, supportive group of creative women.
As your coach, Ruby member Kat Koh will support you to see clearly the contributions you’re here to make, breakthrough your familiar stopping points, take action with ease and joy (instead of the familiar struggle), fully celebrate your successes (instead of moving on to the next thing), and create structure and clarity throughout the process.
As a group member, your role is to: be an engaged, willing partner with me and the group; be willing to look at things in a new way, which can sometimes be uncomfortable; to take action on the goals you have promised; and to bring something you’d like support on when it’s your turn to be coached.
What you will receive: 1 private coaching session with Kat, 6 group coaching sessions (2 hours each), unlimited text support from Kat, a cozy community of support, Group Chat, handouts of tools and views to support your practice.
PLEASE NOTE: Participants must commit to attending all 6 sessions. This class will meet Thursday 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, (skip 2/14), 2/21, 2/28. The group is capped at 8 participants. Before registering, please ensure you can attend all 6 sessions and are willing to experience a transformation process in the presence of others.
TO APPLY TO REGISTER: Please book an interest chat so we can connect and see whether this group is the right thing at the right time for you.
***If you are not a Ruby member, please book an interest chat and email staff@therubysf.com with the subject line “Clear to Create Coaching Group” with a note introducing yourself. For non-members, there is a fee of $510.
About Kat Koh
Kat Koh is a coach for creatives, community lover/builder, and writer. An art history Ph.D. dropout from NYU Institute of Fine Arts, she’s worked in curatorial departments at MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, the Venice Architecture Biennale, and San Jose Museum of Art. Her favorite thing: directly supporting creatives to create with less anguish and despair. Her coach training is through Academy for Coaching Excellence, whose model constitutes some of the most rigorous accredited training in the industry. She loves to be in meditation, forests, and the kitchen, drizzling algae oil over everything and feeling great about her salt collection.
This two-part series will meet February 21 and February 28, and is for anyone who is interested in reading, discussing, and/or writing poetry but is perhaps uncertain how to approach it. In “Poetry Is Not A Luxury,” Audre Lorde describes poetry as the essential “quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives,” and in Why Poetry, Matthew Zapruder says it is “getting close to the unsayable and feeling it.” In the first exploratory session, we will dip our toes by becoming familiar with various poetic and aesthetic concepts (such as duende, bewilderment, and negative capability) and discussing together what poetry is and why we read/write it. Then, in a second session, we will continue our conversation and experiment wildly with writing our own poems through non-intimidating guided exercises! By the end of our time, you will have discovered how poetry is a way of being and thinking that is inside all of us.
About Jennifer S. Cheng
Jennifer S. Cheng’s work includes poetry, lyric essay, and image-text forms. Her book MOON: Letters, Maps, Poems was selected by Bhanu Kapil for the Tarpaulin Sky Book Award and was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by Publishers Weekly. She is also the author of House A, selected by Claudia Rankine for the Omnidawn Poetry Book Prize and Invocation: An Essay, an image-text chapbook published by New Michigan Press. She received fellowships and awards from Brown University, the University of Iowa, the U.S. Fulbright program, Kundiman, Bread Loaf, and the Academy of American Poets. Having grown up in Texas and Hong Kong, she lives in San Francisco. www.jenniferscheng.com
Interested in politics? Fired up this election season? Join us for a panel discussion about politically active women in the Bay Area on Tuesday, November 13! San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim and Close the Gap Founder Mary Hughes will join Oral History Center Interviewer Amanda Tewes for a conversation about the challenges, successes, and history of women involved in local politics at every level. The Oral History Center is launching a project to record the life experiences of women from the Bay Area political scene, and this is your chance to give us input about the questions you think we should ask and the subject you'd like us to explore in the interviews.
Jane Kim is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was previously a community organizer and civil rights attorney, and also served as President of the San Francisco Board of Education.
Mary Hughes is a longtime political consultant and founder of Close the Gap California, whose mission is "to achieve gender parity in the California legislature by 2028."
Amanda Tewes is an interviewer at the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley.
Nicole Chung, author of the memoir, All You Can Ever Know (Catapult, 2018), is The Ruby's November Writer in Residence. The Ruby's Writer in Residence program seeks to support the best writers writing, and to bring writers from outside the Bay Area to The Ruby to read. Writers in residence stay in our upstairs writers loft. Join us for a reading and casual conversation.
About All You Can Ever Know
What does it mean to lose your roots—within your culture, within your family—and what happens when you find them?
Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From early childhood, she heard the story of her adoption as a comforting, prepackaged myth. She believed that her biological parents had made the ultimate sacrifice in the hopes of giving her a better life; that forever feeling slightly out of place was simply her fate as a transracial adoptee. But as she grew up—facing prejudice her adoptive family couldn’t see, finding her identity as an Asian American and a writer, becoming ever more curious about where she came from—she wondered if the story she’d been told was the whole truth.
With warmth, candor, and startling insight, Chung tells of her search for the people who gave her up, which coincided with the birth of her own child. All You Can Ever Know is a profound, moving chronicle of surprising connections and the repercussions of unearthing painful family secrets—vital reading for anyone who has ever struggled to figure out where they belong.
About Nicole Chung
Nicole Chung’s debut memoir All You Can Ever Know will be published on October 2, 2018. Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, GQ, Shondaland, ELLE, Longreads, BuzzFeed, Vulture, and Hazlitt, among others. She is the editor-in-chief of Catapult magazine and the former managing editor of The Toast. Find her on Twitter @nicole_soojung.
This Happy Hour, join Heather Rader from Spirit Horse wines.
Spirit Horse wines is a boutique winery that prides itself on creating beautiful, one of a kind wines while empowering the local communities from which the grapes are sourced.
We believe that strength of character, giving back and education are the values that empower the world. As a 100% Woman Owned Winery, we believe wine is one of the most beautiful catalysts to empower these values and be an advocate for change in the world, one sip at a time.
Grown on the steep hillsides of Calistoga high above the Silverado Trail, our boutique, limited production wines allow you to transcend the physical world in the here and now and experience the magnificent soul of the Spirit Horse.
Founder Heather Rader grew up in Ashland, Oregon and earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Oregon, where she cultivated a fascination for the coveted Pinot Noirs of that region in addition to other fine wines. After living and working in New York for the National Football League in their sponsorships division, she made the move to the Bay Area. She fell in love immediately with San Francisco and the wine regions surrounding it , where she worked in the corporate sector leading sales efforts at companies such as Monster.com, multiple start ups, and now her own boutique marketing company dedicated to serving other small, boutique wineries.
It's baking season and going grainless doesn't mean sacrificing flavor. Join cookbook author Genevieve Ko as she demonstrates how to create delicious treats without wheat, answers your questions about baking and beyond, and shares some of her favorite holidays sweets. The recipes come from her book, Better Baking: Wholesome Ingredients, Delicious Desserts, in which she makes classic baked goods even tastier with great additions such as nuts, seeds, and fruits. The book will be for sale throughout this event (and make great gifts!).
About Genevieve Ko
Genevieve Ko is the author of Better Baking, named one of the best cookbooks of 2016 by The New York Times and epicurious. She is a food writer, recipe developer, and culinary consultant who has collaborated on many chefs' books, including the recently released Carla Hall's Soul Food. Her recipes and writing have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bon Appetit, Saveur, and Food & Wine, among others. She is the consulting food director of Shape magazine and lives in New York City with her family.
Join the women of Dreamers // Doers for a night of casual conversation as we talk all things creativity. We'll be talking about how our creativity is currently flourishing, or falling short. We'll talk about how we get inspired, and troubleshoot what's getting in our way to fully realizing our creative potential. This will be a space for judgement-free, open conversation, and will be an opportunity to connect with amazing women. These conversations are always a lot of fun, a lot of heart, and full of inspiration. This event is open to Rubies, D//Ders, and friends.
Conversation will be guided by fellow Ruby & D//D member, Gieselle Allen.
What is Dreamers//Doers?
Dreamers//Doers is curated community of trailblazing women who dream big and do even bigger. Our community consists of a diverse group of entrepreneurial women. It’s a mix of female founders, women working at startups, and various other types of female creatives, creators and change-makers. What we all have in common is a burning desire to create and make a dent in this universe. We share the belief that so much more is possible if we join forces on our journeys. We know that being a woman means something different to each person. We are inclusive to all women regardless of biological gender, preferred pronouns or given names. To learn more, visit our website: http://www.dreamersdoers.me/
Join us for a relaxing evening of Tea & Masks as we discuss skincare, self-care, deep sleep and daily rituals.
Cecelia Lau of London Tea Club will be returning to the Ruby to brew up some caffeine-free infusions for you to enjoy, as Stephy Kim from Moonlit Skincare pampers you with their new line of face masks and signature oils.
PLEASE NOTE: This event will take place in The Ruby's upstairs loft.
About Cecelia Lau
I grew up drinking tea with my family and started London Tea Club during my expat years in the UK. My own relationship with tea, and the farmers behind it, has deepened over time, and the tea club directly reflects my journey with this precious gift from nature. See more of my tea journey at @londonteaclub and www.londonteaclub.com
About Stephy Kim
My first dive into the beauty industry was as one of the first interns at Birchbox. I've also worked for Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, Obliphica, and L’Oréal-owned Kérastase and Shu Uemura. Before co-founding Moonlit with Kriszta Matyi, the combination of stress and late nights wreaked havoc on our skin and sleep routines. It was clear to us that the most restorative hours for skin were an after-thought in the beauty industry so we created a brand that is dedicated to overnight skincare and sleep wellness.
Salve is a traditional ointment for cuts, bumps, scrapes, and bruises. An all-purpose remedy, it’s a must-have for any holistic apothecary. Learn to make this simple balm in a hands-on class, where we will review uses and benefits of each ingredient. Then, we will roll up our sleeves to learn the kitchen-witching magick of salve making. Learn tricks of the trade and leave with a jar of hand-made herbal goodness that is sure to sooth, protect, and heal for many moons to come.
PLEASE NOTE: For Ruby members, there is $10 materials fee, payable at the start of class.
About Bonnie Rose Weaver
Bonnie Rose Weaver is a clinical herbalist, medicinal landscaper, and lifelong San Franciscan. She is an urban farmer, medicine maker, outdoor educator, and the author of Deeply Rooted: Medicinal Plant Cultivation in Techtropolis. She has studied the use and cultivation of medicinal plants at The Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine, The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm, and Herb Pharm. She is an artist of watercolor and clay. To book an appointment or to learn more visit bonnieroseweaver.com.
Are you interested in longform interviews? Are you an interviewer looking to hone your skills? Have you ever been curious about exploring the lives of your family members? Here's your chance! Ruby member Shanna Farrell will be leading a 4-week oral history workshop that will dig into planning, conducting, and presenting a family oral history project.
The workshop will meet every Monday in November: November 5, 12, 19, 26.
Shanna will cover how to decide on interview themes, types of questions to ask, how to plan the interview, choosing the right setting, what type of equipment is best, recording formats, transcription, storage and archiving, and different uses of the interview. Each participant will be required to conduct at least one interview and commit to all four of the workshop classes. This workshop is designed for anyone, no matter their level of experience.
About Shanna Farrell
Shanna Farrell is an interviewer with UC Berkeley's Oral History Center and the author of Bay Area Cocktails. Her writing has appeared in Imbibe, Life &Thyme, PUNCH, The San Francisco Chronicle, Edible San Francisco, and The Oral History Review. Her audio work has appeared on Gravy and the Berkeley Remix. She holds an MA in Oral History from Columbia University and an Indisciplinary MA from NYU.
Ever wondered how beer gets made? Interested in brewing your own beer at home? Here's your chance to learn how to brew beer alongside professional brewers! If you've ever wondered how beer gets made, join us — along with Drake's brewers Gwen Thompson and Molly O'Brien — in brewing another Ruby home brew. We'll learn brewing basics with pros, and enjoy beer and snacks while we brew.
This is a potluck event; we'll follow up with a spreadsheet!
And save the date: Our beer party, where we'll drink the finished beer, will be December 16!
PLEASE NOTE: There is a suggested materials/ingredients donation of $15 per attendee.
Join us — and author, chef, and TV star(!) Samin Nosrat — for a screening of her brand-new Netflix show, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat! Be part of a potluck dinner by bringing a dish from Samin's bestselling Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. The dinner and screening will be followed by a Q&A with Samin herself.
PLEASE NOTE: All are welcome to attend. Cookbooks are free for Ruby potluck participants. If you are not ultimately able to attend the potluck, you will be charged $20 for the book.
About Samin Nosrat
Samin Nosrat is a writer, teacher, and chef. Called “a go-to resource for matching the correct techniques with the best ingredients” by The New York Times, and “the next Julia Child” by NPR’s All Things Considered, she’s been cooking professionally since 2000, when she first stumbled into the kitchen at Chez Panisse restaurant. She lives, cooks, surfs, and gardens in Berkeley, California. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is her first book.
This Happy Hour, join winemaker Jill Klein Matthiasson from Matthisson wines.
Jill always felt that the intersection of nature and culture was the most important thing. She studied botany at Penn, researched ancient farming techniques in Israel, and studied traditional methods for soil health in grad school at UC Davis. She pioneered “farmer to farmer” networking for sustainability in the early 90s while working for a family farming non-profit, and ran programs training farmers on direct sales, such as CSAs and farmers markets, before local food had the momentum that it has now. As the family grew, that passion translated into more local action, like teaching cooking from the garden classes in the local grade school, and serving on the Napa Farmer’s Market board. She runs the business side of the family farming and wine business.
Mid-terms are coming up, and the ballot will be full of candidates, props and measures. You ready? It’s okay, we aren’t either. But after this ballot party, we will be!
Join us at The Ruby's Ballot Education party to get informed, have fun, and meet other brilliant humans as we flex our right to vote for the future we want.
Bring some shareable refreshments (strongly encouraged), bring research on candidates and issues you care about (optional) and bring a notebook / pen (highly recommended). We will be walking through the SF ballot and swapping resources to help each of us cast a vote that is true to our values.
Need to register to vote? Want to double check that you are registered? Need an absentee ballot? Confused about deadlines? Not sure where your polling place is? Go here: www.vote.org
Want to get a head start on researching the ballot? Check this out: www.bythebay.cool
Want to encourage your employer to give your company a full or half day off on Election Day to vote? Use this template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12dpBO3TpQo3hylqgKyja0QI18uelZtOJzy5a5ruEl3E
About Jenny Gottstein
Jenny Gottstein is the Principal Experience Designer in the Design For Play studio at IDEO. Previously she designed Zombie Apocalypse Disaster Preparedness Games, hitched a ride as the Director of Programming on the Millennial Trains Project, produced music and art events in NYC, covered youth protests in Chile, interviewed the oldest working showgirl in the US, sang on an acid-house Lady Gaga remix that was briefly popular in Ukraine, and founded a company that reduces waste through parties. She is passionate about building community, engagement, resilience, and creative solutions through play. Be in touch! jennygottstein.com
About Shakirah Simley
Shakirah Simley is a writer, educator, and community organizer in San Francisco. Shakirah has over a decade of experience working on food equity policy issues, as well with national youth organizing and labor unionization campaigns. She is a 2017 Fellow for the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, former Community Director for Bi-Rite and its Family of Businesses in SF, and is the co-founder of Nourish|Resist, a multiracial organizing collaborative dedicated to using food spaces and people as tools for collective resistance. She graduated from UPenn in 2007 with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Urban Studies, and received her M.A. from the University of Gastronomic Sciences via a Fulbright scholarship. Shakirah has been honored for her work as one of Zagat’s "30 under 30" and received special commendations from the City of SF from former Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor London Breed. She currently works for the City and County of San Francisco, doing community and economic development in the city's Southeast neighborhoods. Her writing has been featured in the Huffington Post, SF Chronicle, Civil Eats, and the recently published book: Feed the Resistance.
Learn the basics of sewing with a machine by making a quilted throw pillow for your home. In this workshop, we’ll go over the ins and outs of using a sewing machine including:
Once we have the basics down, we will construct a patchwork envelope-style pillow from beautiful linen, denim chambray, organic cotton, and organic hemp fabrics. We will cover quilt design and color theory all while using rotary cutters to cut our fabric. This workshop includes all the supplies you need to make your pillow. We provide a sewing machine for you to use, thread, pins, fabric, and an insert for your pillow. All you need to bring is yourself!
PLEASE NOTE: There is a materials fee of $15, payable at the start of class. (Nonmembers, this is included in the price of your ticket.) Space is limited to 8 attendees, so sign up early! If you aren't able to attend this class, please let us know; there will be a waitlist.
About Jennie Lennick
In addition to being a Ruby member and neighbor (check out her shopat 3043 24th Street!), Jennie Lennick is a San Francisco–based artist, entrepreneur, and teacher. As a child in the Midwest, Jennie became enamored with traditional domestic craft, learning to sew and embroider. In 2010, She moved to the Bay Area to attend the San Francisco Art Institute, where she studied painting. Inspired by the natural beauty of Northern California, Jennie launched Jenny Lemons (jennylemons.com), a collection of modern block printed and hand painted women’s clothing and textiles. Jennie's work has been featured in publications like the San Francisco Chronicle, Brit + Co, and San Francisco Magazine. Her retail store in the Mission District of San Francisco is a community space where she facilitates DIY workshops, produces her products, and showcases the talents of other local artists.
Artists, writers, and makers of color: please join us for a night of sharing our work — either completed or in progress — hosted by Laila Bahman. Bring a piece of writing, art, or photography to share. This an opportunity to ask for feedback if you want it! We have a projector for projecting work as well. This event is free to nonmember guests who identify as persons of color.
About Laila Bahman
Laila Bahman is a photographer working between the Bay and LA. Laila has been photographing for over ten years and is continuing to explore her personal work and voice as her practice evolves. Laila works on commercial and editorial projects and collaborates with film directors on creating imagery for their films during pre-production and production. Some of her clients/collaborations include Modern Fertility, Thumbtack, Linked In, Walrus Advertising Agency, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, American Paradise, Ulysses Press, Owl N Wood, Magic Carpet Yoga Mats and more. Her work has been published in New York Magazine, Filmmaker Magazine and Vice. She is at work developing her first experimental short film based in Southern Oregon and delving into structuring her first photo book. Laila believes everyone is an artist at heart, and can hone in on their creative skills, no matter where they are in life.
Each month, at The Ruby we will be holding Do Something Dinners where we gather with one another to engage with current topics facing our communities and take political action. Each dinner will focus on one or two specific issues; corresponding information about these issues and action items will be provided.
For October's Do Something Dinner, we'll be joined by our friends from Shelter Tech. What will you do in this event? Collaborate with members of the homeless community, learn about services available to folks experiencing homelessness, and help those experiencing homelessness access information about available resources. ShelterTech, a volunteer-led 501c3, is creating an online resource directly (think Yelp!) to help the underserved community in San Francisco gain information on basic needs (i.e food, shelter, shower). Their goal is to create the most reliable, up-to-date online database of services available to homeless and underserved communities in San Francisco. One of the regular public events/workshops we hold is a Datathon, which is an opportunity for you to work side-by-side with community representatives -- people who are currently or previously homeless -- to verify and vet information and make sure the 500+ services in our system are correct. No technical skills or knowledge is necessary -- just a good attitude and a willingness to learn.
A wholesome dinner and nonalcoholic beverage will be provided (BYOB and wine — to share, if you are able!). We believe that gathering together as a community is at the foundation of sustained activism. The Ruby is a work and gathering space for women-identifying and nonbinary folks in the Bay Area. Children are welcome as long as they are supervised.
Do Something Dinners will be open to suggestions for specific actions (send them our way!), and may feature rotating guests. We will be addressing immediate political concerns with action and engagement. While these dinners will not require anyone commit to a certain political stance, all actions will be centered around creating equality for all peoples, and dismantling systems of oppression. While no political affiliation is required, these dinners are centered around resisting and dismantling white supremacy, the patriarchy, misogyny, homophobia/transphobia, attacks on religious and ethnic communities, etc. Hate speech of any kind will not be tolerated. We will be resisting many of this current administration’s policies, so be forewarned.
No experience of being politically active? Overwhelmed by all there is to be done? Not sure where to begin? No worries, these dinners are for you. We’ll provide info about the issues and actions you can take, whether it’s calling your reps, writing letter to elected officials, or organizing online or IRL. Join us, and bring your friends!
Suggestions for specific actions? Email us at staff@therubysf.com with the subject line “Do Something Dinners.”
Join Heath-Ade kombucha for cocktails and mocktails at The Ruby.
Health-Ade kombucha was started in 2012 by a husband, wife, and best friend in a true farmers’ market start-up story: a small credit card and a big dream to make real food and bring only that to the commercial shelf.
The best tasting and highest quality kombucha you can buy is just the start, as our ultimate mission is to be the champion of the happiest and healthiest you.
Join Kim Zitzow for a guided meditation, followed by a nourishing herbal tea made from a locally available herb.
Combining geologic and place-based research, movement, and visualization, Kim leads meditation practices that focus on the alchemy between the mind and the intuitive knowing ways of the body, offering a deep and embodied experience specific to a place.
We will begin with light movement to orient our attention to our bodies and then slip into a relaxed, candle-lit meditation guided by Kim that will bring our bodies into deeper knowing of this land we are on and the space we share. Afterwards, we will have some tea with a local plant ally, and learn its uses for healing body and spirit.
$10 suggested donation. Bring a yoga mat and comfortable clothes for light movement. All levels, all abilities welcome. No prior experience with movement practices or mediation necessary.
About Kim Zitzow
In her art practice, Kim’s multimedia projects are guided by the understanding that we are our relations of responsibility to other, both human and nonhuman. In her community-based spirit practice, Kim explores this notion of interconnectivity through mediation: between the city and the natural world; between inner experience and outer; between our wise magnificent living, breathing human bodies, and the wise magnificent living, breathing Earth body. Kim’s work is inspired by a web of teachers, artists, farmers, activists, and folk healers who have taught her in various ways the same thing: that the healing of the self is inseparable from healing in community, and that community extends beyond the human and includes the natural world.
Jean Rhys said that "reading makes immigrants of us all," that "it takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Now more than ever, it's vital—and heartening—to read, and read widely. We'll read thrilling, mind-blowing, intriguing, heartbreaking, comic, strange, and/or provocative books by women of color—and, each month, we'll gather to talk about what we've read! When possible, we'll also have the writer join us.
October's book is THE INCENDIARIES by Ruby member R.O. Kwon!
About The Incendiaries
Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet in their first month at prestigious Edwards University. Phoebe is a glamorous girl who doesn't tell anyone she blames herself for her mother's recent death. Will is a misfit scholarship boy who transfers to Edwards from Bible college, waiting tables to get by. What he knows for sure is that he loves Phoebe.
Grieving and guilt-ridden, Phoebe is drawn into a secretive cult founded by a charismatic former student with an enigmatic past. When the group commits a violent act in the name of faith, Will finds himself struggling to confront a new version of the fanaticism he's worked so hard to escape. Haunting and intense, The Incendiaries is a fractured love story that explores what can befall those who lose what they love most.
About R.O. Kwon
R. O. Kwon is the author of the novel The Incendiaries (July 2018), and is a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. Her writing is published in The Guardian, Vice, BuzzFeed, Time, Noon, Electric Literature, Playboy, and elsewhere. She has received awards from Yaddo, MacDowell, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, Omi International, the Steinbeck Center, and the Norman Mailer Writers' Colony. Born in South Korea, she has lived most of her life in the United States. She can be found at http://ro-kwon.com.
Meet Kristen Miglore, longtime editor at Food52, and author/editor of Food52 Genius Desserts: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Bake, and Michelle Polzine, chef/owner of 20th Century Café, one of the book's genius contributors! Michelle will be bringing her famous (genius!) Russian honey cake. Come with your burning dessert questions!
Tickets include honey cake & a copy of the book. Space is limited!
About Genius Desserts
In this follow-up to the IACP award-winning, New York Times best-selling cookbook Genius Recipes, Food52 is back with the most beloved and talked-about desserts of our time (and the under-the-radar gems that will soon join their ranks)—in a collection that will make you a local legend, and a smarter baker to boot.
Join us as we volunteer with St. Anthony's! To attend this volunteer shift, you need to RSVP by reserving a ticket here, and filling out this form:
The Ruby Group Member Sign-up Form: 10-21-2018 @ 9:15 AM
We'll meet at St. Anthony's, in the Dining Room, promptly by 9:15. Volunteers should wear close-toed shoes and comfortable clothing. Do not wear open-toed shoes, high heels, skirts, shorts, leggings, or tank tops.
Join us at The Ruby, a work and gathering space for women of all definitions, for dinner and conversation with bestselling author Julia Turshen, on tour in support of her new cookbook, Now & Again. Julia is also the author of Feed The Resistance: Recipes and Ideas for Getting Involved, a practical and inspiring handbook for political activism — with recipes. When people search for ways to resist injustice and express support for civil rights, environmental protections, and more, they begin by gathering around the table to talk and plan. Julia Turshen will be in conversation with Bay Area writer, educator, and community organizer Shakirah Simley, Chef Preeti Mistry, and Chef Rahanna Bisseret Martínez of Top Chef Junior to discuss food, activism, and more.
Food will be provided by Preeti Mistry of Juhu Beach Club. Wine will be provided by Laura Brennan Bissell of Inconnu Wine.
About Julia Turshen
JULIA TURSHEN is the bestselling author of Feed the Resistance, named the Best Cookbook of 2017 by Eater, and Small Victories, named one of the Best Cookbooks of 2016 by the New York Times and NPR. Her latest book, Now & Again, will be out in September 2018. She has coauthored numerous cookbooks and hosted the first two seasons of Radio Cherry Bombe. She has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Vogue,Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Saveur. Epicurious has called her one of the 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time. She is the founder of Equity At The Table (EATT), an inclusive digital directory of women and non-binary individuals in food. Julia lives in the Hudson Valley with her wife and pets.
About Shakirah Simley
Shakirah Simley is a writer, educator, and community organizer in San Francisco. She earned her organizing chops with over a decade of working on food equity, labor and youth justice campaigns. The daughter of a social worker, and granddaughter of a Black Panther, she graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and completed master’s at Italy’s University of Gastronomic Sciences as a Fulbright Fellow. In San Francisco, she served as the Community Director for famed local grocer, Bi-Rite and its Family of Businesses, directing $1.3 million dollars worth of support towards over 2,500 organizations within the San Francisco Bay Area, prioritizing initiatives that support a good, clean, and just food system. In 2016, she co-founded Nourish|Resist, a multiracial collaborative using food spaces and people as tools for collective resistance. Last year, she was a prestigious Fellow for the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Her writing has appeared in Bon Appetit, Civil Eats, The Huffington Post, SF Chronicle, and Julia Turshen’s recently published cookbook for the revolution: Feed the Resistance. Shakirah sits on several boards, including CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) and Equity At the Table. In her day to day, she manages community benefits programs that prioritize environmental justice and equitable economic development for the city and county government of San Francisco.
About Preeti Mistry
Preeti Mistry is a chef, author and entrepreneur. She was the co-owner of now-closed Navi Kitchen and Juhu Beach Club restaurants in Oakland, California, where she served her own versions of the street food she enjoyed as a kid on family trips to Mumbai. The twice James Beard Nominated Chef is the author of The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook, was featured on CNN's Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain and was a contestant on Bravo's Top Chef Season 6.
About Chef Rahanna
Rahanna Bisseret Martínez is a fourteen-year-old aspiring California chef, who loves all things culinary. In 2017, She joined the cast of Top Chef Junior Season One, which culminated with Rahanna as the runner up. On that show, Rahanna featured California, Mexican, and Louisianan cuisines. One of her goals on the show was to present Mexican and Soul food as delicious, regal, and healthy. She was known for presenting elegant dishes with a depth of flavor. Since then, Rahanna has enjoyed cooking and creating recipes for large corporations like Samsung, NBC, Universal Kids, Chrysler, and the Television Critics Association. Highly influenced by the edible schoolyard movement, Rahanna loves to speak at schools, youth programs and religious organizations to promote youth cooking and eating fresh vegetables. Rahanna has been featured in Refinery 29, Food and Wine, New York Magazine, Parade, Today Show, Mercury News, and the Daily Californian. Rahanna has staged at Chez Panisse, Californicos, Dominique Ansel LA, Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air, Emeril’s, Merils, Compere Lapin and Broken Spanish. Recently, She was part of a team that cooked for King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain for the Tricentennial Celebration in New Orleans. Rahanna can be found visiting farmers markets and different types of grocery stores to explore and learn. Rahanna hopes to travel, study and share with others the culinary knowledge she has acquired. Currently, she has started a small business to finance her culinary education and travels.
Join us for Happy Hour (And A Half) featuring Martha Stoumen!
About Martha Stoumen Wines
Martha Stoumen Wines was founded upon the desire to recapture a farming and winemaking culture that has all but faded away: a winemaking culture of patience.
For my wines I lease and farm around half of the vineyards myself. The other half are farmed by multi-generation farmers who understand their land, and their family's land, far better than I ever will, and who farm with my same philosophies in mind. Patience in the vineyard means composting rather than adding synthetic fertilizers, allowing predatory insects the ability to outcompete pests rather than spraying insecticides, and doing proper handwork, such as pruning for vine longevity rather than high yields.
In the cellar I use a minimalist winemaking approach. Patience in the cellar means letting the natural yeast and bacteria present on the grape skins perform fermentation, and allowing longer macerations and aging to provide stability rather than using added tannin, acid, or stabilizing agents in my wines. Above all, I strive to make wines that are delicious, joyful, and truly representative of California.
The Ruby’s Cookbook Club is a combination potluck and book club. Each month, we’ll discuss a new cookbook. Participants should cook a dish from the book (at least 6 servings). Drinks will be provided.
This month, we'll be discussing Now & Again by Julia Turshen, bestselling author of Small Victories and Feed The Resistance. Julia, visiting from New York, will be joining us for the meeting and potluck.
PLEASE NOTE: Cookbooks are free for Ruby cookbook club participants. If you are not ultimately able to attend the potluck, you will be charged $20 for the book.
About Julia Turshen
JULIA TURSHEN is the bestselling author of Feed the Resistance, named the Best Cookbook of 2017 by Eater, and Small Victories, named one of the Best Cookbooks of 2016 by the New York Times and NPR. Her latest book, Now & Again, will be out in September 2018. She has coauthored numerous cookbooks and hosted the first two seasons of Radio Cherry Bombe. She has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Vogue,Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Saveur. Epicurious has called her one of the 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time. She is the founder of Equity At The Table (EATT), an inclusive digital directory of women and non-binary individuals in food. Julia lives in the Hudson Valley with her wife and pets.
Attention visual artists and illustrators! Join us for Art Night at The Ruby, co-led by Rubies Reina Takahashi & Anastasia Tumanova. Please bring whatever supplies you’d like to work with. After a round of intros, we’ll doodle and draw, and snack and chat.
Come play Mahjong at The Ruby's Mahjong night. (6 to 6:30 p.m. will be a quick refresher in how to play mahjong, taught by Ruby member Mimi Lok. Come at 6:30 to play!)
Or come join our circle of knitters and crafters led by Ruby member Jourdan Abel. Crocheters, embroiderers, darners... all are welcome!
Mystified by eyeshadow? Or frustrated with eyeliner application? Come join Ruby member and makeup artist, Julie Dy, for a session focused on dressing up your eyelids. Julie will provide some product and tools to play with, but feel free to bring your own, too.
About Julie Dy
Fashion, beauty, music, art and entertainment have always been worlds of intrigue for Julie Dy. She stumbled into a career in makeup artistry after graduating with a degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley, and found it was a perfect avenue to utilize and develop her creative flair. As a freelance makeup artist for over 15 years, she has built an ever-growing business in bridal services, editorial and commercial work, print, video, film and television. Her experience as a Regional Makeup Artist for Laura Mercier Cosmetics trained her to give clients a flawless complexion and an amazing glow—makeup that looks natural but still makes an impact. Her work has appeared in The Knot, Destination Wedding, 7x7, StyleMePretty, Marie Claire Magazine, Wired Magazine, FastCompany, and Vanity Fair. Regular clients include Pixar Studios, Disney, and AirBnb. Julie's work has allowed her to indulge in her love for color and beauty, as well as the concepts of transformation and personal expression.
Curious about Ayurveda, and how it might fit into your life? Rasa, the Sanskrit word for taste, translates to experience, enthusiasm, and essence. Accordingly, taste not only determines how we experience our food,
but ultimately, the overall flavor of our lives. On a functional level, each of the six tastes—sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent—ensures we eat what our body needs and, therefore, has a vital role to play in our
overall well-being. If you're missing one of the six, you're left with anything from cravings to poor digestion. Taste really is a natural map towards vibrant health!
Join Ayurvedic practitioner and holistic health educator Sachi Doctor in an exploration of these six tastes and how they correlate to common spices. You'll learn how to spice mixes to maximize their benefits and will make a your own fall spice blend to support you through the season.
About Sachi Doctor
Sachi Doctor is a holistic health educator, tea maker and founder of Elemental Alchemy. Imbued in Eastern tradition and Western culture since childhood, both ancient healing practices and modern medical systems have shaped my understanding of health. Balancing the wisdom of these two worlds, her work blends ancient Ayurvedic practices, yogic philosophy, plant-based medicine and nutrition to help individuals reconnect with their inner healer and cutivate clarity on what makes them thrive. Learn more about services & products at www.elemental-alchemy.com, and find her on Instagram: @elemental_alchemy.
Rubies are a passionate bunch with ideas to spare, which often need to be developed outside of the 9 to 5. That’s where this program comes in! Led by Ruby Kathryn Jaller, this is a side hustle support group for those with passions outside their day jobs. Put your head-down for focused work, or join us in the conference room for an hour-long conversation on a topic like time management, goal-setting that’s both realistic and ambitious, and the thrill/fear of testing out your ideas in the market, all with special guests or who have been there.
Whether it’s a business, creative project, or something in-between, come get time, space, and support for it.
About Kathryn Jaller
Kathryn Jaller develops content, campaigns, and experiences for creative brands and business. Most recently she led the digital team at Chronicle Books and prior to that produced content of all kinds at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. She’s also an avid maker who has shown at West Coast Craft and her recent Necklace Aura Readingproject about the intersection of identity, anxiety, and fashion was featured by Kickstarter. See her other creations at freundthings.co.
Join Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker, the authors of WINE FOOD (and on their book tour!), to drink the limited-edition red they made to pair with their new book! In Wine Food, natural wine bar and winery owner Dana Frank partners with author and stylist Andrea Slonecker to deliver 75 recipes for brunches, salads, vegetable dishes, picnics, weeknight dinners, and feasts with friends, all inspired by delicious, affordable wines that go with them beautifully. Each recipe opens with a succinct overview of the wine style that inspired it, describing the grapes and naming the countries the wine comes from, followed by a brief explanation of how it complements the flavors and textures in the recipe.
WHAT IS FOOD WINE?
It's a juicy, fruity, glou-glou red blend made of 70% organic pinot noir and 30% organic gamay grapes from Oregon's Willamette Valley. Made by Andrea Slonecker and Dana Frank, in collaboration with Scott Frank of Bow & Arrow and Tom Monroe of Division Winemaking Company, it's the perfect pairing to recipes in their cookbook, WINE FOOD.
Food Wine will be poured at select book tour events, and is available exclusively at Bar Norman in Portland, OR and through Chambers Street Wines in NYC and online.
Tarot isn't only about fortune-telling or divination; it can also be used as a tool for intuition, reflection, growth, and creative projects.
Ruby members Helen Tseng and Melissa Graeber, the co-hosts of Astral Projection Radio Hour, a weekly witch-themed radio show on BFF.fm, are two friends who have been meeting once a month for the past year to lightly study tarot and eat noodles. They call it "Decks and Noods," and we're bringing a version of it to The Ruby! Every month, we'll gather for thoughtful discussion and practice, and the occasional guest reader. We'll choose one card as a group to interpret/think about, then break into smaller groups to be in conversation about the ways to interpret a card or spread.
BYO Tarot Deck if you have one (and extra decks if you own multiple decks!); Helen and Melissa will also bring decks for the deckless. No prior knowledge of Tarot is assumed! We'll provide noodles of course!
San Francisco, CA