Gov. Gavin Newsom is in good company when it comes to politicians attending fancy birthday parties while encouraging others to avoid gathering.
It turns out San Francisco Mayor London Breed dined at the French Laundry the night after Newsom’s infamous, ill-advised, mid-pandemic soiree at the three-star Michelin restaurant in Yountville.
Breed took a few days off after Election Day and joined seven others the night of Nov. 7 to celebrate socialite Gorretti Lo Lui’s 60th birthday, Breed’s spokesman Jeff Cretan confirmed. The party of eight dined in the same kind of partially enclosed room with a ceiling and chandelier as Newsom did — making it more of an indoor dining experience than an outdoor one.
Cretan characterized the occasion as a “small family birthday dinner,” but it’s unclear exactly who else attended and how many households the group included.
While indoor dining was allowed in Napa County at the time with no specified cap on the number of households, the state’s guidelines “strongly discouraged” social gatherings and capped them at three households. Breed’s dinner at an opulent restaurant — amid an economic catastrophe that’s shuttered countless small businesses and stretched the lines at local food banks to new lengths — might not have technically violated the rules, but it isn’t a great look.
The dinner would have certainly violated San Francisco’s health guidelines if it took place in Breed’s own city. San Francisco has issued stricter guidance than the state for several types of businesses, including restaurants, which were not supposed to seat groups larger than six indoors or outdoors unless everyone lived together. Three days after dining at the French Laundry, Breed banned indoor dining in San Francisco altogether.
“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that everyone act responsibly to reduce the spread of the virus,” Breed said in a statement Nov. 10. “Every San Franciscan needs to do their part so that we can start moving in the right direction again.”
It’s just the latest example of a politician not exactly practicing what they keep preaching. When Newsom attended his French Laundry dinner for lobbyist Jason Kinney’s 50th birthday, the party of 12 certainly included more than three households. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got her hair done in San Francisco while salons were ordered closed.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo told people to avoid big gatherings for Thanksgiving, but attended his elderly parents’ holiday dinner in Saratoga with other relatives from five households. Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted to ban outdoor dining last week — and hours later was spotted dining outside at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica.
It’s enough to make some residents wonder why they’re following the rules if the people setting them aren’t.
Jason McDaniel, an associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University, said Breed’s poorly considered dinner comes at a particularly bad time as she is likely to place more restrictions on residents and businesses this week to curb an alarming spike in coronavirus cases. Successfully driving down case rates requires residents to trust her decisions, he said.
“Any increase in cynicism about our political leaders right now can potentially be costly,” he said. “Our elected leaders should hold themselves to a higher standard. The mayor and the governor before her failed to meet that higher standard.”
Cretan said the mayor paid for her own dinner and emphasized that indoor and outdoor dining were allowed in Napa and San Francisco counties at the time. He said Breed dined at a number of restaurants when the coronavirus case rate was lower to support them financially.
“Now, with case rates rising, and Bay Area counties moving back into the purple tier, she is once again limiting her actions and is encouraging all San Franciscans to do the same,” he said.
Lui is the vice president of the San Francisco Symphony’s Board of Governors and a member of the Asian Art Commission, which consists of 27 members nominated by other commissioners but subject to the mayor’s approval. Her husband, Lawrence Lui, is the president of Stanford Hotels and a hotel developer who in 2018 broke ground on the Marriott SOMA Mission Bay Hotel. His father is Hong Kong billionaire Che-woo Lui.
Gorretti and Lawrence Lui regularly appear on the city’s social circuit.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf
The Link LonkDecember 02, 2020 at 07:22AM
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/S-F-Mayor-London-Breed-had-her-own-French-15767506.php
S.F. Mayor London Breed had her own French Laundry party — the night after Gavin Newsom’s - San Francisco Chronicle
https://news.google.com/search?q=Laundry&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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