2020 Falltacular BYOB Friday Night Kick-Off Dinner--2/21/2020 @ 6PM

Happy holidays everyone. In support of 2020 Falltacular’s main event, we will once again do our traditional Friday night kick-off dinner. This year we will be buying out Maison Café and Market in Dana Point. https://www.maisondanapoint.com/

For a look at last year’s posts, you can click here: Falltacular BYOB Friday Night Kick-off Dinner--2/15/19 @ 6PM - Event Planner - Online or Offline - WineBerserkers

I decided on Maison because of their organic focus, the fresh and creative approach to their menu, along with the passion and willingness to partner with us. The setting is warm, the location a 5 min walk from the Best Western where many of you will stay.

We will have a similar headcount to last year, around 60-70, so please be on the lookout for my sign-up announcement, which I will post after Thanksgiving. At that time, I will begin accepting funds via PayPal or Venmo to reserve your spots. We’ll do the Friday night special stemware this year too, thanks again to Mark Jones.

Thanks again.

Ok, it is time to pay for the Friday dinner. As I explained above, we’re doing a buyout of Maison Café and Market in Dana Point. I continue to enjoy what they do, and Danielle (chef/owner) wants to partner with us, which I appreciate. I know you will all enjoy the food, as we rev up together for the big day to follow on Saturday. Some important details follow, please read them so you can follow the rules to keep things fair. In advance, thank you all for what will be an excellent 2020 Falltacular Friday event.

TIME/DATE/LOCATION. 6PM, Friday 2/21/2020. Maison Café and Market, Dana Point, CA. https://www.maisondanapoint.com/

ATTENDANCE LIMIT. Sellout is going to be 70 paid. Once we hit that number, the event is closed. We can do a wait list as we usually have some cancellations. We’ll re-address this as we get closer to the event.

COST. $80 per person. I raised the price by $5 this year in order to do the buyout at Maison and ensure we all have a top flight experience. You may purchase up to 2 slots but any other guests in your party need to do their own payment(s), please. Note–$10 from each payment is used to cover the cost of the glass. In turn, Mark/Neudesic donate that $10 to Laura’s House, helping to raise another $700.

PAYMENT. I will accept payment via Venmo (@Frank-MurrayIII) or PayPal (drfm3@cox.net). I will not accept checks nor cash.

STEMWARE. You will get the Friday night special wine glass courtesy of Mark Jones and his firm, Neudesic. Thank you again, Mark–this is a great perk for everyone. That said, you will not need to bring any stemware to the event.

MENU. Being determined but will be family style. When I have the menu to share, will post it.

Once payments begin to hit, I will post those in a file so you can check I have received and captured your attendance.

Thanks everyone. Hit me with any questions you might have.

I sent you a PayPal for Jennifer and I

PayPal done!!!

That was easy too - in plus 1!

PayPal done + 1

Done, thanks Frank for all you do!

Thanks gang. Since all of the Friday payments are manual and not captured by tech wizardry, I will key them all up tomorrow and post who has paid. We gotta a LOT of payments already.

Hi everyone. I updated Facebook and I wanted to catch up here, too. The dinner is sold out now so if there are any others of you that want to attend, you have the option to pay me and go on the waitlist and then we can wait till we get closer to see how we can think about getting you in or refunding your money. Thank you all for your patience and for the tremendous support we saw on the last 24 hours. Amazing.

Hi to the Falltac Family. We sold out both event in less than a day, which is both humbling and also indicative of the popularity of the event. We now have a Wait List for the Friday dinner. I you already paid but conclude you and/or your guest cannot make the Friday dinner, please get in touch with me. Refunding any money is simple and I want to ensure the folks waiting have a shot if space is going to open up. We don’t have a wait list yet for Saturday so if you want to attend, I ask you reach out to me directly and we can discuss.

Thanks everyone, god bless.

May I get two wait list spots for Friday night. My wife has dodged the oral surgery bullet for a few months and the one place you do not want to be is visiting your daughter-in-law’s parents, who live in a city half way between Wuhan and Hong Kong, and who happen to own a hospital. So we are making it a somewhat longer stay and would like spots at the Friday dinner if they become available.

Jay, my sense is that it’s going to be tough to get in this year to the dinner. The wait list is already about 10 deep, which would mean we’d need see about 15% of the dinner RSVPs drop out. It’s tough to tell you this, given you’re making the slog all the way from the East Coast. If you still want to be added, I can send you the info and collect the dinner funds and hold them, to hold your spots. This is how I handled all of the wait list. If a wait listed person doesn’t get in, I refund the money back, either via PayPal or Venmo.

If it rains on Friday night, this could very well open a bunch of slots. Just a thought…

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE FRIDAY DINNER.

For those of you that are paid and confirmed for the Friday dinner, please keep me posted as to any cancellations you need to make. We had a few cancellations this week, which allowed me to move folks into the dinner, off the wait list. Yet, we still have people waiting who want to join us so I remind all of you that if you cannot make it, please get with me ASAP so I can refund your money and act on the wait list. If you pay and decide not to show up, Laura’s House does not see the benefit of that money, nor does the wait list see any chance to attend.

Thanks a lot everyone.

Not a problem. It’s a risk I assumed not signing up well in advance. If you have a long waiting list, maybe I will create a satellite dinner for the dilatory wine collectors somewhere else. I haven’t organized an offline dinner in . . . let’s see . . . five days, so I am beginning to get the DTs. What’s the best restaurant in Dana Point?

Jay, the waitlist has begun to shrink in the past couple of days and if we get a few more cancellations, the waitlist could be entirely gone. So, I’m not sure what to tell you about how to book your time for the dinner. But my advice, the best I can offer you would be to be patient and see what happens to the wait list. The challenge that you might face is that a number of the locals are coming to the dinner and a number of the locals that are not, they pass on a dinner because they come to Saturday only and it’s enough for them. So, up to you. Just let me know if you need any help.

To The Friday dinner attendees…I am finishing up the menu with Danielle @ Maison. If you have any food allergies or sensitivities, please pass this back to me privately and I can share this with Danielle.

We will be offering a menu that features some of her best work, as well as using the family style format you have come to enjoy. Once the menu is finalized, I will share with you all.

Thanks a lot.

Nancy Hamill, we had a cancellation for the Friday dinner so I am moving you and John to confirmed for the dinner.

Welcome!

Good Sunday to everyone. We are still sold out for the dinner, with six people on the wait list. A reminder please…if you and/or your +1 cannot attend this Friday, please get to me ASAP so I can do two things. One, promptly refund your money back to your account, and then let someone from the wait list jump into the dinner using your spot. I will not be expanding the event past its current sold out status so any spots that can be freed up will help those waiting.

In addition, I want to thank Mark Jones and Neudesic for the custom burgundy glass that each one of you attending the dinner will get for the event. You do not need to bring stemware and you can take your glass home at the end of the night.

I will post some final details later this week so thanks for letting me take a few mins of your time today.

Hello everyone. The dinner menu is now ready for you to view. If you click on the link below, then open the PDF, you can view it. Thank you Danielle Kuhn for your care, hospitality and trust in our group to treat them to a great evening. https://maisondanapoint.com

As for some final details, please note:

**6PM this Friday, Maison Cafe and Market in Dana Point. We have bought out the restaurant for the night. https://maisondanapoint.com. When you arrive, you will be checked in and given a glass.

**Mike Stoneking is in charge of the floor so if you have any issues with anything, have Mike lend a hand. Thank you, King!

**You must be on the paid list to attend–we will not accept anyone walking into the event dinner. No exceptions.

**I am committed to Maison for all of you that have paid. This means everyone who has paid is locked and there are no refunds if you no-show. Should you need to cancel, please contact me ASAP, as we still have a few people waiting and if I can replace you with wait list people, then of course I will refund you.

**Everyone that attends will get a custom Falltacular burgundy stem, so you don’t need to bring a glass (unless you’re partial to your own stemware, and you’re still welcome to take the custom glass home with you). Thank you Mark Jones and Neudesic for funding these glasses. NOTE–of the $80 you paid for the dinner, $10 of this money will go back to Laura’s House as a donation. This is another way we raise money for the dinner, so you keep the glass and Laura’s House benefits.

**Dietary restrictions. For the few of you that have passed those onto me, I in turn passed them onto Maison. But, I ask that when you arrive and the server greets your table, please remind them of your needs so they can take care of you.

**The tip is baked into the cost you already paid but if you dig the service, do me a solid and take care of your person if you want to thank them. This is voluntary but given we have bought out the restaurant, I remind you of this extra thank you if you want to do it.

That’s it. Any questions, holler back. Have a great dinner!

Friday dinner update…the wait list is gone and everyone is in. Should there be anyone else out there reading this that would like to attend the Friday dinner, drop me your name and if we get anymore cancellations, then you could join the dinner.

Thanks to everyone for your diligence in keeping me notified as it helped us take care of everyone.