By Samantha Schoech, Sunset senior editor

San Francisco is a foodie town.  We’re down with the local thing, the slow thing, the speakeasy thing.  We even do foams. Keeping track of where to eat can be a little bit like parsing out the popular crowd in high school (Steffie hates Jenny because of Todd, but Todd still love Tanya, even though she’s now dating Jason.)    Sometimes you just want a fabulous meal, never mind what the cheerleaders think.

Enter the tablehopper, your guide to all things restaurant and food related in San Francisco.  Dining dynamo Marcia Gagliardi (pictured here) is not a reviewer or a critic.  She’s just an immeasurably friendly (how else to account for her knowing absolutely everyone who has ever touched a saucepan) girl who likes to eat.  And she’s fun to read.

Even if you couldn't care less about who is now making desserts at Myth or which sommelier recently jumped ship at Cortez, you will care about her enthusiastic restaurant write-ups that serve as a  guide to eating your way through the city. And if you don’t see anything that appeals on this week’s entry, simply email the “tip, please” section with a little bit about what you’re looking for (say you need to take your in-laws out for seafood but want to avoid Pier 39) and she will find you the perfect restaurant, often with some insidery info or instructions to say hello to the chef. She can even help with suggestions in other towns (on a recent trip to New York, I took her advice and impressed my Manhattanite friends with my sophisticated palate and off-the-beaten-track savvy).

Once you’re hooked, dining without her will seem in terribly poor taste.