National Caviar Day is officially an unofficial San Francisco holiday. Along with Fleet Week, Fog Fair, and the Decorator Showcase, National Caviar Day has become an event I look forward to attending every July.
A quick Google search provides no history or real significance as to why July 18 is National Caviar Day, or NCD. Like every other made-up culinary holiday, it most likely became prominent along with the internet and food blogs as a marketing tool for those who sell caviar.
When sisters Saskia and Petra Bergstein founded The Caviar Co. in 2015, they made it their mission to make caviar more approachable. They saw NCD as an excuse to throw a party and invite the masses to indulge in caviar outside special occasions and traditional holidays. The event started small, with a special menu item here and a cool chef collaboration there, but over the years, caviar’s popularity in SF soared.
Naturally, Tsar Nicoulai — SF’s original sustainable caviar brand serving sturgeon roe to local caviar lovers for the past 40 years — was also celebrating NCD. So there was not one caviar party but two on Saturday. The events were at different times, so a crazed caviar fiend like myself could potentially attend both soirees. Party hopping is my favorite sport, but what to do when one event is themed and the other is not?
SF loves a costume, and The Caviar Co.’s shindig was Studio 54 themed. Tsar Nicoulai’s party was from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Ferry Building and had no specific theme. Should I run home and change my outfit between events? This seemed like too much work, so I opted for a more classic look (a pale blue Dannijo slip dress) made Studio 54-ish thanks to a pair of sky-high gold Stuart Weitzman disco platforms.
As I teetered up the stairs of the Ferry Building, violin music played, and samba dancers, the kind usually associated with Carnaval in sequined bikinis, flashy headdresses, and extravagant feathered wings, greeted partygoers with welcoming smiles. A Tsar Nicoulai caviar cart beckoned, and guests had the option of a caviar bump — a spoonful of caviar placed on the back of one’s hand — or a caviar-topped potato chip.
The afternoon was warm, but the upstairs event space felt like a greenhouse where the sun was shining directly and was almost uncomfortably hot — no matter, as there was caviar to be had. The event was a quintessential walk-around tasting, with each table offering a different bite or sip, like the superb purple potato causa with caviar from La Mar or Aphotic’s unique take on a gin martini with a caviar-stuffed olive.
The Domaine Carneros flowed, but sadly, the food was all gone by 6 p.m. Most chefs packed up and left, their tables a sad reminder of the bites I had yet to taste. Note to self for next year’s NCD: less mingling, more eating! The atmosphere shifted to more of a nightclub vibe with a DJ and dancing as I called an Uber to head to the second soirée.
And wow was my experience elevated. The Bergstein sisters are incredibly gracious hostesses and dressed in their finest disco; They greeted guests as each one walks into Ken Fulk’s reimagined church, the St. Joseph’s Artist Society. The event oozed glamour and sophistication. Disco ball head dancers got their groove on while a Dita Von Teese-esque performer shimmied in a massive glass. Round tables were covered in champagne coups, allowing caviar lovers to grab a glass at their leisure. The roe was everywhere: On passed appetizers, bumping on the back of partygoers fists, and spooned out of disco balls at stations throughout the artful space.
Upstairs, there was more caviar with a Pringle potato chip and caviar pairing. People watching was at a premium, and the costumes did not disappoint, with men wearing curly-afro style wigs and bellbottoms and women dripping in sequins and mesh.
Merriment and revelry abounded, and no one went home hungry. As the night drew to a close, guests found another delicacy awaiting at their departure: hot dogs, topped with caviar. The promise of next year’s National Caviar Day already gleams like a precious pearl on the horizon. Until then, it’s sweet dreams filled with caviar wishes.
Katie Sweeney is a San Francisco-based writer.
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