- Butter—we NEVER use margarine. If you are a fan of butter you already know how unreliable most restaurants are for using the real thing. How many times do the waitstaff even know if they are serving butter or margarine? When Jon and I eat out we take our own butter unless we know for sure butter is available.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil—We go through about 1.5 gallons of this per week. There is a big cost difference. With few exceptions it is the oil we use to make salad dressings, sauté, or grill. EVOO uses no heat and is made up of only the first pressing of the olives. The flavor is brighter than other olive oils and the cost is much higher. But we feel it gives us an edge flavor-wise and it is much healthier for you than many other oils.
- Salt—We use either kosher salt or sea salt in our cooking. Again, this costs a bit more than the usual table salt. Also, we try to be very light in the use of any salt.
- Black pepper—We grind our own peppercorns as we go. This gives the pepper a brightness that already-ground pepper lacks.
- Herbs—Whenever possible we use fresh herbs instead of dried ones. This includes parsley, cilantro, basil, garlic, tarragon, dill.
- Flours—Unbleached flour and whole grain when available. We often will use gluten-free flours—like rice flour, corn flour and potato flour when the option is open to us. Our bread uses a high-gluten flour for texture. We make most of our own breads.
- Grains—In addition to wheat flour and above mentioned gluten-free flours we also will offer other grains such as rice, corn, quinoa, barley and farro.
- Beans—For the most part we cook our beans from scratch. Our black beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, white kidney beans, Great Northern beans and lentils are almost always soaked overnight and cooked fully for freshness and ingredient control.
- Mayonnaise—We are using the highest quality we can find. It is rich and made with the highest quality ingredients. We NEVER use "Miracle Whip" or a mayonnaise substitute.
- Broth—For many of our dishes requiring a broth we use our own in-house vegetable broth created using our weekly peelings and produce scraps. While we do occasionally use a canned broth, we carefully have selected a variety that contains NO MSG.
- Dairy—Our milks and creams are selected to be as whole as possible and the cows are raised without the addition of hormones and prophylactic antibiotics. We avoid all use of "artificial creamers."
- Cheeses—We use a high quality feta in salads, Monterey jack in quesadillas and baby Swiss in sandwiches. The Swiss is sliced for us and bought often to ensure freshness.
- Deli meats—We do not buy prepackaged deli meats. We have them sliced to our specifications and we buy often to keep things fresh. We use an oven roasted turkey (as opposed to pressed and processed cheap turkey) and Black Forest ham which is made from a full ham and not pressed chunks.
- Bacon—We use only applewood smoked bacon which is much more expensive than most restaurant varieties. To my taste there is a world of difference. The individual slices are considerably thicker too.
- Seafood—While our options are more limited in land-locked Ozarks, we make conscientious choices to buy sustainably harvested seafood. We buy wild-caught as often as we can and farmed only when we know about the conditions used. I am careful to avoid over-cooking the flesh so the true flavor comes through. Most often I buy wild-caught fish that is cut and flash frozen while at sea. I prefer to buy fresh from the boat with over-night delivery. This option is taken when I know we have a popular seafood that our customers will gobble up. We keep a much tighter profit margin on these items—like fresh oysters, stone crab, fresh mahi-mahi and can't afford loss. We don't order this way often, but it is always a hit when we do.
- Produce—During the summer months we are able to source our tomatoes locally. We also use organically raised spinach and arugula from local sources as well as herbs.
- Beef—We have recently added local grass-fed beef to our lineup, and we make our hamburgers from it. These cattle spend their entire lives in the fields, not in feedlots. The flavor is clean and rich. The fat content is quite low.
- Salad Dressings—We make ALL our own dressings using high quality ingredients like extra virgin olive oil, high quality mayonnaise, fresh feta cheese, fresh herbs, honey and dark sesame oil. No hydrogenated fats are used.
- Eggs—All year we use locally sourced eggs. During the summer months the eggs actually come from some of our customers. They have free-range chickens that happily scour the farm yard turning bugs and grains into high quality eggs with deep golden yolks.
- Wood-fired meats—The flavor profile you taste with much of our chicken, the tilapia in our fish tacos, the salmon and tuna on your salads and the corn in your salsa and guacamole are all cooked on a wood fire to give them that smokey flavor. We do that ourselves and feel it gives us a flavor profile all our own.
- Nuts—We buy the raw versions and toast or season them in-house. This gives us control over ingredients and prevents the use of unknown allergens. We use pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, pistachios and peanuts.
- Pesto—We make it weekly from scratch using fresh basil, pine nuts or walnuts, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. It is used in our pesto pizza and pesto chicken sandwich as well as on some of our pastas.
- Guacamole—We use only fresh avocados. Many places that serve guacamole buy their pulp in bulk form in a bag. Even when it looks like simply scooped out hunks of avocado, we know from experience there is a big flavor difference. Occasionally we run out of avocados because there are simply none available locally that are ready for use. We NEVER use an unripe avocado.
- Salsa—We make ours fresh. No preservatives, nothing funky. Just pure fresh flavors of good produce and fresh herbs.
- Sauces—When faced with decisions regarding sauces we are most likely to choose to make it fresh and use ingredients that pack a punch of flavor without just bulking it up. An example would be the shrimp pasta. Most places would use an alfredo sauce that uses flour to thicken and add heft. We use fresh heavy cream and aged Parmesan.
- Sprouts—We use fresh alfalfa sprouts in many of our sandwiches. They add a nice light crunch and a very fresh taste. As far as we know, no one else within 50 miles offers fresh sprouts.
It is almost too late to sign up for the Moroccan Flavor Excursion on the 22nd. We need you to get your reservation in NOW. With less than 2 weeks and under 10 seats available, you don't want to miss out. We have confirmed that Missouri Life Magazine is sending a reporter/photographer to document the event for an upcoming article featuring our cafe. The tasting menu is extensive, includes several wine pours and is priced at $60/per person. Be a part of this special event. Folks are still talking about the last one.
We have the Renee Wood Trio Friday night, with something a little different — Jon Lumsden will be the guitarist instead of Tom Rowley. Renee and Jon have worked up a completely different set list of songs, so come in and enjoy the new sound! Reservations are recommended ...
Reminder: we are now open Saturday nights through the summer.
If you will be in town for the music festival this weekend, come on down
for dinner before the headliners take the stage. We open at 5 pm.
The lunch specials~~
Tuesday~ Tuscan Chicken Salad Sandwich on Pretzel roll with side $7.59
Wednesday~ Ginger chicken lettuce wraps plus side $7.99
Thursday~ Watermelon, arugula, spinach, feta and walnut salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette. $7.79
Friday~ Chicken Bahn Mi sandwich on French bread with side $7.99
The Seafood Entrée this week is crabcakes (2). I make them with backfin Blue crab, shallots, mustard, wasabi, some egg and a few fresh herbs with only enough mayonnaise to hold them together.They are rolled in a light breading of Japanese panko breadcrumbs for a crispy coating. Our Sea Sauce and seasonal stir-fry and a fruit salsa will accompany. Served with a side salad. $14.99
The Flavor Journey is Chicken Tikka Masala. This dish is from India and we'll prepare it from scratch. Boneless chunks of chicken breast will simmer in a concoction of savory spices and herbs along with tomatoes and heavy cream. It'll be served with turmeric rice, naan and a raita. Raita is a cool summer salad made with cucumbers, yogurt, mint and cumin. While this will be a spicy dish, it won't be terribly hot. Also, the raita is designed to tone down the heat of the chicken. $13.99
This should a week of quite high temps and a reminder that summer starts next week. We hope you come see us and bring your friends and family along. It is your support that keeps things alive. We thank you for your generous support that allows us to do something we think is worthwhile—feeding you the best food in the Ozarks. Have a lovely week!~~
Susan
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