And we are off!...to a fast start, that is

After 2 luxurious weeks off, we are back in the saddle. Jon and I talked our way across Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida discussing our upcoming plans for the café. First, we decided that we should close for two weeks every year. Then we wrestled how to add more meal sessions without killing ourselves while doing so. The first change will come AFTER we are firmly holding our new tavern permit. The delays came about because we also changed the type of establishment to being an LLC. That took over a month. Now we can apply for the actual permit which will allow us to serve beers and wines. It is a 2-step process that begins with a city application and ends with a state one after the city one is permitted. We are guesstimating the final date being somewhere in mid February. Once that occurs we'll serve both beer and wine at both lunch and dinner. At that point we'll expect to eliminate Mondays and be open Tuesday through Fridays for lunches and dinners. We can't say yet if we'll remain open in the afternoons between sessions. We plan to add waitstaff for dinners with a regular dinner menu. There will be specials in limited quantities and reservations encouraged for Friday nights. We plan to continue music on Friday nights and add an open mic on Thursday evenings. Otherwise we'll have the usual background music of jazz and light pop.

We have yet to meet with the various reps in the beverage industry but plan to serve primarily regional beers and wines plus a few California wines. That, in itself, will be a learning experience. So hang on and bear with us. It'll happen.

Menu changes will mostly be the addition of a couple of interesting quesadillas, new soups and a few new surprises. I'll introduce them as specials first to make sure you really like them. The response to my Winter Salad was sufficient to add it seasonally to the menu. So that is available immediately.

After traveling across the country and going into sticker shock in each restaurant we walked into, we saw what a bargain we are for most items. We plan to keep our prices as low as we can while adding on some more profitable items, too. You will note that most of our menu went up about 25 cents.

After managing to navigate the dangerous waters of a restaurant's first year, we want to tighten our operation and gradually become a bit more professional and upscale. To that end, we have finally painted the bathroom. It'll get a fancier glaze coat later but the base is down and it definitely looks better.  If you have any currently unused framed mirrors you could part with, I am collecting several to add to the wall of the bathroom.

With the aim of a more upscale feel, I am putting more attention on my plating in hopes of creating dishes that are more appealing to the eye and thus even more tasty the rest of the way. I know it may seem trivial to some but it can make a big difference in how well a dish is perceived. We'll keep the fresh, made-from-scratch aspect.

We're adding a couple of additional seasonal sides. I may not have them all ready on Monday but I'll have them by mid-week. They will include a black bean and corn salad and an Asian sesame noodle salad. Also, I am introducing oven-roasted potatoes as a warm side.

Monday's special will simply be fish tacos at 50 cents off. We will be scrambling to get all the prep finished before we open so I am keeping it simple to keep me sane(er).

Tuesday Bruce will have his wood-fired chicken and black bean tamales with avocado and salsa verde. He'll serve it with Spanish rice. $6.75

Wednesday I have an Asian Taco plate. It'll have 4 mini tacos made from wonton skins stuffed with chicken in a peanut sauce and topped with an Asian slaw. It'll be served with a side of the Asian sesame noodle salad.    $6.75

Thursday I'll introduce a chorizo quesadilla. I'll use the usual pair of 8" flour tortillas filled with sauteéd Mexican chorizo (Mexican pork sausage), grilled onions and bell peppers and Monterey Jack cheese. It'll come with the usual sides of guacamole, sour cream, salsa and tortilla chips. $6.75

Friday we'll have a pizza with wood-fired chicken, grilled onions and bell peppers and optional mushrooms. The sauce will be basil pesto and the cheese a combination of Monterey jack and mozzarella. It'll come with a side salad or choice of seasonal sides $7.25

Friday night we have Reneé Wood Trio. Reneé, Tom and David will delight you with their jazzy style. Saxophone, guitar and drums will fill the air with classic jazz. We are open from 5 until 8 but the music starts about 6:15. If you come in closer to 5pm you'll have time to enjoy an appetizer before dinner is served shortly after 6:15. In keeping it simple this first week, I am going with known crowd pleasers.
Seafood~ shrimp pad Thai. Served with a side salad and summer roll. $12
Meat~ Grilled pork chop glazed with strawberry chipotle chutney and served with a side salad, cheese biscuit and garlic mashed potatoes. $12
Vegetarian~Grilled winter veggies and ricotta fill a pair of herbed crepes and topped with a creamy garlic sauce. Served with a side salad and pilaf stuffed pepper. $10

If you don't wish to eat one of the above selections, you may order a larger version of one of our specialty salads AS LONG AS YOU PLACE THE ORDER BEFORE 2PM FRIDAY! The Navajo, the Greek, the Oriental chicken, the Fuji or the Winter Salad can be ordered. It will be larger with more meat, served with a cheese biscuit and the cost will be $10.

The desserts will be a surprise. I will arive on Monday armed with 6 Granny Smith apples...

We very much hope to see you this week~~

Susan