Last week I was thrilled to be able to serve those humongous gulf shrimp. I know being on the receiving end was thrilling—many people told me so. But, let me tell ya, being on the serving end was also a thrill. I LOVE, love, love serving food that is impactful—in a good way.
Speaking of impactful, I made a small goof on Friday. When I had Rick making the salad for dinners I accidentally handed him, what I thought was, pepitas. Oops! He came back from tables to tell me three people had complained about the pepitas. Huh? I tasted them and, yep! Those were NOT pepitas. They were whole cardamon pods. Yikes! My personal apologies to the first few who got those. Please try real pepitas again. I am quite sure you will enjoy them.
As the season moves along we'll have access to more and more local ingredients. Already I've had lovely Swiss chard, spinach and arugula, snow peas and bok choy. Last week, fennel bulb arrived with my order! I am looking for asparagus, English peas, fiddleheads, and morels. If you have access to these lovely ingredients at a cost I can work with, please get in touch.
I had hoped to make the seafood dinner this week a fabulous clam bake. However, the response I got was not the enthusiastic one I had hoped for. So that will have to wait until I perceive a dull roar of requests. Just now coming into season are Stone Crabs from Florida. As with all crabs, they are expensive. These crabs are my favorite as they are very sweet tasting. Unlike most crab, they are harvested by removing only one claw and releasing the crab to continue its growth. It'll actually replaces the missing claw. The current Sea to Table resource I have to get in fresh seafood requires a minimum purchase of 25lbs. from a single dock. Even the medium claws at 6-8 per pound cost $15.90 wholesale. Doing the math you can see that we'd have to sell a whole heck of a lot to cover the $400 of food cost. I'll continue to seek wholesalers who will ship smaller quantities. If you have strong personal seafood preferences that I am overlooking, please let me know so I can address them. If you want something that requires a large investment, you can help by assisting to pre-sell an item. I am also not adverse to selling off a portion of a shipment to individuals in the raw form to keep our commitment to a minimum. Of the 25 pounds of those colossal shrimp we brought in last week, about half went home raw to customers who had requested access to them.
At Dinner~~
This week's fresh seafood will return to fresh Rainbow trout. This time I am cooking it "en papillote" or in parchment. These packets will contain the fish as well as the herbs and fresh vegetables. This week the ingredients will include Swiss chard, shallots, capers, lemon, Kalamata olives, Cherry tomatoes and zucchini. It is cooked with NO FAT and makes an exquisite presentation. It will be $14.99 and includes a side salad. A smaller version will be offered on Thursday—read on.
The "Flavor Journey" this week goes to the U.S. Southwest. I'll serve a spicy wood-fired chicken in a savory mole-style sauce served over the top of cornmeal waffles finished with cotija cheese. Mole contains chocolate in addition to chiles, cinnamon and peanut butter. I'll grill some zucchini to serve along-side and it'll come with a side salad that'll include a bit of jicama, if I can find it. $10.99
This week I'll get most of my fresh herbs planted in the containers in the courtyard. Reports back have told me the bales of straw HAVE helped to reduce the wind velocity through there. Anyone have a couple of pieces of 4-5 ft rebar I can use to secure the bales in place? We'll be turning the flowerpots into bases for a small fence that will demarcate the boundary of where the beer and wine can be taken.
As Thursday is most consistently our quietest night, I am introducing Girls' Night Out. I'll pair some of our entrées in smaller portions with delicious sharable appetizers and Sangria specials. This week I am taking half portions of the trout en papillote (see description above) for $8.99 with salad, adding an appetizer of grilled polenta topped with shitakes and shallots and fresh basil for $5.99 (sharable size) and offering a pitcher of white wine sangria (definitely enough for 2) for $18. Just so I'll know to get excited, please call in your reservation. I'd like to do this weekly. Your feedback is welcome. Guys, you are welcome, as well. I'm just trying to find a way to keep all nights busy and directing my selections toward the feminine appetite for this night.
Friday night will feature Jon and his two cohorts—Greg Kwalume and Rick Brischetto as the Ozarks Jazz Trio. They will play Jon's original material as well as classics from the Great American Songbook. Greg adds nice definition with his lead guitar and Rick's percussion adds rhythm and puncuation. We hope to see you.
This week's menu~~
Tuesday~Spring Salad 50 cents off
Wednesday~ Chicken jambalaya with side salad $6.75
Thursday~ Southwest tamales; wood-fired chicken and black bean tamales with avocado and salsa verde sauce with roasted cumin seed rice. $6.75
Friday~ Chicken pot pie plus side salad; making twice as much this time! $6.75
Dinners~
Seafood~ Trout en papillote served with a salad $14.99
Flavor Journey~Southwestern spicy chicken over cornmeal waffles. Served with a salad and grilled zucchini. $10.99
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