The hope of rain.

My kids who live in the Tampa Bay area are laughing at the over-reaction to the Threat of Isaac. I'm not sure they even got any rain to speak of. We, however, might actually benefit from this slow moving storm as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico. With water temps just shy of bathwater, the energy is there to sustain it. We certainly could use the rain. 

Last week was the week that finally slowed down during the evenings...until Friday. Vinny's playing brought in a nice-sized crowd. We've added a staff member to the task of dessert delivery on Friday nights. It certainly sped up that operation. We welcome BJ to our team. He came on as lunch-time dishwasher and quickly showed he was multi-skilled, enthusiastic and a very nice fit. He jumped in grilling the pound cake for the peach desserts and did a very fine job. We sold more desserts Friday night than I think we ever had before. Yea, BJ! Now we need to keep up the excitement as we begin to transition from summer fruits and veggies to the fall ones.

Jon Lumsden will take a break from the register this Friday and grace us with a nice long set of his jazz guitar and vocals starting at 7pm. This is the first time he has played all summer as we have not been able to free him up to do so. As we seem to be generating a larger Friday night crowd we are going to implement a couple of organizational changes. The first is that if you wish to sit in the main dining room on Friday night you must make a reservation. Since we make no effort to turn over the tables, this will allow those who really want to see the performer first access. So far, there is still plenty of seating for drop-ins on Friday night, but it'll be in the second dining room. The second change is that on Friday nights you will be greeted at the door and taken to a table. This will allow us to realistically divide up the tables among our servers and create less confusion. Believe me, you will notice a difference.

I've had plenty of opportunities to speak with our customers when they visit for dinner during the week. For me it is a real treat to get to speak with you—the ones I am cooking for. Most of the time at lunch, all anyone sees of me is my butt. Well that is not quite true, but close enough. I am delighted when I get to meet new folks and get to the point of knowing to ask how the family is doing. I genuinely want to know if the food suited your desires. I, of course, hope to exceed your expectations. We may have had this bright idea to start a cafe that serves what people want to eat, while keeping the ingredients real, all the while expanding their palates. But it is you who allow it all to happen. It is you who gives us a direction on which we can focus. It is your word of mouth that is keeping this place not only alive, but growing. I must admit this is the toughest job I've ever had physically. But we are having a ball. Rick and I are loving collaborating on various dishes and menus. We have such a happy staff and it is pure joy to come to work each day. We know that what we are doing isn't for everyone. We acknowledge that our menu choices are somewhat capricious. But we are proud of the quality of food we are serving and having fun with the creative parts. I love following the harvest season to make menu decisions. While there are items I serve that are not always in season, I really make an effort to learn about the seasonal produce and innovative ways to present them. My personal mission is to broaden everyone's awareness of each other through their palates and gradually expand knowledge about various cultures so that perhaps we can all have a greater understanding and eventually peace. I never wrote that out before. Hmph.

Now the philosophising is over, let's get on with lunch~~

Tuesday~Both Pork Bahn Mi and Pulled Pork sandwiches are 50 cents off.

Wednesday~Rick is going to rock us with his Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich. Those chicken breasts are marinating for 24 hours in jerk seasonings to enliven that flavor. We'll stick to jalapenos rather than the usual habanero peppers for this dish. We'll serve it coconut rice and black beans. $7.50

Thursday~How about some mid-week pasta? Mostaccioli is a Greek casserole featuring lots of sweet Italian sausage, onions, tomatoes, pasta and cheese. We're serve it with a side salad for $7.50

Friday~South Indian-style Vegetable Curry. Served with jasmine rice. I've been reading a lot lately about the healing properties of certain herbs and spices. This one contains many of the most beneficial—cardamon, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne. It IS vegetarian so tell your vegetarian friends not to miss this. It is also wheat-free. Dang it, it's healthy, too. $7.50

The Flavor Journey this week is really close to home. I am really enjoying making fresh pasta each week. We are at the peak of season for fresh vegetables from the gardens. I am doing fresh pasta with grilled squashes, eggplant, peppers and onions with herb-poached chicken, feta and basil.  This is truly a celebration of the summer harvest—with side salad. $12.99

Seafood Entrée—Wednesday through Friday—Wild-caught pacific coho salmon steak with dill mayo sauce, tomato tart, and spaghetti squash with Indian spices—with side salad. $14.99

I hope you have a grand week. Thanks for being there.

~~Susan

Seasonal shuffle

As we pass into the phase of the year that provides the hope of autumnal weather, we are making shifts in manpower as our staff return to school. Ashley returns to nursing school for her last year; Stephan and Corey return to their last year of high school. We'll be able to retain the boys on a more part-time basis, but will miss their happy banter. Ashley will continue to wait tables on Tuesdays and Fridays. At lunch Paula joins us in the pit. This little bundle of energy is a joy to work with and seems to understand our "if it isn't fun, fix it" concept of work. While much may be happening while preparing your meals, seriousness is not a part of it. Paula will be helping to get out beverages and taking food out to tables. We continue to tweak our delivery for speed and quality. We're beginning to get this learning curve thing down to a manageable level.

You may have noticed that our volume seems to be picking up. We couldn't be more delighted. Fortunately it has, thus far, happened at a speed we can adjust to. We're working with four folks in the "pit." Jon takes your order and gets things rolling. Paula gets your beverages going. Rick handles anything that needs grilling or cooking. I handle the salad end of things. Between us we are getting pretty fast. We are extremely aware that your time at lunch is limited and know that no matter how good the food is, if you don't have time to eat it, we're missing the boat.

We're making a strategy change regarding desserts at lunch. The wonderful grilled desserts take staff focus and sadly, interupt the rhythmn of delivery. Therefore, we'll be offering desserts that allow for instant delivery at lunch. These might include pies, cakes, or even tarts. But it'll be a dessert that can be plated with very little extra effort. We'll still make and serve the more spectacular grilled desserts but only at night. In fact, on Friday evenings we'll probably eventually dedicate a single staff member to preparing these gems. But don't go thinking that the lunch desserts will be a of lesser level. For example, on the lunch menu of desserts this week is a fresh fig tart. It is made with a pastry tart crust, pastry cream (thick egg custard) and simmered fresh Brown Turkey figs, topped with a brandy infused whipped cream and crumbled pistacios. Oh my!

Another dessert I am looking forward to presenting is a Double Chocolate Tart with Candied Hazelnuts and Black Pepper Ice Cream. You've been clamouring for chocolate—well, here you go. That is the item in the image above.  I've also got a Ricotta cheesecake we'll offer later in the week. All of these SHOULD be available at lunch. We'll hold back the grilled pound cake and fruits until dinner time. As you may have noted, we are making most of our own ice creams these days. This allows for more interesting combinations, fewer undesirable ingredients (like high fructose corn syrup), and the ability to be right on top of what is in season. How much fun is that? We've been doing so many desserts with egg yolks lately that we need a rash of egg white-laden desserts just to catch up. I am thinking meringues in the form of New Zealand's pavlovas, topped with fresh late season fruits and whipped cream. Probably next week. Can we skip lunch and go straight for the dessert?

Before I go into detail about this week's lunch and dinner specials, let me remind you of this week's Friday night entertainment. Vinny Ray will return with his 5 string electric violin along with Harry Styron on guitar. Vinny dazzled us last time playing wonderful jazz violin. A seasoned professional, Vinny is a past state fiddle champion. You can't help but move your body a bit while listening. As always, please tip them well. We want this caliber of musicians back and your tips are what help make that happen. Music will start about 6:30 pm. As always, there is no cover charge but we ask that you buy a meal or at least dessert.

So let's talk about the actual meals planned. We are trying out a new Trout Burger this week. It is made with rainbow trout and formed into a 5 oz. patty. We get it frozen from our purveyor and prepare it by grilling. It'll be paired with ciabatta, sea sauce, tomato and choice of sprouts or lettuce and served with a choice of sides. We have 20 servings and will serve all week, until gone. If you like it enough, we'll put it on the menu. $7.50

Tuesday lunch will take advantage of the large stash of fresh veggies we have right now. We'll do a grilled veggie sandwich on grilled French bread. It'll have grilled eggplant, zucchini, onion, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and snow peas. All will have been marinated in an olive oil herbal blend beforehand. The bread will have a lemon, dill mayonnaise sauce. We are not yet open for "meatless Monday" but you can start your Tuesday off meatless.  $6.99

Wednesday, Rick will make a turkey and veggie lasagna. It'll have all the flavors you expect plus be a bit healthier. In addition to the ground turkey, you'll find zucchini, onions, ricotta, mozzarella and an inhouse marinara sauce. You may have it with a side salad or another side option. $6.99

Thursday we'll bring back the crowd and staff favorite—chicken mole tacos. We make the chile sauce from scratch using dried chilis, then blend in pepitas, chocolate and the rest of the fresh ingredients. This is very time consuming and as authentic as it comes. IF I can manage to get it right, we'll make our own corn tortillas. There is a bit of a learning curve there. We'll serve it all with a lime cilantro slaw and Spanish rice. $7.50

Friday I'll be making pesto pizzas. We'll take our local organic basil and create pesto. Then we'll smear it on our in-house pizzas blanks, top it with FRESH mozzarella, carmelized onions, Juliet tomatoes, and shitake mushrooms. I'll serve it with a side salad for $7.50. Add wood-fired chicken for 50 cents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now for the dinner specials~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flavor journey this week has its origins in the US south—Glazed pork shoulder. We'll take pork shoulder and bake it at a low temperature until it is nearly melting. Then we'll glaze it, serve it with a mustard green base, lima bean salad and baked fan potatoes. You'll also get a side salad to start. This may not immediately be on your flavor radar, but I invite you to stretch your palate and give it a taste. $10.99

I've been having some fun playing with the fresh pastas. Mixed seafood medley on fresh pasta with stir-fried veggies in a light cream sauce.This week I'll make a fresh egg pasta and top it with lots of currently in-season vegetables plus a medley of mixed seafood. The veggies will include tomatoes, green onions, zucchini, shitakes, snow peas and mung sprouts plus basil, white wine, cream and parmesan. The technique is most similar to the shrimp pasta, but with more variety of shellfish. The seafood will include shrimp, scallops, octopus, squid and clams. $15.99/ double seafood add $6.

Each week we meet more and more friendly local folk. I am humbled by how we have continued to grow. As we reach each new milestone, we are seeking ways to improve the quality of our service as well as the quality of our food. We are fortunate to have built an environment where we do get genuine timely feedback. We listen closely to your suggestions. They are not always right for us or our situation, but we do look at, not only the suggestions, but perhaps what might have prompted the suggestion. As we have grown we have gained some confidence in our ability to keep going. It feels really good. You have been there cheering us on and making sure we covered the basics all along the way. You are what makes what we do worthwhile. We love to see your smiling face! Thank you for being here and for sharing us with those you care about. We promise to treat them well.

~~Susan

All about rhythm and changes thereof

This week marks the rhythmic transition from summer to fall—school starts this week for many. We recognize that you may be somewhat distracted this week, but hope we see you anyway.  Gone will be the days of scorching hot sun and a perception of available time. Schedules will be kicked into high gear and a certain amount of frantic-ness might occur. Time for a deep breath and maybe a healthy lunch or dinner.

Many of you took the time to congratulate us last week and to add your encouragment on our growth. Thank you. That feedback is quite vital. We have been pleasantly surprised at the speed of our growth of late. While we try to keep up the quality of our food, you are helping to get the word out. We are keenly aware that word-of-mouth recommendations are the best way for us to grow. We know you might prefer to keep us as your little secret, but our sustainability depends on your sharing. We are all about sustainability!!!

Before I dive into this week's specials and flavor journeys, I need to mention that party season will be on us before we know it. We are already getting requests for holiday catering and use of our private dining room. So if you have in mind you'd like us to cater your holiday party or host your event in our space, don't put it off. In order to give your event the time and effort it deserves, we will limit our bookings.

Gordon Johnston will join us again to entertain on Friday. You may remember his easy-to-listen-to keyboard renditions of Van Morrison tunes or the locally-sourced themes of his own tunes. Gordon lives in Poplar Bluff and makes the trek out of a love of playing. Please tip him well. We want him back.

Last week we flew fresh, wild-caught Pacific Coho salmon in from Alaska. I hope you were among those who got to experience the incredible fresh flavor of this fish. Over the weekend we took one whole salmon and wood-fired it. You'll see it on the Tuesday lunch menu in the form of salmon tacos with pineapple mango salsa. There are about 12 orders available. $8.00

Tuesday night will usher in this week's Flavor Journey—our country of origin will be Vietnam. We'll do an appetizer of stuffed rice paper called summer rolls. The rice paper (like wonton skins but made with rice) will be filled with cellophane noodles, mung beans, thin sliced pork roast, carrots, cucumber & cilantro. Unlike wonton skins, these are served cold.  A dipping sauce will accompany. The entrée will consist of a Vietnamese beef salad topped with an Asian marinated flank steak, red onion, mung beans, cilantro, cucumber and shitake mushrooms. The dressing will be a light rice vinegar one.  It is totally gluten free!!!!  $11.99

Wednesday I'll bring out the Antipasto salad. This salad has a strong following. On top of a bed of Romaine I'll add provolone cheese, kalmata olives, red and green bell peppers, pasta, ham, fresh basil, Juliet tomatoes and red onion. These extra ingedients will all be tossed with a dressing made with lemon juice, oregano, olive oil, mustard and Worchestershire—aka 1905 dressing. The salad will be through Friday. $6.99

The seafood dinner entrées this week—please notice two seafoods of note~ first is fresh rainbow trout from Rockbridge. I'll simply pan-fry it and serve it with a saute of zucchini and fresh tomatoes plus a starch of buttered linguine or garlic mashed potatoes. As always, accompanied by a side salad. $14.99

The second seafood will be a shrimp and scallop manicotti in alfredo sauce. I'll use that lovely black pasta to make the manicotti. With a side salad, of course. $14.99

Thursday lunch will be the Couscous Salad with curried turkey, almonds and raisins. It is served over a bed of Romaine and is somewhat sweet. It is probably the coconut milk in the curried dressing that makes it so. One of the crowd favorites for hot summer days. $7.50

Friday lunch will be shrimp and scallop shish kabobs over a lemon rice. Simple, luxurious and yummy. $8.00

Desserts this week~~ I made a luscious New York style cheesecake topped with sweetened sour cream and drunken berries. $5 We are continuing to grill our poundcake with fresh fruit and serving it with our homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Also, I am playing with fresh figs. One of our customers brought me a couple of pounds of them. I am thinking fresh fig tart with goat cheese as an appetizer or maybe a fig and mascarpone something. Still creating....wait for it.....

I hope you have a glorious week~~

~~Susan

Starting year 3- We've come a long way, Baby!

As we dive into year number three we are marveling at how far we've progressed. Were you even a customer when we first tried out our concept from the food trailer? At that time we struggled for several months before we ever hit a day where we served more than 30 meals. Last week we served 297 meals over 4 days. Yea!

Since so much of what we do is based on what you have told us you are looking for, I thought it might be worth sharing our current vision. First of all, my mission is to provide you with real foods made with real ingredients that are minimally processed. As much as we can we want to use fresh ingredients and make virtually all our dishes from scratch, thus avoiding the hidden ingredients causing so much trouble for many. Those hidden ingredients might be artifical sweeteners, gluten, MSG, preservatives and chemical colorings. To that end, we make our own dressings  and sandwich breads. We are currently having the French bread made for us to our specifications. But it has only 4 ingredients per the French regulations for "French bread"—flour, salt, yeast and water. We add no preservatives to our inhouse breads. We recently switched from using shredded mozzarella cheese on our pizzas to fresh mozzarella. This gives the pesto pizza a more upscale flavor profile while maintaining a "closer to source" ingredients list.

Our "signature flavor profile" comes largely from the meats we wood-fire. We are simply grilling the boneless chicken breasts, tilapia, corn and trout on a slow wood fire. We are still using up some of the wood from our 200-year-old oak that died 4 years ago. Needless to say, it was a big tree. Each week Jon and I prep and cook the meats to give them their distinctive flavor.

We are always trying to source what we can locally. As other chefs in the area have discovered, that is easier said than done. I am delighted with the relationship we have with Maranatha Farm for our largely organic produce. Mary and Skip consistently provide tomatoes, peppers, fresh herbs and the summer veggies like eggplant, cucumbers and squashes. When her supplies run low we can often get what we need from the local "fruit stand" where much of the produce is regionally grown. When it comes to eggs we love using local free-range eggs. Our second choice, while it comes from our purveyor, is still free-range, antibiotic-free brown eggs from a collective of Amish farms mid-state.

I wish our meat choices were so readily locally sourced. While we do use local grass-fed lamb for our gyros, the hurdles we have to jump through are onerous. We have to set an appointment with a state inspector to be at the processor when the lamb is slaughtered in order to have it inspected and legal for restaurant use. There are only one or two processing plants in the southern part of the state that even have access to inspectors. Being closer to a larger city would make this easier. We recently lost our elk provider as they were tired of the hassles they had to jump through in order to get their meat to market. They had to use a USDA inspector and had to have their entire herd trailered out of state to Illinois in order to be processed. It kinda defeats the whole purpose of local sourcing to have to haul the meat first out of the area and then bring it back in. We'll continue to seek more optimal solutions for our meats.

We are really having some fun with our desserts these days. During the warmer months I prefer to offer choices that follow the fruit seasons and are somewhat light. We are often making our own ice creams and using only wholesome ingredients to do so.  You won't find high-fructose corn syrup in our ice creams or in-house cakes and pies.  Lately we have been grilling our in-house pound cake and serving it with freshly grilled fruit and ice cream.

One of my biggest personal missions is to expand the palates of our customers. While the largest demographic to our customer base is people who are well-traveled, many who have grown up locally simply have not been exposed to a wide range of flavor offerings. I see it as my personal duty to remedy that. While I was traveling the country doing art festivals and before that, living in various parts of the country, I had the opportunity to experience a wide range of flavors. I am personally  quite fond of fish and seafood as well as various ethnic fare. I love to do fresh-ingredient based Latino cuisines and never tire of experimenting with new foods. So far that has been a winning combination that you have embraced. It works out well for me, as I get bored easily with "same old- same old." Our most common comment from first timers is, "I can't make up my mind; everything sounds good." Many have suggested a dart board for making choices. We have found, however, that most people find a few things they love and tend to stick to those. Nevertheless, I still create new dishes that I hope will lure you onto a new flavor profile. My "Flavor Journeys" are created with that in mind.

At this point in our lives, we find it is imperative to keep a high level of fun in what we do. With four 14 hour days, our nearly 60-year-old bodies are working harder physically than ever before. We are joyful that we get to work with such a happy team. Generally speaking, our policy is that if it isn't fun, fix it! We've managed to attract a team of happy, people-oriented and eager staff. They make what we do not only fun but have made those long days much easier. With school starting next week we'll have some shifting occuring, but our goals still will include a team of this caliber.

Did you notice we finally got new signage out front? Gone is the yellow banner with the wrong days and hours. Our new sign is simply large painted wooden letters spelling out the cafe name. Understated, yet visible. Our next major expense will be a new awning to cover the front of the main dining room. We're still a couple of months away from being able to make that happen. But on sunny days and rainy ones you'll be very glad to have the additional covering. Hopefully, it will encourage more folks to enjoy dining al fresco.

I've got more to say but I better hold off until next time. Here's this week's menu info~~

Seafood dinner~~It is Coho season! As sockeye salmon season fades each year, Alaskan fishermen prepare their nets to target Coho, or silver salmon. Near Kenai lies Beluga Point, a peninsula jutting out into the cool waters of Cook Inlet where many people’s favorite wild salmon is now landing. Coho’s latin name, Oncorhynchus kisutch comes from the Greek roots onkos (hook) and rynchos (nose), alluding to their striking jaw hook that males develop during spawning season. Born in the river of their parent’s birth, coho fry remain in streams for over a year, moving seaward the following spring, returning to spawn when they are three years old. They are being harvested on Tuesday and shipped overnight to be served beginning Wednesday evening. I'll simply filet the large loins and bake them to order, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with a roasted red pepper coulis. I am committed to not over-cooking the salmon unless specifically requested. Medium rare to medium is my norm. We'll serve it with an eggplant casserole, and your choice of twice-baked potato or a fresh stir-fry of onions, squash and peppers, a side salad and my "sea sauce." $17.49 While I expect we'll have plenty, it never hurts to have us reserve a portion for you.

Flavor Journey~~I am nearly as excited to be serving this as the seafood. Rick and I are making  black pasta from scratch. The colorant comes from natural squid ink which adds a bit of an iodine flavor to the pasta. It is not an intense flavor, but it sure is stunning on the plate. Pure black! I don't know of any other restaurants within 100 miles that make their own pasta—much less squid-ink pasta. We'll top it with our wood-fired chicken and a Rosy gorgonzola sauce. I know gorgonzola has a strong flavor profile (bleu cheese), but I bet that the fresh tomatoes (the rosy part of the sauce) will tone things down enough to make it worth giving it a try—even if you aren't sure about the bleu cheese part. $12.99

Now the lunches~~
Tuesday~ Bahn Mi sandwiches—either pork or chicken. These Asian-based sandwiches have gotten lots of new followers. We marinate the meats in ginger, garlic and other Asian seasonings then grill them. The French bread is toasted, topped with a srarichi mayonnaise, freshly pickled cucumbers and carrots, sprouts and cilantro. 50 cents off at $6.49; served with a side.

Wednesday~ Rick's day to shine again. We are doing a beef dip sandwich. First we are slow cooking pot roast. Then we'll pile it on a French baguette, top it with mushrooms and Swiss cheese and provide an au jus to dip it in. If you don't know—au jus is the juice the beef was cooked in.  $6.99 with side.

Thursday~Grouper cheek poboy. This is probably the last of our grouper cheeks. We saute them in butter, salt and pepper and serve it on a toasted French baguette with "sea sauce," slivered lettuce and tomato. Served with a side item  $8.50

Friday~ You've been begging for it. The return and, nearly last chance, to experience our elk burgers. We start them with a wood-fire on the smoker to give them the smokey essence, then finish them to order on the griddle. We'll serve them on ciabatta rolls with grilled onions, melted Muenster cheese and an in-house blueberry chipotle BBQ sauce. Served with Cajun home fries.  $7.50 You won't find more gourmet than this! If you are serious about wanting this for lunch, I recommend you call in before Friday to have us reserve one for you.

I know things are about to get crazy as school starts next week. We love that we are a part of your lives and look forward to seeing you and hearing about the updates. Thank you for sharing us with your friends and family. We are especially proud as you bring in your visitors so they can experience our take on Ozarks fare. We are keenly aware that we would not still be here were it not for your continued support and encouragement. Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts!!!! Have a joyous and happy week.

~~Susan and Jon