Weekending Feb 2nd-Ground Hog's day, already!

We have been blessed so far with a nicely mild winter. I know. I just probably jinxed us. But I have already heard rumors of the occasional brave narcissus raising its head. The forsythias are beginning to put their energies toward buds. It can't be too long. However, I am still awaiting the true harbinger of spring--the eau de skunk.

A couple of week's ago I had the opportunity to take a good hard look at where I really wanted to take our cafe. I shared many of my thoughts with you. I am happy to say that, without any delay what-so-ever, some new talent made a point of reaching out to me. While we are still establishing just what the roles will be, I am confident that I now have the staff to make those goals happen. I have always wanted this game to be much more than what I personally could make happen. I love treating this as a happy game and I am loving having others around me who want to play this game, as well. It is WAY more fun to conspire with others to create a game plan. I am looking forward to mining those talents and plugging them into the direction we are going. Please welcome the new faces. I'll introduce them to you in the next few weeks via this blog.

The opportunity to bring in the tuna last week went really well. Thank you for supporting us by ordering it. We sold out pretty darn fast. I had lovely feedback. Thank you.  By the way—if you'd like to tell the world how we are doing, please feel free to leave comments on our Facebook page. In fact, if you'll "like" us you'll automatically get notified when we have updates on the menu.

There are just a few slots left available for the Filipino Flavor Excursion. While there are still a couple of things to be finalized I can tell you that there will be 5-6 courses with 5 wine pours and one specialty beverage.The cost is $60 per person including the wines. The date is Saturday, February 23rd at 6 pm.

I have had several requests for a Valentine's dinner. I am still putting the menu together, but yes, we will do a special dinner. Valentine's Day falls on a Thursday so we'll be open that night, anyway and the full menu should be available. I would encourage reservations.We are also planning on having a photographer on hand in case you'd like your "valentines" photo taken. That will be fun. I'll try to post the special dinner menu later this week.

Several people have requested that we do more beef items at dinner. This week the "Flavor Journey" will take us to Russia for Beef Stroganoff. This dish, whose name most likely was chosen to honor the famous Stroganov family in the 1860's, has many variations. After the fall of  Czarist Russia  it was served in the upscale hotels of China. Americans were introduced to it by returning servicemen in the pre-communist era in China and following the second world war. As a family dish it probably was at its hey day  in the 1950s. Many of you probably have fond memories of being served it by your grandmothers. Nowadays it is most often made with a good cut of beef cut into either skinny strips or small bites. Those pieces are seared and sautéed with onions and mushrooms. We'll serve it over egg noodles but in Russia it is most typically served over what we would call "shoe string potatoes".  The creamy sauce has a characteristic bite brought on by the use of a bit of sour cream.  I'll serve it over egg noodles plus a braised red cabbage and pan-roasted broccoli. Includes soup or salad. $13.99 Available as of Tuesday evening

The seafood entrée will be a combination dinner of a crab cake and grilled shrimp. The crab cake will be made with back-fin crab meat, fresh herbal seasonings, egg, mustard and just enough panko breadcrumbs to bind it together. I'll top it with a roasted red pepper coulis. That is a thick sauce made with red peppers and onions that have been sautéed until tender and sweet and puréed.  Also I'll have a skewer of marinated shrimp and pineapple served with a coconut curry sauce and served over a bed of quinoa mixed with parsley, cucumber, craisins, almonds and snowpeas. Includes soup or salad. $15.99. Available as of Wednesday evening.

~~Lunch Specials~~

Tuesday~ California rolls( real crab meat) Miso soup, cucumber-wakame (seaweed) salad $7.95

Wednesday~ Antipasto salad (if it's Italian, it is in it) $7.75

Thursday~ Pork tamales with salsa verdes and Spanish rice $7.75

Friday~ Beef empanadas with black beans and tostones (fried plantains) $7.75

Flavor journey~ Beef Stroganoff over egg noodles with braised red cabbage and pan roasted broccoli $13.99 Tuesday- Friday

Seafood Entrée~ Crab cake plus grilled shrimp with pineapple, atop a quinoa pilaf.$15.99 Wednesday-Friday.

I hope you have a glorious week. Watch for fresh plantings in the pots outside. I am itching to get my fingers in the soil; even if only a pot. We've already got pea shoots started and I'll get chives, parsley and oregano going ASAP. As always we delight in hearing about your family happenings, food wants and silly jokes.

See ya!!!

~~Susan

Some kind of fun!!!! weekending January 26

Holey Moley! Last week was so much fun! I cannot fully describe the utter joy I felt serving the ginormous shrimp last week. We actually made our way through most of it and the remainder have been frozen for use in an upcoming week. Yee-haw! This is the kind of thing that keeps me excited and motivated through the weeks where not everything has gone so smoothly. We've added some organizational structure to our preparations and that alone has taken much of the guesswork out of the equation. So I'm thinking...smooth sailing!

And speaking of sailing...boats...fishing... after nearly a year of searching I have located a source for #1 sashimi grade tuna. It is too costly to include as an upgrade on salads—that is still to come. However, this tuna will be perfect for a seared tuna dinner special and I am planning for that this week. Look for more details in the latter part of this blog.

Music this week is the Renee Wood Trio. She brings us fresh jazz served by saxophone, guitar and drums on Friday night. Reservations encouraged.

My search for ingredients has spread and my suppliers are coming through for the upcoming Filipino Flavor Excursion. It'll be a while before the final menu is determined but I am setting the cost at $60 per person including the paired wines. A couple of questions have surfaced and I thought I'd address them now. First of all, it'll be a very mixed menu—so if you don't eat shellfish or pork there will still be plenty of other tasty morsels involving other fish and chicken and you shouldn't feel you have missed out.  If you are a bigger consumer of wine than the single pour per course, you can simply pay more for that extra, as needed. I expect there will be a range of wines with a variety  in our costs. So we'll just work with you to be fair for all.
I am delighted to tell you that we are already nearly half-filled on reservations. If you are wanting to participate don't delay getting in your reservation. We are only opening this to 20 the first time. This is going to be a very fun event. The date is February 23rd at 6:00 pm.

I fed my need-for-fiber fix this weekend by purchasing some new batik fabrics for tablecloths. I may not have time for sewing quilts these days but I still love seeing, touching and using beautiful batik fabrics. To me they give the added splash of color needed this time of year. It gives hope that Spring can't be too far off.

In my recent research for using local ingredients I discovered that the clumps of sumac you see growing on the banks of the local roads are the same sumac collected and used extensively in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods. So instead of sprinkling paprika on the top of the hummus appetizer we are now going to sprinkle sumac. Its characteristic flavor profile is somewhat astringent or lemony. By the way, we do not use canned garbanzos for our hummus. Instead, we soak the beans overnight and cook them on the stove-top. Let us know what you think of the slightly different flavors.

specials this week~~

Lunches~~
Tuesday~~Mushroom, Leek and Fontina Frittata made with Willow Mountain's portabellas and local free range hormone and antibiotic free eggs plus side salad. $7.75
Wednesday~~Baked potato( a big one) topped with pulled pork, carmelized onion and cotija cheese with side salad. $7.75
Thursday~~Spicy Italian sausage and white bean stew plus side salad $7.75
Friday~~Customer favorite alert! Creamy Chicken enchiladas made with fresh spinach, monterey jack and lots of pulled chicken in corn tortillas plus pinto beans $7.75

Soup~~ Lentil and sausage soup with cornbread

Desserts~~The warm gingerbread makes its return swimming in a base of coconut almond cream and topped with in-house cinnamon ice cream! Later in the week I hope to get made a Calvados (apple brandy) Crepe filled with cinnamon apples and topped with Calvados and vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. Oh yum!!!

Seafood entrée~~As I mentioned earlier I finally have found a sashimi (high grade) tuna worthy of serving as an entrée. In fact my dish this week is Ahi Tuna Served Three Ways—yep! 3 ways in one dish. It'll give you a chance to taste it in ways you have perhaps never experienced. I would have brought some in earlier but it required a $500+ gamble on my part and I wasn't willing to stick my neck out that far. So Way # 1 is seared tuna wrapped in harlequin sesame seeds with a lemon miso sauce, and wasabi oil served with sticky rice, pickled ginger and pomegranate seeds. Way #2 is Texas Ruby red grapefruit, sesame oil and soy sauce marinated tuna tartare Summer Rolls (rice paper rolls)(x 2) stuffed with alfalfa sprouts, jalapeno slivers, cilantro cellophane noodles, red pepper slivers and cucumber. Way #3 rubbed with wild harvested Ozarks sumac and stir-fried with rice noodles, Maranatha Farm rainbow Swiss chard and mizuna plus Willow Mountain shitake mushrooms. I think you'll find it a worthy combination. Presented with your choice of soup or salad. $21. I'll have about 15 servings available for the week beginning Wednesday.

My Flavor journey this week is a Fiesta chicken platter featuring chili lime marinated boneless chicken breast    grilled and topped with a cilantro lime sauce, accompanied by grilled fresh pineapple topped with chili and cotija cheese, a bacon wrapped jalapeno popper and calico rice. Available beginning Tuesday. $12.99

I hope you and yours have escaped the threat of flu and are enjoying this relatively mild winter thus far. Have a glorious week. We hope to see you soon.

~~Susan

Weekending 1/19 Focus, Re-focus

Whenever a company has a major turnover in staff it gives the management an opportunity to refine its purposes and long-term goals. Those could be done at any time, but changeover allows for a more instant re-focusing. As that time has come, I am now re-looking at what I hope to accomplish with the cafe. Most of all I want it to a be a collaboration of folks who share a similar vision of creating good, REAL food with minimal adulteration, using as many fresh, locally sourced ingredients as possible. I want it to be the result of more than my single input. Exposing one to the many flavors of the world expands one's vision and responsibility for taking care of the planet while tantalizing the taste buds. To that end we are expanding our team of dedicated cooks and servers. I want people who are passionate about the quality of foods that they not only serve but eat themselves. I feel healthy choices should be an easy decision not fraught with the marketing attempts of the major industrial food complex to simply give you the highest calories per dollar spent. I want people who are aware of their role in the world's food chain and seek ways to make it a better place. People with gumption and industry who try to give more back to the world than they are taking. People who are not content to sit back and watch the world unfold without questioning, on a daily basis, what could be improved and what they, themselves, can do about it. Do you know anybody with that vision or a similar one? Please send them to me so we can talk.

I am deep into reading the Omnivore's Dilemma.by Michael Pollen. I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the American food industry and where we fit into it. Ouch! I had such a minor view, and I realize now just how thoroughly the marketing of the major industrial food complex has infiltrated our lives. It is stunning to read how, what I thought, was a simple pure ingredient, corn, has completely changed our way of eating in the last 50 years. Mr. Pollen takes us through the changes that have affected crop yields, price controls, overabundance and the problem of creating an artificial need to consume more calories to support this complex.

A few years ago we drove west through western Kansas and eastern Colorado, driving though miles and miles of cattle feedlots. It was eye-watering, eye-opening and a sensual invasion. Through Mr. Pollen's book I saw how those feedlots have taken what previously took 2-3 years to bring a steer to market weight of 1200 pounds and has reduced it to considerably less than 2 years by massively feeding the cattle ingredients their bodies are not meant to digest. To enable them to survive this injustice they are routinely given antibiotics. This trickles down to our consuming those antibiotics through the food we eat. When a nasty bacteria comes along and we need an antibiotic, we are now less resistant and the bacteria have developed resistance as well. I thought I understood all that already. Not like this. If you want to see what you can do, first by simple awareness, I highly encourage you to read this enlightening and easy-to-read  book. I was able to buy it for my Kindle for $2.99.

Another book I have entertained myself with over the weekend is Come In, We're Closed—An invitation to staff meals at the world's best restaurants. More than any other book I've read on the restaurant industry, this book gives insight into the philosophies of the owners and chefs of these world renowned eateries. Yes, there are recipes, but mostly they share their viewpoints on the value of team building and the importance of sitting down together each day and enjoying a meal together. This tradition is common in much of the world's great kitchens but often lacking in the get-it-done-as-fast-as-you-can-prep-world of the American restaurant kitchen.  I intend to bring it back as a regular perk for our staff. While it is common to use up leftovers and not-quite-perfect parts in the staff meal, the book also points out the importance of making sure those who are creating and serving the customers the "good stuff" also get to enjoy a thoughtful meal, well prepared and to be able to let off steam either before or after a major dinner service. For us that will most likely translate to Friday afternoon. I look forward to the cohesiveness this might engender. I agree with Anita Lo, chef and owner of Annisa in New York that "I don't see how you can make your staff care about food if you are not feeding them well."

The excitement is building for our first Flavor Excursion—the Philippines.  I've been learning all about adobos and various far-flung ingredients like coconut vinegar. Research has led me to a source for 10-25 pounds of fresh banana leaves that will be incorporated in the dishes and the decor. I am entertained watching my purveyors look at me blankly when asked about certain ingredients as they frantically type on their laptops to dig out info. I am sure much of the ingredients will end up being sourced online.  I am looking forward to speaking with our wine sources to best pair dishes with their vino counterpart. We are only allowing 20 to participate in this first excursion, and reservations have begun to come in.  I am expecting the final cost to be approximately $60 per person inclusive of wine pairings. The date has been set for Saturday, February 23rd. Part of the experience will be a verbal introduction to each course with the purpose of creating a wider understanding of, not only the foods but the people and their culture. It'll be like a mini vacation without the need for a passport. Hmmm. Maybe we need to create our own special passport.

Seafood Entrée~You may remember last year in March we flew in 25 pounds of fabulously large shrimp from Port St. Joe in Florida. Well this week we are doing it again. These huge babies are classified as 9-12 per pound. I'll briefly marinate them in citrus and spices and grill them. They'll be served in a pineapple "boat" along with grilled fresh pineapple and a calico rice and fresh stir-fry. The photo image is from last year's batch. You'll be offered a choice of soup or salad, as well. In keeping with my pride in serving sustainable, identifiable foods I can tell you these will come right off the boat of a family that has been shrimping in the Gulf of Mexico for many, many years.The Wood family has been in the shrimping business for five generations, and they source wild-caught, sustainable shrimp from the best shrimping boats in the Gulf. The fishery is sustainably managed and harvested, with each and every shrimp traceable back to the captain who landed it. The cost will be $17.99 and the availability limited. Reservations strongly suggested.

My other Flavor Journey this week is an apple-stuffed pork loin roast served with a scalloped sweet potato stack and fresh green beans and carrots with mushrooms plus soup/salad. The apple stuffing gives a nice counterpoint to the savory of the pork.$14.99

The soup this week is Long Soup—think Asian flavors, pork, cabbage and noodles. Later in the week I'll make a mushroom and wild rice soup using locally raised mushrooms.

What's for lunch? Here you go for a chilly week:
Tuesday~Spicy peanut chicken tacos $7.50
Wednesday~Mostaccioli and side salad $7.50 (beef and tomato/onion, pasta casserole)
Thursday~Tuna casserole—old fashioned but sauce made from scratch with side salad $7.50
Friday~ Shrimp and sweet potato grits with side salad $7.75

Thank you for your continued support, referrals and friendships. We treasure them. Stay warm and stay loved.
~~Susan

Weekending January 12,2013 Off and running!

Well the New Year started with a bang and we are back at it. No matter how much time we get "off" it never seems enough. Don't get me wrong—I love what we are doing. But the energy commitment is fierce.

I've been reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Each brings a  perspective that is both intriguing and spooky. Not personally having been professionally trained as a chef, I am sure I have missed out on many of the "tricks" in the industry both good and bad. It has opened my eyes to some of the decisions we face in making menu choices as well as the means of walking the fine line in serving food based on personal moral choices. There are now many genetically modified foods out there that have had little testing and virtually no labeling. The closer to home we source our foods, the better chance we have of asking the producer what they feed their stock, what environment the animals were raised in and how they were butchered. I'd like to continue focusing on providing food that can be tracked from the farm or boat to your plate because I know who produced it. I am especially pleased with the volume of  local produce and eggs we are able to acquire. I wish all of it was from local sourcing. This last year's drought took its toll on the farmers in the area and without exception I have heard stories of super high feed costs, drought-affected livestock, plants that stopped growing and weary workers. We are hopeful for the new year bringing more compassionate weather for all.

We'll keep searching for locally raised meats, eggs, poultry and produce. We'll also work to keep our prices within reason. Were we in the Northeast, the Northwest, or even in larger regional cities, we could charge and get much higher prices for what we are producing. We are fortunate in that some of our costs are not as high as those areas demand. But we pay the same amount for our food costs and utilities as any restaurant in a larger city. We save in areas of rent, insurance, and payroll.

I mentioned in my last blog about the Flavor Excursions. We are planning four seasonal events of this kind. The first will be based on Filipino cuisine. I thought tropical might inspire you. I have recently purchased 2 cookbooks whose focus is entirely on foods from the Philippines. Much of the flavors originate from 400 years of Spanish rule and therefore have some similar foundations we find in Latino foods, with additional influences from China, Japan and Malaysia. The foods from that region are very fragrant and flavorful, utilizing an abundance of fresh coconut, limes, tamarind, ginger, palm sugar, local seafood, poultry and pork. I am currently researching out several sources of ingredients for this multi-course feast. The plan is to start fairly small by limiting the number of reservations for this event to about 20. As each diner will use several dishes, more than that and we have to start buying a lot more plates, dishes, glassware, etc. My plan is to pair each course with an appropriate alcoholic beverage or local fresh drink. As I am still researching I won't figure the price yet. I should know within the next 2 weeks all the pertinent data. We are looking at doing this Saturday, February 23rd. I am expecting the cost to be in the range of $60/person, which includes the paired wines, etc. You'll be able to get that here without the cost of filling your gas tank and traveling 3-5 hours each way as you would have to do if indulging in such a feast in St. Louis or Kansas City—if you could find such a thing. We're planning on making it a full-immersion experience with appropriate tablescapes, native music and even encourage you to come wearing native costumes. Here's a link to what people wear in the Philippines. http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/culture6.htm. I hope you think this will be as much fun as I do—a chance to explore the world around us without even having to leave town or find a pet sitter. My intention is to use the foods to introduce an understanding of the people, the culture and the cuisine. If you know someone who has access to a digital projector, I'd like to use it to include some images as background information. We'll start taking reservations for this event this week.

While your personal home garden may be currently dormant, the greenhouse at Maranatha Farm is full of green stuff. This is the time of year to enjoy the oriental greens such a mizuna and tatsoi as well as other various sturdy greens like Swiss Chard and arugula. I love incorporating them into my nightly stir-fries.We're keeping alive our various fresh herbs like rosemary, parsley, chives, thyme and curry plant by over-wintering them inside. They look a bit scrappy right now, but still useful. We certainly look forward to spring when we'll have local access to fresh spinach, peas, dill, lettuces, etc.

If you are one of the lucky folks who occasionally take in a steer to be butchered, could you please have the processor hold back the leg bones and perhaps the tails? I prefer to make our own stock and demi-glace. Since most of the local processors sell off their bones to dog food processors, I am having a tough time getting any. Done right, the bones are roasted to develop flavor and color and are then cooked with various veggies and herbs; then allowed to develop flavor intensity by boiling down the broth into a true stock. Fortunately this doesn't need to be done weekly; just several times per year and then frozen in batches. As one who has a vested interest in the quality and flavors we produce, I hope you can help us out.

A note about our "specials"— in the restaurant industry specials are often used to offload less-than-fresh foods before they go to waste. In our case they are menu items created especially for that day, or in the case of the evening meals, dishes that are being prepared only during that week and will be gone.

This week~~

Soup~ Texas style red chili

Lunch specials~
Tuesday~ Winter solstice salad $6.99
Wednesday~ Chicken pad Thai $7.25
Thursday~ Pork tamales with salsa verde and Spanish rice $7.25
Friday~ Chicken pot pie and side salad $7.50

Dinner specials~
Flavor Journey~ Roasted lamb ribs with rosemary; fresh spinach and garlic with jasmine rice. Served with soup or side salad. Note! only about 4 servings total. $11.99 Come early in week.
Seafood~ Pecan-crusted tilapia, fresh spinach and garlic with jasmine rice. Served with soup or salad. $12.99

Thank you for being a part of our weekly business. We appreciate how much you support our efforts to bring you real, unadulterated food. We depend on your word-of-mouth sharing to help us grow. We also appreciate and expect your telling us how we are doing, both good and when not so. We know we have one shot to make a good first impression and hope we live up to your standards while expanding your palate.

~~Susan

Happy New Year!

If you like jazz, you're in for a treat this Friday night! Jon has teamed up with Renée Wood, and they've worked up a bunch of great jazz standards. Those of you who are familiar with Renée's trio with Tom Rowley on guitar know what a great sax player Renée is. With Jon on guitar and a whole new set list, expect to hear some great jazz from this new version of the Renee Wood Trio: Renée Wood on sax, Jon Lumsden on 7-string guitar, and David Moore on drums. Reservations are recommended. (The original trio with Tom on guitar will return to the cafe in the coming weeks)
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Welcome back for another fun-filled year of cuisinal explorations, flavor journeys and even the occasional international excursion. I thought I'd take a few moments to share my hopes and plans for the year. One of my favorite things to do each year is spend the week between Christmas and the New Year reviewing what has and hasn't occurred and project what I'd like to see happen in the new year. Because I do such a thorough inspection, I am often delighted to discover that I have moved even further forward than I had anticipated previously. This inspection includes reviewing what did and didn't work, areas where communication or flows could be improved, as well as setting targets for production. We all have our blind spots, but this helps to minimize them while allowing us to keep our eyes on the goals ahead.

Accomplishments this past year include:

• adding dinner service four nights a week
• adding beer and wine to our menu and jumping through the hoops to get there
• increasing our sales by nearly 60%
• expanded into the annex space next door
• adding helpful staff who really care about your comfort and happiness
• greatly increased number of private parties and caters
• consistently higher quality of musical performers
• connections for quality wild seafood delivered less than 24 hours out of the water
• adding 3-door cooler plus full-size freezer allowing us to buy in bulk
• addition of a talented, independent baker who custom makes the breads we don't make ourselves
• addition of a skilled bookkeeper to help keep us legal

Other areas where I am seeing an increase include the number of customers who visit us more than once a week. The night-time dinner service has slowly gained a following, and we've moved beyond some of the harder-learned lessons to deliver a quality product, usually, in a timely manner. Because of the nature of our customer base, I am allowed the freedom to scratch my creative itch when planning a menu.  We know our customers expect us to use only the freshest, highest quality ingredients we can find. I have refused many a product because it contained ingredients I won't serve, like msg and hydrogenated fats. You'll never find margarine or artificial sweeteners in my food ingredients. (I can't help that many ask for Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper that contain aspartame. But that is the only place you will find aspartame in our kitchen. If you haven't read about the downside of aspartame, I invite you to do so. Just call it up on your search engine.)

As the year moves forward, Jon and I both are hoping to have a bit less time in physically running the cafe. Jon turns 60 next month  and I am just starting my last "50," so we are feeling like using less energy, not more. One of my requisites for any expansion is that it doesn't demand more of our time physically. I don't mind spending lots of time in planning and goal setting. I just don't want to be working 60+ hours a week on my feet. Don't worry. We'll still be around A LOT.

Rick has been a wonderful addition since he first joined us last February. He has a wonderful can-do attitude that makes execution of plans a simple A-to-B process. I know that whatever task I set before him will be completed with a minimum of deviation and an eye toward quality. His knowledge of the field of food service is wide enough to be able to add to my novice efforts and steer me away from potential disaster. Plus he'll actually offer an opinion when asked for one! Do you have any idea how rare that is?

With his help and that of our other enthusiastic gang members, we are planning several events this year in addition to our regular lunch and dinner service. I have talked for a couple of years about doing major quarterly feasts. With the addition of our ability to serve beer and wine plus the number of requests I have received for just such an event, we are planning at this point to do this quarterly. I am calling them Flavor Excursions. They will explore various ethnic cuisines, include many courses and be paired with specific wines  for each course. The first will happen in late winter, probably late February and will be well-promoted and hopefully will sell out well ahead of time. I am truly looking forward to planning these events. Paula will add her touch to the tablescapes with her extensive knowledge of floral design.

We are planning to have 2 beer tastings as well as 2 wine tastings. At each event, the foods paired will have as much importance as the beverages offered. I am also hoping to take part in more community-based fund-raising events that showcase our skills while raising money for strong causes.  Whew!  Fortunately, we have the whole year ahead of us.

Speaking of beers, we have a few beers that we are not going to restock and we have a few remainders of the cases. These are mostly specialty beers that normally sell for the $4 price range. We will offer them at $2 each until they are gone. We don't expect them to last the week, so get in early.

We have found ourselves repeatedly very grateful for the support you have shown us. So far, most everything we have tried has worked out. Bringing in the fresh seafood is a big financial risk for us each time. I am having to commit the equivalent of half our weekly food budget into one or two items. The fact that you make that worthwhile is something I treasure. You have faith that the food we prepare is worth your time and money, and we have faith that you'll be there to enjoy it.

One of my most treasured aspects of what we are doing is the fact that most of our growth has happened very organically through word-of-mouth. We really appreciate that you have found what we do worth sharing with your friends and loved ones. This is vital to our success and we encourage you to tell more people about us. With the exception of Friday nights, which are usually fairly busy, we have room to grow on the other weeknights. If you have only come in on Fridays, you'll be surprised how fast we can get your dinners out the other nights. Rick, Ashley and I have worked to streamline the food delivery on Friday nights. We know you are not in a hurry but want to make sure you are not having to wait any longer than necessary. Our policy has always been to encourage you to stick around for the evening with no effort to "turn the tables."

We are adding a couple of items to the nighttime appetizer and dinner menu. As we are attracting more vegetarians, I am wanting to make them welcome by offering options that will satisfy their dietary choices. We have always been willing to adapt our dishes to work around most allergies and food choices, but I wanted  to have items that don't leave room for questions. To that end we are offering hummus and chips. Did you know that hummus is now the most requested refrigerated dip around the country? We are also adding a spinach-artichoke dip. As always, we'll be making these items from scratch. While the artichokes we start with are canned, the garbanzos for the hummus are not.We are also adding brown rice with stir-fried veggies and a pesto pasta prima vera. The latter is linguine with our in-house pesto plus fresh in-season vegetables.

One area that I think needs to be explained or perhaps just communicated about is the availability of our various appetizers. Not all the appetizers are available all the time. I could just list the ones we know will always be there, but then you might not know about some of them and we'd never know you wanted them. Hopefully, your server will keep you informed. If you have a question about a menu item it is perfectly okay to ask questions about how things are prepared and to voice your preferences. If you keep mum I'll never know what you like unless I stumble upon it. So please tell us what you want to see. Are there big gaps in our menu? What is missing? Because you are dealing with the owners, we can make changes easily.

One of the reasons that some items are not always available is that we make things in small batches. Most restaurant kitchens have large freezers and literally walk-in refrigerators. Not us. So whatever we make has to be able to be served in a timely manner and kept fresh. We are also limited in the time we have to create some items. Most of the time we have good time-management skills and can get everything prepared. But sometimes it comes down to a decision of whether to make another batch of an appetizer or a dessert. We've seen what happens when we don't have desserts. It isn't pretty.

You may have noticed that we do not offer deep-fried items on our menu. There are many places in town that serve primarily fried foods. Most of those items come in from the supplier already prepared and are just dropped in a fryer. We opted to stay away from that cooking choice because we just don't need more fried foods in our diets. I am no paragon of virtue here. I like fried foods, too. But I am happy not having to mess with the oil, the smell and the extra clean-up frying requires.

We have raised our prices a bit. It scares the heck out of me to do so, but if we wish to remain in business it is vital to our ability to stay profitable. Many of you have pointed out that our prices are pretty low and have actually suggested we might raise them. I know we are not the cheapest lunch in town, but I don't want to gouge you or make it impossible for you to enjoy your meals. Every time we go out of town for a meal we are hit with sticker shock. You are right. Ours prices are low. Overall, we've bumped lunches by about 50 cents and dinners a buck. We hope that works for you and keeps you coming in. We could reduce the quality of our ingredients and keep prices lower, but you have told us you want the good stuff. We believe you.

With the solstice comes a change in the seasonal salad. This time the winter solstice salad is made up of spinach and a bit of arugula plus red onion slivers, avocado slices, a bit of feta,  red grapefruit and orange slices, pomegranate and sliced almonds topped with our wood-fired chicken. We are making an orange vinaigrette dressing to pair with it. I'll never forget the first time I ate a similar salad. I was only about 14 and living in Florida. A friend's mother fixed it to go with dinner. I can still taste it. We've added the wood-fired chicken to make it a meal in itself.

This week's menu—

Soups~ we'll start the week with a bean and ham soup. I'll use black-eyed peas so we can get our dose of "good luck" for the year. That will come with a hunk of cornbread. We make ours with whole wheat flour, corn meal and honey for sweetness.

Wednesday~Grilled cheese with cup of soup $7.50
Thursday~Bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich with side $7.25
Friday~Quiche Lorraine(Swiss cheese, bacon, onion) and side salad $7.50

Flavor journey~Roast Sirloin of Beef plus au jus. Studded with cloves of garlic and cooked to a medium rare, this juicy roast is made from the same cut as Kansas City Strip. Served with garlic mashed potatoes, winter stir-fry and a creamy horseradish sauce. Paired with a soup or salad.$14.99

Seafood~Cioppino (pronounced chuh peen' oh) Didn't get your Christmas Eve dose of Feast of Seven Fishes? This might do the job. This hearty seafood soup is pure Sicilian. It consists of a fish and tomato based broth loaded with mixed seafood of calamari, clams, shrimp, scallops, octopus and chunks of wild caught coho salmon. (Okay, the salmon isn't Italian)  Served in a bowl and accompanied by lots of fresh bread for dipping. Served with salad. $14.99

Thanks for being a part of our lives. You, along with your continued support and encouragement, make our lives fuller and help to put a future there that we can believe in. Thank you!!!

~~Susan