w/e August 3rd~~Three years old!!! Celebrating with you

It is hard to believe that we have made it this far. What began as an experiment and hopeful solution has become a community gathering spot and oasis for good food. And, oh my!, the learning curve has been amazing. Before we opened three years ago in a food trailer next to a used car lot I had never worked in a restaurant kitchen. My total restaurant experience boiled down to 3 months as a lunch time waitress 39 years ago and less than 2 weeks in a buffet restaurant 3.5 years ago.

Fortunately I am a cook with a strong sense of curiosity and who is easily bored by the same old, same old. When we were writing up our game plan we were keenly aware of friends who had gone before us and knew how much a restaurant could steal your soul. We decided early that despite "normal practices" we would design this project around our realistic energy levels, without big monetary risks, and an ability to actually pay our bills. Some aspects have been more successful than others. As we've grown we've taken on higher commitments to staff pay, government regulations, rent and utilities. These have chipped away at the nice margins we worked with early on. 

Over the last three years we have kept our ears open and listened to what you told us you needed and wanted. Night time dinners all week were added in February of 2011. Shortly after that we added beer and wine. Then we expanded into the "annex" next door. Let me tell you what we have planned next. Many of the ideas have been simmering for a while. Amy adding some of her keen insight and the timing of a super seminar have escalated the time-frame.

First—we are adding tap beer to our serving options. Once we have a kegerator (the container that holds, chills and dispenses tap beer) in place we plan to add true craft beers.  Hopefully, this will happen before the end of summer.

Second—we plan to extend our beer and wine serving permit to allow us to serve on the patio outside. This requires us to fence off in a fairly substantial manner an area that makes it obvious you can't walk beyond it.We'll add a couple of benches so friends can sit and talk while enjoying their beverages outside.

Third—we plan to get a full liquor permit to serve not only beer and wine but spirits as well.

Fourth—This is where it begins to get more expensive—we plan to put in a full bar with several beer taps and full-service liquor options. It will be located in the area we now use to hide ourselves away between lunch and supper. The "propanels" will come down. (Propanels are the temporary gallery display sections currently used as walls and to display some of my quilts.) The bathroom door on the annex side will be moved to allow more direct access. A triple sink as well as a hand-sink will have to be installed. The back wall will house the liquors and glassware. New lighting will also be a part of things. A new, non-porous floor is required.

Fifth—Along the wall area where we currently hang some of my framed pieces we will add 2 10 ft long church pews and 4 48" tables, plus chairs with pendant lights hanging over each table.

Sixth—The display area inside the window of the annex will be removed. I'm not sure what will go in its place. Perhaps a long counter against the window for stool type seating.

Seventh—Paint and lights and fans. Using the "Live Water" quilt as inspiration we will paint the "annex" in colors of the sea. I want the whole theme of the annex to be water. Over the next few years water will become a major topic of political and philosophical discussion. I want our venue to be a natural place for such discussions and a place where water's vitality is keenly observed and respected.

Eighth—An awning. The cost of putting an awning across the whole front is pretty high—close to $4,000. But we feel it is crucial to comfort while dining outside as well as increasing our visibility, and even lowering our utility costs. Hopefully, we'll also be able to add some barn lights to shine down on our sign and light the awning from above. By the way, my vision has always been for this to be a sidewalk cafe. The fact that this vision is slow to occur doesn't daunt my vision. I just want to do what it takes to make dining outside in nice weather your first choice. In larger cities, dining al fresco is considered a rare treat.

How do we plan to make all this happen? You are a big part of the plan! Jon attended a seminar last week at OzSBI on crowdfunding.  It fits right in with our stance on sustainability and allows us to grow, providing the services and facilities you've requested, while keeping high risk out of the equation. We'll be putting together the whole campaign shortly and hope your enthusiasm will keep the flow going. Stay tuned for the details.

Another part of our Anniversary Celebration will be to have 2 musicians play for you this week on Friday night. Phil Orlikowski is a crowd favorite playing vintage tunes from the 60s and 70s on guitar. Yes, folks...that is vintage these days. Jon Lumsden will also join us and play his laid back jazz guitar from the Great American Songbook plus many of his original tunes.

In celebration of our Anniversary, we are bringing in fresh caught Coho salmon from Alaska. They will arrive Tuesday morning after being out of the water for less than 24 hours. The cohos were caught off Beluga Point in the waters of the Cook Inlet via set net by a group of fishers that's been working that water for many generations. They use small skiffs (no more than 20 ft long), most of which do not have names since they're small, unmotorized boats. Using set nets, they pull in small amounts of fish at a time, and then each load their catch onto a tender (large motorized boat) that transports the fish back to the dock. I will cook the fillets to order and serve them with a rice pilaf and our lovely summer stir-fry. We'll make up our Sea Sauce to serve on the side. $16.99

The Flavor Journey this week comes from Argentina. I'll be serving Grilled Flank Steak (local grass fed beef) with a chimichurri sauce. The story of chimichurri is a bit convoluted.  According to Wikipedia— The Argentine gourmet Miguel Brascó claims that the word chimichurri originated when the British were captured after the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. The prisoners asked for condiment for their food mixing English, aboriginal and Spanish words. According to this story, che-mi-curry stands for "che mi salsa" (a rough translation is "hey, give me condiment") or "give me curry". The word then corrupted to chimichurri. The fact that prisoners could even ask for a condiment gives this little credence in my book.

Another theory for the name of the sauce comes from the Basque settlers that arrived in Argentina as early as the 19th century. According to this theory, the name of the sauce comes from the Basque term tximitxurri, loosely translated as "a mixture of several things in no particular order". It is a sauce made from lots of parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and wine vinegar. Various things can be added like lemon juice, cilantro, paprika, cumin and thyme.

The flavor is somewhat similar to a pesto or pistou. We will serve the flank steak and chimichurri with grilled
onions as well as a saute of  fresh local zucchini, pasta and zucchini flowers. Quite a striking dish! $15.99

A third dining option this week will be the Pasta all' Amatriciana. I have finally practiced this enough to pronounce it without too much stumbling. It is a pasta served with Italian pancetta (Italian rolled ham), Pecorino cheese, oven-roasted local Juliet tomatoes, lots of parsley, fresh garlic and a bit of  red pepper flakes. It can be made as mild or spicy as you wish. Comes with a side salad for $14.99

Now lets talk about the lunches—
Monday~ Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad (cold version). Vegetarian, of course. It is Monday, after all. $6.99
Tuesday~ Black and Blue Hamburgers served on Pretzel Roll. Local grass fed 1/4 lb. beef burgers grilled to order and served with caramelized onions, blue cheese sauce, sprouts or lettuce and fresh local tomato. Served with side of Home Fries. $8.50
Wednesday~ Caesar Salad with garlic parmesan shrimp. $7.99
Thursday~ Thai Beef Salad with mint and cilantro $7.99
Friday~ Spiced tilapia with linguine $7.99

Special desserts this week~
Blueberry poke cake—a yellow cake which is then poked with a wooden spoon and a mixture of fresh blueberries, Bailey's Irish Cream, sugar and heavy cream are poured over the top while the cake is still warm. Served warm. $4 (early in week only). It has nothing to do with poke weed.

By request! The return of the Grilled Pound Cake with warm peach coulis, vanilla ice cream and Chantilly cream. $5 We did a version of this last summer and many customers have reminded me. Thanks for the reminder!

Thanks to you, we have been able to continue to grow and expand. Your continued support, word of mouth promotion and personally directed enthusiasm have kept us moving forward. Without you A La Carte Cafe would wither and die. Come and be a part of great things to come. We are modeling our future based on your requests and input. In other words—you have a vested interest in what comes next. Stay tuned!

Have a lovely week! ~~Susan

w/e July 27, 2013 Getting the most out of A La Carte Café

W/E July 27 2013

Getting the most out of A La Carte Café

Each week I post my ramblings in hopes that you’ll find something that motivates you to join us for lunch or dinner this week—or both. Beyond my intentions of feeding you and providing a livable wage for our staff and ourselves, I am hoping to give you the opportunity to experience opportunities to step outside of your daily norm and experience something exceptional. In our decision to operate this café, I made the choice to emphasize local sourcing and in-season produce. This requires a higher commitment to seek out what is fresh and available. We are now buying from as many as 10 local growers and food producers. Some of them are specifically seeking us out and wanting to know what specialty produce I am in search of.

We’ve come a long way in the three years we’ve been doing this. Initially, Mary and Skip Badiny with Maranatha Farm were our primary growers for locally sourced organic produce. We continue to buy much of our produce through them but have added in smaller producers who may only have a single specialty crop. (Mary and Skip have been and remain instrumental in helping to promote our café and in providing the most needed produce.) In addition to produce, we now are able to source local grass fed beef and lamb as well as free-range chicken eggs.

When I am planning the menu for the week I take several aspects into account. First, what is going to be available for this week only or for a very short time? This might be fresh produce, but it might also be an announcement that the Coho Salmon run out of Ketchikan, Alaska has just begun. Through Chef’s Collaborative and Sea-to-Table I am connected up with docks around the country that ship fresh-off-the-boat seafood overnight. The thrill is getting in the coolers of extremely fresh seafood, cooking it and serving it up. I could do it more often if we had just a smidgen more business on a regular basis. To make those fresh fish orders work we have to order 25 or more pounds from a particular dock. That’s a lot of fish! Or crab! Or shrimp! 

The daily lunch specials allow us to showcase in-season freshness while allowing individuals on our team to strut their creativity. For the first couple of years this fell mostly to me with a few notable exceptions like Bruce’s tamales. Since early this year we have had in place an exceptional team of gifted and creative cooks. They are now responsible for the specials on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while I continue to produce the Tuesday and Thursday specials. As I am cooking the dinners on Tuesday through Friday, I am still making those decisions.  Often, the quantity of a given ingredient is limited and rather than skip it entirely I am content to make it only available in a small batch. This flexibility would never be allowed in a chain restaurant.  Over time, our customers have learned that if they want the scarce items it behooves them to call in and have it reserved for them.  We are happy to do so. I am not apologetic that we don’t make enough to feed everyone the specials. We can try to make more when there is a known favorite, but I would rather make too little than too much. It is all about sustainability, and that includes reducing waste. We even compost much of our vegetable waste or make flavorful broths during the winter months.  

Creating exceptional food is an on-going goal. It starts with quality, fresh ingredients. I like to expand beyond the expected to include multicultural cuisines and ad hoc improvisations. Generally, this provides that opportunity for you to step outside your safe box of flavors and expand your palate in a new direction. In the somewhat insular locale in which we reside, many people have not experienced other cuisines beyond local fried stuff, Tex-Mex or American-Chinese. Our customers who seem to appreciate us the most are those who have traveled extensively and know what the world has to offer. To them we create a whiff of the world at large.

This week we’ll be venturing all over the world in a whirlwind tour of flavors. On Monday, Vincent reprises his portabella tacquito. Vincent is great at presenting Latin inspired dishes. Tuesday we’ll have Chicken Pad Thai. Wednesday Amy will remind of us why this region is famous for cashew chicken. Thursday we’ll celebrate the first of the local tomatoes with a panzanella salad, and Friday Amy delights us with Bangkok shrimp. That is just the lunches. Of course, our daily menu is always available for more predictable fare.

For dinner we’ll head back to Italy for Cioppino, (pronounced chuh-pee’-no) a hearty seafood stew made with rockfish, shrimp, octopus, calamari, clams and scallops.  The broth alone is worth the visit. This special will include a special side salad and lots of freshly made bread to sop up the juices.

I’ll also do an Italian beef roulade. That is made with local grass fed beef flank steak filled with fresh herbs, cream cheese and rolled up, then cooked and sliced. We’ll serve it with summer stir-fry and garlic potatoes.

Were you aware that we cater small events? Private dinner parties, board meetings, staff meetings, recruitment dinners. Our annex is available for private events. Ask me about availability and costs.

We have not scheduled any musicians this week. Reservations are still recommended. It allows us to stagger your visit so that you have the shortest wait for your food.

So here’s the actual line-up in a simplified form~~

Lunches—

Monday~ Portabella Tacquito with chips and salsa $7.99

Tuesday~ Chicken Pad Thai $7.99

Wednesday~ Cashew chicken and rice $7.99

Thursday~ Panzanella salad $7.99

Friday~ Bangkok Shrimp $7.99

Dinners—

Flavor journey~ Italian beef Roulade with summer stir-fry and garlic potatoes $14.99

Seafood Entrée~ Cioppino—Italian Fish stew with salad $15.99

Pasta Amatriciana~ Pasta, pancetta, oven roasted tomatoes, pecorino cheese, parsley and basil. Served with  a side salad $14.99

I hope you find the time to visit us this week. You make our efforts a pleasure and rewarding. Between the rain showers it should be a comfortable week to enjoy dining al fresco.

 

~~Susan

   

 

 

High Summer—High Jinx

The summer temps are beginning to reach their norms. The crops that were slow to germinate and sprout are now kicked into high gear and well on their way to producing a wide variety of delicious veggies and herbs. Time for some fun!

First of all—our musical guests this week are two founding members of the Blackberry Winter Band, Marideth Sisco and Dennis Crider. It is an honor to have them join us Friday night. Previously they have packed the house. So if you want to enjoy their tunes while enjoying your dinner, you'll want to be sure to make reservations. We'll be limiting the seating to what the Fire Marshall allows. Make that reservation today.

Now back to the food—As I said we are in high season with regard to produce and I intend to make the most of it.  This will be a great week to expand your palate and s-t-r-e-t-c-h those taste buds.

Word has finally gotten out about us enough that food producers are now coming to me to ask what crops I'd like to see grown. The first of those specialty crops is arriving this week, but in a small quantity to start. They are squash blossoms. These delicate gourmet bundles have long been enjoyed by Native Americans and as part of the Southwestern cuisine for decades. We'll be stuffing them with fresh cheeses and herbs and featuring them on some of the dinner offerings. Because we don't know what kind of volume they'll be made available, we aren't promising more than a nice chance to taste them. Assuming we are able to secure a larger quantity, we'll be adding in an appetizer that features them. We'll only be using the male blossoms and therefore we won't be cutting into the squash production. I bet less than 5 of our customers have ever tasted this delicate treat.

Did you hear? We now have hamburgers made with local grass-fed beef from Spring Creek Farm in Pottersville. We grill them up fresh and offer both a classic burger as well as a Southwestern burger. We'll highlight them on Tuesday, but they are available at all lunches.

Janet brought us some spectacular green beans and they will be served with both the evening stir-fry and as a featured side dish at dinner with shallots and fresh herbs.

Twice this week at lunch we'll be bringing out cold pasta salads that celebrate the summer heat. On Tuesday I'll make one that includes melons, feta and pancetta (Italian bacon/ham). Later in the week, on Wednesday, Amy has one that includes bacon, lettuce and tomato. Step out of your comfort zone!

And speaking of salads, Vincent suggested that we might want to make available any of our lunch salads as a wrap. We have some ginormous tortillas made just for that purpose. So for fifty cents more, just ask us to make it a wrap!

Thursday's lunch should be fun. We'll have Pork Fried Rice accompanied by Pacific Rim Gazpacho Shooters. I can't wait to bring out this chilled soup made with such fresh ingredients. Summertime and the soup is chilled!

Friday I'll make a Tuscan quiche that celebrates the harvest, as well. I'll include oven-roasted roma tomatoes, mushrooms, summer squash, onions, and fresh Italian herbs. It'll be served with a side salad.  Perfect summer fare.

Let's talk about the dinners now.  Oooo-wheee! The seafood entrée is ginger and garlic glazed ginormous gulf shrimp on a pineapple boat with Calico rice, pineapple mango salsa, and summer stir-fry.  $15.99

The Flavor Journey—Lamb ribs that have been slow wood-smoked and finished with a rosemary garlic glaze, local green beans simmered with shallots and fresh herbs, summer stir-fry plus a stuffed squash blossom. This will be available in a very limited quantity. Reserve EARLY!  $17.99

Again, this week I am offering a third dinner special option. It will be a pasta prima vera with a very light sauce to bind tomatoes, squash, onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots and green beans. This one is vegetarian at its base, but you can add wood-fired chicken or wood-fired salmon for a bit more. $13.99/ $15.99/ $17.99

We will also have a festive beverage for Friday night—peach bellinis. This luscious mix-ture combines ripe peaches, lemon juice, and sugar with sparkling wine. We'll offer this wine cocktail at $5/ glass.

Desserts~ Where to begin? As always, we'll have Drew's wonderful carrot cake. Then, we'll start the week off with peach cobbler. I'll add tira misu mid-week and by Friday I plan to have coconut and corn ice cream with brown sugar syrup. This truly celebrates the arrival of local corn. Now THAT is my kind of fun!

You know~I just bet I missed something. So much excitement. Come be a part of it.

Thank you for being a part of our growth and history. We love sharing our creativity with you. You have made it safe for me to explore and stretch and allowed us to truly celebrate each new flavor that comes our way. We need to increase our customer base to maintain our own sustainability. Your word-of- mouth is important to us. If you have not done so lately, how about rating us on yelp.com or yahoo.com or tripadvisor.com? Of course, if there is a problem, we hope you will give us a chance to get it right. Have a glorious week.

~~Susan

W/E July 13th Skipping along through summer

When all in life is going well it is easy to approach the future with a light heart and a touch of insouciance. When life seems a bit more serious it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking more effort is needed. Effort doesn't necessarily translate into more results. Actually I have found the opposite to be true. If I look at ways to make the journey more fun, light hearted and downright silly, life seems to get brighter and go more smoothly. After a week of "serious effort" I am far more exhausted and likely to be frustrated than a week of "let's play a game." Each can get the results but the second leaves me far more satisfied and happy. It all comes down to "energy management." The amount of energy needed for the light hearted approach requires less energy and tends to be self-regenerating.

Why do I mention this now? Because we are finally beginning to see our summer business picking back up. We had a few weeks of wondering what had happened. Fortunately, even when the lull seems to go on way too long, we are humbled by the strength of the returning force when it hits. We have been striving to keep things light and now we are rejoicing. We missed you!

You came back just in time to celebrate the abundance of the season. Each week, in addition to what we are finding at the local produce stands and Mary and Skip Badiny's garden, we are also being gifted with some fabulous fresh herbs and veggies. Just last week we were brought French tarragon, oregano, parsley, winter savory, poke weed and chives as well as fresh eggs. We love that you share with us. If you are about to leave town and don't wish your crop to go to waste, we'd love to include your goodies on salads and in stir-fry.

Earlier I mentioned energy. Well the foods we have been getting in abound in it! When crops are harvested and consumed with minimal delay there is an almost direct transfer of energy from plant to you. While working in preparation I am acutely aware of the boost in energy that the freshest produce and herbs contain. Dang near visceral. When long-distance transport, cold storage and time enter the picture, the available energy is just reduced. This may seem all new-agey but we who are working with the produce are quite aware of it.

One of the experiments we added while trying to get our numbers to a sustainable level, was to be open Saturday evenings. Despite being open for six Saturdays in a row, it has not proven to be a desirable night for dining—at least during the summer. So we are ending that dinner service for now. I expect we'll add it back in come fall. We are anxious for your feedback. Please feel free to share your thoughts.   ####NOTE#### No more Saturday Evenings this summer.####Note####

This week Renee Wood Trio will play on Friday evening. This time Jon Lumsden will be the guitar player. Even though we have Renee and her trio fairly often, there are actually 2 different sets of personnel. The sets of music played are almost completely different when Tom Rowley joins her as guitarist.  Although both Jon and Tom are playing jazz guitar, they each have a different take on things and Renee's improvisation is quite different between trios. Renee plays saxophone and David Moore plays drums.

We'll have three dinner specials this week. I doubt I'll have the ingredients for all three throughout the week, so if you have a favorite, come in early.

The seafood entree this week is a low-country crawfish boil complete with corn and boiled potatoes. We'll cook the crawfish in a broth seasoned with Old Bay..  $12.99

The second option is a pork loin roast glazed with garlic jelly. I'll serve it with our seasonal stir-fried veggies plus a tomato tart. $12.99 BTW—We make the garlic jelly in-house and have containers of it available for sale. It would make a lovely hostess or thank-you gift for someone who enjoys cooking.

The third option would be the Flavor Journey straight from Italy in the form of linguine all' Amatriciano. This ones really celebrates the season with slow oven roasted Roma tomatoes, pancetta and pecorino. The pancetta is an Italian ham and the pecorino is a cheese somewhat similar to Parmesan. This makes a very pretty dish—lots of flavor and lots of color. $12.99

I have some special appetizers right now too. A fresh batch of goat cheese plus some lovely smoked salmon brings out the water crackers and dill.  The second and third appetizers celebrate the arrival of eggplant season. We have a combo platter of hummus plus babaganoush (an eggplant dip) served with pita chips and crunchy veggies. The third one will have to wait until Wednesday evening before I'll get a chance to bring it together. It is grilled eggplant rolls stuffed with feta and kalamata olives. Each of these is for a short time only while the ingredients are readily available and fresh.

For desserts I have a real treat. Last week I took a whole large plant's worth of basil and blanched it—cooked quickly in boiling water and then tossed in ice water to stop the cooking. This intensifies the flavor. Then I made a simple syrup (half water /half sugar) and cooked it in that a for several minutes to make a basil syrup. That was then blended with juice from a whole honey-dew melon, some fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt and then frozen. The result is a basil granita served on a bed of fresh sliced peaches. The flavor is delicate, summery and bright.

By Wednesday evening I hope to have a fresh local blackberry cobbler ready.

Now here are the lunch specials for the week~~

Monday~ Stuffed manicotti with creamy tomato sauce and side salad $7.99
Tuesday~ Solstice Salad 20 cents off. A base of romaine topped with fresh mozzarella, fresh Roma tomatoes, wood-fired chicken and fresh basil. Served with balsamic vinaigrette $7.39
Wednesday~ Baja chicken tacos with side $7.99
Thursday~ Pork Bahn Mi sandwiches $7.99
Friday~ Summer squash and 4-pepper smoked sausage quiche plus side salad $7.99

As always—we are grateful for your support and continued sharing of our little secret. Amy, Drew, Vincent and Haleigh all welcome you when we are not around. In the evenings you'll see those faces plus Christina and Sharon and, of course, Jon and me. We invite your input and encourage you to write reviews of our services on sites such as yahoo.com, yelp.com and google.com or even just a quick word on our Facebook page. 

~~Susan

w/e July 6th Nurturing Creativity? Avoiding the same old, same old

What an unexpected joy I am feeling with the cooler than usual temps forecasted for this week. We'll not only put out our bistro table sand chairs but also the larger round tables with unbrellas. We get maybe 10 pristine days a year like this we and are getting half of them in one week. Time to celebrate by dining al fresco.
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We are wonderfully fortunate to have a talented team of cooks in our midst. While I may spearhead the direction of our menu, I am backed up by a team—Amy, Drew, and Vincent. They are each passionate about food, sourcing and healthy preparation methods. Amy brings thorough training as well as years of experience to her weekly lunch creations. She has the responsibility for creating and preparing the lunch speicals for both Monday and Wednesday. Vincent brings a love of Latin foods and enthusuastically shares his family's Puerto Rican recipes and flavors. Drew continues to delight us with his dinner breads, carrot cake and various desserts. Each are a joy to work with and embrace our mission with sustained enthusiasm.

We were delighted to learn this week that we were specifically sighted in a new article on Livability.com. The article lists the top ten small towns in America with West Plains capturing slot #9. We were mentioned as evidence of the entrepreneurial spirit of the area and the positive influence of OzSBI. We couldn't be here without the strong support of our customers as well as the long-term vision of "downtowners" Toney and Kathleen Aid. We truly believe in our mission and are humbled by those who also believe in us.

The level of quiet we've experienced the last couple of weeks would make it seem the summer doldrums settled in early. As an optimist I believe it is an indication of a sronger economy, one where our customer base is doing sufficiently well that they can leave town for their vacations.  My job is to come up with a plan to overcome that lethargy and inspire you to get back in here. Over the next couple of weeks you'll be seeing me dig out favorite hot weather salads, desserts featuring fresh local berries and stone fruits as well as appetizers that celebrate the season. I'll also try to have a weekly sangria that celebrates the season's progression.  A new insert into the front of the dinner menu will acquaint you with each week's special features. We'll also be taking menus around to local campgrounds and RV parks—so you might see a few new faces.

Jon is working on booking more musicians for Friday nights. On the 19th we'll have Marideth Sisco and Deniss Crider. Others are in the works.

This time of year is exciting in anticipation of what new produce is available. A couple of weeks ago I acquired 5 pounds of Mary Badiny's organic garlic. I am making one of my favorite condiments—garlic jelly. Slathered on grilled meats, it brings out both the sweet and the savory. I'll have jars of it available in 4 oz. and 8 oz. sizes. You might ask about it at the register. I also am planning on making a blueberry chipotle glaze to be used in similar ways.

Because the 4th of July comes on Thursday this year, we will only be closed the one day. Because of the short work week I am also going to keep the menu fairly simple.

Here are the lunch specials~~
Monday~ Black bean tamale pie with side $6.99
Tuesday~ Local grass-fed beef hamburgers with heirloom tomatoes, bleu cheese and and caramelized onions with home-fries $7.99 OR wood-fired tuna salad sandwiches with side $7.79
Wednesday~ Honey lime shrimp salad—Grilled shrimp, Romaine, sprouts, avocado, tomato, onion honey-lime vinaigrette $7.99
Thursday~ CLOSED
Friday~ Summer squash pasta carbonara with side salad. $7.99

Seafood Entrée~ Shrimp scampi with side of linguine with stir-fried summmer veggies in lemon sauce. $13.99

Flavor Journey~ Kefta Tagine (Moroccan lamb meatball stew) with couscous and carrot date salad. $13.99

Appetizer special~~Dinner only~~babaganoush and hummus plate with chips and veggies $9.00

Dessert special~~ Carrot cake $4; Double chocolate waffle with cream cheese and local fresh blueberries and blackberry compote, plus ice cream $5; Basil granita with peaches (Friday and Saturday dinner only) $6