W/E February 23 Picking up speed

As the momentum of spring is picking up speed, so is our business. It is a fun ride. With Amy and Drew in place the creativity is no longer solely on my shoulders, and the result is far less draining on me personally. I like that. In fact, I have always wanted this to be more of a collaborative effort than a one-man show. Yes, it is nice to get the individual feedback, but it is just as nice to tell you that the dish you are raving about was created by Amy or Drew. They make up the core of our team, and I feel pretty certain they are going to be able to take us to the next level—whatever that should be. At this point we are focusing our expansion on generating more regular customers for the weekday dinners. These are hours I am already working and would like to see a stronger return on my time.

We are also gearing ourselves to be able to do some nice, small-to-medium scale catering. I have no interest in competing for tight-budget, high-volume luncheons that strip everything to the bare bones and require the use of low-end ingredients in order to meet the budget. I prefer to stick to what we are good at—good quality food made from real, preferably local ingredients, presented in ways that are healthy and enticing. Over the last few months we have done several small-to-medium sized parties and events ranging from baby showers to wedding receptions to retirement parties. Most were held here at the cafe. I am proud to say they all went quite well.

One aspect of catering I really enjoy is meeting with the customer to learn about the event itself, the people involved and designing a menu to meet those needs and budget. I am very comfortable discussing budgets, dietary restraints and decorative options. Recently, we expanded our resources and reference materials to include some floral design. If you have been in within the last week, you have seen some of Amy's work with the roses and orchids on the tables. This week we will really test our floral design skills when we do the flowers for the Filipino Dinner on Saturday. I have ordered all sorts of tropical flowers, and we plan some rather tall, lighted tablescapes. Watch for it!

Speaking of the Filipino Dinner... we had an unexpected cancellation, plus I accidently counted someone twice. So we have 4 openings I'd really like to fill. Our being able to do these special dinners with any regularity means we need to fully fill our tables. I am quite excited about the menu and though I realize the cost at $60 is pricey, I know you will be getting a full value. This cost includes 4 wines that are served with various courses. The menu itself is 8 courses, 9 -10 if you count each entrée. You will go home feeling like you have been transported to a different part of the planet. I plan to share not only the foods of the Philippines with you but some of the culture and history.You'll gain some understanding that can lead to a broader picture of where you fit in this universe. No. I won't be addressing philosophy... just broadening your horizon. Please call early in the week to fill those spots. If you have not already paid for your slot, please do so ASAP. Thanks.

You know we are always searching for ways to offer you foods that better support your health. We are very excited about our latest acquisition: a high-tech water machine that provides healthy drinking water rich in minerals, purged of impurities, and ionized through electrolysis. You'll find blue bottles of our new water on your table, so you can refill your water glasses at your meals. If you'd like to learn more about this water and the benefits it can provide, you can visit www.water-4-life.net or ask Jon for more information. Bottoms up!

~This week's dinner specials~

Mardi Gras slipped by and suddenly we are in Lent. This will give us an opportunity to bring out some vegetarian or at least meatless dishes. I'll begin this week by making 2 seafood entrées for dinner. The first one is breakfast at dinner: Smoked salmon 3-egg omelette. I'll make this using the local free-range eggs we get from an Amish farm near Seymour. The omelette will be filled with smoked salmon, cream cheese, grilled shallots, capers, fresh dill and fresh tomatoes. It will be served with potato pancakes accompanied by sour cream and applesauce, as well as our bread and a small spinach salad.  $11.99

The second seafood option at dinner will be Mahi-mahi lettuce wraps. You'll get 2. They will be filled with the mahi plus pineapple confetti rice and accompanied by Caribbean Kim Chee and my Sea Sauce. We wood-fired the mahi-mahi this weekend so the flavor profile is somewhat smokey. The Caribbean Kim Chee is worth a comment. It is made from napa cabbage, sweet red peppers, green mango, garlic, carrots, pineapple, cilantro, ginger, scallions, sriracha (rooster sauce), sesame oil and salt. The whole shebang is allowed to marinate while the salt draws out the flavors and begins to break down the fruits and vegetables. When the juice is drained off, the result is a nicely crispy refreshing salad. We offered it first last week with the mahi-mahi dinner, and it was very well received. I look forward to sharing it with you and developing a few more Caribbean Kim Chee fans.  $12.99

Our third dinner entrée this week will be the crowd favorite of beef Mostaccioli. This baked Italian pasta dish is full of Italian-seasoned ground beef, penne pasta, marinara, ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. I'll serve it with a side salad and our bread with pesto sauce.  $10.99

Now here are the lunch specials~~

Tuesday~ Grilled Reuben Sandwiches~Corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, Thousand Island Dressing on Jason McLaughlin's rye bread with side  $7.75
Wednesday~ Potato pancakes, sour cream, applesauce and turkey sausage  $7.75
Thursday~ Bagels (Jason's locally made) with smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion, capers and sliced vine-ripened tomatoes, plus side  $7.99
Friday~ Crab and avocado salad with Japanese dressing. If you know me, you know I never use fake crab- EVER. Sooo delish!  $7.99

Soup this week~ Kapusta This is a Polish pork, cabbage and potato soup that is really filling. We start with country style ribs, fresh cabbage and our own pork broth. Yum!

The desserts this week will start with a chocolate cheesecake. Don't know where we are going after that. Probably something fruity.

I hope you can enjoy the hint of spring in the air. Notice that the tips of the tree branches are starting to fatten up and flocks of robins are hunting worms. Surely they are signs of warmth soon to follow. We'll get a nasty blast of winter mid-week, but by noticing these "sure signs" perhaps you can maintain an air of hope to carry you through. Have fun this week. We are!

~~Susan

Hitting the Floor Running

Sometimes the faster you go, the behinder you get. That seems to be the case right now. I hit Monday morning with all sorts of good intentions. I'm looking at getting extra desserts done, an extra soup to offer another choice, etc. We still are working on the paperwork for the Tavern License. It is done in 2 steps with the first one being the step that gets the city's permission before you can even apply for the state one. That should happen this week. With that in hand, I can then apply for the state permit. The only thing I've ever done that had such a long runway was applying for Quilt National. Since I have yet to ever have a quilt accepted by Quilt National (yeah yeah, I know—an oversight on their part) I have a bit of a wary side in this regards. Unlike Quilt National, which typically has 3400 entries for a coveted few 63 slots, the Tavern Permit doesn't have as tight a quota system. But there are still pages of rules, and all sorts of preliminary steps—like measuring the distance between our front door and the nearest school or church. For us this would be the Student Union Building on campus. Must be 300+ feet. While I am glad that there is oversight, I am amazed at the sheer number of hoops and hurdles presented. At least I finally know the accurate name for the permit—tevern permit. I've been calling it a beer and wine license. Nope. That only allows one to sell those items for consumption off premises. We want to sell beer and wine for consumption on premises. We also have to sell much, much more food in ration to the beer and wine. Otherwise we could only sell beer. See? Hoops.

The catering is picking up. That is great. We've developed some more appetizer types of offerings that can be presented by the platterful. Among those are bacon-wrapped, cheese stuffed jalapenos, garlic shrimp on individual canapés, sushi rolls. By the end of the week we'll have another batch of smoked catfish dip. The weather is currently intervening on that. I have the catfish brined and Jon will smoke it within the next 24 hours. We hope you might be thinking of including one of our platters at your company holiday party or personal open house. Please remember to give us 24 hours advance notice so we have everything we need. Unlike larger operations that have corporate support, we shop on a smaller scale and buy what we know we need. We also shop more often so our ingredients are fresh.

A few of you have taken advantage of my offer to add arugula to your salads. I do this by request only and there is no additional charge for it. To me, arugula adds a nice bright note to my salads. Building a salad is much like building a fragrance or painting an image. There is a background or bottom note—the darker greens. Then you add a wide balance of flavors or in the case of fragrances, the mid-range scents. These are the most prominent or dominant flavors. Then you have the top note. This is the one that adds the extra sparkle, extra interest or complexity. In a salad, that could be a tangy cheese or pomegranate, or something that is still light yet flavorful. Nuts might also be a part of that—especially if they have been toasted and seasoned. 

I am delighted that we have a wider access to fresh greens during the winter months. As counter-intuitive as that sounds, it is because the local greens are raised in a greenhouse. During the warmer months valuable crop space is given to more space demanding crops like squashes or tomatoes. I am making a concerted effort to make our side salads more complex and tasty. your feedback is wanted—so speak up!!

Time to get on with this week's menu—
Soups~ we'll start the week with a big batch of French onion soup. I'll add white chicken chili Tuesday or Wednesday.
Monday~Shrimp and grits plus side salad. That'll warm you to your toes. $6.50
Tuesday~Pulled pork tamales with Colorado sauce plus buttered cumin rice. This the the most traditional of Bruce's tamales. I've had the pork braising all day Sunday in prep. It has smelled SOOO good. $6.50
Wednesday~Kapusta with salad. This is Bruce's stew that features spare ribs and cabbage. It has a very loyal following. $6.50
Thursday~ Roasted mushroom and chicken crepes with a tarragon cream sauce—as requested.With side salad. $6.50
Friday~ Tuscan chicken salad sandwiches. Fifty cents off.

Remember~ no Friday night dinners until January.
Have a great week.
~~Susan