W/E Dec 1st A VERY short week

Well, it is that time again. Families congregate, cooking ensues, stories are told, and memories are made. We invite you to bring your families along to visit us this week. We'll only be open Monday through Wednesday for lunch and Tuesday and Wednesday for dinner. I am hoping that you'll find some time to squeeze us in. Wednesday evening would be an excellent time to escape cooking dinner and joining us for a relaxing evening.

It has become quite traditional for each of us to share aspects for which we are grateful. While many wonderful parts of my life are an open book, there are many things I am privately grateful for, as well. In the public realm I am continually grateful to have created A La Carte Cafe with Jon and had the chance to share it with a community of people who respect and appreciate what we have brought forth. Each day I read the food industry headlines and am appalled by the blatant poisoning happening by various large-scale corporations in the name of profits. Seeing some of the lists of ingredients in foods presented by these corporations and suppliers leaves me proud of the fact that we go out of our way to keep said ingredients out of the foods we serve.

During the three plus years we have been open, we have met an amazing array of wonderful folks. Even though we ran a company with a national market, and I have done art shows from New England to Florida and points West, we never had the opportunity to get to know, over a longer term, so many dynamic and wonderful people. I think, because you see us when you are hungry or relaxing, we see a different side of you than many others might. We see the YOU that is pretty fundamental. How lucky for us. When you are here you tend to let "your hair down." That allows us to see more than your "work" side, more than your "family" side, more than your purely "social" side. We like that. You are a pretty spectacular group. We are proud to know you.

While being grateful, I would be horribly amiss if I didn't do a big shout out to the fabulous staff that have joined us at one time or another. Currently, with the exception of Jon, it is all female. Do you have any idea how rare it is to have a restaurant where the entire creative staff is female? Especially since we are neither East  nor West coast. I am proud of the talent we have. Amy has boucoup experience in addition to stellar training credentials. She brings with her a love of good food as well as a vegetarian sensibility. Her creativity is allowed to be scratched and her efforts are extraordinary. As someone who considers herself an artist first, I understand the value of being able to be allowed creativity within your job. If you can't be rich, at least be rich in your ability to feed your creative soul. I am proud to have created an environment where this is not only possible but expected. I treasure the individual creativity each staff member brings to their jobs. No one here is exempt from any job. From dishwashing to creating lunch specials, to devising better ways to do something, everyone gets to contribute.

We know the next few weeks are  likely to be filled with many, many activities. Hopefully, you'll find some time to wind down a bit and join us for a meal or few. We do plan to be closed over the end-of-year holidays. So plan ahead. This year Jon and I will actually make it happen to be with our children and grandchildren. We'll do an early Christmas with Mom here and leave her in the capable hands of the folks at Shady Oaks whilst we feast on the love of our younger kin.

Now here is our short week of lunch specials and dinner specials~~

Monday~ Black bean and potato tacos with chips and salsa $7.29
Tuesday~ Chicken pad Thai $7.79
Wednesday~ Hungarian chicken paprikash $7.79

Seafood Entrée~ Garlic shrimp with wild rice pilaf $14.99 Large shrimp sauteed with garlic and green onions and red pepper flakes. Serve over a pilaf of wild rice, white rice, parsley and lemon.

Flavor Journey~ Beef Stroganoff~~ Traditional Beef Stroganoff made from beef tri tip roast, mushrooms, wine, sour cream and served over egg noodles. $13.99

Have a joyous week. Surround yourself in the love of others. Share your richness of being. Be engulfed by gratitude.

~~Susan et al

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