W/E June 1 Caribbean Ports of Call

I am trying out a new game this week. The game is to explore various ethnic cuisines of a region with a different country or ethnicity every day. This week we are touring the Caribbean—we'll let our palates linger in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and even the Yucatan. It is just an experiment but one I thought might be worthy of your taste buds. I know we don't have easy access to some of the ingredients, like fresh seafood, but we'll see how far we can get. We leap all over the Caribbean; get your flavor passport ready.

Also happening this week—drumroll, please—we begin our experimental

opening on Saturday nights. 

June 1st marks our first Saturday evening dinner service. We plan to continue this through the summer months. The verbal feedback has been less than stellar, so we are not terribly sure how long we'll give this a try. So don't wait very long if you want to secure Saturday evenings at A La Carte as a weekend dining destination. This is truly an opportunity to vote with your pocket books. We'll initially open at 5pm. There has been some noise requesting earlier open times but we'll wait and see on that. We are adding the dinner service in hopes that we'll hit that sustainability level we need. Up until now we didn't even consider it as an option as we couldn't, ourselves, put in more hours. However, with the crew we currently have, headed up by Amy and her enthusiastic crew of Drew and Vincent, plus Tina and Sharon as evening table servers, we think we can split the efforts and make it work. We are confident in our team but also know you will tell us if things don't measure up. We are looking at having me do most of the evening cooking, as before, but with me only coming in for lunch on Tuesday to get things rolling for the week. If this works, it'll be the best of all options as it'll mean I can also get back into my studio a day or two per week. My soul cries out for studio time. I hope it works.

The lamb sure had good response last week. I was delighted. It is nice to be able to step outside the usual comfort zone, food-wise, and have you guys step out with me. What made the lamb different this time was that although it was heavily spiced, it had no hot chili peppers to hike up the heat. I know that many of you really like lots of heat, but there are at least as many who do not. It was nice to be able to offer flavor without crossing half our customer base off at the get-go.

I am continuing to delve into that menu for the Moroccan Dinner. Assuming the weather is cooperative, we'll be dining al fresco. I think it'll be a magical evening, one day after the solstice, where it won't be fully dark until 9:30pm. I am saving all my cans to make table lanterns with punched out patterns. We'll have carnival lights strung across the dining area. I am in talks with a couple of entertainment options. With at least 7 courses, 3 wine pours and the mystical menu of Morocco, you will be most entertained. Please make your reservations ASAP so we can fully plan this out. Only 30 reservations will be taken and we are well on our way to filling those up. $60/pp

Now to THIS week's dining adventure—

Have you tried our local grass-fed beef hamburgers yet? Served on a ciabatta bun we offer 2 options: Southwestern-style or Classic. This beef has a wonderful non-gamey flavor that is VERY similar to the elk we served recently. At 95% lean we cook it to order at a lower temperature to keep it from getting tough. The Southwestern option includes chipotle mayo, salsa, queso fresco, guacamole and sprouts. The Classic comes with mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and onions. Served with a side for $7.99. Available most always at lunch.

The lunch sandwich all week, or as long as we have the ingredients, will be a Jerk Chicken Sandwich on a ciabatta bun, with a touch of creamy jerk sauce, crispy cabbage slaw, and pineapple mango salsa plus a side of sweet potato salad that doesn't contain a drop of mayonnaise. We dry rubbed, then wood-fired the chicken thighs for extra flavor.  $7.99 Oh Mon!

Wednesday we'll serve a Cuban Style Picadillo with yellow rice and black beans. The primary meat in the picadillo is beef although a bit of ground pork has been added to sweeten up the meat flavor. The flavor profile of the picadillo includes sweet with raisins, briny and bright with olives and rinsed capers plus red wine vinegar, and spiced with cinnamon and cumin. Once again we have lots of spice but no heat. $7.99

Thursday will take us to Puerto Rico for Pork Mofongo. Vincent's mom is from there and he was telling me this is one of his favorite dishes his mom made. It starts with plantains that are cooked then smashed and cooked again in bacon drippings. Bacon or chicharrones are added. It is formed into a bowl shape, turned upside down and served with a broth and meat. We'll use pork and its broth. I am tickled to serve this labor-intensive dish. I hope you enjoy it.  I suspect that most of the labor involved in this will be done by Vincent. Be sure to let him know what you think. $7.99

Friday—Ceviche We've got a combination of cod, rockfish, shrimp and scallops to make this lovely dish. The perfect warm weather dish. If you are not familiar with this Caribbean seafood treat, let me tell you about it. It starts with raw fish that is marinated in fresh citrus juices. The acid in the marinade transforms the raw fish into "cooked" fish just as heat does but with no heat. The texture remains silky but the taste is no longer raw and the flesh is no longer translucent but opaque. It is mixed with fresh bell peppers, a bit of fresh jalapeno, cilantro, onions and garlic. We'll serve it over a bed of chopped cabbage and add some tortilla chips to make things texturally interesting. $7.99 WARNING: If you are wanting this I strongly suggest you call in to have us reserve a portion for you.

The Flavor Journey this week is Grilled Bahamian Chicken with Cha Cha Salsa. Served with black beans and confetti yellow rice plus side salad $13.99 The chicken is marinated in a coconut milk based marinade with jalapenos, cilantro and lime juice. The chicken breast is then grilled and served with a salsa made with all fresh ingredients.

Seafood Flavor Journey is Caribbean Tilapia with Mango Salsa. The tilapia fillets are rolled in coconut-flavored bread crumbs then pan-fried and served with confetti yellow rice and black beans plus a side salad.$15.99

Get out your dancing shoes!!!!! With this much fun happening I suspect you won't be able to sit still. So feel free to stand up and dance! As is always our policy—sometimes it just makes sense to lick the plate!!!

I haven't fully decided on the desserts this week. Carrot cake for sure but something appropriate for the Caribbean too. Mango ice cream? Perhaps.

I hope you have a fun-filled glorious week. I plan to...even working Saturday night.

~~Susan

w/e May 11 Staying Alive!

As each day passes we often wonder what the future holds for us. We've seen the years pass by so quickly. We were astonished to realize that our two grandsons are now 14 and 10 respectively. The elder even has a girlfriend. As they live in Florida we have missed whopping chapters in their lives over the last 13 years we have lived here. Decisions were made to be near my parents as they aged and though I don't regret that decision, it has left us missing out on some great kids. We have missed as much from our granddaughters' lives, as well. I hope over the next few years we are able to spend more time with our own kids as well as theirs. In the meantime, we live vicarious lives enjoying the positive efforts of those physically closest to us. Ashley Romans has been our primary waitperson on Friday nights for over a year. She is astounding in her ability to conquer new tasks and always have a terrific attitude. Somehow, while juggling being the mother of 4 kids under 10 she has managed to go back to school and is getting her RN next week. We are so proud of her and hope these new skills find her doing something that satisfies her and feeds her soul. The medical field is going to be a lucky one. Ashley will be with us off and on over the summer but by fall she'll be working full-time in her new career. We hope you have a chance to give her your warmest wishes for a bright future. Ashley, you will be very missed.

I am thinking this may be the week we have all been waiting for. The weather forecast looks promising for a more moderate range of temperatures and it may finally be safe to risk putting out those warm weather plants. With the soil barely warm, it may be awhile until we see those seeds sprouting and plants in the ground thriving. It would be nice if this meant we'd have a cooler than normal summer. But we know better than to expect that. No doubt in the next  two weeks we'll be experiencing warmer than normal temps to bookend the cooler than normal temps. Aaah. The Ozarks.

We have music twice this week. Thursday night the After Hours Big Band will play in our Annex. The band loves to play in that room because the acoustics are really good for their sound. If you love big band you'll enjoy the full immersion experience. If that is a bit much for you, you may still enjoy the sound from the next room in our main dining room. Friday night brings The Renée Woods Trio with jazz guitar, saxophone and drums. It is helpful to us if you call in a reservation.

Garden update: We finally have a few tires set up in back and this week I'll get some dirt in them. I had hoped to get a rain barrel set up to help us water out back...but it hasn't happened yet. I am grateful that I wasn't terribly ready to plant things as the weather has proven less than cooperative. Finally, procrastination pays.  The first things to go in will be the fast growers—lettuces, if not too late, radishes and peas. I am harvesting some spring onions from my home garden—or what is left of it. Mary has begun bringing in the new late spring crops of arugula, pak soy, and some other greens I am quickly becoming familiar with. I love being able to change up the stir-fry as the seasons move along. We'll be adding in some sugar snap peas over the next few weeks along with fresh local garlic and garlic scapes. Scapes are those long skinny things sticking out of the tops of soft garlic. They are somewhere between a flower, a stem and a seed pod.  We got in some ginormous carrots that we are slicing micro-thin and adding to the stir-fry and the sweet red peppers have been outstanding lately.

This week's special sandwich has been a while in arriving. I finally found some decent quality tuna steaks that we are wood-firing and then making into a tuna salad. I'll chop the meat up, add a bit of wasabi oil, mayonnaise, pickled relish, spicy mustard, sriracha and serve it  with sprouts, slivered cabbage, and tomato slices on ciabatta rolls.  $7.79 with side.

I am bringing back the beef rendang this week as the Flavor journey. When I made it the other two times customers were quite vocal in how much they enjoyed it. It is Malaysian dish that is pretty darn kicky in its spiciness. Just as chicken mole takes lots of steps and uses lots of fresh and dried spices and herbs, this dish is quite involved. It begins with a flavor base of dried chiles, fresh shallots, garlic and ginger and even some  galangal which is a root, like ginger, but spicier. Then it gets a whole spice blend of cloves, cardamom, anise and cinnamon. THEN it gets a ground spice blend of coriander, cumin, fennel and turmeric. The beef I am using for the rendang is flank steak. The rendang itself is cooked in coconut milk, a tamarind concentrate, limes, lemongrass, brown sugar, cilantro and even fresh coconut. The outcome is a stew-like, very flavorful but tender beef dish that will transport you to another world. It is served over jasmine rice and paired with our seasonal stir-fry. $15.99 includes a side salad

The seafood is a lovely mixture of shrimp, scallops, sugar snap peas, shitake mushrooms, and shallots and sherry. Six S's. I'll serve it over a bed of lemony pasta made with lemon zest and lemon juice. It should be a really nice celebration of spring. $14.99.

Now for the lunches~
Monday~grilled portabella panini with artichoke tapenade $6.99
Tuesday~ all week actually~ wood-fired tuna sandwich on ciabatta $7.79 with side
Wednesday~Ceviche~Rockfish, shrimp and scallops marinated with lemon and lime, cilantro, fresh peppers, cucumber, garlic and scallions. Served on a bed of chopped romaine and sprouts with tortilla chips. $7.99
Thursday~Smoked sausage with garlic potatoes and steamed cabbage $7.59
Friday~ Pasta with fresh asparagus, ham, mushrooms, kalamata olives and parmesan with side salad $7.99

I hope this week finds you with a moment of time on your hands to get out and enjoy the weather we have been hoping for. Extroverting with a walk around the block can do more for your frame of mind than most anything else. Get out of your head and into the environment. Most of all—enjoy just being alive.

~~Susan

Catapulting into the next season—W/E March 16th

Did you feel it? Each time we go through the "time change" I feel like I have been physically thrust into the upcoming season. Suddenly it is lighter longer in the evening. My mind seems to skip the fact that I am now also back to getting up in the dark. Soon we'll be leaving the windows cracked for fresh air and even with my deafness, I can hear the birds start their morning racket. Suddenly I am looking more urgently for the clues that spring is on the fast-track. Those forsythias are bound to bloom this week with the warm weather forecast. I'm never in a hurry to see the Stellar magnolias bloom as they often bloom one week too early and lose every blossom overnight to a late frost. But I am ready to get plants in the ground. Actually, for me these days it is more a matter of plants in the pots.

We have been given permission by the owner of the building next door to use the previously wasted space behind our cafe as a raised garden. We'll concentrate on fresh herbs and peppers and a few flowers we can use in the cafe—both for decoration and for eating. We need about 100 cinder blocks and a goodly amount of  decent topsoil. If you have either to contribute, we'd love it. We can even trade for food for a larger volume. I have wanted to be able to expand our fresh pickings and this will enable us to do so. I  find it humorous that restaurants with their own gardens are suddenly a big trend. One of my personal favorite restaurants in Nashville, TN, the Mad Platter, has had their own garden for over a decade. While there are many vegetables and produce varieties available via Maranatha Farm and Willow Mountain Mushroom, being able to grow some of the more colorful varieties seems like a nice option. I am drawn to some of the more obscure varieties of beets and radishes and carrots that offer bizarre color combinations. Asking a volume grower to commit to providing them for us when we use such small volumes isn't viable for anyone.
If you are growing some of the bizarre veggies for your own use and have more seed than you can use, please consider sharing them with us. We have several staff members who are avid gardeners and they will get put to good use. You might even see the results on your plate or table. It just can't get fresher than that.

The Meatless Monday Specials are off to a good start. Just to clarify—we still offer our full menu on Mondays; we just also offer a vegan or vegetarian dish as the special. The big news that might otherwise be missed is that we are now open Mondays for lunch!!! Thanks to the fact we have a gung-ho staff with energy, we can turn the Monday operation fully over to them. Aah! That means I can still have Monday to finish the cafe laundry, plan the menu and ordering, write this blog and take an afternoon nap. Drew and Amy are scheming daily on what we'll offer next. The special this week is a  Portabella Steak Sandwich. It looks very much like a Philly cheese sandwich, but made with portabella mushrooms (locally grown from Willow Mountain Mushroom) and a vegan "cheese sauce." We purchased some nice hoagie buns on which to serve them. Go, Amy, go!!! Drew has been researching smoothies. We've had a few requests for them over the years we've been open but have never committed to making them. We even have a Champion juicer. So we CAN make really good smoothies. If you have personal favorites you'd like to see made available, please let Amy or Drew know. Many folks are discovering the benefits of a raw food diet as well as just the delightful flavors and energy a good smoothie can provide. We're experimenting with berries, soy milk, almond milk and coconut milk. Speak up and help us design the new portion of our menu.  We remember that we are here first to serve you what you need and want. Anything else is just to keep us entertained.

We have music again this week after several weeks of silence. The Renée Wood Trio will perform Friday night. They'll do primarily jazz but with St. Patrick's Day fast approaching I am hoping we can get a penny whistle tune or two out of Renée, as well.

We are at a point that we need input from you regarding music. The options we are considering are whether to bring in the caliber of entertainment that demands a cover charge or to be satisfied with musicians who are content to rely on tips and a free dinner. We have been fortunate to attract a pretty good cadre of musicians but we need more. We really are not wanting to expand beyond the jazz genre as we are the only venue within an hour's drive that offers such. We are looking at possibly not charging a cover charge for those who arrive early enough to eat but don't wish to stay for the music. That translates to having the music start later- like at 7 pm. Then it would mean staying open later. If we did that, what would we serve later? Just tapas past 8 pm?  Possibly. You tell us. You have the answers.

And speaking of St. Patrick's Day, we are going to have corned beef, oven roasted potatoes and steamed cabbage all week as the dinner Flavor Journey. Since we will not be open on the 17th I figured there was no reason to limit the special to that one day. We'll first braise, then bake the corned beef  in order to assure it is very tender but flavorful. The potatoes will be the red-skinned ones, seasoned and roasted with garlic, onions, and  carrots. The cabbage will get a quick steam so as not to be soggy—I hate soggy cabbage. Served with soup or salad $13.99

Spring break is in full swing this week with the kids off of school. All week we'll offer half-price kid-sized or full-sized quesadillas for school-aged kids brought in for lunch. We are assuming that the adults with them will order a lunch as well. We don't mind a bit of racket. They can't be louder than the teachers when they get together. We love the sound of happy chatter at lunch. Maybe it will be warm enough we can hear the sound of the screen door slapping, too.

Did you hear about Winey Wednesdays? No, we are not wanting to hear your mid-week whines. We are simply offering 20% off all wines on Wednesdays—by the glass or bottle. We have been making an effort to learn about more about wine offerings and have begun to amass a few options in the $15-25/ bottle range. I am having to navigate new waters as I try to locate marketing information we can share with you on these upscale wines. The purpose of this deal is to boost mid-week dinner service. Do you and your girlfriends like to get together over a bottle of wine or two? This is a good place and time to do so. You can enjoy your wine with a full dinner or even just appetizers/tapas. Tell us what you are looking for. We'll have a specially created appetizer each Wednesday evening—this week Asian shrimp pot-stickers.

I have brought in a new variety of fish this week. It is wild-caught Pacific Rockfish. Some places market it as Pacific Seabass, some as Rock cod and others even try to call it snapper. It is a small, firm white-fleshed fish with a mild flavor. I'll use it two ways this week. The first will be at dinner, the seafood entrée— Rockfish with Tomatoes, Capers, Lemon, Artichoke and Fennel. The fish itself will be pan seared until no longer transparent. The accompanying veggies will all be sautéed and fresh except the artichokes. We'll serve it with a cous-cous pilaf, stir-fried Asian veggies and a soup or salad. $14.99

The second way we'll serve it will be at lunch on Friday. For that lunch we'll make Rockfish Ceviche. Ceviche, pronounced see vee' cheh, is made by marinating the flesh in citrus juices. The acid in the marinade transforms the flesh into a "cooked" state. Just like heat changes the texture and color of fish, so do the citrus juices. This will be the perfect dish to celebrate the warmest day yet this spring. If you like a fresh tasting, light fish this is your best bet. It'll have lots of fresh crunchy veggies and be served more as a salad. $8.25

So here are this week's lunch specials~~

Monday~ Vegan portabella steak sandwiches~ think Philly steak sandwich but with no meat or dairy. $7.99 with side.
Tuesday~ Reuben Sandwiches with side $7.99 Actually we'll have them all week. Kids' quesadillas half-price all week with adult lunch order! Also, the Solstice Salad is featured all week at $7.25.   Next week we move onto the Spring Equinox Salad. So, get it while you can.
Wednesday~ Corn waffles with wood-fired chicken in an ancho cream and cheese sauce plus sautéed peppers, onions and mushrooms . This is a very flavorful dish that has had rave reviews in the past. I think it has been more than a year since I served it. $7.99
Thursday~ Chicken Pad Thai. Simple, clean, tasty, loved. $7.99
Friday~ Rockfish Ceviche: citrus marinated, wild-caught rockfish with a crisp salad base. $8.25

Soup~ Lemon chicken rice--a classic Greek soup.
Desserts~ Baklava early in week; Lemon chess pie later in week.

Seafood Entrée~ Rockfish with Tomatoes, Capers, Lemon, Artichoke and Fennel, cous-cous pilaf, stir-fried Asian veggies, soup or salad $14.99
Flavor Journey~ Corned beef with oven roasted red skinned potatoes, steamed cabbage; soup or salad. $13.99

If you have not been in lately you have missed a lot of fun. We are gearing up for the warmer weather and know you'll end your hibernation soon. We'll be ready for you. It looks like we'll have even more local sourcing for many ingredients this summer. We're expanding music, wine, and beer options. We have a gung-ho team that is quite excited to serve you, and the energy is palpable. Don't wait. We need to see you this week! I hope you have a joyous week full of new discoveries of spring.

~~Susan

Much ado about catfish

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to notify you that we will be closed Friday NIGHT. We will be open Friday lunch. We wanted our staff to have time to spend time with their families and last year proved quite quiet. We hope to see you during our other regular hours this week. Our hours next week will return to normal.

I try to keep politics entirely away from our establishment. But the food chain is inextricably tied to political and financial decisions worldwide. Last week it was time to order more catfish for our smoked catfish dip. When I was given current pricing I nearly fell over. What had happened since the last time I had ordered 15 pounds of catfish? First of all, the price was nearly double. Why? Well, it seems that catfish farmers in the South are plowing their ponds under because the corn market for biofuels is higher and more profitable. Add to that, many fish farmers in Asia are buying their fingerlings (small hatched catfish) from the US, shipping them to Asia and raising them and selling them back to us—again shipping. However, the conditions of the fish farms in Asia are considerably different than they are here. I've heard several times (but have yet to see it in print) that often poultry farms are set ABOVE fish farms so the droppings feed the fish. Ugh. The water conditions are not monitored the same way either. So I made a firm stand and opted to pay higher for all US raised catfish. Ours are hatched and raised in Mississippi. Each choice we make regarding our food chain has a lasting effect on our local economy. I also learned that with the higher prices, many, many places serving catfish are opting for the less expensive imported options. Just thought you should know. If you eat a lot of catfish, I suggest you ask for proof that they are being raised in the US. Here's an image of the outside of our box.

I have wood-fired tuna salad sandwiches for as long as they last this week. You may have read in the news that in April there was a voluntary recall of most frozen tuna. This has affected our source of both sashimi grade and yellow-fin tuna. I still have a few of the sashimi grade tuna steaks which we use in our tuna-topped spinach salad and tuna Roman. But we have wood-fired all the yellowfin and I have chopped the remainder for the tuna salad sandwiches. There is no word on when tuna will be available again. I am expecting it within the month, but... get it now before we run out! The smokey flavor does stand out and is a noticeable difference from the usual canned tuna with which most prepare their tuna salad sandwiches.

We are bringing back the Pork Bahn Mi sandwich. My plan is to have them on our menu each week from Wednesday through Friday. I have not yet figured out how to have the fresh baguettes ready for Tuesday mornings. When that happens we'll have them daily. Let me remind you of how they are created. The Bahn Mi is a fusion dish of French and Vietnamese. I'll take thinly sliced pork loin and marinate it in various Vietnamese spices including 5-spice powder, Thai fish sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, fresh garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and cayenne. Then we'll grill it and slice it. It goes on a grilled French baguette (which we make in-house) that has a Sriracha mayonnaise dressing. This is topped with freshly pickled cucumber slices, freshly pickled carrot shavings and finished with sprouts and cilantro. It can be a bit messy to eat...but yummy! Plenty of people have reminded me of how much they enjoyed them the first week we served them.

Thursday at lunch I am bringing out the grouper cheeks. They made a pretty tasty sandwich when we debuted them a few weeks ago. Grouper cheeks are literally the cheek of a grouper fish. There is no waste, no bones and no skin to deal with— just tenderness and flavor. I'll serve it on the French baguettes with our Sea Sauce, lettuce and tomato. At $9.95 I know they are pricey, but what a treat. Normally, the cheeks never make it out of Florida as the locals grab them for themselves.

As we grow we are looking for ways to consolidate our gains. I have several small packages of frozen seafood I'll combine to make a luxurious ceviche (pronounced say-vee'-chay) on Friday for lunch. We'll have bits of red snapper, black sea bass, coho salmon, scallops and shrimp all combined with fresh lemon and lime juice, cilantro, garlic, cayenne and Vidalia onions to make this fresh tasting dish. What a perfect way to start the summer!

And speaking of things that run out— it seems our local supply of elk is about to end. This saddens me no end. Last time we served it I made an Asian meatloaf that was exceedingly well received. I'll do it again this week as our nightly "Flavor Journey." Again, the need for profitability raises it ugly head. It seems that the only way one can be profitable in these parts is to sell all parts of the elk—from the meat to the antlers to the hide. Unlike cattle, where one can be profitable just selling the meat, elk is a tougher sell. Our source has decided to go out of the business rather than chase down the profits. We'll miss them but understand.

My seafood this week is Jon's absolute favorite way to eat shrimp. I'll do shrimp pasta. Lots of decent-sized shrimp, garlic, green onions, parsley, parmesan and cream make up the sauce, which is piled over linguine. When you see that smile on Jon's face this week, it just might be because he got to eat his favorite! We became addicted to this dish while living in Florida, and I am delighted to bring it to you.

The line up~
Tuesday~ Wood-fired tuna salad sandwich plus side $6.99
Wednesday~Pork Bahn Mi sandwiches with side $6.99
Thursday~Grouper cheek sandwiches with side $9.99
Friday~Ceviche with side $7.50

Dinners~
Seafood~Shrimp pasta with side salad $10.99
Flavor Journey~ Elk meatloaf done in an Asian style with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans plus side salad. $10.99

Thank you for being a part of our adventure. Each week we are delighted to meet your friends and family. We hope you get to spend precious time with them this weekend.

My warmest wishes~
Susan

New things to come

Adding the new beers and wines was just a first step. If you have not seen the beer or wine you prefer yet, please tell us so we can incorporate it into our plans. We had to start somewhere and what we got in initially is just a base. We have not yet added any wines beyond our "house wine" which is a restaurant-only brand, and many have declared it quite drinkable. We'll begin adding a few California wines then Missouri wines. Why in that order? Because the California wines are, so far, better known. We want to add a few Missouri wines. The cost per case is much higher than many of the California wines. The local palate seems to be toward drier preferences. Many of the Missouri wines are a bit on the sweet side.  We'd really like to get your feedback on personal wine preferences. One of the brands someone brought us to try was quite nice but unavailable for restaurant purchases. Darn. We are keeping our eyes out for Organics, too. We DO listen and feel you have a vested interest in what we choose.

As of the first of April we are officially taking over next door. The front part will be more dinner seating. The back part will become a small, fine-craft gallery featuring Missouri artists. The second side I am initially calling "MO a la carte." The very back part will be restaurant storage. There is a second bathroom over there, as well.  Our plan is to give you room to spread out at lunch and the ability for more to dine and listen to music on Friday nights. Virtually all seats will have a view of the stage when the double doors are open. Now we just need to purchase tables and chairs. We plan to have 3-4 tall tables with bar stools to give the "back row" a good view over the tops of other diners' heads. As with our other developments, they will happen as the income is produced rather than sticking our necks out to finance them. That may take some patience on your part—ours, too! We would LOVE to do it all, instantly. But, we won't. We'll be sane and keep it real.

Our priorities have been to enhance the areas that prepare us to deliver better and faster service. This week we are adding another rolling cart that will hold large trays. We'll then be able to prepare and hold our dinner side salads and desserts on nights when we are quite busy. That, alone, will speed things up considerably. We are also getting our servers some nice beverage trays to assist in delivery of your drinks. Simple things. But they add up!

Seafood~~I was delighted to hear from several of you that you'd like to be able to participate in purchases for fresh fish. This helps us quite a bit. Since my local source has dried up, I can so far only get fresh fish in 25 lb. minimums. This week I am sticking with sashimi grade (able to be purchased in smaller quantity) tuna that will be seared and served with a wasabi oil with sweet soy, sesame rice, a crab sushi maki, and seaweed salad with an Asian stir-fry. We'll have that Wednesday through Friday. I am working on the stone crab for next week. I got my seasons mixed up and April 15th is the LAST day for stone crab until October 15th. The cost for the tuna dinner will be $14.99. The crab next week will be higher.

The Flavor Journey at dinner will be the creamy chicken enchiladas (three) plus a side salad and sautéed summer squashes and onions topped with cotija cheese along with Spanish rice. Available from Tuesday, all week. $10.99. I make these using fresh spinach, fresh poblano peppers, chicken breasts, fresh cream and corn tortillas. We've served them several times at lunch and they always sell out. The dinner size is three enchiladas rather than two.

Thursday night is Girls' Night Out. We'll have smaller portions of both of the specials—the Flavor Journey and the seafood as well as pitchers of Sangria. I'll also have a special appetizer—grilled polenta topped with shitake and button mushrooms seasoned with butter and thyme. We have created an environment where you can feel comfortable enjoying a night out with friends and not feel like you are going to "get hit on." Why not start a new tradition among your female friends and make the scene on Girls' Night Out?

For Tuesday~I have been delighted by the number of people asking me to bring back the pimento cheese quesadillas. A long-time southern tradition, it stands up to our criteria of "real food." We make this from scratch using cheddar cheese, fire-roasted red peppers, minced onion, jalapeno, worchestershire, cream cheese and mayonnaise. This mixture then fills a pair of flour tortillas and is grilled. Served with a side at $6.75.

The Bahn Mi has been very well received. Bruce has gotten the French baguettes figured out. I did it last week with the marinated and grilled pork. For those of you who don't do pork, I am adding chicken meatballs. It will be available after Tuesday. The sandwich has a wonderfully Asian flavor profile and the French bread has a nice texture. If you bought one the first time I made them, I am using more meat now. The sandwich includes a mayonnaise spiked with Srachi, julienned carrots and cucumbers that have been pickled in a sweet brine. Cilantro tops the sandwich. I serve it with a side: Italian potato salad, Cajun home fries, black bean/corn salad, fruit or potato chips. $6.49 The plan is to keep this as a regular menu item.

Yes—the fresh fruit side is back.

For Thursday~Bruce is at it again. He is bringing back another favorite tamale—Garlic poached chicken tamales with cheddar rojo sauce and Spanish rice. $6.75

For Friday~With the craziness of the weather I can see no reason to hold off on making ceviche. I'll combine shrimp, scallops, crab and calamari with lime and lemon juice, sweet peppers, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic. The acid in the citrus juices "cooks" the meats of the seafood turning them opaque and giving it the mouth-feel and taste of cooked seafoods. I'll serve it over a bed of lettuce and with a side. $7.50 ( I paid almost $8 for a lunch-sized portion of ceviche in Austin 25 years ago.) If you like seafood, you'll love the clean taste of ceviche.

Desserts this week will include a strawberry cobbler and carrot cake with cream-cheese frosting. Those are my entries. I'm not sure what Bruce has in mind. I know he'll surprise us. He has already got angel food infused with lime and drunken blueberry sauce.

I hope you enjoy this week of spring—in ALL its glory.

~~Susan