A little relief for all!

After a seemingly endless wait we finally got a good rain. The forecast for the week is lovely AND bearable. In fact, I expect to see quite a few folks enjoying lunch al fresco this week. It will be interesting to see how the local flora responds to the sudden influx of water in abundance. Will there be the flowers we missed due to dryness early on? Will we skip right to the late summer sunflowers and asters? Watch and see.

We have music this week. Look for details at the end of my blog.

We are celebrating all sorts of happy harvesting right now. The tomatoes have finally started coming in. We are getting fabulous ones from Maranatha Farm as well as some heirloom locals. There's a no more classic way to celebrate the fresh tomatoes than a panzanella salad. Lots of fresh chopped tomatoes, toasted homemade bread soaked in tomato juices, wine vinegar and garlic, lemon and capers. I'll grill some lovely squash and bell peppers to top it off. That will kick the lunch menu off on Tuesday. $6.99

Wednesday we celebrate the classic combination of fresh green beans, ham, black-eyed peas, bell pepper and rice in the form of Hoppin' John. The name is thought to come from a bastardization of the Haitian Creole term for black-eyed peas: pois pigeons (pronounced: [pwapiˈjawn]). I'll serve it with a side for $6.99

Thursday brings on a celebration of another sort—fresh mozzarella! We have begun to use fresh mozzarella on our pesto pizzas now. They will also have fresh Roma tomatoes, fresh in-house pesto, wood-fired chicken and sliced mushrooms and onions. $6.99 includes a side.

Friday brings back the 1905 Salad from the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa. To Romaine lettuce we add ham, turkey, swiss cheese, tomatoes, romano cheese, Kalamata Olives (the original had green olives) and a dressing featuring worchestershire and lemon juice and an oregano vinaigrette. This salad has developed a strong folowing with our customers. $6.99

Thank you to those who took the time to give me feedback on an upcoming Flavor Journey. Your feedback strongly directs our actions and we DO care about what you have to say. I'll try to schedule a special dinner in the next month or so.

In the meantime, due to one response, I have planned a Flavor Journey this week. The focus will be Cubano. I am still trying to locate one of the major ingredients and will add it if we can locate it—that ingredient is plantains. The influence of fresh ingredients is very key to Cuban cuisine. Pork, chicken and fish/ seafood are the primary meats. In this case we are going to use chicken breasts marinated in a mojo sauce. Mojo's major flavor influences are cumin seeds, fresh orange juice, fresh lime juice, garlic and chilis. We'll start the meal with a salad made of Chayote squash which has been peeled and boiled then tossed with a light oil and mustard sauce. The main course is Spicy Cuban mojo chicken with warm mango and avocado salsa. It will be sided with black beans and yellow rice. For dessert I'll make a traditional flan—a caramel-topped custard. IF I can locate any plantains I'll add in chichachirritos or fried plantains served with a mojo sauce. The dinner is $11.99 and the flan is $4.

My seafood this week is two-fold. The first starting Tuesday night is shrimp, scallop and grouper cheek kabobs. My kabobs will be assembled with onion, red peppers, squash, cherry tomatoes and marinated seafoods. We'll grill them and serve them atop rice with "sea sauce", fresh citrus slices and with a side salad. You'll get 2 kabobs for $14.99. Add a third for $4 more. The second is Mussels!!!!! We'll have fresh mussels straight from Prince Edward Island delivered Thursday afternoon. I'll make a curried shallot wine sauce to braise them in. They'll be served with a rice pilaf and stir-fried squash, onions and tomatoes and come with a side salad. $14.99.

The music this week comes from a new source for us. State fiddling champion Vinny Ray will be this Friday's musical entertainment. Vinny will be playing original jazz compositions with his trio. Several of our customers asked if we had heard Vinny play and suggested he would be a great fit for our Friday night music.  You may have heard him at the recent Old time music festival where he played on the OMC stage with 2 other band members. Don't miss out! Reservations strongly recommended. No cover charge but you are expected to tip the band and we prefer that you join us for dinner. As always—we never try to "turn the tables." You are welcome to stay through all the music.

Have you tried our new key-lime bar with coconut ice cream? Here's a photo of it. It is rich and cool and refreshing—all in one piece. We make the coconut ice cream in house as well as the key-lime bar. It is one of our new line of "grown-up" desserts. Another is the grilled pound cake with grilled fresh peaches, whipped cream and caramel. $5.

Have a lovely week!~~

Susan

Withered and seeking cool relief

The month of July has gotten off to an August-type start. We moved up here to escape the Texas weather! Luckily we grew up with this weather and know the value of a) staying inside in the cool, and b) foods that can make it seem a bit cooler.

In case you are chomping at the bit to see us this week, be aware that we are remaining closed until Thursday. It just didn't make sense to come in for a single day...when we need the rest. But I am using this resting time wisely to get ready for what comes next.

Thanks to the really wonderful support we got from our customers, there was only a single fish left from the sockeye salmon we flew in. I filleted it and Jon lightly cooked it on the wood fire. (I then froze the cooked meat.) I'll use it in 2 dishes this week for as long as it lasts. I expect to get about 8 servings of each dish. The first will be a lunch dish—wood-fired salmon tacos on corn or flour tortillas, with a peach- mango salsa. The last time we made them, they flew out the door. If you didn't already see the color of this fish's flesh, you'll be amazed at the depth of its redness.

The evening use of this salmon will be in a roasted red pepper, wood-fired salmon pasta. The sauce will be cream-cheese based. It'll be topped with fresh chopped local Juliette tomatoes and basil. It is my personal favorite seafood pasta. Of course, it'll come with a side salad, or for an additional $2.50 you can upgrade to a Caprese salad made with fresh local heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil topped with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Have you tried my Solstice salad at lunch yet? It starts with the ingredients of the Caprese (as above) but is served atop a bed of Romaine plus a serving of wood-fired chicken for $6.99.

Friday night the service was slower than I'd like to be known for. To the end of remedying that, we are moving Rick up to the kitchen to assist in food prep on Friday nights. His many years of experience in this arena will make my job much easier and get your dinners out faster. As has always been our policy, we are not trying to turn the tables, merely get you fed in a reasonable amount of time.

To keep things cool we are bringing out some refreshing desserts. Our newest dessert uses fresh peaches. We are grilling sour cream pound cake  and fresh peach slices in butter and cinnamon.
The plate gets a drizzle of vanilla cream. Then we top it with the grilled poundcake and slices of peaches. Then we add natural vanilla ice cream, caramel syrup and sliced almonds. Oh my!!! $5.

The next dessert is a key lime bar that has coconut, white chocolate and real key lime juice and lime zest. We'll serve it with our own coconut ice cream, whipped cream and lime zest and almonds. $5.

Survey time!~~
I want to get back to creating some special "Flavor journey" meals. It is nice to be able to add a special that takes your taste buds on an adventure but it is nothing like a whole meal geared around a specific cuisine. Recent reading has presented me with menus based in Corsica, Portugal and even Somalia. I know it would be fun to create an evening of any of these cuisines. The challenge becomes WHEN? In the past we participated in a "dinner club" that met occasionally and we did exactly that—served a full ethnic cuisine. I was able to share a bit of the history of the foods as well as why the specific foods are part of their cuisine. I think this group faded out. I'd like to bring back the concept. To do it right we'd need to dedicate an evening to JUST that MEAL. So my survey question is—what night of the week, except Friday, would you most likely be available for such a feast? We'd be bringing in special ingredients and the cost would be appropriate—probably about $30 per person, plus wine. So part 2 of the survey is—would you be willing to pay for such a feast?  We would promote it at least a month in advance and take reservations. There would have to be a minimum of 20 participants to make it worthwhile, and you would have to make a committment. Please let me know via Facebook, email, or fill out a survey card while dining at the cafe. Depending on your response, we'll be planning the next Flavor Journey soon.

So here's the short version of this week's specials menu for Thursday & Friday~~

Lunch~ (both days) Wood-fired salmon tacos with peach-mango salsa $7.50;  Pork bahn mi sandwich with side $6.99

Dinner~ (both days) Wood-fired salmon pasta with side salad $12.99, or upgrade to Caprese salad +$2.50
Italian seasoned slow-cooked pork chop served with eggplant parmesan and black-eyed peas and side salad.  $11.99 (Salad upgrade also available.)

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments and your smiling, hungry face. Have a great week; we'll see you Thursday & Friday!

~~Susan

Scorching hot finish to June

It may be really hot here but just this morning the sock-eye salmon were making their annual run in Kanai, AK's frigid waters. A few were diverted and are now on their way to West Plains, MO. We have 30 pounds of heads-off, dressed whole fish arriving on Tuesday in time for dinner. This means we will have the salmon every night this week.  I will simply give it a fast bake and top it with an sauce. To accompany it , I'll be making the best of the fresh local ingredients.

Last week was totally a team effort. We simply could not have pulled off the miracle that we did without our intrepid team that worked many, many hours beyond their normal ones. Getting up really early 6 days in a row, Rick was helpful beyond measure. Sharon O. pitched in when one other person got quite ill and couldn't help. Sharon just quietly jumped in and did her part—day after day. Thank you, Sharon! Stephan was a real trooper, coming in day after day to face mountains of dishes and getting thrown into the lunch maylee as well. He spent more than one afternoon in shell shock. Steve came in on short notice to rescue us, twice. Ashley came in after working long hours on her nursing degree each day, staying late even when getting up early. Without you—every single one—we would have looked like the Keystone cops. Instead, I think we pulled off a remarkable showing. We fed the NATF folks dinner Sunday night and breakfast all five weekdays. Then we catered the Board of Governors' Reception for MSU as well as serving one of our top 10 busiest weeks. Had we not closed on Wednesday night due to my exhaustion or opened late for dinner on Thursday night, we probably would have had our highest ever week. Whew!!! Nicely done, TEAM!!!!

As I write this, Jon is off to Earle, AR to pick up some new tables and chairs for the annex. He is being helped by Phil O. who is sharing his pick-up truck. Our neighbor, Shorty, is once again offering his flatbed trailer.  So much of what we do here is supported by our friends. We truly feel that what we are accomplishing here is an effort by many to create an environment you want. When you offer your excess produce and herbs, I am delighted. You may be overwhelmed by the produce your garden is producing, I am just grateful.

Another friend is lending his voice this week. Gordon Johnston, local keyboardist and songwriter, will join us Friday night this week. He covers lots of Van Morrison and writes some fine tunes and lyrics. He is also the one for whom I made the most recent quilt. I am forever grateful for that commission as it kept my fingers in the fiber game, thus keeping my fiber urges alive. Thank you, Gordon. That is a true definition of a patron—one who does things to actively support my efforts as an artist. I am lucky to have your support.

At the request of several customers, I am adding the Shrimp Pasta and the Rainbow Trout to our regular dinner menu.  Thank you for letting me know you'd like those options regularly. We've recently added a contract baker to our team. He is baking the French baguettes to our specifications and delivering twice a week (and he does a better job than I was.) This allows us to have the pork bahn mi most every day and frees me up to make more desserts and keep the dinner and sandwich breads fresh. Yeah!!

I am especially enjoying introducing recipes that take advantage of the current produce available. We are moving into the part of the season where eggplant and tomatoes are starting to shine. With the heat, fresh citrusy flavors are required to bring things down a notch. I think you'll see some of that reflected in this week's menu.

Tuesday~ the pork bahn mi and pulled pork sandwiches take center stage with 50 cents off either.
Wednesday~ Thai peanut noodle salad with wood-fired chicken $7.50  or teri-yaki grilled shrimp $9.50
Thursday~ Italian shrimp salad—shrimp, rice, lemon, parsley yum! $6.99
Friday~Stir-fried beef with udon noodles $6.99

Seafood~FRESH sock-eye salmon oven roasted and topped with Charmoula sauce made with jalapeno, parsley, mint, and ciulantro over crispy grilled polenta  $15.99

Flavor journey~ Cajun-seasoned pork chops with dirty rice, green bean and squash stir-fry and Juliet tomatoes with eggplant puree $11.99

We look forward to having you join us this week. We will only be open 2 days next week in order to celebrate the 4th with our friends and family. Have a great week.

Floating through June

This is a peculiar time of year. It seems that most of life is normal but schedules don't seem to flow as easily as they did before the kids were turned loose for the summer. My kids and grandkids aren't even nearby—so how do I even know this? Because we had a fairly quiet week last week when all other indicators would say we would have been super busy. Fortunately, that is an anomoly that I hope is rectified this week. I know lots of folks are traveling, but we hope to see you if you are not. Since we don't get to travel much these days, we love to hear of your travels and join you vicariously.

Our next task in marketing our café is to add large letters spelling out the café name to the outside above the windows. This will cost about $400 for the letters themselves. We are trying to expedite getting them and are dedicating any money taken in for gift certificates to this project. Do you need to buy for any upcoming celebrations? You can even buy them for yourself! We appreciate the amazing level of support our customers have shown and thought you might want to be a known part of our next milestone. You are already a part of everything we do around here.

Next week is the summer solstice. We'll be in the middle of NATF week when that happens, so I am introducing our summer salad this week. I call it Solstice Salad and it will be available until the equinox. It starts with a bed of Romaine lettuce, topped with fresh mozzarella, chopped fresh local tomatoes and fresh local basil. The dressing is a fresh basil balsamic vinaigrette. We'll add wood-fired chicken on top to give you some extra protein. Simple, pure, summer. $6.99

I am tickled to be able to report that I finally finished a piece of art that I have been poking at for over two years. During that time it was easy to let my fiber passion wane. Fortunately, I had this commission in the works when we started this enterprise. Had I had any idea it would have taken this long to get completed I never would have taken on the commission. However, I am most grateful for that opportunity. The person I made it for was extraordinarily patient and that gave me the room and time to gather little nuggets of energy that I could summon and use to work on it in small spurts. It also gave me time to allow myself the opportunity to experience the pure joy I feel when in my studio. With all the busy-ness of running the café, that joy could have easily gotten lost in the shuffle. Instead, I had a reason to keep my studio intact. I was able to do small amounts and walk away, then come back with very little time to re-orient myself. It was lovely. Once I have delivered the work, I will show you images of it. Until then, please be patient. He was.  

Here's the menu of specials for the week~

Tuesday~ Chicken Chiliquiles~ Kind of a Mexican pot pie. Layers of roasted chicken breast meat, corn tortillas, green beans, zucchini, corn, tomatillos, and mushrooms in a spicy creamy sauce. If you had the Mexican dinner during the Cinco de Mayo you had this. It will also be served with corn pudding. Both of these dishes got rave reviews and multiple requests for a repeat. I am doing a lunch- sized version so more could enjoy it. $6.99

Wednesday~ Chicken bahn mi~ We grind our own chicken to make these ginger and lemon marinated patties that are grilled and served in our French baguette with sriracha mayonnaise, freshly pickled cucumbers and carrots, sprouts and cilantro. With a side $6.99

Thursday~Shrimp in adobo sauce tacos. The spicy sauce that the shrimp are cooked in begins with soaking toasted dried chili pods. You won't find a fresher, more authentic flavor in town. You'll get 2 tacos  plus guacamole, and a special toasted guajillo salsa and chips. $7.75

Friday~Lunch portioned size of one of our most requested dinner entrées~ pork loin chop with strawberry chipotle glaze, garlic mashed red-skinned potatoes, fresh green beans $7.50

Flavor journey~~
Elk meatloaf. This has quickly become a customer favorite and we will only be able to serve it once or twice again. In our version we are giving it an Asian slant and topping it with a hoisin-based sauce. We'll serve it with garlic mashed red-skinned potatoes and fresh green beans plus a side salad, of course. $10.99

Seafood~
Shrimp pasta. We introduced this a few weeks ago and it was instantly a hit. I take lots of tasty shrimp and toss it with linguini, garlic, parsley, green onions, parmesan and cream to make a fairly light pasta dish. Served with a side salad. $12.99


I hope you have a lovely week~

Susan

The sweetness of June

As always I am amazed by how fast time seems to zip by. Weren't we just talking about Cinco de Mayo? Here we are in June already and the crops are starting to come in. Right now we have loads of zucchini, mushrooms, green beans, snow peas and scallions. The tomatoes from Arkansas are outstanding. Sounds like a stir-fry to me—but when?

We are busy juggling tasks. This time of year we are preparing for the NATF invasion. It all happens the 3rd week of June just following the Old-Time Music Festival. We are honored to be providing the food to fuel this national audio theater conference for the second year. Among the many tasks in prepping for their week are making extra desserts, loads of breakfast muffins, and other items that can be prepared ahead and frozen. All this happens while also making good food for you!

We are very proud of our own Rick Mize. He and his musical buddy, Dustin Collins, make up Chief Wahoo and the Electric Tonic. They were featured performers at last Saturday's Relay for Life. You probably have met Rick as he is very active at lunch and does table service on Thursday and Friday nights. I am thrilled to have his talents in the kitchen, as well. He has proven his chops at every cooking skill asked of him as well as having a delightful attitude and genuine friendliness. We hope to keep him challenged and happy. Last week he was shining with his creation of a dark chocolate mousse, layered with white chocolate mousse and whipped cream, surrounded by Kahlua-dipped lady fingers. We need a name for this creation! He also did a wonderful Neapolitan Pie—graham cracker crust, dark chocolate mousse, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. He's just gearing up to dazzle us. Go, Rick, go!

Many of you have asked how my mother's surgery went. Thank you. She is doing well. Her hand is healing nicely and she is getting feisty again.

Some of you have asked about renting the space next door for small special events. If you have a class you'd like to teach, a board meeting, or just a small private party, the space can be rented. If you include our food in your event, the fee may be waived. The only time the space is not available is during our lunch service, as we need all the tables for our daily customers. If you have questions or want to know about the space's availability just check in with Jon or me. We'll fix you up.

I was inspired this week to bring back the real Caesar Salad on Tuesday. We make it with fresh garlic croutons, real eggs, Parmesan, Worcestershire, lemon and, yes, anchovies. The anchovies, while a very important ingredient, do not stand out flavor-wise on their own. They add the umami direction to the salad. According to wikipedia, Umami /uːˈmɑːmi/ is a savory taste which is one of the five basic tastes, together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Umami is a loanword from the Japanese umami meaning "pleasant savory taste." Umami is the earthy underlayer of flavor often provided by mushrooms, anchovies and in other restaurants, MSG. You can order the Caesar salad by itself or with wood-fired chicken or trout. I'll keep it all week.

Another returning lunch special this week will be the pimento cheese quesadilla with wood-fired chicken. I expect it'll be available Wed.- Fri. unless I run out sooner.

This seems to be request week, too. The Bahn Mi sandwiches should be available Wednesday and Thursday. I have to juggle making the bread for dinner with baguettes for the sandwiches. The oven only has so much room.

Another request being answered is the chicken pot pie. I'll make it for lunch on Thursday and serve it with a tomato salad with shallot vinaigrette, capers and basil. The pie will be loaded with fresh veggies like green beans, vidalia onions, red potatoes, fresh corn, fresh carrots and tied together with a chicken-based cream sauce. I'll use a bit of tarragon, a tiny bit of dill and garlic to bring in the fresh herbs. We make our own pie crusts using butter. This item usually sells out quickly, so if you have your stomach tuned to it, I encourage you to call in and have us save a serving for you ... maybe even the day before.

Friday I am making creamy mushroom crepes. We have lots of eggs in addition to the mushrooms and it just made sense to go that direction. Like you, I look through my larder and figure out what we can create on the fly. Except I have to make a commitment and stick to it, once made. I do love the flexibility that our style of cafe offers. As an artist first, I must scratch my creative itch. If I made only the same things every day/week/month I would be bored to tears and out the door pretty fast. Instead, you get to play along with my creativity. Sometimes I am perusing foodie magazines, other times following trails over the Internet or television. Many times, inspiration hits while looking through one of my many, many cookbooks. Perhaps, in most restaurant environments this would be non-optimum. For me, it is a playground, a blank canvas each week. Your encouragement and continual support tell me what I am doing is desirable. So I'll continue. Thank you.

The Flavor Journey this week is vaguely Italian or at least Mediterranean. I'll roast chicken breast quarters, skin-on, with rosemary, lemon and honey. They will be accompanied by zucchini in a tomato garlic sauce and rice pilaf. The flavors should be rich and intense. $10.99

The seafood dinner entrée will be poached wild salmon with peas and wild mushrooms. The salmon will be cooked to order, poached in white wine. While that is happening, the mushrooms will be cooked in butter and the poaching liquid. Peas are then added along with heavy cream. I think you will find it charming but not heavy. You'll get all the freshness of the season cooked just for you. $14.99

Thanks to you, we are having a blast! You make it okay to have fun while running a thriving business. We are always working to make the environment at the cafe one that is comfortable and welcoming. We are proud of the atmosphere we have created and thrilled when you share it with others. Changes will occur that upgrade the warmth and feel as we can make them happen. Thanks for being a part of our adventure. You are a very important part of it.

~~Susan

Diving into summer

This past weekend marked the traditional start to full-blown summer. Suddenly we are seeking shelter from the heat and craving refreshing foods. Fresh-from-the-garden veggies have a new dazzle to them and something cool to drink must be kept close at hand. I think we can fix you up.

On Tuesday we'll keep it simple by offering our Navajo salad at 50 cents off. I don't think we've ever had it on sale. It is one of our biggest sellers, and I have been told on several occasions they are addictive. You wouldn't believe how many people come in ready to try something new and instead hit the "fallback" button. They almost apologize for not trying something new. That's ok. We're just happy you are here. $6.49

On Wednesday we'll have the Pork Bahn Mi available (it is a bread issue) as well as the Anjou pear salad with toasted walnuts, gorgonzola, Vidalia onions and freshly made raspberry vinaigrette. I did this salad a couple of weeks ago and several folks begged me to do it again. So here we go. I respond well to comments like that. $6.99

Thursday lunch I'll do one of our family's favorites—sour cream and chicken enchiladas (red sauce) served with black bean and corn salad and Spanish rice. The sauce has the sweetness of cloves and sweet onion. The sour cream tones down the bite of the chili-based sauce. $6.99

Friday I'll get to do the ceviche I had planned on last week. With my mother's hand surgery re-scheduled, it interfered with our plan to serve it then. So, this week I'll combine black sea bass, red snapper, shrimp, scallops and salmon with fresh citrus juices and spicy peppers, herbs and garlic to make this festive, summery dish. It'll be served in a Margarita glass with your choice of sides. $7.50

Making good use of the fresh-from-the-garden veggies, we'll include both green beans and summer squashes with the Flavor Journey. I am baking cornish game hens that are seasoned with fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano and serving them with green beans stir-fried with Vidalia onions and fresh garlic. The squash is a squash casserole made with 2 different cheeses—cheddar and parmesan and topped with toasted bread crumbs. Doesn't everyone love squash casserole? Served with a side salad, of course. $10.99

The seafood this time is crab cakes. I believe in crab cakes that are mostly crab. In investigating the various types available I learned that back-fin is considered the most tender and flavorful of the blue crab. That is what I have ordered. We'll serve 2 cakes per order. They'll come atop a roasted red pepper coulis and served with 2 sauces— our Sea Sauce and a lemony dill sauce. They, too, will come with both green beans and squash casserole as described in the Flavor journey. Served with a side salad at no additional cost. $14.99

Our journey is nothing without the warm friendships we've developed along the way. As both Jon and I had careers that involved mostly working alone with periods of intense public interface, we've really enjoyed the day-to-day opportunity to get to know you and your families. We shine with pride when you bring in your visiting family members and are thrilled when we hear that kids are calling "A La Carte Cafe" their favorite place to eat. We are changing the diet of America, one plate at a time. Thanks for sharing the journey with us.

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