Busy Days

I've been Tweeting a lot during these busy days- easy to do on my Blackberry. Even Facebook is being ignored due to how crazy its been. I will post on Sunday night, if not sooner, but until then feel free to check out my Twitter feed.

Recipe: Veal with Strawberries & Basil- Blackberry Sauce

(We only use humanely and sustainably raised milk fed veal- no caging!)
This recipe was created out of boredom and the desire to make something I had never seen on any other menu. Fresh strawberries were abundant and luscious that year and the basil I was growing was starting to bolt from the New Mexico heat and I needed to use it up fast. It quickly became a guest & staff favorite. The sauce will last up to a month with proper refrigeration, but tastes best at room temperature- take out the amount you'll need a good hour before using.

• 1 1/2 lbs veal cutlet, pounded thin
• To taste black pepper freshly ground
• 1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced and chilled
• 1/4 cup fresh bail leaves, shredded

 FOR SAUCE:

• 1 rounded Tbs basil, dried
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup blackberry preserves, seedless
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp shallots, minced fine
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch nutmeg

1. Slice the veal into approximately 1 " squares Lightly coat with the fresh black pepper.
2. In a large non-stick pan add the olive oil and heat the pan over a medium flame..
3. Lay the veal in the pan and lightly color- when edges look colored turn over and cook 1 minute more.
4. To serve, lay on the plate a inside a ring of the strawberry slices. Drizzle the sauce over both berries and veal- do not drown them. Garnish with the fresh basil.

TO MAKE THE SAUCE:

1. Pour boiling water over the dried basil and steep for 20 minutes.
2. Drain off excess water through a sieve.
3. Place all the sauce ingredients into a pot. Cook on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes until simmering, stirring with a wooden spoon. The blackberry preserves should be fully melted.
4. Cool for 20 minutes and then blend on high.

The veal is warm against the chilled strawberries and the room temperature sauce and fresh basil, making an interesting contrast of temperatures as well as flavors and textures.
The yield is approximately 4 to 6 servings and the entire recipe, from beginning to end, can be ready to serve within 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Closing Times, Late Guests & Customer Service

When restaurants close seems to be a squishy thing. Many establishments close at their posted times come hell or high-water. Some places close their doors early if they're having a slow night. I hate when I walk into one of those- rushing to get in at a reasonable time before closing, only to find out that they already did. Others shut down their kitchen before they actually stop accepting people- you can have a drink or coffee and dessert, but no dinner. I once had a restaurant tell me that even though it was opened for another 15 minutes I could get food from them but only as take out. At Shevek & Co. we do NOT have a closing time, we have a time when we will do our last seating- which is the time we post. This can be inconvenient, since it takes an hour and half to two hours minimum to dine with us. But as long as someone doesn't push it- like their being told our last seating IS at, say 9pm, and then they show up at 9:15- we have no problem staying late. (Showing up late like that is just rude.)We want every guest to have a dining experience as opposed to fueling by simply eating food. For that they could have gone to McD's. But we also eventually want to go home.

We are open later than many of the local restaurants. One way I know this is by how many people walk into my place saying they were told I would still be open at some other restaurant. We accept the business gladly. Besides, waitstaff know that later diners often tip better. We even have accepted guests after we have started cleaning the kitchen. Tonight was a perfect example. Two gentlemen showed up about 15 minutes after our last seating and asked if we would serve them. I said yes, but with restrictions since our broiler, ovens and flat top griddle had been turned off about 10 minutes. It had been a slow night, but we still had a table eating their last course and then they would be having dessert. The restrictions was that they could have any soup, salad our summery cold pasta dish or any other cold dish and Pissaladiere which was still hot. I was honestly not going to fire everything back up in the middle of the kitchen clean. If it had been busy and we had several tables which had more courses yet to come I would offer anything on the menu but restrict the amount of courses they can have. After all, not counting dessert, we have many a table share 5 to 7 courses. These 2 gentlemen were thrilled not to have to eat fast food and loved what they chose. They promised to eat at our place when next they returned to Silver City. My question is simply why don't other restaurants understand this level of customer service. It kept us at the restaurant an extra 20 to 30 minutes, but it made us satisfied future repeat guests. That after all is what will keep us in business. I am realistic- if someone comes in and there are no other guests left, the kitchen is completely cleaned and we're in the last couple of minutes of closing procedures I will apologize and refuse to serve them. But as long as there are other guests still eating why not feed a hungry traveler. (If all the people who we have fed under these circumstances over the years would just review us on the various websites that rate restaurants we would have a couple of hundred extra reviews on line.)

Customer Service: not everyone appreciates our attempt to give professional European-style service, but I believe that our attempt to do so is what sets us apart. Knowledgeable staff that can talk about every dish, wine and beer on our menu is more important than their potential entertainment value. If you want someone to tell you jokes, mine is the wrong restaurant- though it does happen. (If you want them to laugh at yours, remember that not everyone has the same sense of humor.) But if you want professional non-intrusive staff who can steer you to dishes and drinks you will like- who will give you a night of impeccable old fashioned service- then come join us. We will gladly give you a Dining Experience to remember. The dress is casual- my statement when asked about the dress code is, "My staff must be dressed up, you need to were a shirt, shoes and something to cover the naughty bits". The dishes include street foods from various Mediterranean countries. But the service is what you used to find in New York at the finest restaurants- though without the attitude, unless you "go there" by choice. Our goal is simply to try to give you the best experience we know how! And that is what customer service is all about.

Competition- Friendly and Otherwise

I've lived a lot of places- here in the US and overseas. There is always competition between rival restaurants- but it can be friendly with cooperation between venues, the parties can mostly ignore each other and just do their own thing or it can get nasty with various chef's and owners going out of their way to cut each other down. In Silver City most restaurants just do their own thing and ignore the others. They might cooperate if you desperately need to borrow something, they won't go out of their way to recommend you but they won't go out of their way to cut you down. A few work together- as an example, Diane of Diane's Restaurant as well as Diane's Bakery & Deli and I borrow items frequently with one another, we send each other guests and exchange information about how our businesses are doing. We have shared ideas as to how to get through this- as Paul Krugman now calls it and I have been claiming all along- lesser depression.

When asked I'll recommend to my guests any of the restaurants I have and will eat in, even when I know the owners and chefs would not reciprocate- though in several cases I have no idea if they ever recommend us. There is one chef-owner who has told people I know that he thinks I'm crazy & stupid and can't understand how I give away business by calling up and making reservations at his restaurant for people. What he has never understood is if the food they're craving  is not what I make and his is, no matter how good my food is they will not be as satisfied. By getting them a reservation for what they REALLY want that meal, when they are ready to dine in my place they enter already having a wealth of good will towards us and will have an even better dining experience than if I had convinced them otherwise.

There are 2 places I will recommend for breakfast, 7 I recommend for lunch, 4 for dinner and 1 for ice cream- dependent on if the restaurants' open on the day my guest is wanting to try something new. I do so whether I believe the chefs or owners recommend me because of the quality of food and experience. I just think that its a shame that more of the restaurants in this town won't cooperate with one another.
Now that I've got you curious I'll share what I tell people but in particular order: Diane's places of course, Alotta Gelato, Vickie's, 1zero6 (just NEVER call it 1-o-6), Mi Casita, Curious Kumquat, Tre Rosat, Country Kitchen Mexican & Jaliscos. You'll have to dine with me to hear which ones I recommend for what meals!

I just wish all of the local restaurants would "just get it" and reciprocate the same way- though I know a few of the above owners do! My thanks to them! Either way, I do recommend the above- after all, their food is also VERY different from what I offer.

Scratch Versus Homemade, plus Bread

I just read that chefs in Chicago are serving various dishes in wide mouth mason jars to, according to the article, make the dish appear more "homemade." I have no problem with the concept of presenting food in any creative way you want. Though I personally don't like food as sculpture where one needs to deconstruct it before you can begin eating. This can also have comic consequences as happened to me in a restaurant in Las Cruses, NM- the food had this massive fried tower on top that proceeded to fall off the plate and onto the table even with the waitress attempting to gently and carefully lay the plate in front of me. She was embarrassed, but it had obviously happened before.

A restaurant can make a dish from scratch, using nothing but raw ingredients to get there. An example would be my Chicken Marsala. We start with raw chicken, vegetables, herbs and spices to make the chicken stock that will be in the broth. We chop all the mushrooms and mix the various kinds I like to use. We slice and flour the chicken breast, etc, until the dish is cooked and plated. No premade sauce or bullion is used. The chicken isn't already sliced, floured and frozen by a factory. This is scratch cooking, and all fine dining restaurants do this.

Homemade cooking can only occur in a home. And though I spend more hours in a day at the restaurant then in my home, though I sometimes jokingly call it my home and even have mistakenly said, "I'm heading home," when I meant the restaurant, it is not my home. Only if the chef actually lives in the restaurant can you call it homemade. It might be a technicality but it is a difference that counts. Besides, at my mom's home, like many American households these days, homemade means jarred pasta sauce with a few things added to change the flavor. That is homemade, but not scratch cooking. Chefs should be proud of scratch cooking and use the word when they are doing it. Implying homemade can imply shortcuts they aren't even taking.

With that in mind.... I have never told my guest at the restaurant that our bread was homemade or scratch. Up until last night we used a frozen dough that needed to be defrosted, shaped, allowed to rise and then baked off for that day. Yesterday I made a scratch baguette using half organic stone ground whole wheat flour. The texture was great and I'm proud of it, though I am not the most accomplished bread baker. I also created a roasted garlic- rosemary roll using the same flour and my favorite challah bread recipe as a base. This was less successful- the rosemary flavor was almost perfect, but I need to triple the garlic next time. Live and learn. But once I finish off the case of pita bread I already have, ALL the breads we serve will be from scratch. (Pita bread is actually quite simple and I used to bake batches in a restored 1800's wood fired oven when I live in Tennessee.) Its time I used those skills once more.

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

This recipe is the sauce for our Grilled Stuffed Portabello Mushroom. Its also makes a great accompaniment to pasta and fish. Try it on a burger with provolone or Parmesan cheese.

• 3/4 cup roasted red bell peppers, drain if canned
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 bunch parsley leaves, chopped
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 1 1/2 Tbs garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbs pine nuts
• 1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/4 rounded tsp salt
• 1/4 rd tsp black pepper
• 1 pinch nutmeg

Put all the ingredients into a food processor. I prefer a slightly textured/chunky pesto versus a smooth pesto, but how far you blend the ingredients is up to you.

Yield is approximately 2 cups. Keep refrigerated in a sealed container for a week to 10 days.

New Look

Got a couple of comments that the blog was hard to read due to the background. Is this better? I like it, but if its hard to read its worthless. Please leave comments. Tonight I'll post another recipe. Off to see the new Harry Potter.

Self Actualization

Amazingly, when I went to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park we had a class on the Psychology of Management. There I discovered, via the two women who taught the class, Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs. It made sense to me in a depth that I think few in my class felt. The entire concept of Self Actualization- in a very simplified form, being the best you you can be and by doing so seeing the world and people around you as distinct and nonthreatening; worthy, in most cases, of compassion- sparked my imagination in such a way that I put together- though I never finished writing down- how one can create a society truly without leaders based on Petr Kropotkin's theories and philosophy. (Too much? Sorry....)

The important part for me, on a daily basis, is Maslow's concept that when one is self actualizing the words play and work become synonymous. For me that is usually true. The handful a times its not its usually because I'm overtired, don't feel good or business is painfully slow. Even obnoxious guests rarely take me out of that headset for more than a few minutes. (I've been known to scream once or twice a year at the top of my lungs loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear, "What the fuck do they think this is? Fucking McDonalds!" Once its out I feel MUCH better. Often I laugh immediately afterwards, but not loud enough for anyone outside of the those in the kitchen to hear.)

I really enjoy what I do! Though running a restaurant in a small town will never make me wealthy and during this recession/depression we sometimes cannot pay ourselves after everyone else has been paid, there is nothing else I'd rather be doing! I'm 57 and don't plan on stopping until at least 75. Why? Because I love it; and men in my family live to an average of 93. Spending all those years retired would bore me. My parents retired at the usual age. In his 70's my dad get a Masters in Neuro-linguistic Programming and began a new career as a Hypnotherapist and my mom went back to work at the clothing store chain she used to work for. My mom is turning 80 and her life would be less fulfilled without her work. My dad, 81, loves teaching meditation and doing hypnotherapy.  He acts in community theater and takes courses at the local community college. They, like my great-grand parents & grandparents did, stay active and involved in life. It keeps them "young" and healthy. For example, my great-grandfather Benny, known as "The Chief," kept his hardware store into his 80's; and even after giving it to his son he still did small projects for poor seniors around his neighborhood for the cost of the materials. He had been a cabinet maker until he began the tiny hardware store as his "retirement". Blue collar working-lower class in the money he made as well as in what he did, his eyes were always alive; and he was the only person I have ever known who completely and truly meant it when he told any of his descendants, "If your happy, I'm happy."  Why would I want to retire early with such examples?

I, like all of my friends at the CIA, went into this business because it is our Art and passion. I've met too many kids who have gone to chef school (many of the new ones that have popped up send out unprepared cooks) convinced that they will make lots of money as the newest sensation. They have no real concept of the hard work, long hours and low pay they will make for years. The debt they carry as chef schools have skyrocketed in price, is ridiculous.And few have the love and passion that it takes to survive in this business, due to the whole concept of the celebrity chef. Less chefs become millionaires than they have been led to believe. The pitfalls of drugs and alcohol are increased for such kids.

Too many people I know who would rather be doing something else with their lives. I'm lucky not to be one of them. For my "retirement" I will grow organic produce and raise animals humanely, as I have done before. On Friday and Saturday nights I will open up my huge dining room table at my home, and by reservation only for a set price, have people dine on the meals made up of the items I grew or barter with other local grows for. And I will continue to strive to self actualize and enjoy life to the fullest- despite being blue collar working-lower class. I wish you all such a good life.

The War Between the FOH & BOH

There are two countries/management teams in restaurants- the FOH or Front of House- waitstaff, bartenders & other dining room staff- and BOH or Back of House- chefs; cooks; dish staff. Most restaurants are in a perpetual state of war. I, having waited tables as well as doing a small stint years ago as a bartender, have always insisted on a truce between the two sides in every restaurant I've owned or managed. Actually, more than a truce, but a coming together and a forging into one family. This is often a rarity in my business. I create situations for them to socialize and build friendships. I have rules of behavior of what is and isn't acceptable. But the one thing several cooks and chefs who have worked for me couldn't handle was the fact that I give the long term waitstaff in my restaurant the right to refuse to bring a plate to a guest if they deem it as wrong in any way. The waitstaff is not only the "interface" between the kitchen and the guest, but they are trained to spot potential mistakes by tasting and watching how each dish is made. People, including myself, make mistakes; and having another pair of eyes looking at the food that is ready to deliver keeps those mistakes from happening. Too many chefs/cooks egos cannot handle a mere waitperson overriding their "Talent". Several have quit working for me because I allow this. I've never had that type of ego and its unacceptable in my restaurant.

P.S.: On my Waiting post- Please, especially in a restaurant like ours where we write tickets by hand and don't have a sophisticated computer system, ask for split tickets up front if you don't want a resentful waitperson. It speeds up their work as opposed to trying to go back and figure out who has what after the fact and then needing to add each new ticket up separately. It can take awhile- time away from their other tables and so tips can suffer. Also, on busy nights, most restaurants have small print in their menu, as does mine, allowing waitstaff to refuse such a request. Finally, most restaurants allow the waitstaff to add a gratuity onto split tickets (also in the small print). This is because they too often get lousy tips when this happens. The extra time and trouble of doing split tickets needs to be taken into account when tipping. I leave whether or not to add the gratuity on to split tickets up to the discretion of the waitperson.

Cookbooks, Television & CPAP Machines

There aren't enough hours in the day to put the edits into the computer to finish the K.I.S.S. Method Gourmet Cookbook. Its frustrating! I wanted it done months ago. I know I can come home and start worked on it immediately after work, but I do want to relax a little. If I can catch Stewart, Colbert, Bill Maher, etc and laugh while feeding my news junky habit it makes for a great evening. The real problem isn't getting of the couch afterwards- its the amount of time I need to get ready for bed.

My sleep apnea is pretty out there. I stopped breathing a minimum of 31 times an hour and a maximum of 104 times an hour during the studies. The machine keeps my breathing all night long. The oxygen levels in my blood dropped to numbers that has every doctor who has heard them tell me I was lucky I've never had a heart attack or stroke. (Though there was one night when I had a sharp, sudden and localized headache where I now wonder about it.) There are parts of the machine that need to be taken off, be carefully washed, then dried with a lint free towel, distilled water to be placed in the washed humidifier for the machine and then I need to put back together. I wear a full face mask so I have to be clean shaven; so that the mask fits tight to my face- if it leaks air it won't do its job. My face has to be clean as well so that the oils don't interfere with the fit. My normal 45 minute go to bed routine has a little more than doubled. If I write on Facebook- I'm thankful my Twitter account updates from the Shevek & Co. page- or this blog it takes up more time. Since I've started being active on social media sites I've seen increased traffic at each as well as gotten feedback how we were found by people on these sites. I'm old fashioned and still believe that word of mouth advertising is the best, but social media has definitely created a niche that I can't reach any other way.

So the cookbook edits go slowly. Tonight I'll be finishing up my typing of the recipes for this Saturday's class. Maybe I'll get to edit some cookbook recipes then. I can only hope. I just can't imagine trying to achieve any of this the way I was before the CPAP machine came into my life.

Adjusting to the Recession

This, like my posts on Food Costing are to give you an insight into how I not only run my own business, but how many restaurants side-step the pitfalls and, hopefully, succeed.

Tuesdays dinner might just go by the wayside, giving me Tuesdays & Wednesdays off. Lack of business 2 Tuesdays in a row might be an accident. If the next two also do so poorly it will be a trend. Tuesdays use to be our best weekday dinner, followed by Thursday & then Monday. Lately Thursdays have proven to be great followed by Monday & then Tuesday; though the occasional rip-roaring Monday happens. At random times, Thursdays have been better than Tuesdays- this often has lasted for months. But even when the two days have switched as to which was the better, the slower of the two days was not outright dead! The last couple of Tuesdays has seen less than $50 of business. In the long run that will NOT do! (2011 has been a roller coaster, though, overall, much better than 2010.)

I was lucky- I called the recession right after Black Friday November 2007. I always watched my business' numbers carefully. I talked with other business owners and managers in my town and across the country. I followed news reports. That's why when the figures for retail sales that Thanksgiving weekend came out I announced to anyone who would listen that we had just headed into a recession that I had seen slowly coming on over a 3 year period. I'm not that smart, but I had managed other peoples' restaurants through other recessions. Little did I know, that contrary to what the government & press have called it, we would be in a depression.

(As an aside, the word recession never existed before 1937 as an economic term. As Roosevelt slowly, but with more stimulus than the Obama administration, spent us out of the Great Depression, he was politically coerced into balancing the budget. This sent the USA into a double dip depression. To keep from scaring people they came up with a new term- Recession. Since then it has become the term of choice, to keep the consumer/voter moral up. After all, it's a less scary word. Only the massive government spending for WWII got us out of the depression. For years politicians took the wrong message out of it- that war was good for the economy. Usually war, like Vietnam, Iraq & Afghanistan, don't help or actually hurt the economy. It was the massive spending by the government, when the private sector wasn't spending at all, that ended the it.

Obama's stimulus, just like Roosevelt's early non-war stimulus, was too small to get us out of our present predicament. As a small business owner I believe in balanced budgets, but during a depression I'm a Keynesian for the entire economy.- deficits don't matter until the economy as a whole is thriving once again and there is income to pay it down. Besides which, few of us never go into temporary debt. Houses and cars are often bought on credit. I have to replace our main freezer and I'm doing it, out of necessity with a loan.)
In January 2008, after the holiday season craziness was over, I looked at all my figures and saw that lunches would soon loose money. I gave my regulars 6 weeks notice and dropped weekday lunches by the end of March of that year; though I kept weekend brunches. In June of that year I met another local restaurant owner who said that he was no longer making it on lunches and weekend brunches and he was going to add weekday breakfasts- which he did and was successful with. I told him that I expected that to happen and that is why I had dropped lunches. By July '08 I dropped Saturday brunch because they had begun to barely break even. In the fall of '08 Sunday brunches went the way of Saturday brunches; and the whole country/world knew we were in recession. By adjusting and slowly becoming just a dinner place we had our second best year profit wise in '08.

2009 was our most profitable year ever.

2010 we felt the recession the way many of my local competition had begun to feel it in '09. It was a terrible year, but we made it through. The second half of February 2011 we went back to nearly normal numbers and other local restaurants also saw an uptick in sales. Then the last week in April gas prices went skyrocketing and sales dropped about 20%. Since June we have seen normally busy does slow and slow days often slam. But I have learned that if something happens 4 weeks in a row it is a trend, not a coincidence. We have sent staff home early on slow nights. And I cut our busser bake to four days a week. We'll adjust as we need to. Thankfully I've been doing this long enough to know how to survive.
The newest menu is within the same price range as the last, without changing portion sizes. I brought on less expensive but high quality meats, fish, etc to keep from needing to raise the range. Most of the items that stayed, like Filet Mignon, I was able to hold at the old price. A couple of things went up, but by a few cents. With these changes we will be here for another year. But I'm not quite sure yet how I will feel if we go to dinner just 5 nights a week. Another day off would be feel luxurious, though I'll still need to work half of Tuesdays since it is my biggest delivery day. (Actually, it is also my earliest day, except for Cooking Class days.)
George and I are going to try opening the bar on Saturdays from 3pm to 5pm for tapas and beer or wine. It'll be any 2 bar tapas for $12 with the purchase of beer or wine. It'll start 7/16 and we'll run it through at least the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Being innovative, that's how you get through a depression. Now, if the politicians on both sides don't screw it up, we'll have a better year as it goes along. I hope for all our sakes they don't.

Recipe: Cabrales Blue Cheese Dressing

As a bonus I've added this recipe. Now that you know how to make mayonnaise and have hopefully played with Cabrales blue cheese in Cabrales Blue Cheese & Blood Oranges recipe published on July 7, 2011, I give you this recipe as a bonus this week.

I was attempting to create the ultimate blue cheese dressing recipe- thick, richly flavored and chock full of blue cheese. This recipe does the trick! You can try it with your favorite blue cheese, but I've come to love Cabrales for this application the best. (I have made it with Roquefort, Blue Stilton and Maytag Blue. Its rich enough even a cheap pre-crumbled blue cheese still makes a flavorful dressing.)

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup Cabrales blue cheese
• 1 1/2 Tbs garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbs dill weed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

1. In a bowl, whip together the mayo, sour cream and spices.
2. Crumble the cheese. Fold in with all the other ingredients. Chill.

Best if left to sit at least 2 hours. Yields approximately 2 scant cups. Enjoy!

Recipe: Quick and Easy Mayonnaise in a Food Processor

This is another recipe from the future KISS Method Gourmet Cookbook.
It is so easy to make mayonnaise that people in my classes often stop buying store bought. You also have more control over its flavor. If you follow this recipe you'll never go back. It multiplies by simply doubling each ingredient.

• 1 lg egg yolk and 1 whole egg
• 3 scant Tbs lemon juice, fresh tastes best- can substitute white wine vinegar to make it taste more like store bought. (The commercial brands use plain white vinegar, which I consider only usable as a cleaning fluid.)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard, or any other flavorful mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, fresh ground tastes best
• 1 cup oil- I prefer 1/2 canola & 1/2 extra virgin olive oil, but all canola tastes the most like store bought.

1. Place all the ingredients into a food processor, EXCEPT the oil. Turn on and run until the yolk looks pale yellow- about 30 seconds.
2. With thew food processor still running, add the oil pouring in a steady continuous stream. Stop 10 seconds after the oil is added.
3. You can use it immediately if desired. Chill the unused portion in a sealed container.

Yields a  little over 1 cup.

What is a scant Tbs (Tablespoon)? Just make it barely less than a full one.

Waiting Tables is a Job Just Like Yours... Only More So

Tomorrow Sous Chef George and his significant other Crystal are taking 4 year old Toby to his first dentist appointment. They will be in Las Cruses, NM most of the day and he will not return to help until just before dinner. I'll be in real early prepping so I might not get to post tomorrow morning. This post is sparked by incidents that happened at tonight's very busy service.

The folks arrived quite late for their reservation, much later than the time they called and told us they would be late. (Please, ALWAYS call to cancel or that you'll be late. We only make money when we fill a chair. Doctors, lawyers, etc. can get away with charging you for a not showing up- restaurants can not!) It was for a table of 7. The reservation was made by a local doctor and his wife- who are semi-regulars have we always liked. But the other people at the table we will never serve again. Why? The way they treated the staff.

I don't understand why some people treat the waitstaff at fine dining restaurants as either stupid or medieval servants! Waiter-host Am has an I.Q. of 145. He can program computers in several different programing languages. He taught as an adjunct professor A+ Certification classes at our local university until that program was eliminated. He got the best ratings from the students- they felt like they understood the material they needed to learn versus just knowing how to pass the test; which is how the other teachers taught.

I've known me people with Masters degrees and PhDs waiting tables than you can shake a stick at. My Busser Michelle run is Office Manager for a good size local company during the day.

People work in restaurants for several reasons. Very few work in fine dining restaurants because that is the only thing they are capable of doing. Many do the work because they, like me, love it and can't conceive of doing anything else. Almost as many because it is a great part-time way of making fantastic money (I know several waitpeople making $80K to $100K+ in places like NY, LA, SF, Chicago and even Santa Barbara,CA. They wait dinners 5 days a week.) Some do it as a way of paying for pursuing their art. They successfully support a family while waiting for that big break. Others are putting themselves through school and are doing it while being self-supporting, like I did. (I personally have often used the fact that, until recently, almost ALL the people I've met have thought of chefs as dumb- or else they would be doing something else. I majored in Biology, minored in Chemistry & English, and almost added a Philosophy minor to my 3 years in college, before I dropped out to become a chef- which was how I worked my way through college. With my taking 14- 17 credits a semester and working full time I still managed to be on the Dean's List all but my first semester.) There are more reasons, but these fit the majority of restaurant people I've known.

When your at Shevek & Co. Restaurant or any other fine establishment, even in a small town just like ours (pop. 11,500), don't immediately assume that the waitperson is stupid or incompetent. The fact that they haven't done what you wanted INSTANTLY is probably because you are not their only guest. They will bring you what you desire as soon as: its ready; they finish what they need to do first- there are some set routines we do to try to do to make your experience more enjoyable; deliver food to another table before the temperature becomes in appropriate or the food dries out ; as soon as their hands are empty of dishes- either dirty and heading to the kitchen or being the process of being delivered; as soon as they wash their hands.

When you ask for the daily features/specials, let them speak without interrupting, for they usually get to tell you what you want to know. If they have not, ask a polite question- rude questions, like rude behavior- only make them want to avoid your table, though the professionals will bitch about you in the kitchen and return to your table and treat you like the professional they are.

At Shevek & Co. we serve every dish in 3 sizes. If they tell you you probably have ordered too much food believe them. If their wrong, we'll gladly cook you more! If they make a suggestion of what you might like after some conversation with you, take it. If they are wrong and you don't like a dish after a couple of bites, we don't charge and we will gladly make you something else. (But don't leave the last bite or finish it all and then complain. We can't replace it then and we will charge for it. Its why my staff tries to ask how you like something after you've had 2- 3 bites.) And when you or someone at the table asks a question, give your waitperson the courtesy of listening, for the information might just be what your looking for.

Please, don't move the furniture. Waitpeople dance around the dinning room of a restaurant; using patterns that become second nature. We had some guests shift tables and because it wasn't where the waitperson expected it a glass of wine got spilled on the guest as the waitperson tripped on a table leg that wasn't where it usually is. If a table needs to be moved let the waitperson do so.

If you have a young child, keep them sitting at the table and be attentive to their needs. Many a waitperson has tripped over wandering/running children- hurting the kid, themselves and sometimes innocent bystanders. If you most take a child who cannot sit, make it an appropriate restaurant.

Speaking of tables, please sit at your assigned table. It was assigned according to several basic tenets: Who asked for a specific table first usually when making a reservation; which section is opened due to how many wait people are working; what section the waitperson you asked for is working: if none of these are in play, which waitperson's turn is next- after all, they each need to make money or they wouldn't be doing what they do.

Finally, don't do what in the business is called, "single tripping" your waitperson. If they ask if the table requires anything more and your pretty sure you want something say so. Don't wait for them to return with an item for one person, then someone else asks for something and they return again and then you finally ask for that thing you really wanted all along. They will resent it. The amount of time they waste when being single tripped is time they could have spent with some of their other guests. Tables that single trip will always seem to do so constantly. Time lost from other guests means tips suffer. (The ONLY time I condone waitpeople avoiding a table is when they are constantly being single tripping by them. They will give you professional service, but only after looking after all their other tables.)

The average person I hire to wait tables lasts less than 2 weeks, since many can't handle the level of detail and attentiveness I require. But those who make it are usually gems- in the midst of being polished or already set. They know their job, they know the food, wines and beers we carry. If not they say, "I don't know, but I'll find out" instead of faking an answer. Tip according to the quality of service. At Shevek & Co. a waitperson who doesn't average 20% or more after a few weeks will not last- they aren't giving the service I require. In both federal law and every state I know of, except Arizona, the minimum wage for waitstaff and other tipped employees starts as low as $2.18/hour (we pay better). They work hard for their tips or else they don't work for me.

All of this was to say,"Waiting tables is a job, just like your job. Treat your waitperson just like you expect to be treated at your place of work and they will do their best to give you a dining experience you will pleasantly remember for a long time!"

Last Night

The new food menu premiered last night. It wasn't perfect and never is! But the mistakes were quickly corrected and most people never noticed. We made an average first night's mistakes- about 5. Four items were not ready to go out of the 43 on the menu. One because a crucial ingredient is a "Special Order" item and won't arrive until Monday or Tuesday of this coming week. The other three will be available as of tonight's service.

We did run out of Carrot Cake- a rarity, but it does happen about a half dozen times a year. Some disappointed folks- a sweet Gay couple from Texas- but I steered them to the Italian Nut Torte and they were thrilled and delighted by it.

The biggest mistake, and the one that was noticed, was the delivery of  food to a wrong table. Rarely, if ever do the people who are getting the dishes they haven't order either realize it or say something. Those who didn't get their food usually do, especially when they are sitting next to the table that the food was missed delivered to. The folks who didn't get their food- and noticed- are regulars and took it in stride and with good humor.

What most folks do not realize is that such a mistake AT ALL RESTAURANTS as well as items forgotten on a guest check or wrung in at a wrong price comes out of the wait-persons pay! An overcharge is ALWAYS credited back to the guest- if not NEVER return to that restaurant again!
I got to do some dishes, as did Sous Chef George and Line Cook Scott. My dishwasher was out with a bad back, something I can relate to having had surgery on my own back in the 70's. I find it fun to do from time to time. Our Busser Michelle  put away the flatware, glassware and coffee items that go to dining room and bar. Waiter- Host Am (short for Amberwind) helped dry wine glasses and put them away. In other words, everyone pitched in for a smooth busy night. We have a great staff!

Food Costing continued.....

Had to leave for work, so I left one important step out of the process- How Much Do I Need To Charge and Why?! This is the question that can make or break a restaurant. Statistically 80% of all restaurants fail in their first year!

It can be simply a lack of knowledge of how tough a business this is. Statistically, restaurant workers have the third highest suicide rate in the US; The second (Kitchen or back of the house workers) and third (front of the house folks- bar, waitstaff, etc.) highest rates of alcohol and drug abuse just behind Trauma doctors and nurses; we have one of the highest levels of cigarette smokers of any profession. Your family hates that you work weekends, often nights and most holidays. Relationships outside of the business can be rough.
It might be that their food and/or service stinks. Or maybe the location sucks. Its the wrong type of food or price range for the area. Maybe the boss is stealing the place blind- I've seen it happen. Then there is just inexperience in owning a business with ALL it takes.

How about one of the biggest fallacies I know- "But everyone told me it I was the best cook they knew and that my food was better than any restaurants'. How hard could food service be. After all, most people I've run into working in restaurants don't seem all that bright. Any idiot can do this". And so the endeavor begins on a faulty premise.

I can name many more reasons why restaurants fail,but most often its underfunding to begin with- restaurants, outside of well known and established franchises and chains like McDonald's and Red Lobster, rarely make any money in the first year and a fine dining restaurant can take up to 5- and so they run out of cash before they're well established. Sometimes they use better quality ingredients than the guy down the street, but are afraid to charge the justified higher price; even when their product is better. Charge to just a little to little and you'll slowly go broke. Charge way to little and the business will close much faster. Charge too much and no one will return a second time, if they'll come in in the first place.

So what DO you need to charge? Well, each dish needs to cover part of your "Fixed Costs"; i.e.: rent utilities, insurance, etc, that are predictable from month to month, barely change (except for seasonal changes like higher electricity from air conditioning in the summer) and one MOST pay. Then there the other costs, which can change drastically and you have, hopefully, more control over. Labor- do you really need  3 wait people working at 4pm on a dead Monday afternoon- and the cost of the products you buy- does a burger joint near a community college really want all organic products (as nice and responsible as such a choice will be) or do you really want to serve blood oranges out of season when they cost double or more than in season. There are ratios- more detail than most people want- to the type of establishment. Suffice it to say that a fine dining restaurant like Shevek & Co.spends less on food and more on skilled labor- since we make things like our broths from scratch and cut our own steaks by trimming up sides of meat- the raw products cost less, but one pays more for an employee skilled enough to do the work. Places like fast food restaurants are reverse- a higher food cost and lower labor cost- since the lettuce comes in pre-shredded and the chicken for sandwiches is all ready breaded and frozen and ready to fry- all of which costs more; so it takes less a skilled person to do the work and therefore they get paid less. One needs to keep labor and food costs within bounds and control it with an iron fist.

With all that, a fine dining restaurant averages a 5 to 8% profit margin. That's what one has to work on. And this is why  food costing is SO important! I LOVE it! Yeah, I'm sick, but I find it something I'm good at and enjoy every bit of the process.

Now you know more about the workings of a restaurant than you probably ever wanted to know. Hopefully it gives you an appreciation as to just how much it takes to run your favorite place to dine.

I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow will be long, but fun and rewarding. Farmers' Market in the am, prep all day and then dinner service. Probably not another post until, once again, after midnight. Until then, share a good joke.

The Logistics of Menu Change

Most people have never worked in a restaurant. If they had they would understand why its one of the toughest jobs in the world- more on this in another post. Changing a menu, especially one as large as ours- 43 items- is an intensive week of little free time above and beyond the everyday work one has to do. With all that I love it.

The job actually started nearly a month ago when we began talking about what old summer items we needed to bring back (i.e.: Beef Adana; Chicken Breast alla Bianco; Brides Fingers) which ones we wanted back but with changes (i.e.: Ahi Crudo; Shrimp Tartlet; Pasta Tutto Gardino) and which items will stay on the new menu. Items that never leave each seasons' menu always include the Filet Mignon (the one item guaranteed  for the meat & potato crowd), soup, bisque and pate- which are du Jour items, so they change anywhere from every other day to weekly, depending on sales; and therefore reflect the season no matter the time of year.

A quick aside.... Besides the desire to have the menu reflect the season and what is freshest in availability, my menus change- and are so large- because I get bored real easy. Most chefs do. But not all chefs have the creative control to make the changes.

Two weeks ago my Sous Chef George and I started to create dishes based on the menus criteria (summery; chilled items; using fresh fruits & vegetables) in a mock contest, with the staff and each other as critics. We included new products we had found that sparked our creativity. We adjusted the recipes until they were where we wanted them to be and until they came out consistently the same way each time. George added 2 new dishes to the menu- a first for him- Pasta Frutti and Lenguado al Jorge, which I named after him against his wishes (he's like my son and I'm very proud of him).

After that came the costing of every item. This includes knowing the present price of every item we use, figuring out various costs for how we use the item- example: sugar comes in 50 lb bags. I need the cost per pound and the cost per cup since different recipes use different measurements. I then need to know the amount of waste in a given product- example: we only use the leaves of parsley in a recipe, so the cost of a tablespoon of parsley includes any bad leaves that had to be composted & the stems, though it isn't used; though we don't waste the stems- they go into stock- there cost figures into the dish with parsley even if we are only using the leaves- not all stems make it into stock. I also have to, during this volatile time of bad weather and ever changing prices, figure in a 5% increase on each item as the price food stuffs continue to increase monthly and for potential waste from something rotting before use- it happens despite our best efforts to have it not- or a guest not liking a dish and it going into the garbage- rare, but it happens and we never charge the person for it, so its a loss.

After all that I have to apply these costs to all my recipes. I don't have a computer program for this yet- the hubby is building me one- so its all done with paper and a calculator. Despite that, I actually enjoy the process. I know, I'm sick. But if I didn't have a sick mind I would have never come up with Cabrales Blue Cheese & Blood Orange.

Thankfully, the actual layout of the menu is the hubby's job. This he will complete today. Today and tomorrow we prep for the new menu. Tomorrow before open the menus are stuffed with the new sheets- the old sheets are reused for scrap paper. And tomorrow night we serve the new items to the public for the first time.

A Good Day

 I got a recipe posted and put the KISS Method Gourmet Food logo on this site.
At work, it was a fun afternoon of relaxed but productive prep.
Tonight the restaurant was rockin"! I ran around cooking and delivering food. I also shmoozed with the guests- which my staff calls, "Sheveking." Got home late and tired, but ready to do it all again tomorrow. I LOVE cooking and running a restaurant! Plan to run my Shevek & Co Restaurant until I'm 75 or older.
My wish everyone as to have as much joy in what they do as I have.
Goodnight, all.

Recipe: Cabrales Blue Cheese & Blood Oranges

This recipe has been a favorite since my sick mind first invented it several years ago. It will be going away with the new menu, but will be included in The K.I.S.S. Method Gourmet Cookbook. The students of my classes at the restaurant loved the flavor and the simplicity to make. The hardest part is peeling & sectioning the blood oranges. Cabrales Blue cheese is, in my opinion, Spain's answer to Rocquefort, Gorganzola & blue Stilton cheeses. Its usually made of a blend of goat's milk with cow and sheep milk and is wrapped in oak leaves, which adds some tannins to the flavor.

Serve as an appetizer for 2, though some of my guests like it as a savory & sweet dessert.

• 1 tsp turbinado or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup blood orange juice
• 1 ounce white wine- I use chardonnay at the restaurant
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg, ground
• 1 blood orange, peeled & sectioned
• 3 ounces Cabrales Blue cheese, crumbled
• 1 1/2 ounces Lillet Rouge aperitif
• 1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

Procedure:

1. In an 8" nonstick saute pan, add the sugar, juice and wine. Turn on the heat and dissolve the sugar in the liquids.
2. Add the pepper and nutmeg.
3. When it comes to a boil, add the orange segments and cook for 1/2 minute. Turn them over and cook for 30 seconds more.
4. Add the cheese and cook for 1/2 minute.
5. Add the Lillet and cook for another 1/2 minute.
6. Split equally into a 2 bowls. Garnish with the parsley. Serve with warm, crusty bread.

Enjoy! Most people eat this with a soup spoon and use the bread to wipe up the extra sauce. About 50% of those who dislike blue cheese love this dish.

P.S.: All recipes posted here are Copyrighted by Shevek M Barnhart. Please, do not share without permission, just send your friends & family to this blog. Thank you.

My Apologies

I just finished costing out each product on my new menu- took all day. The hubby (always marry someone with skills you don't have- he's a computer programmer by trade, though he runs the front of house/dining room & bar of the restaurant) is building a data base for it to speed up the process in the future. Even neo-Luddite that I am sees the sense in that. So no real post today. I still have to cost out all 43 dishes. Yes, I'm crazy and get bored easily. 4 food menus a year each with 43 items, though 4 go from menu to menu. Then 2 beer & wine menus a year- 40 microbrews & imports and 87 wines- 1/3 by the glass- on the new just 2 week old beverage menu.

I'll post in the morning. I'm off to shave, shower, etc.... Goodnight all.

Moi

I'm a neo-Luddite; that means I'm slow to take up technology. I've had a cell phone for a little over a year and fought getting one for years. This doesn't mean I never use things like food processors or microwave ovens- they've been around long enough to be accepted technology; like the spinning wheel. Actually, when I cook I do a lot of Fusion cuisine, blending the spices and tastes of the various traditions of those countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. But the key word is traditions. All my recipes, even when I fuse various cuisines (as an example, North African with Italian & Greek in my Stuffed Roasted Pepper) is firmly based in the traditions and culture of each country and people. (In that vein, I chose the wallpaper on this blog because it reflects the past and has the feel of a place steeped in tradition.)

On the other hand, some newer technology is taking every  fiber of my being to force myself to participate in. For example, I post on Facebook and have it linked to Twitter so that I don't have to write on each; but I do so as a business necessity.

I've started this blog for several  reasons:

• I love writing, though mostly fiction. I have several unpublished novels which I hope will someday....
• I'm putting together the KISS Method Gourmet Cookbook and hope to use this as a way of getting the word out, as well as a source of sharing my new recipes.
• Eating well is extremely important to me. This includes not only the concept of nutrition (which I will discuss in later posts), but the concept that food should simply taste good and have flavor. Eating well also includes good drink and, most importantly, good conversation to make the dining experience complete. These and other food related issues I will discuss as my daily conversations with people or recent news stores inspire.
• And, of course, this blog is a marketing tool for my restaurant.

Enough for now; this neo-Luddite needs to start these things off slowly. I'm off to start cooking for the day so I'll leave it here until the morrow. Tomorrow's my 1 day off, but I will post then. Just remember to laugh at yourself- it'll keep you real.

Happy, Healthy & Safe 4Th

For me it's a work day. The restaurant is open tonight. (Shevek & Co, like most restaurants, are open most if not all holidays.) I'm trying to make sure that I've posted something on Facebook, Twitter & here. After this its back to putting together the new menu. Tomorrow is my long day- lots of early deliveries. While waiting for those, I'll give an explanation of who I am, my philosophies of food and life and even why I chose the wallpaper for this blog. 'Til then: Enjoy our Independence Day. (Contrary to the beliefs of some, even those of us who lean left-ward enjoy this day!)

Long Time No Nothing

As you can see, I'm finally working on getting this in place. I will attempt to post daily once I've actually figured it all out. There will be recipes, my thoughts on food, on the industry as a whole, food trends and restaurants. I might even occasionally remark on urgent politics of the day. Today, though, I'm just trying to set it all up.