Knife's Edge - Restaurant Rants & Raves

Mechanical Disturbances

Friday it seemed the planets were realigned or what ever was happening in the mechanical world was coming to an end. Our refurbished Micros arrived and with a minimum of effort I was able to get it hooked up and running. I found the check from The Winery. We had a good, busy but not insane night. Everyone communicated well, the food was great, the customers nice.

Then came Saturday. I didn't sleep well, woke up in a jittery mood and was a jackass for most of the morning. Then in the middle of service we find out that the refurbished unit isn't working properly. Or at least the keypad isn't. I resisted the urge to pull it apart and replace the keypad with another that we have because I could envision the entire system going up in smoke. Besides we were doing near-record numbers and I was having to really marshal my forces.

So we didn't have a debacle. Just a some bumpy patches. We had a waiting list for a good part of the evening which is rough on all of us. The waiting customers are near the open kitchen so they're all intently watching the crew hustle and bang things around which sometimes makes us nervous. The diners who are seated see this long line of people waiting so they rush their dinners and skip dessert. The waiting customers are hungry and thirsty and in some cases ready for a fight.

After service I was able to replace the keypad. It was working when I left last night and barring sunspots or magnetic interference from some dark force should be working when we arrive today. I slept well and should be able to confine my jackassery.

One bright sad spot was seeing our departed friend Michel's son. He's here from Switzerland on a visit and stopped by. He's grown a moustache like his father's and looks exactly like him. Tall, thin blond and a little devilish. He loves to eat. The last time he was here I made him describe his last meat at Girardet. He also asked me why there was so much sugar in all the cured meats in America. Hopefully he'll have some other gastronomic adventures to relate.

Our spot prawns aren't selling well. Perhaps it's the description. Spot Prawns with Garlic, Chiles and Lime (I didn't want to do anything else to them because they're so damned tasty). Perhaps it's the price. $14 for an appetizer is a stretch for our clientele. At any rate I ate them Friday.

We also ran a spice-rubbed 14 oz rib eye which is a fallback for these 3 day lots o'tourists weekends. Inevitably someone in the party wants a big steak. It's a good steak, but I know I couldn't eat that much without plotzing. The only bad thing about it is it really gunks up the grill. The rub forms a crust and it gets stuck to the grates.

Also did skate with basil butter sauce. I usually shy away from East Coast fish but the supply of local stuff has been so erratic of late that I said what the hell. Sold a reasonable amount.

Now I have to go visit the local fish market because we've sold out of tilapia and are close on the sole. We'll also need to pick up some tofu and few other odds and ends.

We will be busy again tonight, but not as busy as last night. Let's hope all systems are go and that I am a shiny, happy person all day and night.

Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down

Had a surprise dinner with the food and wine pairing instructor from my alma mater. The circumstances were unfortunate, her 95 year old father had just died and she was seeking solace on the beach. This has been a banner year for loss among the people in my life.

It was wonderful to see her and together we explored some different avenues to use my dubious talents. She's going to put me in touch with another former instructor who has a chef's council of sorts that consults with corporations who wish to make their food and drink edible if not exactly palatable. She said her last job with them involved a "family-oriented place that starts with A, the first word being a fruit and the latter an insect"  which I believe is one of Kudzu's favorite places.

So we'll see if anything happens. I'm not sure I'll be sucking on the great teat of Beelzebub. It might leave a funny taste in my mouth. But $150 per hour is something to consider. That's how it starts though. Take a little dough here, a project there and the next thing you know you're Rick Bayless shilling for Burger King.

In the meantime I've lost the check for my last creative session with The Winery and I don't want to ask for a replacement because I've got some other irons in the fire with them and don't want to appear a disorganized scatterbrain who so little values money he sees fit to toss it out the window. I also managed to lose the GM's birthday card, so I hope they turn up together, preferably before the 90 day expiration on the check comes around.

Decided not to change the menu for Memorial Day weekend. Our Micros troubles are still not resolved. A long and frustrating story involving trips to Alameda, purchasing a refurbished unit, a hardware manager who doesn't listen well, a machine shipped to us without a key, the key arriving and the power supply on the machine not working, plus it being the wrong version of the operating software installed and a promise to have us a working unit for this weekend. Hmph, we shall see. At any rate it seemed foolish to add more potential trouble to list because if the phone calls are any indication, we are going to be busy.

We better be. I ordered heavy and don't want it sitting in the walk-in. Spot prawns, skate, rib-eye for specials. The sous made a terrine that we'll have to check tomorrow. I also made some giant meatballs for the inevitable start of summer crowd. Will report tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to You

Yesterday was the GM's birthday and we managed to pull off a surprise party. At our house no less. We almost never have people at our house.

Her family and friends came over and decorated the place while we were at work and I had one of our dishwashers bring food to the car while the GM was distracted training a new waiter.

She does so much for so many people with true care and thoughtfulness. It was gratifying seeing the people here and realizing what a difference she has made in all of our lives. I love her wholeheartedly.

Among the food was to be the Balymoral Dessert Biscuits from Hieland Foodie but this was one of those times when I knew a recipe would be shite (as I imagine they still say in Scotland) but I tried it anyway. The biscuit is really a cracker, meant to go with cheese, but the dough contains no salt. Completely flavorless. A thin round of cardboard could be used to scrape up a serving of cheese with as much success.

I'm now on to the "Jimtown Store Cookbook", so far, so good. Haven't tried a recipe yet. I usually wait until I'm done with the book.

Memorial Day weekend is approaching and we need to do some tinkering with the menu. Usually before a three day weekend isn't the time but our crew is well-seasoned.

I'll be getting some live spot prawns for the weekend for specials. The fish guy is trying a little harder.

New Reading

I've put aside the other mountain of books I have waiting because I've got an exciting new bunch from my Marin friend (who is looking for a rental in Larkspur/San Anselmo BTW). Some I get to keep and some will return when she finds a place to land. I've jumped on the ones I'll be returning. So, I'll be trying recipes and giving mini-reviews as I go.

Mustard's- I wanted to like this book and on some level I do. I am a sucker for dressed up American food. That said, a lot of the recipes don't work. Or don't work without some tinkering. Whenever I get a new cookbook and I get an idea I'd like to try, I always do a recipe verbatim from the book, even if I can look at the page and see it will fail, because I want to see if I can trust the writer. I also want to learn. There may be something in the recipe which comes together, some process or other of which I am unaware. There are also substantial typos which should have prevented the book from winning a Beard Award but didn't.

Hieland Foodie - A fun little collection of no-nonsense Scottish recipes with historical photos and snippets. Will report on the success of the Balmoral Dessert Biscuits after I make them today.

Attended the college graduation of one of our long-time waiters yesterday. We attended her high school graduation a couple of years ago. Both times she thanked us for all our support and love. For her graduation gift we got her a flowering crabapple tree for her new home. May they both grow together.

Salmon season appears to be going well so it'll be time to add it to the menu. Scallops are going up dramatically in price and the current preparation hasn't been selling well so it's time to retire the dish.

Last night's specials included Southern Fried Quail with Tabasco Gravy and a Grilled Calamari, Chickpea and Arugula Salad (two separate dishes) We actually sold some quail. It helps that one of our newer waiters loves it.

Edible Music

Since it's Saturday when not many read this blog (hell, not many people read this blog anyway) I thought I would deviate even further from food than I usually do and get into music. Music has changed/saved my life so many times, whether I was playing it or listening to it. From practicing Happy Birthday on my saxophone in the barn to play for my mom, to lugging the same saxophone up to 135th and Convent Ave in NYC to the High School of Music & Art, to dropping out of said high school at 13 to make my living playing punk rock at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, to singing in SF in the late 1980's, to playing alternative country in Chapel Hill, NC in the early 1990's, to the present when most of my playing of music involves playing the internet radio, mostly WXYC

I've added a new TypeList, Inspirations, which lists some recent favorites. Most of what the GM and I have been enjoying of late has been from Scotland, to the point that we joked we should move to Glasgow just for the music. However, the much-loved Delgados have broken up and the GM isn't as wild about Idlewild so....

I was impressed lately by Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit and Riingo talking about drawing inspiration from rock music. You rarely hear about the connection between cooking and music except perhaps from Charlie Trotter. And mostly when you do it's in the context of jazz or improvisation. Which is fine, the similarities are there and I listen to plenty of jazz but it's really pop and noise which transports me. When I was a kid it was Beethoven, now it's more likely to be Carla Bozulich. The similarities between playing music and cooking are for me that you get to create something and get instant feedback.

Anyway, I'm thinking about trying to "interpret" some of my favorite music on the plate, like those experiments where chefs have done similar things with paintings or sculpture. How pretentious can I get. The difference though is I don't know that I'll announce it as such. It'll just be a good dish. How to go about it is another question. I could be literal and use a springboard like Geraldine Fibbers' "Marmalade", or clever like going from Idlewild's "Roseability" with its Gertrude Stein reference in the chorus to my choice of recipe from the Alice B Toklas cookbook, or completely free form and obscure like listening to "Grasshopper King" from my friend's band Surface of Eceon and trying to put the feeling on the plate.

I usually try not to listen to much music at work because my taste is all over the map and some of it is really obnoxious. I'd like to keep my crew. But it's a necessity for my sanity and creativity.

San Francisco Dining and Farm Fresh Produce

Our trip to SF was rather low key food-wise this month. We tended to stick with standbys rather than trying new things. Our focus was more on friends and conversation. So rather than give a list I'll just talk about the highlights.

Yuet Lee (Broadway and Powell) for a post midnight snack eradicated any lingering allowances I make for our local "Chinese" eatery. It's true the waiters at our local place are awesome but the food is not. Yuet Lee's Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce, Ginger Noodles, and Salt & Pepper Spareribs were just what we needed. It's true Yuet Lee is known as being a seafood restaurant but neither of us were really in the mood. A friend said the last time we went there "I always thought this place was called Enjoy Coca-Cola" because of the huge green sign which reads exactly that. So, when you're stumbling around Chinatown or North Beach up until 3 am and need a bite, this is the place to go.

After my last experience at Citizen Cake with a remarkably snotty and unhelpful waiter I wasn't in a hurry to return. But after seeing Elizabeth Falkner's desserts in one of the food publications this month and having breakfast with Shuna at Tartine I thought we'd give it another go. We just did dessert, sat at the bar and had a much better experience. So much so in fact that we returned the next night, something we almost never do, and had 3 desserts (I had one for my dinner). The second night was a little bit of a letdown, I think we chose the most successful desserts the previous evening.

I had gone for the Madras Madness which featured pandan sauce, black bean gelato on rice crisps, a carrot concoction and saffron foam. The GM had Turkish Delight which had halva ice cream and a walnut-date strudel. She thought the strudel was a little stale. The next night I tried Purple Rain, purple corn polenta with avocado and purple corn ice creams and pieces of mango. Was good but would have been better if the polenta was warmer. We also had the Strawberry Pavlova, which was OK but the strawberries weren't quite there yet. Also the Bananas Foster Parfait which was a good-tasting, fun idea.

On the second night we had fun watching the hostess. I in particular getting a kick out of seeing her with a fake smile plastered on her face approach a table and as soon as she spun on her heel literally dropping her face. I understand dealing with customers can be difficult but how hard is it to just keep smiling when nothing unpleasant has happened? Between that and her muttering to herself as she stalked the dining room she was pretty entertaining. The woman who appeared to be the manager was friendly and engaging and we had a little conversation with her.

On a side note, they were quite busy, evidently because of a Lenny Kravitz concert down the block. Lenny Kravitz? Who the hell would go see Lenny Kravitz? Egad. It must be quite a pain to work in the restaurants near Civic Center/Opera etc. Besides the mad pre-show rush where do you park?

My stack of books to read has now grown into a veritable mountain. We picked up a carload of books from a friend who is moving. We also got the chance to meet some of her grandchildren. Both of them lovely but my heart went out to the teen aged girl who came down to meet us but since we were immediately dazzled by the very charming 4 year old she retreated to her upstairs lair. Both her parents are smart and successful and her little brother is the kind of kid you just want to take home even if you are completely lacking in the parental instinct department. Add that to a crop of adolescent pimples and braces and well, you get the picture. She reminds me of some of the girls who work for us. On that note, our busser who watched the house for us said she had a great time, and the place was clean and felt homey when we returned, which was not always the case when employees have watched our place for us.

Now to deal with a whiny vendor. A farmer we've dealt with for years who in the past has had great quality and service has over the years gotten a little lazy and snippy with us. Subbing items without calling, just plain not delivering things, telling us it will be at the local market which means we have to go pick it up, etc. I talked with him about it and he had some excuses involving building his house and also some of the fault could be laid at my sous' door so I dealt with that end of it.

With the GM going back and forth to Idaho and us going to SF she skipped a payment to him. So I hear from the sous that this guy had been complaining to him, telling him he hadn't been paid and it didn't seem like we were ordering as much from him as we used to. He also heard a radio ad another produce company was running on the radio and they were using a testimonial from me.

I understand his concern. But these people recently took over a poorly run business and are doing their best to turn it around and they asked me for a testimonial. I gave it to them. They also pick up meat and cheese for me, and possibly seafood soon. So I need to give them some business. Also the farmer is only coming over once a week and I don't want to hold produce that long.

At any rate, what I'm really mad about is the farmer's discussion of any of this with the sous. It's completely inappropriate and I'm tempted to tell him he gets no business from me. However, we'll see what happens after some conversation with him.

For our part I do regret skipping the payment. It's a slow time of year for all of us and cash flow is an issue. It's also a mistake, not a habit.

Out of the Fire, Out of the Drink

The GM had a good conversation with the waiter she fired. The day after the firing the waiter stopped drinking. It's been 13 days. The waiter says there are no hard feelings, she knows we love her and she loves us. She's hoping years down the road she will be standing at a podium thanking the GM for firing her. I hope so too.

We're (nearly) off to SF. It always takes us a little more to get out of the house than we plan on. Neither of us are early risers by nature and coming off of a busy Saturday night makes us stay in bed a little longer anyway.

Reading the Chronicle today and a NY based blog the other day I can't believe how much rank provincialism is still out there. For instance this headline from the Chron

The restaurant scene in Sonoma County has always been lacking,...

Sez who? The problem with these snotty comments and the extreme NY-centrism of those involved in the NY dining scene is one of numbers. If you are in a city, particularly a city with lots of restaurants the chances of finding a good one rise because there are more of them. So if you are in a town with 10 restaurants and 3 of them are great the dining "scene" is a lot better percentage-wise than if you are in a town with 100 restaurants and 10 of them are great.

Mind you I have been a provincial NY-er. The GM says I still am. I do love NY, and I do love SF. But really folks, get over it. There is good food everywhere, great food in a few places, and often it's not in the city.

Sanctuary

The GM has returned from Idaho a few days ahead of schedule so she can come with me on our monthly SF dining and shopping excursion. As usual there are errands to run; dropping off the 2 broken Micros terminals so they can be made into 1 working unit, of course a trip to New May Wah & Kamei on Clement and picking up books in Marin. I also notice an auction. I am an auction junkie and feel compelled to at least go look.

We're also as usual looking for recommendations for great food. And great dining partners. Some of you we've met and would love to see again, others have expressed interest in getting together. Send an email and we'll see if we can work out a time. We'll be leaving here sometime on Sunday and leaving SF early Thursday am.

We're having one of our bussers watch our house and dogs. We usually have at least one of our young employees in some crisis or another and we have used our home as a safe haven for them. Certainly while we're here we've offered to have them stay with us but more often when we're going out of town we've had a space for them to get away from their lives for a moment.

The girl who will be doing it this time hasn't taken of the animals before, but she definitely needs a break. In high school, working two jobs both because she wants the money but because she doesn't want to be at home with her alcoholic mother who beats up her father and insults and terrorizes the poor girl. The GM did her pedicure and make-up for prom a week or so ago. She thinks she's ugly and said she doesn't wear make-up because "no one's ever shown me how". Of course, she's lovely and smart and looked great for her prom. She came in and modeled her dress, we took pictures and she told us the next day what a good time she had. Now all she has to do is put up with our obnoxious dogs for a few days.

Today I get to fix the ailing KitchenAid. The arm lift washer broke a few weeks ago and the replacement part arrived two days ago. Got a new unit which performs much better than the one I've had but I need to get this one up and running as a back-up.

I also get to explain to the GM any mistakes I may have made in doing her job while she was away. None, I hope but we'll see. The real mistake would be if I didn't make any. Then she'll be more tempted to hand the job back to me.

24 Hours Later What Does It Become

So I'm trying to keep an open mind about all this molecular gastronomy stuff, I really am, but it is really starting to annoy me and I'm trying to figure out why. Mind you I've never experienced a meal at any of the practitioner's restaurants so I suppose my speculating on this "movement" is even further into the theoretical realm than some of the dishes I have seen or read about.

I keep asking myself why I am holding this curmudgeonly attitude. My taste in almost every other art form is very wide ranging and I am very accepting of all sorts of noise, (even to the point of hearing the beauty in the sounds of the refrigerator compressors and forks tinkling in the presoak bin), modern painting, photography, film, stage productions and other experimental arts.

So why this resistance? This dismissiveness? I'm certain fear plays some part in it. I'm being left behind. I'm too old to understand this stuff. I've become as calcified as a barnacle and unwilling to shift position. But when I look at any of the other arts I've just described the same set of conditions exists and I'm able to appreciate them, not be scared by them. Of course, I'm not making my living as a painter.

But neither are most painters which I think is another element of my attitude. There is a reality of the restaurant. You have to make money or you go out of business. If you practice another art you can get another job to subsidize your passion, and in some ways perhaps this makes you even more passionate. If these folks were doing this just because they had this burning need to create I might be less skeptical.

To further the painting analogy for every Dali there are about a million mediocre "surrealists" trading off the ideas of one touched genius. I think the same thing may be at work here, and yes, I chose a Spanish painter for a reason.

I also believe after this discussion of art that cooking isn't an art, but a craft. I realize cooks have been touting our profession as an art since at least Careme ("architecture-of which the principal branch is pastry") and probably before, but I don't buy it. I'm not entirely sure why but I think it has to with eating daily being essential for our survival. You can make the effete case that art is essential for our survival as well and I'm with you philosophically but I can go a lot longer without listening to music than I can without a bite to eat.

I also understand from the media standpoint the farm-fresh, local-reverent chef is getting a little long in the tooth and they've got magazines to sell. But that's another aspect which scares me. We're only now getting through to a lot of people that eating chemicals is bad for you and then some fool is out there coating foie gras with Pop Rocks. All this ink about chef's "laboratories" sends the underlying message, whether the media realizes this or not that chemical dining is not only cool, but better, than knowing where your food is coming from, and what it's going to look and taste like when it gets to your mouth.

I'm also glad these guys (do you notice they're all guys?, yeah the kitchen is still a male-dominated profession, but even if it weren't I think most woman have more innate sense than to serve someone a cinnamon "bong" of bison meat) are doing what they're doing. Good new ideas and techniques will come out of it. A lot of bad, horrible ideas will be born also. But nothing ventured...

I doubt I'll make it to El Bulli. Hell, I've lived in Northern CA for years and I have yet to make it to the French Laundry even. Or Chez Panisse for that matter. Not because I don't want to. But because I have no patience with trying to get a reservation somewhere.

I'm serious about what I do. But I don't take it seriously. After all, it's food. 24 hours later what does it become ?

The Wrong Man For The Job

I spent this morning at another "creative session" at a local winery discussing upcoming brands, labels, graphics, slogans and whatever else came to mind with these concepts. After wards I dropped in on a staff member of our county promotional arm and talked about our upcoming board meeting. We'll be discussing branding and what that means for us up here.

While I was talking I realized that I spent the morning talking about branding/marketing and I'm on the board of two organizations, one for our county and one for our city, devoted to marketing and promotion.

On the two boards we talk a lot about advertising. Where to advertise, what the ad looks like, consistency of message, fulfillment, etc. However my own business almost never advertises.

We have tried pretty much all the available media, except for television, tracked the results as best we could, and determined that we do just as much business, if not more when we don't advertise than when we do.

I suppose what this means is I write and design crappy ads. Advertising clearly has to work, otherwise people wouldn't continue to spend money on it. I suspect though there may be something more going on.

First, I'm convinced there's a certain threshold of saturation/dollar amount below which it's pointless to advertise. Many factors influence this figure, type of industry, market, demographic, and others. The aggravating thing is I don't know what that number is.

I realize this sounds confusing. Here's an example. Let's say for a particular set of factors the advertising threshold is $20,000 per year. The owner of the business is unaware of this number and routinely spends $16,000 per year on advertising. Since the threshold is never reached, the advertising isn't effective and the money would have been better spent on other things. Or the budget increased to reach the threshold.

I have nothing to back this up other than my own instinct. If anyone has practical experience with this please let me know.

Second, I'm not convinced it's appropriate for restaurants to advertise. I've read comments from some restaurateurs that if they see ads for a place they assume it's in trouble. Thoughts please.

That said, we do advertise, sparingly. At this point basically with people who will trade with us. We just don't have the cash to toss at something which has historically brought us little return. Some of our ads also try to weed out customers as much as attract them which might be part of our problem. For instance during the summer we have run an ad which read "if you want an ocean view, go to the beach. If you want great food come to..." Which we think is funny and also serves our purpose of eliminating what we call "the clam chowder people".

During the summer at least one party per evening leaves either before or after being seated because we don't have clam chowder. I like clam chowder, but just because our place is somewhat near the water there's some obligation to have clam chowder on the menu? We also get people either calling or trying to wander around the dining room before service wanting to know about an ocean view. Now it is true you can see the ocean from our place, but having more integrity than your average realtor, I'd hesitate to say we have an ocean view. I'm more a spirit of the law, rather than letter of the law kind of guy I guess.

So perhaps our advertising is less than effective because in some of it (and truly not most of it) we have chosen to be somewhat obnoxious.

At any rate, I feel sorry for the winery and the two boards I'm on. I think they've got the wrong man for the job.