Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man

Posting has slowed down as the summer business increases. Although I've had two days off so that's really no excuse.

Yesterday was spent primarily in committee meetings. I'm on our town's promotion committee and we're redesigning our website. A former committee member came to the meeting to voice his concerns. This guy is a local innkeeper and a thorn in everyone's side. You know, the kind of guy you see him coming and cringe. Anyway, he starts with his insane, bullying tactics and fortunately I was chair of the meeting so I was able to tell him diplomatically he was mistaken and to shut up. I was a little worried others would think I was too harsh but afterwards everyone from the director of the Chamber of Commerce to the city staff person who takes our minutes told me I handled it exceedingly well.

Then off to a filming of a promotional piece for our town (I'm feeling like Thornton Wilder typing that). I, as restaurant representative had to give the song and dance about the dining options here, which felt a bit of a sham since as I've posted here, our dining options, while plentiful are not exactly stellar. I did a credible job and kind of blew away the guys doing the production. When pressed I do have the gift of gab or as a former waiter put it, "I didn't know you were the king of bullshit."

Then dinner with my chef pal. If he reads the blog or was feeling slighted there was no indication of it at dinner. So perhaps I was just being paranoid or feeling guilty that I haven't talked directly about the service we've experienced where he works. Or as a friend pointed out, he perhaps has thicker skin.

We went to the new Mexican place here. This makes a total of three times in the past two weeks. I'm sad to report it's not wonderful but there are some standout dishes. Their mole is better than most restaurant moles I've had and they, unlike the other 7 Mexican restaurants here, make their own tortillas. The guacamole is inedible and their service needs help. The only way to get a good Mexican meal here is to go to 4 or 5 different places, get the dish they do well and bring them home.

A few years ago we had mole on our menu. It was the waiter's favorite and I ate it for dinner all the time but it didn't sell at all. Anyone reading this blog consistently would think all we have are a string of menu failures. We do have dishes that actually sell. But as you know the disasters stay with you far longer than the successes.

Now it's time get outside, smoke the bacon and fight with the dog over the blackberries. Last year we had mustard glazed ribs with Lulu's blackberries on the menu. I'm not sure what the customers reactions were when they found out that Lulu was a dog. We do wash the berries in case you were wondering.

The nasturtiums are going crazy as well so maybe I'll take a page from Jeremiah Tower and do a nasturtium butter for the shrimp that are coming in.

PS. aren't you glad those gruesome photos are gone? Although I agree with Fatemeh, the bruise was beautiful.

Comments

[Kudzu]

Too bad about the mole -- makes my mouth water to think of it. Those plebians don't know what they're missing.

Isn't it great to use stuff from your own yard? This week I had run out of sugar for my iced tea and found a little jar I had put up earlier in the spring:my rose geranium leaves flavoring fine sugar. It was delicious in the cold brew, with only a mysterious, floral hint. I think I will try it in lemonade, though it may be too subtle for that.

As for your community pr work, we all know you're a born performer and I'm sure you were terrific!