Marla's Restaurant Blog

Keeping up!

Business has been good.    Ran a "Lobster Night" which was a sell out this week.  Had to offer a second "Lobster Night" for next Thursday and that is sold out as well.  My friendly competitors are running a neighborhood restaurant week next month and they excluded me because I moved 40 yards outside the neighborhood in 2001,  (I'm the oldest restaurant in this part of town, besides Manual's Tavern) so I'm running a series of Julia Child specials during the same week.  All's fair in love and war they say.

I have an old kitchen employee that wants to get back into the restaurant business and I'm trying to find a spot for him in the kitchen. 

I'm trying to concentrate on food which by the tone of this blog one may think that I don't concern myself with it at all.  But it is the center of everything.  I'm always looking at product, prices, availability.  I got a bad batch of table salt which I use primarily on the tables and in my baking.  I made the dough for my date pastries the other day and of course I tasted it, (that's why I'm not skinny) and all I could taste was salt.  I threw it out and made some more with less salt even though I have been using the recipe for a long time.  My pate sucre for the Blueberry Tart was salty.  The shortbread cookies were salty.  I finally brought some salt from home and did a comparison tasting.  The salt at the restaurant had a funny, chemical taste.  I reordered another brand, threw out the case I had and started over. 

I was cleaning fava beans on Wednesday and noticed that the number of beans in each pod was much less than usual.  The beans were tiny in most of the pods as well.  That tells me it's the end of the season and to work through this batch and change my menu items that feature fava beans next week.  This means a menu change.

The organic farmer has eggplant this week.  I need to plan the supper menu with that item in mind next week.

And so it goes.

Julia Child and Me! Joining the bandwagon on the Movie's premier.

Actually, there is no Julia Child and me.....I received a handwritten note from her once when she declined to come to Atlanta for a fundraiser.  That's it!  (I still have it though).  Julia Child drove me crazy.  I loved watching the Galloping Gourmet when I was a kid.  I loved watching him chop vegetables in that rapid fire manner he had.  Now that was cool.  He was funny and friendly.  Julia's manner was like fingernails on a chalk board to me.  Ugh. 

But her recipes work.  They always work.  And yes, from time to time I do use cookbooks.  She and Madeleine Kamman are my go to resources when trying to find the origin of a dish and the most classical methods of preparation.  I threw my Joy of Cooking cookbook in the trash a couple of years ago when a recipe from it just sucked.  It's noteworthy that in the movie "Julie and Julia" a reference was made as to a lack of recipe testing in "the Joy".  I believe it. 

So yeah, I went to the movie....hoping to get a Feast idea from it...I've recreated the meals from "Babette's Feast"( of course), "Big Night" (my favorite), "Like Water for Chocolate"(the Peppers are divine).  I couldn't pull out a dinner scene but plan on offering a Julia Child Week in September.  Merly Streep was great...but she always is.  Stanley Tucci too!  The movie was a little slow.  Ah well, I know the recipes will be great!

Adaptation

Some time ago I added a early "Supper Menu" to the mix by offering an $18 dinner consisting of an appetizer and entree out of a choice of three each if guests were seated by 6:15. It became popular and for business I was happy about that.

But it reminded me of what my original vision was (oh so) many years ago. I had always wanted to create a place that had good food for a good price (for good people). Simple as that.

What the "Supper Menu" did for me was remind me to offer a wider variety of portions and prices on the menu. What it allows me to do is "get back to basics" and flex the creative part of my brain. If I'm honest, the creative part of this chef's brain gets lost in the bread orders, payroll, staff management and toilet paper refilling. So it's been good for me to get back to creating weekly items - 3 apps and 3 entrees. Sometimes it's a "kitchen whim" or a small portion of a long time Babette's fav.

Because it's popular I decided to offer it Tuesday-Friday until the kitchen closes, so I guess it's not technically an "early" supper anymore. Sometimes a whim (the early supper idea) turns out to be a reminder (good food for a good price) to get back to who you are.

They survived.

Checked in at the restaurant tonight even though I wasn't due back until tomorrow.  All is well.  Only slight problem was that my saute cook and my manager got together and thought the freezer was broken because the fan wasn't working and ice was dripping.  They started  to pull all the food out and stash it in our ice cream freezer before calling me.....I suggested that it was just in it's regular defrost cycle....Which it was.  Came back on in 20 minutes.....they put everything back.  Live and learn.

Taking a Vacation.

I just returned from a wonderful week at St. Simon's Island with friends and family.  We rented a house.  Had a pool, walked to the beach.  Ate great shrimp and crab.  We had cocktails on the porch and played lots of cards. 

In the back of my mind was a dull worry about the restaurant.  Usually I don't think about it, but this time I was curious and a little nervous.  It has been a slower July.  Tax Free days hit on the second weekend sending customers to the malls.  Downtown Atlanta restaurants are running special priced menus this week.  Did I get all the bills paid that I was supposed to?  Were there any equipment problems?  Was anyone out sick?  Did anyone make a stupid mistake at a table?  Was the kitchen watching the purchasing carefully?

It's a tough time.  I hate July.