Marla's Restaurant Blog

Same old, same old...

Pretty good business this week.  It kept us hopping.  Implemented a couple new menu items this week and had some trouble working out the purchasing and production.  Sauteed Sea Scallops with Crispy Pork Belly is not selling as rapidly as my other scallop dishes have in the past even with good reviews from the staff and guests.  So I have a lot of pork belly on hand.   Don't know if I should continue the scallop dish or change it.  My most popular dishes continue to be somewhat more conservative in presentation.....

Got a new hot water heater...what fun.  I think our oven is not heating evenly.  The repair man couldn't find anything wrong with it. 

I had to leave early Saturday night with the onset of a really bad cold.  Pulled a server off the floor to host.  I couldn't work Sunday.  I was supposed to work a fund-raiser south of town and had to rearrange the staff to be able to send another good cook down to work in my place.  Pulled a server to expedite brunch, salad guy stayed later to cover the station till the night guy came back from the event.  I went in and packed up the coolers and such for them, came home and slept.

Health Department inspection on Wednesday....I hate to admit, but this was the first time in 4 years they had been by.  Scored a 94.  They were happy, I was happy.  Just two minor things which we corrected that evening.

Oh yes,   we also won "Best French Restaurant"  on Citysearch. 

"Seating waiters."

This is an expression used when quests are seated at a table in a waiter's station.  A server is sometimes "double seated",(two tables are seated within a few minutes) and then there is the dreaded "triple seated" event.  This is when the waiter's eyes start to roll back in their head and they give the hostess a "you're a shitty hostess" look and they may begin to pout if you let them. 

It happens.  Guests come late, other guests come early, a table you were expecting to finish in another section is still lingering over coffee.  Guests don't like the table you have selected for them.  A call party comes in for a waiter who is already busy. 

Guests want to be seated on the deck instead.  Guests hate the deck and say they would never have made the reservation if all that was available was the deck, even though the host's notes say this was discussed and the host was aware that the guest would prefer inside. 

Guest who made a reservation for a party of 6 (which can only be seated on a few specific tables) walk in and say "sorry, we're only 4".  So the waiter who has been waiting an hour with an empty table gets it reconfigured for 4...which could have been done an hour ago.  And then of course there are the guests WHO DON'T CANCEL THEIR RESERVATIONS, so the table that we have been holding in a section goes empty until we decide the guest must not be coming and adjust our seating.

I have often said that the host's job is thankless and underpaid and undervalued.  This is why I get to do it on the weekends. 

Julia Child Week, Day 4

It's 8:38 am and the ovens are heating and the coffee is brewing....Again.

I haven't worked this hard in 10 years.

I'm on my 80th lb of Beef Bourguignon and my 12th Duck Pate.  I'm having more sole sent by UPS from Foley's in Boston to arrive this afternoon.  I'm getting ready to start my last 6 Orange Almond Cakes.

I am taking motrin earlier and earlier each day.  But my biggest problem is that my hands hurt.  That, my friends, is old age.....

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.

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.

Blogging....

A good friend told me he thought my blog was courageous.  I didn't know what he was talking about.

Most customers have told me they love reading my blog.  Great. 

Recently a customer commented that they thought it was not appropriate.  Not great.

So I'm a more than a little nervous now about what I write.  No, I'm not telling you about every little detail because I'm afraid it will hurt me. 

Can I tell you that three weeks after we opened in 1992 at my old location down the street, a server was shot during a robbery?   Can I tell you that I grabbed two napkins off a side board (or was it a table) and pressed them to the entrance and exit holes in his neck to stop the blood flow?  Can I tell you that a well known restaurant critic was dining there that night and was in fact being waited on by the same server but they never made mention of it in a review?  Can I tell you what it's like to hear gun shots ring out through your own dining room and then try to hide behind a cooler with your head buried between your knees?   Can I tell you that he died a week later?  No, probably not.

Or can I? 

I met my husband who came on board as a police officer working an extra job for all the restaurants on the block after the robbery.  We have a lovely daughter.  He continues to stand by me.  I know I can tell you that. 

So this blog is not for the faint of heart.  This is not for the Top Chef fans (I'm one too) who want to see liquid nitrogen make pancakes into sculptures.  This is my blog.  Be warned.

Removing the proverbial foot / feet.

Sometimes I think I am funnier than I am. 

It's showtime.  I get pumped up on a restaurant high cruising through my dining room, seating guests, running food and drinks, answering the phone and directing my staff like a seasoned director.  And then I open my mouth and say something witty or make what I think is a humorous gesture to a guest and it falls like a crummy souffle.  The guest doesn't think I'm funny, only rude.  I'm crest fallen.  I want to blink and have a do-over.

From time to time a staff member has said the wrong thing at the wrong time with the wrong look in their eye and I have become involved in smoothing things over.  We mean well, we care.  We like our customers or we wouldn't be in this business.  We pride ourselves on our ability to provide top notch service without any pretentiousness.  We want to take care of our customers.

We just screw up.  We blame in on the moon.

Ready for a few days off.

We're closed tomorrow, the fourth of July and as a bonus to my staff, I'm closing the Restaurant on Sunday as well.  This will let my staff rest up and get a fresh perspective on each other and spend time with their families.  It's the longest break we've had in over a year and we're all looking forward to it.

This is the slowest week of the year and I've been warning my staff to save up their money, I know I did.

Right now I'm putting finishing touches on a new menu for next week and getting my orders together so I don't have to come in on Monday and do them.....but I'm chomping at the bit....

Success at the Georgia Dept of Revenue

Seems they stamped my Sales Tax check as arriving on the 29 instead of the 19th of January.  This caused me to lose the vendor's compensation I am allowed to take each month and so then I was short.  Check cleared my bank on the 23rd, so it's their error.  My account will be cleaned up shortly. (probably in a month).  I guess the new electronic filing is a good idea after all.

If you happen upon a business that is closed with a notice on the door from the Department of Revenue it is because the merchant did not pay their Sales Tax.  The department is ruthless, as it should be and applies hugh penalities and a little interest if this is not done.  And if you get behind, forget about it. 

Just so you know; the merchants collect the Sales Tax when you dine or shop and then pay it to the state by the 20th of the next month in a lump sum.  We do get to keep a little of it as "Vendor's Compensation".  3% of the first $3000.00 and 1/2 a percent of anything over $3000.00.  The City of Atlanta tacks on another 3% in Sales Tax on liquor Sales, in case you hadn't noticed, and this is submitted to the city my the 20th of each month too.

The job..

Sometimes I hate this job.   Deliveries were screwed up yesterday.  Back door electronic lock not working properly.  Open table software off line.  Cash out last night screwed up.  Closing duties were not done properly.  I am overwhelmed and feeling crummy.  I want to sleep for a week.

This is not a glamorous job.