Four weeks - four Fridays, four Saturdays - we've been open. Kevin has lost 20 pounds; we are both working a solid 80+ hours every week; lunch started this Monday to add to the chaos. What fun! We love it, thank god! At least I do, I shouldn't speak for Kevin after his long week in the kitchen. His hands are a mess - I'll see if I can get a picture of them to post. He has a great crew to help him but his pantry and line cooks need more experience and training before he can really relax. Thank the skies for Holly. I don't know what we'd do without her, what Kevin would do. She is truly what is making that kitchen happen, in a lot of ways. Her attitude is perfect, and she is doing a lot of the training which makes Kevin's life a lot easier. We love her.
Lunch has been fun. I've always enjoyed the pace of lunch and the entirely different crowd of people it attracts - the "ladies who lunch", the lunch hour group, the business men and women. It's so different from dinner, sort of more relaxed but at a much faster pace. Our lunch menu is small but tasty. Holly's "Rachel" sandwich has been a huge hit, as has the Tidewater (of course) and that BT Burger - oh my, it looks so good! I don't think we are going to be considered one of the cheapest places in town for lunch; our food - especially at lunch I think - is going to cost a little more than some people want to spend. But we can't do it for any less, not with the labor we put into it and the quality of the raw product. I suppose it's priced similarly to other sit-down, so-called "casual fine dining" venues downtown. I look at the Blue Heron's lunch menu - quiche there is $9, the crabcake is $15, compared to our same items at $7.50 and $12.50. At the Hotel you can get a $14 crabcake and a $10 burger - which is the same price as our burger. The new Old Wharf, recently re-juvenated as Reiley's on the River, has somewhat lower prices; they are being run by the folks who bring you the Imperial so perhaps they are aiming for a broader audience than the Hotel reaches there on High Street. Frank and Betty's "O'Connor's" does a booming lunch trade and they manage to keep their prices competitive (they don't have a website so you can't peek at their menu from here, but I've eaten there plenty of times and gotten a terrific meal for a good deal). The other full service spot for lunchin' in town would be the Crossfire and Vickie knows her lunch audience, she's got that nailed. So we'll see how it goes. I know one thing for sure though - I'm gonna miss our lunches at the BlueBird!
One last thing - UpHi. UpHi has sort of confused people I think. We are in UpHi, along with O'Connors and Joey's, Herb's and Spider's, Subway and Lewes Dairy. Get it now?
Lunch has been fun. I've always enjoyed the pace of lunch and the entirely different crowd of people it attracts - the "ladies who lunch", the lunch hour group, the business men and women. It's so different from dinner, sort of more relaxed but at a much faster pace. Our lunch menu is small but tasty. Holly's "Rachel" sandwich has been a huge hit, as has the Tidewater (of course) and that BT Burger - oh my, it looks so good! I don't think we are going to be considered one of the cheapest places in town for lunch; our food - especially at lunch I think - is going to cost a little more than some people want to spend. But we can't do it for any less, not with the labor we put into it and the quality of the raw product. I suppose it's priced similarly to other sit-down, so-called "casual fine dining" venues downtown. I look at the Blue Heron's lunch menu - quiche there is $9, the crabcake is $15, compared to our same items at $7.50 and $12.50. At the Hotel you can get a $14 crabcake and a $10 burger - which is the same price as our burger. The new Old Wharf, recently re-juvenated as Reiley's on the River, has somewhat lower prices; they are being run by the folks who bring you the Imperial so perhaps they are aiming for a broader audience than the Hotel reaches there on High Street. Frank and Betty's "O'Connor's" does a booming lunch trade and they manage to keep their prices competitive (they don't have a website so you can't peek at their menu from here, but I've eaten there plenty of times and gotten a terrific meal for a good deal). The other full service spot for lunchin' in town would be the Crossfire and Vickie knows her lunch audience, she's got that nailed. So we'll see how it goes. I know one thing for sure though - I'm gonna miss our lunches at the BlueBird!
One last thing - UpHi. UpHi has sort of confused people I think. We are in UpHi, along with O'Connors and Joey's, Herb's and Spider's, Subway and Lewes Dairy. Get it now?
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