There was a lot of rain and a little white stuff on the first day. Not complaining though!
Here is my vacation shrine.
This was our view for the most part...Oh, how we remember vacation...it seems so long ago now...and it's not even Thursday yet! See how Ruby pines for the beach? Of course we had that huge snow - as per the top photo - on the first day, but hey, at least we didn't have to do any shoveling...
Anyway, as usual, I've been here in the office all day, dealing primarily with the Digital Dining issue of non-communication between the DR computers and the Back Office...that's been going on since Monday, and it has been my major focus today, since I first got on the phone with Delaware Business Systems at 9 AM. Kevin has been supervising his staff in the kitchen, getting things ready for tomorrow's re-opening day. We've written the new menus - but they are not on the WebSite yet - and I am getting ready for my staff meeting tonight. Our main focus - of course - will be service, and I am going to surprise them with a huge list of cardinal sins - taken directly from Eric Ripert's book "On the Line". (This is a terrific book by the way, for restaurateurs and restaurant goers alike...and for cooks!) Many of his no-no's are already written into our Employee Handbook, but it doesn't hurt to have it validated by a hugely successful New York restaurant owner, eh?
Yesterday we went to a trade show at FedEx stadium, which is always fun if you can deal with a huge room full of sales men! We are in the market for a few things, and this is one of the best ways to see what's out there and often to get the best price. We stopped off in Annapolis for dinner on the way home and checked out a few restaurants along West Street - interesting to see who was busy on a Tuesday night. The very, absolutely majorly busiest? Joss, on Main Street. They were packed. The slowest - that may have been Purple Tooth, a wine bar on West Street that seems relatively new (it's been a while since we've checked out the Annapolis scene) and has a very interesting concept - a large selection of wine by the "taste" and "glass". The most unusual part of their service was that they actually weighed the glass of wine! This method of portion control sure beats our little stars all hollow, don't you think? I've never seen this done before. And when the server refilled the glass of the guy sitting next to me, she used the same glass, taking it away from him and carefully shaking our any remaining remnants before putting that glass on the scale and pouring the refill...that seems a little over the top, but hey, what do I know... It is a cool looking space - as you can see if you can get into their WebSite - and the wine selection was terrific.
So, we look forward to getting back to our routine. We had a very relaxing vacation, checked out a lot of other businesses, from Easton and Annapolis, Norfolk and Nags Head (and I'll report of some of those experiences later, you can be sure!) and now we are ready to get back to it.
Really. We really are. I mean it.
Anyway, as usual, I've been here in the office all day, dealing primarily with the Digital Dining issue of non-communication between the DR computers and the Back Office...that's been going on since Monday, and it has been my major focus today, since I first got on the phone with Delaware Business Systems at 9 AM. Kevin has been supervising his staff in the kitchen, getting things ready for tomorrow's re-opening day. We've written the new menus - but they are not on the WebSite yet - and I am getting ready for my staff meeting tonight. Our main focus - of course - will be service, and I am going to surprise them with a huge list of cardinal sins - taken directly from Eric Ripert's book "On the Line". (This is a terrific book by the way, for restaurateurs and restaurant goers alike...and for cooks!) Many of his no-no's are already written into our Employee Handbook, but it doesn't hurt to have it validated by a hugely successful New York restaurant owner, eh?
Yesterday we went to a trade show at FedEx stadium, which is always fun if you can deal with a huge room full of sales men! We are in the market for a few things, and this is one of the best ways to see what's out there and often to get the best price. We stopped off in Annapolis for dinner on the way home and checked out a few restaurants along West Street - interesting to see who was busy on a Tuesday night. The very, absolutely majorly busiest? Joss, on Main Street. They were packed. The slowest - that may have been Purple Tooth, a wine bar on West Street that seems relatively new (it's been a while since we've checked out the Annapolis scene) and has a very interesting concept - a large selection of wine by the "taste" and "glass". The most unusual part of their service was that they actually weighed the glass of wine! This method of portion control sure beats our little stars all hollow, don't you think? I've never seen this done before. And when the server refilled the glass of the guy sitting next to me, she used the same glass, taking it away from him and carefully shaking our any remaining remnants before putting that glass on the scale and pouring the refill...that seems a little over the top, but hey, what do I know... It is a cool looking space - as you can see if you can get into their WebSite - and the wine selection was terrific.
So, we look forward to getting back to our routine. We had a very relaxing vacation, checked out a lot of other businesses, from Easton and Annapolis, Norfolk and Nags Head (and I'll report of some of those experiences later, you can be sure!) and now we are ready to get back to it.
Really. We really are. I mean it.
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