Thursday, March 17, 2011

Welcome Back!

Scallops with cauliflower and caper-raisin sauce.

So, we've been back at it for one day.  The Welcome Back's have been very warm, and returned in equal sincerity. It was a little stressful for the Chef, trying to get organized and ready for service yesterday, with all the extra prep that needs to be done to get two entire menus up and running, but nothing a warm bath and a glass of port couldn't cure.

The dinner menu has already been revamped - one small plate never even made it to the finish line,  due to time constraints, and two large plates have been totally reconfigured.  The rainbow trout and the duck - both very new presentations - fell short of Kevin's and the customers' expectations and have been replaced.  (This is why, when I go to your table and ask you how you like a dish - particularly if something is new - I really, really want a truthful response, especially if it is a negative one.)  The trout was not reading clearly on the menu, and the plate that arrived on the table was not at all what the guest was expecting, or hoping for. One table told me that if they had known it was going to come the way it did - on a green salad - they would not have ordered it.  We hear you!  Changes  have been made to the duck as well, not so much from disappointed comments, but from seeing what was left on the plate at the end of the meal.  Chickpeas are not everyone's favorite garnish...

So, presto chango, new menu tonight, and we'll try again.

The scallops - pictured above - presented themselves in a very appetizing way, and while some (included moi) thought the sauce was a little raisiny sweet, the dish was well received.  (Kevin was angry however, when he saw this photo - he wants a floret of cauliflower between every scallop...)  I will try to get more pics tonight, including of the chicken, which is perhaps one of the more dramatic plates we have seen the cooks put out in awhile. 

On the dessert side, while nothing is new on the list, we are using a table top menu which lists  most of the offerings, with a few specials to be described by the server.  That is the result again of customer suggestions, and it is long overdue.


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