Thursday, October 04, 2012

One Week Later

It's been a complicated week since last we met.  We've had some of the usual restaurant issues to deal with as well as a few technical difficulties. Those began a few weeks ago, when Radcliffe left Verizon and joined arms with Atlantic Broad Band.  Around that same time, I purchased a wireless router for our office.  After some trouble hooking it up, I accosted the tech who was checking up on the success of the ABB connection and he set us straight.  Or so we thought.  Our internet connection remained quite wonky.  And, of course, we blamed it on the new provider...  Well, apparently we weren't the only ones experiencing problems - the whole building was going nuts online. Monday night, Randy and the Corsica tech found the source of the instability - my wireless router!  It was causing all the problems, due to address conflict.  Out it goes (anyone need a wireless router?) and we're back with our original Linksey's router without the wireless capabilities.  (Anyone need a tablet?)  Now we have to get a pair of devices that will not mess with the Mother Router but will offer us the wireless capabilities we seek.  

At the same time, we are in the process of switching merchant processors for our credit cards.  Unknown to us before we signed the contract with the new bank, this involves updated software from Digital Dining, which turns out to cost a healthy chunk of change, not covered by the bank. Well, you know what they say - you've got to spend money to save money. The new software is installed remotely on Monday.  Tuesday, when we run credit cards at lunch, the slips tell us that this is for Demonstration Not For Payment.  Great.  We give the DD people a call and it turns out the software was not made "live".   After an hour or so, it is.  We'll see if our investment pays off with lower credit card fees or not.  Either way, we've got a three year contract.

I'm also ending our contract with Direct Energy.  And, of course, it's one of those deals that if you don't fax them a specific form that they must send you, your contract will automatically renew. The many phone calls were not sufficient. Luckily, the call to Delmarva to see if the switch had been made clued me in on time to make the move. It may end up being more costly, but we're just going to let Delmarva charge us whatever they want.  There might be a better financial solution out there for the electric bill, but frankly I just don't have the "energy" to seek it out.

I'd rather deal with food.

Last night's menu was a huge hit!  And I'm glad, because Kevin really worked hard on it.

The menu began with a duck confit quesadilla (sound familiar?).  This version was a little different than the one we had at Schaefer's, mostly due to the inclusion of refried beans. 

 The salsa garnish was a pleasant addition.

The posole was truly the star of the show.  It earned many raves from the guests who chose the menu, including one who sought Kevin out after dinner simply to bestow his compliments.  The hominy stew was graced with a few chunks of Kevin's chorizo and a meaty pork rib.  I don't know how many people had had posole before, but judging from the positive reception, this version was a success.  Now, if only Kevin can make it again, maybe we'll see it on a future dinner menu.

Dessert was the cream caramel, which, if we'd called it flan, would have earned the menu a Mexican moniker...

Perhaps the BIGGEST news of the week is another creation produced by Kevin in the BT kitchen. Hot dog! and I don't mean just any hot dog, but a dog worthy of our customers.  

I never imagined that Kevin could make a real hot dog, but look at that baby!  It is on the large size - thanks to the casings we use - but flavor wise, it is a real frankfurter.  On the lunch menu NOW!

And also on the updated lunch menu, this dish of shrimp with a rice noodle cake and coconut milk:

For the two days these menu items have been available, they've been about equally ordered.  Funny to see two entirely different dishes - one the lowly hot dog, the other the exotic seafood - be the two most popular choices.  Lunch has been a little slow lately, which is not unusual for us, but it sure isn't pleasant.  Could a great dog bring the people in?  Other empires have been founded on sausages, maybe this will finally be our niche.
  
"There are no two finer words 
in the English language 
than 'encased meats', my friend." 


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