So, what did Kevin do with that beautiful box of heirloom tomatoes that
Melinda and Billy brought in last week? Besides just eat them with salt
and pepper?
They went under the mozzarella roll for a weekend bruschetta special. Sort of a take on a panzanella salad. This has to be one of my personal favorites in the world of mozzarella.
And of course some were for breakfast:
With Burger Night left over bean puree and guacamole, it was a mighty tasty start to the day. Thanks Melinda - and don't forget Shari's box!
Last night's menu, with fish for the main course, was very popular.
It began with more of Kevin's mozzarella - there seems to be a bit of trend in that direction, lately - on a Redman Farms roasted pepper salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I don't know about the salad, but I had a couple of end pieces of the mozz, and it was as tender and sweet as butter.
,
The fish in question was flounder, baked, and served with tomato and guanciale, cured from one of Kim's Black Bottom Farm pigs. With Redman's green beans and corn, it was a plate of late summer.
And dessert was for early fall - Marty's Swedish apple cake, made with the Honey Crisp apples we got from Milburn's Orchard on Monday. The piece pictured here has the added garnish of caramel sauce, as it was going out as an a la carte order for someone who we know loves caramel sauce!
And of course there is more food news: pork first.
More BBF pork - this was really something - more slow roasted shoulder, shredded and served with black bean puree, corn cakes and mojo sauce. One diner remarked that it reminded him of a Cuban dish made with beef. I was on the bar both Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week, and heard a few "hmmmms" when the fork met the mouth with this one. What a sublime combination of flavors.
The St. Brigid's Farm veal special on Friday night featured the brisket with a BT crabcake, sharing the plate together. I won't tell you what Judy Gifford said about this dish - she and Robert both ordered it - but you can be sure she was happy with what Kevin had done with her veal.
And I know I promised some seafood pictures, not doing too well with that...this shot of our very, very popular Piccolo Frito will have to do. The calamari, buttermilk brined, is currently paired with zucchini. The miso dipping sauce is a serious customer favorite - we have tried to change it, but to no avail.
Our week has not been without issues - of course it hasn't - but the "best" one was on Saturday, when the "back office" computer - which is actually the dining room terminal - lost its connection to the Internet, and therefore was pretty much worthless for service. I started on the phone around 10AM and was steady on it until 2PM. The DBS guy was the first call, who led us to eventually discover the Internet problem - but not before going through a whole bunch of rigmarole which may or may not have caused more problems. Then another remote session with the Corsica tech - who, I have to say, even though he solved the Internet problem, was one of the more condescending techs I've had the pleasure of working with from that company. I know I don't know what he knows about computers - that's why I called them - but I do understand English. I do know how to spell config. And I did spell it right. The first time and the third time. Finally, despite my ineptitude, the Internet issue was resolved, and finally, after more remote work with a second DBS tech, we were back in business. Except for the printer on the DR teminal not functioning, all seemed well. We'd just use the bar printer if we had to Saturday night.
What was the problem with the DR Internet? Some one or thing called "Polycom" changed the IP address. What? How can that happen? I have no idea. But with a changed IP address, the computer no longer could connect with the Internet. The tech put in some seemingly arbitrary new address - changed the last two numbers basically - and it worked. That is just crazy, don't you think? and it took all day to figure it out. God knows what the bills between the three techs will be, considering it's time and a half Saturday and all. Although a whole lot cheaper than having to be closed on a Saturday night, don't ya think?
And I have to say, Jenn did a terrific job on the floor for Saturday's relatively slow lunch (thank goodness it was slow too). First of all, she had to take orders by hand, put them in by hand and present a hand written check to the guest. Then she had to do her credit cards by hand. Plus she made all her own drinks, never asking me once for anything, just did her job calmly and efficiently. Seeing as I was on the phone working with off-site techs on our computer the entire time, I would not have been able to help anyone very much. She was great. She'll make a wonderful elementary school teacher, if anyone is paying attention.
And she also solved the mystery of the recalcitrant printer. We're talking about it at the start of dinner service, getting our plan of action in place for having only one active printer, and Jenn says "what's that cord to?" Lo and behold, there's a cord hanging down from the terminal, unplugged. It's the printer cord. It must have been just loose enough not to give the printer any juice but not completely unhinged, so we couldn't tell that it wasn't working. It finally worked its way all the way out of the socket, and once that happened, problem solved. A little sheepish, but heck, I didn't care about anything at that point but being fairly back to normal in time for Saturday night dinner.
More wine please!
I'll leave you with a picture of the most glorious peppers Bill brought us this afternoon from Redmans:
Is that the most luscious shade of red or what? Only in nature do you see colors like that.
Until next time - peace out!
And of course there is more food news: pork first.
Black Bottom Farm pork cutlet and shoulder.
This is Langenfelder pork shoulder - basically fresh ham - slow roasted.
Our week has not been without issues - of course it hasn't - but the "best" one was on Saturday, when the "back office" computer - which is actually the dining room terminal - lost its connection to the Internet, and therefore was pretty much worthless for service. I started on the phone around 10AM and was steady on it until 2PM. The DBS guy was the first call, who led us to eventually discover the Internet problem - but not before going through a whole bunch of rigmarole which may or may not have caused more problems. Then another remote session with the Corsica tech - who, I have to say, even though he solved the Internet problem, was one of the more condescending techs I've had the pleasure of working with from that company. I know I don't know what he knows about computers - that's why I called them - but I do understand English. I do know how to spell config. And I did spell it right. The first time and the third time. Finally, despite my ineptitude, the Internet issue was resolved, and finally, after more remote work with a second DBS tech, we were back in business. Except for the printer on the DR teminal not functioning, all seemed well. We'd just use the bar printer if we had to Saturday night.
What was the problem with the DR Internet? Some one or thing called "Polycom" changed the IP address. What? How can that happen? I have no idea. But with a changed IP address, the computer no longer could connect with the Internet. The tech put in some seemingly arbitrary new address - changed the last two numbers basically - and it worked. That is just crazy, don't you think? and it took all day to figure it out. God knows what the bills between the three techs will be, considering it's time and a half Saturday and all. Although a whole lot cheaper than having to be closed on a Saturday night, don't ya think?
And I have to say, Jenn did a terrific job on the floor for Saturday's relatively slow lunch (thank goodness it was slow too). First of all, she had to take orders by hand, put them in by hand and present a hand written check to the guest. Then she had to do her credit cards by hand. Plus she made all her own drinks, never asking me once for anything, just did her job calmly and efficiently. Seeing as I was on the phone working with off-site techs on our computer the entire time, I would not have been able to help anyone very much. She was great. She'll make a wonderful elementary school teacher, if anyone is paying attention.
And she also solved the mystery of the recalcitrant printer. We're talking about it at the start of dinner service, getting our plan of action in place for having only one active printer, and Jenn says "what's that cord to?" Lo and behold, there's a cord hanging down from the terminal, unplugged. It's the printer cord. It must have been just loose enough not to give the printer any juice but not completely unhinged, so we couldn't tell that it wasn't working. It finally worked its way all the way out of the socket, and once that happened, problem solved. A little sheepish, but heck, I didn't care about anything at that point but being fairly back to normal in time for Saturday night dinner.
More wine please!
I'll leave you with a picture of the most glorious peppers Bill brought us this afternoon from Redmans:
Until next time - peace out!
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