Fourth of July Weekend!

Thunderstorms predicted again for Thursday might be fireworks enough for the third of July!

But then we'll get this:

This was a very busy Wednesday, with a lot of business after 7:30, many of them new faces to us.  The menu was very well received, as was the blueberry pie, made with delicious Godfrey blueberries and that not-so-secret ingredient. 

Two summer classics arrived this week via Bill Kelly of Redman Farms - sugar corn and field tomatoes!  I haven't tried any of the corn yet - it was immediately cut off the cob and the cobs themselves quickly made into stock - but the tomato I had was quite nice, plenty of sweet with a good balance of acid.  And their grape tomatoes are also very good, a big improvement from the cello-packaged cousins.  As a matter of fact, our Teddy Bear Fresh delivery today was made by one of the owners of the company, and he was quite impressed with the Redman produce that he saw on our cart when he arrived...

The menu Wednesday night began with some of those grape tomatoes, sauteed with a little olive oil and tossed with cubes of fresh mozzarella and linguine.

Just before it went out to the table, it got a final dusting of Parmesan cheese:

This ample starter was followed by sauteed chicken breast sauced with a spiced honey mint concoction largely influenced by a recipe in this week's NYT from superstar chef Bobby Flay.  We have lots of mint (thank you Mrs. Holmes!);  Kevin added his own twists (of course) for this rather unusual accompaniment to chicken, and overall it was a big success. 

Reviews weren't so much mixed as surprised.  "Different", say the Peacocks, with their usual candidness.  Different in a good way though, they insisted, explaining that they just never would have paired mint with chicken.  "Check our plates out when we are cleared" they said.  So Leah dutifully brought me the plates, which were indeed thoroughly emptied.   It certainly was a pretty color, but we have to give Bobby his due as to coming up with the idea for Kevin to interpret.  On the shoulders of giants, once more.

Dessert was angel food cake with blueberry sauce, another crowd pleaser.

This is the new world famous Fried Chicken Salad Sandwich, making the special list at lunch.  You have to try it.  It is that good.

 And here is the Smoked Fish Salad.

Another special for the lunch time crowd this week was rockfish tempura.  Kevin has been having a lot of fun with that tempura lately, and since he is back on the lunch line, he is also having fun with the deep fryer!  Neither of us can recall why we purposefully did not turn the fryer on at lunch until recently...

Blueberries have been the filling for the pie-du-jour lately.

This pie was made with Godfrey berries, which means it was super delicious, since those berries are the best.  Sell-out both Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Speaking of Thursday night, what a scene!  Thankfully I was staffed in anticipation of a busy night, but I think the cancelling of the RH fireworks worked in our favor, as we were hanging from the rafters from 6PM until after 8.  Our two new busboys got quite an eyeful as to what "busy" means, with me barking direction at them the entire night.  We even had a volunteer sit at the Kitchen Table, who also must have gotten quite an eyeful! And earful!  Jenny and Geoff were captivated by the hysteria that flourished in the crazy kitchen scene Thursday night, but they missed the best one of all.  Tyler cleared their table after they left, and as he was wiping it clean he asked "Should I re-set the kitchen table?"  Both Kevin and I pleaded "NO!", and Tyler turned to Kevin and asked "What's the matter, can't you take it?"   O.M.G.  I about died with laughter.   It was so hysterical.  Kevin wisely said nothing, but at 9:00, when 14 year old Tyler asked if he should clock out (by law he has to be out at 9PM), Jay says to him "What, can't you take it?"  The joke flew over  Tyler's head, but it was perfect comic relief from the incredibly stressful night soon to be behind us.

Have a great weekend!
Peace out!