Wow, Monday! Who'da Thunk?!

Well, lately Monday nights have been very slow. The last 6 weeks mondays had averaged fewer than 40 guests. I cut my kitchen to one plus myself for Mondays and we prepped lightly because we were going to close for Halloween. MISTAKE! We got thumped hard. Nothing like butchering veal and peeling and deveining shrimp to order half-way through the dinner service. Ran out of all the specials that I had prepared. Our kitchen is completely open to the dining room and we have counter seating surrounding it. Normally there is time to interact with the guests at the counter, last night some of my favourite regulars were in and I barely was able to wave to them. The end result though was nearly two turns on the dining room and a whole bunch of satisfied diners.

Saturday Night, Alrighty!

Well, The World Series is over, Amen! The Baseball Playoffs killed our business. We got a solid two and a half turns out of the dinning room last night. The reservations were solid and the waitstaff was on top of things (for once). Specials included Filleto alla Gorgonzola, Whitefish Agrodolce, Lamb T-bone (loin chop) with Roasted Pepper Rissotto and Spinach, and Butternut Squash Ravioli in Brown Butter with Sage and Hazelnuts. All the specials sold well tonight except for the Whitefish Agrodolce, which I knew would be a little iffy. Agrodolce means sour and sweet. It was a lightly breaded fillet with a dried cherry sweet and sour sauce. It worked very well but our clientelle is rather conservative and I think that the concept was a little hard for them to get their minds wrapped around. All and all a good Saturday Night.

Not Bad For a Weeknight

We had a decently busy dinner tonight. We sold out of the Lamb Loin Chops that I had mentioned in the previous post. I served them with a roasted pepper rissotto, wilted spinach and a mint vinaigrette. Also did well with a Bresaola antipasto with last of the season golden tomatoes and arugala. We didn't do as well with Pollo Mandalore...chicken in an almond sauce. I was suprised that this dish didn't go over well tonight. It has done quite well in the past.

Wednesday Night Is Just Alright

Wednesday was a bit better than Monday, but still not great. We turned the dining room once, well enough to keep the lights on. Specials for the night included, Halibut Milanese, Rare Seared Yellowfin Tuna with a Black Olive vinaigrette, and Zuppa Portuguese (Seafood Stew). The Tuna was the hit of the night. For tonight, I have some Lamb Loin Chops coming and Wild Caught Salmon. We will see how it goes tonight.

Disappointing Monday

Well, Monday night at the restaurant was quite disappointing. Very few guests this evening. Our specials were good and well recieved tonight. Being pretty mainstream Italian in style, we keep things fairly simple. Specials included a chicken saute with oil cured olives, sun-dried tomatoes and a light tomato sauce. I also featured a combination of Grilled Veal Tenderloin, wrapped in procuitto, with Grilled Prawn served over five mushroom risotto with a port syrup and honey gastrique.

That is it for tonight. Tuesday is a day off. Hopefully, Wednesday will be a bit busier.

Welcome To The New Dude Of Food!

Just a little background... I am a family kind of guy with a wonderful wife and two great kids in the Mid-West. I have worked in the restaurant and related businesses all of my adult life. I am currently the Chef d' Cuisine at a small, white tablecloth ristorante in an affluent suburb of a large city. In this blog, I intend to record happenings at the job and food related happenings from the rest of my life. I hope that some of you will find this of interest. Enjoy the Ride!