New Years Preparations

New Years Eve.

It is almost here, the end of 2009. This will be not only the start of a new year, but the start of a new decade. I am preparing for our celebration on the 31st, and I will start prepping the desserts tomorrow. I have always had a theory  that you should always get dessert done first. This gives me a chance to focus on the overall aspect of the night and I do not have to worry about the last course until plate up. I am going to serve 6 courses to 150 people, that’s 900 plates in 5 hours. I am more concerned about our dishwashers than our cooks, because after we prep this will be a fairly easy night. Although we change the dynamic of our kitchen and we go from ala carte to pre fixed, it is a welcomed change and we are always up for new challenges. I will take pictures of each course and give a detailed menu description on New Years day. I think that I have found my book printing company as well. I have been doing a lot of research and I have limited my choices to 4. I am now looking into cost so I can give my self some guide lines and set realistic goals to that of which  I choose to obtain. I am also reading 5 books on self publishing and how to write a cookbook. I am learning so much, and I am starting to realize how daunting a task this can be. I will how ever take it one day at a time. And I will grow and improve from this experience.

So Happy New year, and Prosperity in the up coming decade.

Menu ideas?

So today I spent most of the night looking over our menu mix. Apps. Were around 55% soups and salads at 88% and desserts at 45%. So apps are down from previous months but desserts are up by 110% so I am going to focus on getting our starters up to around 75% sales and desserts up to 60% sales. In this current economic condition, we know people are going to spend a little less when eating out. I feel if we make our starters a little more mainstream maybe people will feel comfortable when deciding whether to buy a first course and choose to buy one due mostly to being familiar with the menu item. As for desserts maybe I need to generate a buzz in house and have some sort of story behind the dessert? I am happy to see the sales up regardless of the economy. As for our outlook the start of the New Year will bring menu items that are cost effective due to the low volume in sales and the fact that we will be closed Monday thru Wed. I am sorry to say No winter truffles for the first quarter of 2010. We will also be remodeling our kitchen getting ready for the summer season. I think it is important to stay busy. In addition I am planning on going to L2O in February and Trotters, Spiaggia or Alinea again in my Culinary weekend field trip. I am going to fill in breakfast and lunch with some off  the wall places? Not sure yet but I think those meals will be spontaneous. I think if I can swing it I may go to Vegas also, there are some great restaurants there and deals are very good as far as airfare and hotel stay.  I need to recharge and see and taste some food from high end restaurants. I guess It’s the foodie in me, it will also give me a chance to practice writing, and give me an opportunity to possibly get published.   

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas, And I had a great day with the family and I really enjoyed the entire day, even with the 4 hours of sleep and 7 hours of driving. The desserts were really good and it was fun preparing them with my daughters. My youngest Madison thinks we should do this every year and I think she is right.

Holiday Desserts:)

So for X-Mas I am in charge of desserts, I will have 2 up and coming pastry chefs with me, my daughters Mariah and Madison. I have not done this in a few years so I am looking forward to doing this and I am thinking that my daughters will have fun with it also. And who knows maybe some of these desserts will make the Cook Book. Any ways this concludes my writing for tonight. Here is a list of what we may be making, depending on time restraints tomorrow. Merry Christmas Eve.

Bittersweet Chocolate Flourless Chocolate Cake with ILLY cappuccino mousse and Milk Chocolate Malted ice cream.

Dreamsicles with vanilla bean panna cotta, clementine gelee and pop rocks.

Butter milk Waffles with bananas, macadamia nuts and caramel.

Truffles.

BUSY

Didn’t get to much done today regarding the book, actually a little busy tonight at the restaurant. I think that tomorrow I am going to start to draft some recipes together, and see what they look like in print. I am also thinking about adding wine notes to each meal. I am looking at different concepts for the page layout, and I may have the pictures in Black and White, and maybe some sketches? Or maybe kitchen pictures in Black and White and Farm pictures in color. I am still excited and I am starting to let people know about my intentions. I think in a strange way it will hold me accountable and keep me on pace to finish by my deadline. Well I am going to read a little more, so I can improve my writing skills or lack there of.

RECIPES

Today was spent learning how to write recipes so the general public would be able to understand them and more importantly be able to follow them and have positive results. There lies my greatest challenge, when I teach most of my students understand the culinary language that I speak, and are to some extent able to perform the tasks that I ask. I want to write a book where the most basic of cooks will be able to understand what I am asking. When you cook seasonally and have been doing it for along time, you do not really end up using recipes, we have very few in our kitchen. What I need to translate is a easy and identifiable way to cook, I need to evoke courage and confidence, then a general understanding will develop. Probably the one thing that challenges me the most is the fact that I am not the person buying this book, and that the person who is probably does not work in a kitchen and may not know how to even use a chefs knife let alone own one. I need to remember what my challenges were when I first starting reading cookbooks and keep things in a simple and easy to use format with no fail recipes. I may use my 11 and 13 year old daughters to test my recipes and I will be very exacting as far as weight and measurements. This aspect will be the most challenging part of this book. I am at least acknowledging it early in this project because I know that I can not put this off and rush thru it at the end of my deadline. By the way my deadline for my first draft is January 20th 2011. This will give me a full year to cook and document all 4 seasons. And it will mean writing for 356 straight days, which is a positive challenge in its self. Thank god for spell check!

Jan. cook book project

January Ideas: Roots, Braise and Relaxation

The Holidays are over, presents are open, Christmas cookies are stale, champagne bottles are empty along with our wallets. The smell of pine is slowly dissipating in the air. January is here and its time to relax and reflect. How can I improve on last years performance? Where can I grow? How can I evolve? These are the questions that I ask every new year. In a time of uncertainty I always look forward to the New year. A fresh start, a new beginning, maybe I will write a book? Maybe I will write a series of books, and start my own publishing company. This year 2010 will be my time to explore new Ideas and improve on old ones. I am going to write everyday and introduce you to the Cooking process that I have developed over the years. I will hopefully get you connected to your inner cook by documenting the way I create new menu items using local, seasonal ingredients. I will introduce you to my farmers and there outstanding products. I want to connect you to the under- rated side of this business. The Farmers are crucial to any restaurants success, and they are many times taken for granted, as the chefs ego can sometimes be the driving force to his day to day process. I have come to know that the most important part of my cooking is quite simply "the quality of my product." So I have made a pledge to simply try not to Fuck up there hard work. Along the way I will introduce you to some Incredibly dedicated and knowledgeable people. There stories and there products. I will also link you to my blog, and have included a DVD with recipes, and demonstrations on certain techniques. Also there is a comprehensive resource guide and a valuable reference guide. My hope is when you use this book it will enlighten you to a new world on food, and give you a new perspective on your local farmers and ranchers. In the end you will be able to impress your friends and cook with a new found inspiration. So that is this books purpose now lets get to the Roots of this journal.