First review
of GOOD FOOD BAD FOOD is in..."The
book is a marvelous read. Candid, honest and heartfelt...and teaches wonderful
techniques. Don't think I ever thought about poaching in olive oil! Can't wait to try it. Everything is beautifully put together and
authored by a most fascinating and funny woman who obviously cares about the
health of America and beyond! I will cherish this and share the info with my
clients." Dr. Susan Solomon, Charleston, SC.
This
unsolicited first time review of Good
Food Bad Food arrived in my email box on my birthday last week. What a gift!
Thank you, Dr. Solomon. The book
is available on Amazon and Createspace online as a paperback or as an ebook for
Kindle and Nook at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Now back to the business of
opening a restaurant.
Installment # 4 of
Diary of a madwoman uh, I mean chef, in the throes of opening a restaurant…
Still in
phase one, improving the infrastructure (floors, plumbing, etc.), my team and I
decided to travel the state and leave the contractors on their own while we
continued our search for equipment that fit our budget. Considering the small size of our miniscule
budget, this is no easy task, but we are determined and have thus far met our
goals. Crisscrossing the upstate from NC
to GA, hauling a utility trailer behind, we came back empty handed except for
one thing…the PERFECT steam table.
For those of you who are
unfamiliar with food service terminology, a steam table is a hot holding
station containing wells. or whales as they say here in the South. Being from Maine, I wondered about the relevance
of the underwater mammal to the discussion of the steam table until my embarrassed,
red faced husband translated on the tech’s behalf. Back to the steam table---the wells heat
water to a certain temperature, into which a hotel pan of food is placed to
keep it warm. And this one is perfect,
right color, size, condition, price, and is essential for cafeteria style
service, the type of service customers will find at Beyond the Bull. Picture a
Subway sandwich service counter, but replace the cold food with hot and you have
cafeteria style hot platters like the ones to be served at the Bull.
Customers will not only see the scrumptious looking eat smart versions of Hammonasset Chicken, Duck Cakes Caramel, Dad’s
Easter Rabbit, Sage Chicken Livers with Figs, Bison Osso Bucco, and Scallop and
Shrimp Ceviche, but they will be able to choose their house made fresh salsas, dips and side
items like fried brown rice with chili and sage fried corn or quinoa with
butternut squash from what is right in front of their eyes, all thanks to the
steam table, which we have now nicknamed the
whale. |
| The Whale |
That leaves
only one last piece of equipment to find---the sandwich station. Although the Bull will not be serving sandwiches (one of man’s worst inventions) the cold station is an essential piece of equipment from which every restaurant
serves condiments, salad ingredients and cold sauces. We did find one not far from here this week,
affordable and looking oh-so- good in the photos, but sadly disappointing when
seen in person. There was enough greasy
dust on the fan to fill a king size pillow case. Badly maintained, it would no doubt fail ten
minutes after being plugged in. So, now
the hunt continues. Any leads from my
fellow restauranteurs will be considered and greatly appreciated.
A special
shout out to our RNDC wine representative for supplying samples of varietal
wines for us to try before deciding on the final offerings of single serve wines
to complement our eat smart
menu. Yes, I know that wine is acid
forming and therefore, not smart. But, remember, we strive for balance, at least
60% alkaline forming foods. Consider wine
to be in the acid forming portion and if you add a little piece of lemon, as I
do, it makes it just a little less bad. The Santa Rita Carminere and Barefoot Merlot
were especially good choices for bison and duck. Next week we sample whites---yummm…I love my
job!
Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB.
