T-Party Saturday

Not typically our busiest lunch of the year.

Got a few pics to post while I kill time do projects during service:

John Maniscalco delivers his beautiful bibb lettuce and gets a little snack for his trouble.  John is in the park every Saturday with his Chesapeake Greenhouse lettuces, and never fails to perk up our kitchen when he arrives with his product.  He is one cool cat.

Some stunning strawberries from Redmans also came through the back door this week, hand-picked and delivered by Bill Kelly himself.  Their romaine is pretty awesome too, dark and healthy. 

We offered a cold seafood plate as one of the specials last night, and it went over pretty well.  Some poached salmon, shrimp and a crab salad with some cold boiled potatoes on a bed of greens.  Pretty standard fare, you think, until you taste one of the potatoes.  It tastes of the sea!  that's because Kevin boiled them in the poaching liquid left over from the shrimp - they were boiled in shrimp stock which left them tasting faintly of seafood, marrying so well with the rest of the plate.  How does he think of these things?

The St. Brigid's Farm veal special was all about the sauce, IMHO.  Not that the veal wasn't spectacular, with it's filling of feta cheese and arugula, but that sauce...made it.

And look who came in to see us this morning, in her little summer sunsuit and a purple bow in her hair?  Harlynn is looking cuter and cuter every time I see her. Her eyelashes are so long, they actually touch her eyebrows!  She had a couple bad days a week or so ago, but things are looking up now and she is happy as can be.  

It's been a fun week at BT - with the added bonus that (so far) no one has called out all week!  and we think maybe no one did last week either?  Wow, that has got to be a world record.  Thursday was some serious burger mania, with burger maniacs all over the dining room, going from table to table, greeting family and friends.  At one point a whole gaggle was exchanging hugs in the middle of the room.  It was way too much fun!  Last night was almost the direct opposite - busy (and loud), but not much interaction table to table.  As one regular put it, "Who are all these people?"  Still, there's nothing like an influx of new faces to stimulate business.  As I replied, "I don't know, but I sure am happy to see them!"

Okay, it's almost one o'clock.  We've had about five tables for lunch, and right now they have all left and the dining room is completely devoid of customers...

Note to self - next year, close for lunch on T-Party...

It's Thursday Again!

Time for the post menu wrap-up!  We had quite the surge of guests last night, starting at around 6:15 and lasting for a good hour.  The menu, featuring Kevin's always good meatloaf, was not the draw it usually is, but that didn't matter, as long as the diners were there. 

The starter was a goat cheese flan atop a small spinach salad with balsamic dressing.  This dish may lead Kevin to the answer to his latest quest for a new spinach salad.

Kevin says "Barbara, you've got plenty of pictures of meatloaf" and I replied "Not a tray full like this shot!"  And that was before Blogger made it go sideways!  Good meatloaf, as always, will make an even better MeatLoafWich at lunch today.

Dessert was a slice of coffee-almond Tortoni, one of my personal favorites.  And easy - just whipped cream and whipped egg whites folded together with a little sugar, coffee extract and ground almonds, frozen in a loaf pan.  We sauced it with some chocolate sauce.  Rather similar in shape to the meatloaf, isn't it?  We should have recognized that earlier and made the flan the same shape!  ha!

In other news, of course it's Memorial Day Weekend coming up, the (un)official start of the long awaited summer season.  Chestertown begins summer with the annual Tea Party Festival, which runs the entire weekend downtown.   There is food, crafts, reenactments, music and a parade.  What more could you want at a small town event?  Best of all is the Raft Race, held at Wilmer Park on Sunday - my personal favorite, and actually the only part of the Tea Party I have been to in many years, work getting in the way on Saturdays.  A lot of locals grumble about the TP, and many grumbles are justified - trampled lawns, competition from the street vendors, roads closed - but it's basically only one day of inconvenience.  FYI, we will have plenty of (free) parking in our lot, and the A.C. will be on, the food will be served to you on china plates and there will certainly be no long lines.  Just sayin'...

Deliveries of fresh produce from Redman's have recently included strawberries, romaine lettuce, early onions, broccoli and the probable last flat of asparagus.  Not only is it great to have this available to us from a local grower, but it comes right into our back door, fairly priced and of the highest quality we could imagine.  We are so lucky.   New this year: Kevin is texting his requests to Cathy!  so high tech!

The other annual events this holiday weekend are beach traffic and cook-outs.  We plan on the latter.  

Monday Monday

In the office on Monday - never a first choice but generally a necessity - and I thought I'd post a picture of our princesses busgirls in their prom finery.  Kara and Mallory stopped by on Saturday night for a quick photo.  They were so beautiful; I imagine every parent must cry bittersweet tears, when they see the young women their teenagers turn into, as they step into the living room dressed like movie stars.  I almost cried!  I hope they had a most wonderful night.

Saturday was the night before WashColl graduation, always a fun time at Brooks Tavern.  We started out with 4 large parties booked throughout the night - and these were reservations made way in advance, for the most part - and by 5PM only two were still coming, despite being confirmed at 10 AM.  The second of those showed up as a four at their appointed hour, so we ended up with one 9 and a 7 that called at 6PM and took a 7:30 reservation.  I don't know how the other restaurants do it, the ones that take all size reservations.  Does the same thing happen to them?  It is just crazy, and not a night I anticipate with pleasure.  Luckily we expect this pattern and can tell our other callers that it won't be as busy as they think, since locals stay away and we have plenty of walk-in seating which might not be the case elsewhere.   In the end we had a busy hour or two, with Tabitha and Kentrall filling in on the bus for our two prom queens.  

The food was good, that is certain.  Check out this pasta special that Kevin put out - house made fettuccine with crab, Smithfield ham and asparagus. 

The tuna came with a mound of tortilla chips and roasted tomatillo salsa.  The green vegetable is some of Redmans' young kale, surprisingly (to me) sweet and tasty.  

Kevin is still in his "dumpling" phase - in this case a duck summer roll with sweet-and-sour sauce. 

He managed to step out from behind the line for a minute on Saturday night and snap this photo of our neighbors, Bobby and Carol Baxter, enjoying their meal on Table Six.  

May has been on the quiet side.  It has been a little boring, frankly.  The only good thing to come out of it is that is gives Kevin a lot more time to "fool around" with stuff, which he loves.  It will probably get busy when Kev is gone and we have a new guy on the line to train...

"When Do I Get Paid?"

Debbie Creighton joined our day time crew last week, as a part-time dishwasher, helping Cherelle.   She is a member of the local chapter of The Arc, a national organization that helps people like Debbie live more meaningful lives within their communities.  Debbie will be working every Tuesday and Thursday morning.  She begins the day - after she clocks in - with a thorough sweep of the dining room, then she gets busy on the pot sink.  Gradually she will be doing more to help Cherelle, so that Cherelle can do more to help Kevin.

 Debbie is quite enthusiastic about her job. She has a very positive attitude, greeting everyone with a "Good Morning" and usually a query of some kind.  "What's your name?"  "What do you do?"  The first question I get is  "When do I get paid?"

Here is Debbie at the pot sink, under the watchful eyes of her job-coach DeeDee and our own Cherelle.

This week Kevin introduced Debbie to the job of peeling shrimp, and she happily helped Cherelle get that chore done in a timely fashion.

The Latest Lunch Special

This past Monday, Kevin and I ate lunch out, as is our routine.  We were headed toward Kent Island, so we stopped at a nearby eatery for the mid-day meal.  I ordered the "grilled Caesar", since I love that hot/cold salad thing, and while it was okay (and the grilled shrimp on top were perfectly cooked), it wasn't prepared the way I had expected, partly because only the very tips of the hearts of romaine were grilled.  (And actually this flaw would have been negligible, had the Caesar dressing been better - it was awful, either a bad recipe or straight out of the Sysco Jug.  Won't order that again.)

So, of course, Kevin has to have a stab at this.  He planned a lunch special of griddled romaine with scallops, olives and pickled kumquats.  (Remember them?)  Griddled because we don't have a grill.  Mandrell has been putting them together and yesterday I got in his way with the camera to document the path from griddle to plate:

Mandrell cuts a heart of Romaine in two.

He trims the end of one for the order.

Onto the hot griddle it goes, after a light coating of olive oil is applied.

Meanwhile, the scallops get seasoned...

...and put on the griddle as well.

When it's nicely browned, Mandrell lifts the romaine...

...and places it into the serving bowl.

He adds the olives and kumquats.

The scallops are ready to flip.

Nicely golden.

The vessel awaits.

The scallops are put on top...

...and lunch is ready!

Let's eat!

Prix-fixe Report

We had a fairly decent turn-out last night for the chicken dumpling menu.  Things have been a little slow this spring, which benefits the Wednesday night diners because Kevin has extra time to spend on his creations for the prix-fixe.  This week was no exception...  Dinner began with a salad topped with poached shrimp, plated by our new salad cook (or "garde manger", as our ad on Craig's List was worded),  Shuron Douglas.  Shuron is taking the spot that Megan held for the past two plus years - and she is now down the street as an assistant manager at the new UpHi hot spot, Uncle Charlie's Bistro, slated to open officially on Monday. (Although we hear there will be a soft opening this weekend.)  Shuron worked with us back at the Kennedyville Inn, so he is no stranger to Kevin or to the world Kevin presides over...

The aforementioned chicken dumpling caused some curiosity among the patrons who received the email regarding last night's menu, because they just couldn't be sure what kind of "dumpling" could be coming.  I think most thought of the homey "chicken and dumplings" made by our Amish grandmothers.  Of course that is not what Kevin was thinking - he was thinking "apple dumpling", sub chicken.  He used a new-to-him pastry, that proved to be somewhat challenging and didn't obey him the way he would have liked, but it tasted very good, and the chicken with it's mushroom gravy was well regarded by those who partook.  (Partook??  sometimes I think I've been reading the "100 years ago" reprints of articles in the Kent County News a little too avidly...)

Dessert following the main was a slice of our classic angel food cake, perfectly light after the hearty dinner.  I figured, in order to make this picture of the lemon glazed cake even slightly interesting, I had to get a little arty...

Otherwise, this is what you get:

This morning I am trying a new recipe for a rhubarb custard pie.  Here is how it turned out:

We'll cut into it later.  I have a few doubts, since it boiled while it was baking.  Not sure I've ever had a custard pie come to a boil in the oven...we'll see if it is fit for you to eat before we put it on the dessert list.  Oh, the hardships we must face in the line of duty to our guests!

Anyway, back to staffing.  We're having a bit of a wave of change in the kitchen, starting with Megan's departure this past Thursday.  At the end of our "Against All Odds" Saturday night last week, Kev the sous-chef gave his notice.  He has always been up front with us about his dreams for his future, and they don't involve the restaurant business.  Rather, he is studying to enter the health care industry, and he got a foot in that door by accepting a new job working with the Humane Society.  It is a day job, which is attractive, and outside work, which is a plus as well. Oh, and did I mention benefits?  Kev has been on our night line since June of 2008, working at BT longer than any other of the kitchen crew, except of course for Chef Kevin.  Our loss is the Humane Society's gain, and I am sure he will do well there.  What we will probably miss most about Kev's departure is the fact that he closes for us two nights a week!  I hate to say it, but frankly that is the most important thing - besides being reliable, quiet and hard working - that Kev does for us!  He keeps us sane!  well, almost sane...

We're also going to see Rodrigo move on, toward the end of the summer.  He is going to join his sister Maria in Anaheim, and I am sure will be snatched up by some restaurant out there. 

This kind of mass exodus seems to happen every couple years, and we are not daunted by it.  In fact, in some ways, it is a way of  "freshening" the kitchen, getting new people with new ideas.  We put our ad on Craig's List and hope for the best to come forward.  If we don't get the best, we manage to make do with what we do get and adjust our menu around it.  Kevin will be having an interesting summer, that is certain. 

I'll leave you now with a spring flower photo, taken from our yard.  Don't remember what they are, but they sure are yellow against all that green!

Cheers!

Against All Odds

I don't know when the internet came back up - sometime yesterday I presume - but it sure made for an interesting Saturday.  No internet all day long.  Besides meaning no email and no web cruising, it also means no credit card transactions.  Yeah, uh oh.  

Luckily, before the banks closed at noon on Saturday, I sent the bus girl over to the nearest branch of pick up some of those manual entry credit card slips - the ones we use with the "knuckle buster".  You see, we can still accept credit cards, we just have to manually enter the numbers when the internet is back up.  Our plan - and of course you know this is not our first time around this block - is to run the card through the imprinter, collect a phone number, close all the credit card checks with the House Charge method of payment and then enter all of the numbers and amounts when the web service allows it at a later date.  

That would be this morning.  When we came in yesterday and there was still nothing, we left.

So.  The first credit card I entered this morning was declined.  

Thank goodness we got phone numbers.  All in all, out of 50 payments, three were declined.  One was misread numbers on the imprint, one was replaced by another card, and the first one had been lost and so reported as such.  All eventually were made good, and while it took a good chunk of the morning (and will cost us a higher rate from the processor, due to all of them going through as "manual entry"), it's not the worst thing that could happen on a busy Saturday night. 

No, that would be having a substitute cook work the salad station.  Plus a returning but still new server work the floor.  Plus the tray runner bearing the worry of a very ill baby.  This - with the extra patrol of the credit card issue - made for a somewhat stressful Saturday night.  And, of course it was busy, unlike Friday when the additional drama would probably have been a welcome diversion.  

Kevin's small plate special of those duck buns paired with a duck egg roll caused some diversion on Friday night.  Not your usual Kent County fare, eh?

We got a good start to our Day on Saturday - before we knew of the impending stressful situations we would be faced with later - by making three batches of Strawberry Jam, using Redman's most delicious strawberries.  Aren't the strawberries just perfect this year?  Should be some good jam. 

Luckily for us, Sunday comes around every week.  Whether we need it or not...and sometimes we need it more than others!  

Thursday Report on Wednesday

Last night's prix-fixe menu was a really good one - especially those duck buns!  Kevin took a page out of David Chang's Momofuku cookbook, using their recipe for pork buns as his guide, and made these glowing duck-filled buns for the first course of the menu:

Kevin baked his buns, rather than steaming them, which made for a much lighter, less doughy concoction.

They sat in a pool of sweet and sour sauce, which most guests mopped up with their buns...

The staff welcomed the chance to sample this new dish in their boss's repertoire.  As for the diners' remarks: put these on the menu!

In continuing with the "theme" of the meal last night, the main course was a chicken curry plate.

Coconut cream caramel filled out the bill of fare.  One of - I think - the best things coming out of these Wednesday menus is the opportunity it affords Kevin to try out new dishes.  He might only make something one time (which I hope is not the case with those duck buns) but doing so gives him a chance to experiment and grow within his trade.  He is never afraid to try something for the first time.  And, as someone commented last night, like an artist, he wants his audience to appreciate his work - when none of the first few tables ordered the menu last night, he was sure they were rejecting his buns!

In other news - it's fruit pie season once again, and today the first one came out of the oven.  Strawberry rhubarb with an almond streusel on top.  

The streusel recipe comes directly out of this month's issue of Food and Wine.  I thought it would go as well with rhubarb as with the stone fruit filling they suggested.  We'll see - I wonder if the "staff" needs a slice to make sure?

It's approaching Mother's Day weekend all across the country, and sons and daughters (as well as husbands, for some unknown reason?) will be treating Moms to a meal out on the town.  (I've never really understood why Mom's day of the year is celebrated by dining out, while Dad's day is spent with him doing the cooking on the barbeque out back.)  Of course Brooks Tavern is closed on Sundays, so it is not an option for those who want to treat Mom to the kind of special meal in a dining room where she won't have to lift a finger.  Luckily there are plenty of other nearby dining opportunities, many of which offer special Mother's Day menus for this very important lady - after all, where would we be without her, eh? 

Right in DownTown Chestertown, the Imperial Hotel's Front Room will be featuring a MD menu that will be available for both brunch and dinner on Sunday.  Out in the county, the Kitty Knight House will be doing a Mother's Day prix-fixe for the same meals, and at the other end of Kent, the Osprey will serve a brunch buffet to Mom.  Also in Rock Hall, the Swan Point Inn is advertising Mother's Day specials, including complimentary dessert for Mom.  The Kitchen at Rock Hall might be a good choice as well; this tiny hot spot has been on the receiving end of some very positive buzz ever since it opened.  Mothers also get a free dessert at the FishWhistle on Sunday, along with great views of the Chester River.  On the Bay Side, you could take the Mom out to Betterton, for a wonderful walk on the beach, followed by a Mother's Day special of Surf and Turf at the Sunset Bar and Grill. 

You could leave the County.  I guess.  But you certainly don't have to, with these venues, and  many others right in your own community, vying for your Mother's company.  And of course, since we all know that every day is truly Mother's Day, you can always come to Brooks Tavern anytime with Mom, and celebrate her all year long!

Quick Pickles

Shari Keen wrote me a recipe request, for the quick pickles that we put on the special burger last week.  They were really good, and they are really quick!

The recipe is an adaptation (and aren't they all?) from one we found on line. Apparently this is how they make them at the restaurant Aquavit, in New York, to serve as a Scandinavian condiment.

For each cucumber you need:

• 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt
• 1 and 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 allspice berries
• If you like other spices in your pickles, there's nothing to say you can mix and match!

Slice the cucumbers as thinly as you possibly can. (A mandolin or some other vegetable slicer comes in very handy here.)  Put the slices in a colander, toss them with the kosher salt, and let them stand about 30 minutes. 

While this is going on, combine the water, vinegar, sugar and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and cool before using. 

After the cucumbers have been in the salt for about 30 minutes, rinse them in cold water and squeeze out as much moisture as possible.  (You can do this by placing them on a clean kitchen towel and wringing it tightly.)  Put the cucumbers in a bowl and add the cooled pickling solution, completely covering them with the brine.  Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours before serving.  They will keep, refrigerated, for up to 5 days. 

A Good Time Was Had By All

It wasn't what one would call a rocking Friday night at Brooks Tavern last night - it was, after all, First Friday, a notoriously crappy night for those of us on the outside of downtown - but I know I had a good time and I'm thinking a few other people did too. [as documented by photo below]  We had enough guests to keep us busy but not so many that it was stress only.  There was certainly plenty of placemats and noise. I spent a good deal of my time talking to my "friends" (aka "customers"), which is honestly how I prefer to spend my time at my so-called "job" on the floor.  Opening wine, sharing stories, gossiping about local events, chatting about meals, past, present and future.  A lot of talk about Taste of the Town, honeybees and marriage.  And always about food - how good this or that dish was, how it was produced, how Kevin came up with the idea and on and on.  My poor staff, having to repeatedly drag me away from one table or another when they needed some attention of their own.  

A couple of pictures:

Kevin was most excited about this special of pork and veal meatballs, filled with mozzarella cheese and resting in an escarole enhanced broth.  They looked pretty appetizing.  He had taken a MeatBall cookbook out of the library a few weeks ago, hence the sudden obsession.  The first order to go out went to Jan Callahan, who graciously allowed me to document the cracking of the meaty orbs.

Jan wouldn't let me take a picture of the actual tasting, seeing as the strings of mozz were most likely going to be trailing the meatball into her mouth. 

The new pork chop, with a marmalade of rosemary and onion, was also quite attractive.  It's nice to have a fresh local crop of asparagus to garnish the plate with.  And to put in the bay scallops and pasta special.  And to make soup with.  And to include with the piccolo frito...this time of year, if you don't like asparagus (I'm talking to you, Mallory) you are going to find it hard to avoid on our menu!

The fish special last night was hake with this crown of crab and Smithfield ham.   Set on a little pool of lemon butter sauce, plated with carrots, bokchoy and rice cakes, it looks hard to resist. 

With food as the common bond, the dining room was a little loud last night, with people celebrating life.  Some were celebrating the life of some one no longer with us, others were celebrating life with each other.

The Burden group was of the latter category. 

 A good time was had by all. 

Eat. Drink. Relax!