Bier Meister Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 i kept things very simple: made herbed gnocchi with a mushroom, pesto cream sauce with basil crostini. apple crisp (streusel topping) with creme anglaise. w/ vanilla ice cream. in return i received a great knee rub..... monday played basketball on a carpeted floor. tripped twice and really did up my knees..been hard to walk past 3 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 so SM, what did you guys end up doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 so SM, what did you guys end up doing? I worked last night, so V-dinner is tonight. I couldn't decide what I wanted Mr. SM to prepare, so I asked him to make it a surprise. He is out right now getting groceries, getting my car washed, and my wedding ring fixed while I'm on the Huddle. I'd be skiing 'cept the website just said the average wind at the top of the mountain is 111 mph with gusts to 161 mph. All I know is, he is making appetizers and a main dish, and he is consulting recipes but being creative to give it his own touch, and he thawed some shrimp. He's a pretty good chef and usually makes things I would never try, and I usually end up liking it. When he is really useful is when it seems we have nothing in the fridge to make a dish, and he just takes a bunch of stuff and creates something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Note to self: Next Valentines Day, just stick to the normal menu and add a few cool specials. We had an insane night last night. My FOH manager assures me that everyone had a good time and the fact that we were completely buried all night never manifested itself in the dishes themselves. In addition to the menu I posted above, we offered an 8 course tasting menu and a 6 course veggie tasting menu. We sold 20 of them to the first 40 customers and I had to pull the thing because it was getting impossible to manage it along with the rest of the menu. It ended up being the highest sales for any day we've been open and put us on pace to crush our weekly record (both Monday and Tuesday were well above average and tonight appears to be at least good (though I took the night off)). Good wine sales but some serious amateur diners out there. Never had so many well done steak and (even worse) well done tuna orders in one night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 and think..... mother's day is just a few months away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoMan Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Note to self: Next Valentines Day, just stick to the normal menu and add a few cool specials. We had an insane night last night. My FOH manager assures me that everyone had a good time and the fact that we were completely buried all night never manifested itself in the dishes themselves. In addition to the menu I posted above, we offered an 8 course tasting menu and a 6 course veggie tasting menu. We sold 20 of them to the first 40 customers and I had to pull the thing because it was getting impossible to manage it along with the rest of the menu. It ended up being the highest sales for any day we've been open and put us on pace to crush our weekly record (both Monday and Tuesday were well above average and tonight appears to be at least good (though I took the night off)). Good wine sales but some serious amateur diners out there. Never had so many well done steak and (even worse) well done tuna orders in one night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 and think..... mother's day is just a few months away We're closed on Sundays and don't do brunch. We might, however, open that Sunday for dinner if that weekend happens to be graduation weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 I just found out the menu for Valentines Dinner-one day late. Hubby is makin' Seared Ahi with a black olive vinagrette Iceberg wedge with a warm bacon and bleu cheese dressing Seafood Pot Pie He didn't get my car washed but got my wedding ring fixed. We'll see how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoMan Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 V-day 2008 I'm cooking on the 14th Crabcakes Light green salad Filet mignon with shallot-red wine reduction, Potatoes Anna, Campari tomatoes (even though they're from Canada, they're the only decent ones in the winter) Apple crisp We're going to Komi on the 15th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Neutron Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Because my grill is under 2 feet of snow, I'll be making chicken alfredo - heart attack on a plate. It's an awesome main dish (if I do say so myself), but I haven't decided on side dishes. Of course, I will be serving myself for dessert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 (edited) not doing anything this year.... edit: i'll prob end up cooking, but don't want to go out. edit: mrs requested lamb...will do a rack with mint demi, roasted red potatoes or some form of gratin, asparagus. bibb salad with orange vinaigrette, with manchengo, crisp panccetta and blood oranges. Edited February 11, 2008 by Bier Meister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Because my grill is under 2 feet of snow, I'll be making chicken alfredo - heart attack on a plate. It's an awesome main dish (if I do say so myself), but I haven't decided on side dishes. Of course, I will be serving myself for dessert. Wuss. Grow a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Valentines Day at Jujube $45 per person Amuse Course One (choose one) Cane Creek steak tartare with seared foie gras, black vinegar gelee, and watercress Asparagus, roasted beets, goat cheese-gorgonzola croquettes, and grapefruit-honey vinaigrette Premium American caviar with roasted cauliflower, leek fondue, and shaoxing cream Course Two (choose one) Wild mushrooms, root vegetables, and black truffles en papillote with 5-spice butter Cantonese-style steamed NC shrimp with dipping sauces Tea-smoked oysters & stir-fried pea shoots on sugar cane “crostini” with parsley coulis Curious fritters: Shrimp and crab, porcini-stuffed rice, and Wakame-scallion with dipping sauces Course Three (choose one) Shrimp and herb mousse stuffed grouper with tangerine-fennel chowder Grilled Tuna with wasabi-parsnip puree, stir-fried pea-shoots, & black olive tapenade Pan-roasted duck breast with frutta di mostardo and butternut squash-potato gratin Clay-pot of braised Cane Creek beef, green lentils, Athenaakes, bock choy, and truffles Herb encrusted lamb sirloin with grilled asparagus and piquant mint glaze Dessert (choose one) Coconut-caramel nut tart with honey crème fraiche Dark chocolate-Vietnamese coffee mousse with Cointreau cream mango cayenne sorbet with lime cookies Sharing Menu for Two $95 per couple “Jello Salad” Premium American caviar with dashi aspic and cauliflower gelee Midnight in the garden of sweet and savory Crispy NC white shrimp with tangy plum glaze Sweet and sour pickles Chinese bacon Black rice crostini with truffled pate Porcini stuffed rice fritter with aged shoyu Lobster and lobster won-tons in hot and sour broth Tea-smoked half duck with scallion crepes and hoisin or Grilled Rib-eye steak with shoyu brown butter and sweet potato frites Assorted sweets to share Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Neutron Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Wuss. Grow a set. I normally grill all winter, but my patio is on the north side of my house and it has snowed like crazy this year. I did not keep the grill cleared off between storms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoMan Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Valentines Day at Jujube$45 per person Amuse Course One (choose one) Cane Creek steak tartare with seared foie gras, black vinegar gelee, and watercress Asparagus, roasted beets, goat cheese-gorgonzola croquettes, and grapefruit-honey vinaigrette Premium American caviar with roasted cauliflower, leek fondue, and shaoxing cream Course Two (choose one) Wild mushrooms, root vegetables, and black truffles en papillote with 5-spice butter Cantonese-style steamed NC shrimp with dipping sauces Tea-smoked oysters & stir-fried pea shoots on sugar cane “crostini” with parsley coulis Curious fritters: Shrimp and crab, porcini-stuffed rice, and Wakame-scallion with dipping sauces Course Three (choose one) Shrimp and herb mousse stuffed grouper with tangerine-fennel chowder Grilled Tuna with wasabi-parsnip puree, stir-fried pea-shoots, & black olive tapenade Pan-roasted duck breast with frutta di mostardo and butternut squash-potato gratin Clay-pot of braised Cane Creek beef, green lentils, Athenaakes, bock choy, and truffles Herb encrusted lamb sirloin with grilled asparagus and piquant mint glaze Dessert (choose one) Coconut-caramel nut tart with honey crème fraiche Dark chocolate-Vietnamese coffee mousse with Cointreau cream mango cayenne sorbet with lime cookies Sharing Menu for Two $95 per couple “Jello Salad” Premium American caviar with dashi aspic and cauliflower gelee Midnight in the garden of sweet and savory Crispy NC white shrimp with tangy plum glaze Sweet and sour pickles Chinese bacon Black rice crostini with truffled pate Porcini stuffed rice fritter with aged shoyu Lobster and lobster won-tons in hot and sour broth Tea-smoked half duck with scallion crepes and hoisin or Grilled Rib-eye steak with shoyu brown butter and sweet potato frites Assorted sweets to share Huge value there detlef. You'd get at least $75 pp in the DC metro for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Huge value there detlef. You'd get at least $75 pp in the DC metro for that. I've certainly been guilty of TMI before and here I go again, however... There's a few things at play here. To begin with, this isn't DC. However, I could get more here as well. Right now, though, we're sort of at a Crossroads. When we opened, we had a lot of everyday sort of dishes and one could get out for not much money at all. The problem was, we're a small place and people liked to hang out, so we couldn't generate the volume to support having so many inexpensive items on the menu. I was trying to be all things to all people by also having some really cool specials and interesting wines. To a degree, it worked. However, again with the size, we had a hard time taking reservations not knowing if someone was going to be sitting down for 2+ hours and really going for it or grabbing some dumplings, noodles, and a beer, and being out in 45 minutes. If we guessed wrong one way, we'd have a bunch of people waiting on tables, if we guessed wrong the other way, we'd have a bunch of empty tables. We've had to slowly eliminate the variables by, one by one, taking off the cheaper dishes and positioning ourselves among the finer places. That means that we're less likely to have a table tied up at 7pm on Friday by 6 people all spending $15 each on chow mein and dumplings all the while turning away somebody who may be about to spend $50 each on roasted duck and Burgundy. We got named top 20 in the greater Raleigh area this past year, so it seems to be working. None the less, part of our cache is still the fact that you're not going to get bent on a meal. Throwing down like this on high profile days are a bit of a loss leader. We make our money on the fact that the goodwill we create in doing this keeps us filled up Mon-Thurs and booked every weekend. Then we sell tons of hanger steaks and crab and shrimp cakes at amazing Cost of Goods % and pay the rent. Mind you, those dishes are super tasty and everyone loves them. It's just that I also happen to make a ton of money on them. This past New Years, I took a stance by only offering two seatings and having the second one be pretty extensive for a lot of money. This V-day, I took a stance by only offering prix fixe rather than a la carte. Something that the fanciers places can get away with. Apparently I could have gotten away with a bit more per person because we've been completely booked from 5:30-10:00 for a few weeks now. None the less, this was my first year going the prix fixe route and I didn't want to price myself out of the game. In reality, not many places are charging a whole lot more than we are, rather, they're offering up some weak sauce crap for about the same as I am. I find this to be regrettable. Of course, I also noticed that last week they were all still running ads for Valentines Day and we're now hyping the fact that we're offering special tasting menus Wed, Fri, and Sat for those who couldn't get in on Thursday. The cool thing is, we're almost booked now for those days as well. I totally understand the notion of not letting someone get off easy if they absolutely must dine out on Valentines day. Especially in light of the fact that you end up not doing a ton of people since everyone is 2s so even if your tables are all taken, your seats are not. However, I don't think that gives a restaurant license to serve you the same crap you usually pay $20 for for $40. We have some very loyal regulars and I take pride in knowing that this Thursday my dining room will be filled with almost the exact same people who filled it on New Years, which are also the same exact people who fill it every other night of the year. I'll still do alright. Last year, my check average out the door on that night was $45 per person. This year, we're at that before they order anything to drink. Because of the format, we're planning on longer turns and will do less people but should end up exceeding last years sales by several $1000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driveby Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 reservations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 In reality, not many places are charging a whole lot more than we are, rather, they're offering up some weak sauce crap for about the same as I am. unfortunately that is all too typical, to the point where i really hate eating out on valentine's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Frozen pizza for me and my son. Wife is at work tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Frozen pizza for me and my son. Wife is at work tonight. mine's at school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Ate here: http://www.themermaidnyc.com/uws/ mrs justin and i started off with the seared calamari salad and a bottle of the gruner. she opted for the grilled yellowfin tuna. i mixed it up and went with the fish soup AND gnocchi. fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.