still at it

It has been a long time. This will probably just be another one off to give everyone a heads up but i am looking forward to being able to post semi daily again soon. For now, there are plenty of things to report on most of which are not that exciting and all of which i have no corresponding eye candy. Anyway, the website will be finished in March and the restaurant is actually starting to look like it might get built...whether or not it will make the self imposed "spring 2010" deadline remains to be seen but Doug and Liza are assembling all of the pieces, of which there are more than imaginable and those of you who are checking the space regularly will begin or have already begun to see real progress.

2010, really?

Believe it or not, there are things happening with the restaurant. With the holiday season behind us and with me spending much less time making tacos, we will be updating the blog a little more often. Thanks for staying tuned.

upcoming contributors

With construction under way and the website being built, there will definitely be plenty of interesting material to post about soon...at least to those interested in what it takes to open a cool restaurant on a modest budget.

New contributors to this page:

The Cruze Architects, Doug and Liza...much more than architects

Jay Fanelli, website guy

Robert Sayre, foh guy

the blog will likely find a new home at word press, and will also have a tweaked appearance, but in the meantime this will have to do.

off the radar....for a while

i am going to pull the blog until i have something to talk about. hopefully the salt website will be under construction soon and perhaps i will re release the blog to coincide with that launch. i will email all about any events or interesting salt news.
check in every once in a while, thanks.

the present

The life of a chef is often dominated by thoughts of past and future. When developing new menus and concepts we often revert to things that we are certain of while at the same time looking for new ideas that could eventually become old ideas the we will once again seek out in the near future. The work days, weeks and months have a way of getting away from you and before you realize it a year has passed and the only thing that you can be certain of is where you were and where it is that you think you are going without any idea of what is actually happening right now. Lately, i have been obsessing about how long this process of opening a restaurant inevitably takes. Whether or not the budget is tight or non-existent, there seem to be an endless chain of obstacles that for me can only be overcome by focusing on the one that is directly in front of me. I have spent too much time recently worrying about things that i cannot change and problems that have not even arisen without much thought as to what it is that i could be doing better now.

grass roots

The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by more traditional power structures.

new stuff at yo rita

things of interest on the fall menu: salt cod, lamb shank, duck confit, beets, lots of roots, tofu, morcilla, walleye, trout, banh mi



tonight: ankimo....pork belly, bunshimeji shrooms, yuzu ponzu, egg yolk, daikon

upcoming features: quail, calf's brains, river crabs, sweetbreads, pork temples, oxtail, sea urchin