latest pic

Not such a clear picture but the doctor was (thankfully) more preoccupied with making sure the baby was in good health than he was in taking a cute picture...the baby is doing fine a little on the big side but that just means it healthy...gonna be like the daddy.
In restaurant news...we are doubling our business every week, which is good...traffic to the mall is dismal, but most of the people that come to our place are coming straight to our restaurant. Some word of mouth action is already going on and we are hearing from people that their friends recommended us. Business is not yeat great but we are hopeful. Right now we are going to take a look at a place where we can maybe set up a pastry counter/coffee/tea spot...well see how that goes...its on the other side of town, but the place is a promising higher end development.

Sous-chef

So here is the picture of our newest assistant...she still in training for the next few years but she looks very promising. I think she comes from a good family and has a lot of potential.

10 days and counting

We have been open for 10 days. We have a little excel sheeet where we write down what we sell and when we do it. As of now the pastry counter is doing well...specially considering how empty the mall is. We sold out today and we have worked out a system so that we can keep some of our cakes stay fresher longer which basically means they have a shelf life of two days. In any case like I said cakes are doing well...there are two other cake shops in the building and we are actually about 2 times as expensive as our competition but the quality in our products is very visible so alot of people invest the extra money and we make sure they get their money's worth.
The restaurant is moving slower...but we keep getting really good reviews from the people that take the time to come in. We have pictures of our family and friends on the wall and its always a pleasure when people ask about them. We haven't updated in a while because we have been so busy. We are both very optimistic about the future. On Sunday we go talk in front of 300 members of the church upstairs and invite them for brunch...we all know we can only fit about 25 people in the restaurant , but hopefully we will have a nice big line in front of our place. We are just happy to get people in the door and give our food a shot. We knew our food would have to face an uphill battle in a place where the locals think a TV dinner is fine dining, but we will not...I refuse will not lower our standards. We just switched to a tapas menu to make or pprices a little more approachable and also set a deal on record for food distribution at the wine bar downstairs...they basically get a 10% discount through a special catering account that we settle once a week. In the meantime...Im starting to ramp up the cake decorating part of the bakery...so I'm a little busier than usual for the next week...In any case things are going well...slowly but surely uphill in my opinion...we are already thinking of a place to build another cake outlet...a much busier mall would be great. My friend Justus is having a ball living neck deep in bratwurst and kraut...and envy the opportunitty to learn something new instead of teach something I already know...it ddoesn't matter though...I guess the more you teach the better you get at doing what you are teaching... Im pretty giddy about brunch right now...I gotta go sleep now...lots of triple dots... just realized I do that alot...

soft opening

we have been open the past three days just for the sake of getting some practice down. The kitchen now preps in about an hour...which is pretty good specially considering we run very different menus for lunch and dinner. I have invited a couple of people in the building for dinnner and have had good reviews overall. The pastor of one of the churches upstairs in our building seems excited about brunch. SO hopefully he will point some of his congregation our way. Overall this week has been pretty empty, but we havent opened pastry yet, so some people dont gett the idea that abunch of tables lined up in a row is anything other than a manicure place...get it epicure/manicure...yeah I didnt get it either, I kind of expected things like this when I moved to Indonesia....all in all not bad...the inportant thing is that kitchen performance is good...customers come a little farther down the road for now I have brunch to worry about

Brunch Menu:

French Toast - 60
Custardy French toast made with house challah bread, caramelized pineapple compote

Eggs and Toast - 40
Your choice of eggs with toasted brioche

French Rolled Omellete - 60
Delicate French omellete filled with your choice of cheese (cheddar, feta, or majon rojo) and vegetables (forest mushroom, bell pepper, caramelized onion)

Grilled Cheese - 50
Sharp cheddar cheese on house challah with a side of tomato bisque soup

Eggs Benedicto - 60
Poached eggs on brioche and paprika chicken topped with hollandaise
Crab Cake Benedicto - 80
Poached eggs on brioche and house crab cakes with hollandaise

Steak and Eggs - 110
Ribeye steak served medium, with 2 eggs your choice

Epicure Burger - 70
Moist beef patties, house Belgian style frites, sharp cheddar cheese and fresh greens

Caesar Salad - 50
Large Caesar, with house dressing, romaine lettuce, warm croutons and a poached egg



All brunch entrees come with a side of house hash browns

Dry Run

Yesterday we invited some friends over for dinner at the restaurant so that we could try out the food on people and also see how the kitchen looks in unrehearsed action...All in all I am happy, the kitchen turned out great food and all the people there loved it except for one glitch with salting shrimp in our fra diavolo things went great. Service is good and getting better.Ria and I are doing OK too...got a little stressed out yesterday just because we were worrying about the small details. The menu was more or less seafood which seems to be very popular so it was a good thing, I got to see a serius lack of bowls and spoons in the kitchen which made things slower than they need to be and I also saw a lack of ventilation which we have to fix somehow...maybe a fan... overall the guys did well and they will of course do better. I see alot of potential...this is certainly someplace I would feel comfortable eating. We put a little sign on the door yesterday. Opening October 17 , 2007.

Boxes were just printed

Boxes are in the way you see the logo when they're stacked was something I thought we would try out...a little unconventional design but............

The storefront signs are up

Right about now it feels a little odd to see things happening so quickly...one after another. Tomorrow I go through my first batch of on the line working interviews. I just finishes sous-vide'ing some terderloin filets and will be making the par grilled rosti's early afternoon as well as my hibiscus glaze. Ria is putting down all the orders for food on the computer...a task that is superhuman in nature if you ask me. Things are all going well, very happy...a little stressed and all sorts of confused but stuff is starting to roll.