November 2006 Archives

By "those" I mean the type of post where I share the unglamorous side of The Cafe Lifestyle in an effort to solicit sympa/empathy and a sad chuckle, but more likely am revealing a little more than is appropriate or even interesting. I'll let you be the judge.
Last week was Thanksgiving, a holiday I equally love and dread. Well, mostly love. I am not religious, not 'patriotic' in the fireworks-and-mayhem sense, and I am a poor gift-giver. At the same time, I am a cook and a glutton, so Thanksgiving is pretty much my ideal holiday. The dread relates to my quasi-real Pie Business and the extra work work I put upon myself for my personal Christmas/Hannukah/Rosh Hashana/Superbowl. So I plan. I make the menu weeks in advance. I create spreadsheets that list groceries I need, cross-referenced with the location of recipes I will use. I create a game plan that allows to get all big shopping done on Sunday or Monday, so that I can both devote the next 72 hours to pie operations and avoid the maddening experience of shopping at New Seasons the days before Thanksgiving. It's not easy, getting up at 4:30-am and rolling out 50 discs of pie by hand, but it's work I've chosen, and I like the finished product. And I reward myself by taking the rest of the week off.

The beginning of the week is nearly hitch-less with the exception of someone not showing up for a shift. At the last minute the week before, we had decided to give xxxxx Jeff's shift so that he could help me. So the information didn't 'sink in' completely. Not much of a problem, xxxxx was there within the hour. Everything else went swimmingly. I cranked out about 30 pies, down from last year, but last year I had a dough sheeter at my disposal. 30 pies-worth is about the maximum amount of dough you want to roll out by hand in one day. I never even really went into work those 3 days; Jeff ran pies and pastry down to the shop for me, and I was done with Thanksgiving Pies by 11-am on Wednesday. I actually felt guilty for not spending any time at Half & Half, but there was plenty of work to keep me busy at home.

We spent Thanksgiving with 2 of my closest girlfriends and their husbands. It was a nice, intimate group and we enjoyed possibly the best food we've ever pulled off for Thanksgiving, and many several special bottles of wine. You can see the details here. Before we knew it, it was midnight no one was driving anywhere, so Jeff and I spent the night there at Heather's. I woke up at 7:30, which is really like sleeping in if you're me, with a significant though not debilitating wine hangover. It was only then that I remembered that I hadn't placed a produce order for Half & Half, and there was a good chance we'd be out of lots of stuff this morning. I called and there was no answer. Usually I schedule the day after Thanksgiving like a Saturday, so maybe no one was scheduled to come in before 8? I kept calling, past eight, to no avail. Who was scheduled? I could have sworn it was >>>>> but I suppose I could've been wrong. I would have never scheduled myself, but there was no one there to tell me, so we headed straight from Heather's, with our dog Victor, over to the Half & Half. The schedule read ">>>>> 7am-2pm". Where the &@$ was >>>>>??? I left several messages on a generic answering machine, and half filled with rage, half with worry, began to open the Half & Half with fuzzy teeth, my clothes from last night, and a growing hangover. At one point I realized that this is probably the most dressed up I've ever been for a shift, until I looked down at my blouse sprinkled with gravy and wine stains. Fortunately I wasn't smiling so much, so there wasn't much exposure of red-wine stained lips and teeth. After about an hour, >>>>> was calling on the phone. >>>>> overslept, was very terribly upset about this, and was headed down right away. As soon as >>>>> arrived, we left. We were not happy, but I was relieved that I didn't have to work until 2 in my gravy clothes. We went home and watched Lord of the Rings.

That night, we got a call from work saying we were out of multiple items that only Jeff or I have the skills or transportation to replace. I knew +++++ was working the next day, and hadn't been in for several days, so I planned to wake up early, pick up the essentials, and help +++++ open. Got to work right before 8, which is when the Saturday shift starts. At 8:15, when no one had shown up, I called +++++ to see how soon they'd be there. No answer. 10 minutes pass. Call again, leave another message. My hands are now trembling because I am in disbelief that this is the 3rd time in 6 days someone has not shown up for a shift. +++++ finally calls back, utterly unaware that they were scheduled to work (our schedule has been posted up for 4 weeks now.) At this point, I have no control over my emotions and I give +++++ the brunt of my anger at xxxxx, >>>>>, the time that's been robbed of me, the plans that are now cancelled. Every other word starts with f and ends with -ing, and I'm pissed that I can't be more creative when I'm yelling at someone. This is one of those times where I would give anything to just have "a job." Even when 3 different people miss their shifts due to their own negligence, you end up trying to figure out what you're doing wrong.

Managing people is the single hardest aspect of business ownership. But working with great employees can be the most rewarding. You have to learn to roll with the punches, but it's never something you master. In conclusion, the week's snafus were a fluke, no one lost their job, and I still got more-or-less of a weekend. I going to make me some turkey noodle soup and begin an awesome new week tomorrow.

I know the point of blogging is to capture the kinetic force of one's subject as life unfolds. And you would think that for a food and beverage establishment, we might devote particular attention to the announcement of menu changes and new products. This is precisely what we haven't done over the last few weeks in regards to our coffee and breakfast pastries. Call it a 'soft opening.'

I have changed my work schedule so that I'm spending my early weekday mornings baking muffins, cookies and pies and developing new products that require the use of ovens and other large, heat-producing equipment. I am also getting over my mortal fear of bread-baking and teaching myself how to make brioche and other dough for the eventual arrival of sticky buns and danish. We have always been frustrated with our lack ovens or production space, and never quite satisfied with the selection of wholesale pastries on market, so we finally decided to rent a commercial kitchen on a daily basis. It's also a nice change for me, playing a baker, working in relative silence for most of my mornings. I do share the kitchen with another baker/sandwich maker, Ed, whom I am careful not to irritate so early in our relationship. After years of steady human interaction all-day-every-day, I do get a little panicky when there's a lingering silence, but we quickly learned that we share the pleasure of heckling our local NPR correspondents, so there's already a bond.

Our second, more dramatic change pertains to our coffee. On November 1st we made the 'official' switch to Courier Coffee. Courier Coffee is one dude, Joel Domries. He has a crazy-manic energy that either says, "passionate about coffee" or "drugs" and sometimes you just have to nod your head and do to the dishes as he describes his roasting adventures. He has been coming in for years, ordering double espressos and talking incessently about roasting. Eventually he started bringing samples, little jelly jars meticulously labeled with dates, times and temperatures, and we witnessed his coffees become magnificent. Joel delivers his beans by bicycle up to 3 times a week, and we're doing our best to keep our coffee small, local and sustainable. You can read more about him more here (he's the "trailblazer" at the end of the article) or better yet come in for an americano or cup of drip. I am amazed by how much the landscape of coffee has changed in Portland since we opened in 2000, and our former roasters, Stumptown, introduced a new level of knowledge and appreciation of coffee in this city. Now, we feel like it's time to give 'the new kid' a chance and teach ourselves some new tricks at the same time. Come by and tell us what you think...

Every November, we get psyched-up for America's Best Holiday . But instead of hanging crepe turkeys around the cafe, or making our employees wear pilgrim hats (hmmm...), we serve lots of pie and Thanksgiving sandwiches. Until now, we have only offered one: the notorious, "I Hate This Family" sandwich. Turkey, sage stuffing, cranberry compote, and lettuce are housed together between two pieces of well-mayonnaised bread. It's not a particularly original combination (although I do think putting starchy food in a sandwich is pretty ballsy), but it's got a powerful nostalgia factor. After being sent to your room during Thankgiving Dinner, this is the sandwich you eat in the dark when everyone's gone to bed.

This year we rounded out the menu with something for the vegetarians: The Day After gets a little more creative, with roasted acorn squash, cranberry relish, hazelnut butter and Oregon Blue Cheese. I really wanted to get brussels sprouts on this, but it got vetoed by Jeff. Finally, for those weirdos out there who have a Thankgiving ham, there's the Uncle Dennis named after our most treasured, biggest pain in the ass customer, Dennis. It's a grilled sandwich featuring ham, havarti and apricot-glazed sweet potatoes. I'm postitive that when Dennis sees we named a sandwich after him, he'll try to sue us for copyright infringement.

I'd rather not reveal how long it took me to design these awesome graphics, but suffice it to say I am humiliated by my lack of finesse with Adobe, Macintosh and the Internet. It's a good thing, then, that the lord gave me so much talent for pie making. As you may have read in an earlier post, I have gone back and forth on this business of pies for almost two years. I was going to open up a pie bakery. Then I wasn't. And now... I am making a concerted effort to bring more pies to the Half & Half every day. This week, apple pie, pumpkin pie and our elusive banana cream pie will be available every day while supplies last. And I am taking thanksgiving pie orders as of...right...now!

If it doesn't go without saying, then I will tell you that our pies are hand-made with the finest ingredients. They are not vegan, but they contain neither lard nor vegetable shortening. I am only offering 3 varieties this year. In general I do take special orders any time, but for the week of Thanksgiving I will be limiting the selection to these 3 very special flavors. I cannot guarantee the availability of pie if you place your order after the 17th. My recipes and methods are well guarded secrets. That being said, if anyone needs baking advice for the holidays, I love to instruct.