February 2007 Archives

There's nothing like a meat slicer accident to bring you close to someone. I've always told our employees, "The only way to know how to be truly safe around the slicer is to operate it incorrectly." I know this, or my right knuckle, knows this from experience. Up until now we've been fortunate enough that all slicing mishaps have been minor, but today Jacque got a little intimate with a machine that demands boundaries.

I believe that we 'restaurant' people ( I can just barely call myself this), like ER folks, crave a certain degree of chaos to which they can bring some order. Though there wasn't much real drama in today's episode, I do enjoy a deflection from my usual "emergency situations," like finding a parking space at noon on a Federal Holiday, in lieu of a non-life threatening medical emergency, luckily not my own. I have endured enough of my own visits to the emergency room due to work-related accidents to know that it's not the time to be alone, and I would go so far as to say Jacque and I had kind of a nice time together. Then again, I wasn't the one having novocain injected into my (missing) fingernail. Once she had a room, we were able to enjoy about half of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton's "Cleopatra" on AMC. It took 3 nurses to stop the bleeding in her finger. I badly wanted a hamburger when we left the hospital.

And they say nothing interesting ever happens on President's Day. Jacque is going to have to deal with a little time off. And though now short one employee and in desperate need of a guardian angel disguised as a drill sargent-slash-management specialist (remember Alice's hard-ass cousin on The Brady Bunch? I need her), today felt strangely restorative, putting everything a little more in perspective. Obey the Slicer.

Mr. Daniel Peterson is working on bringing those who have not yet seen the new Acorn some as-if-you-were-really-here photographs to our blog. But he is also a new uncle, so it may take just a little bit longer. You're used to that by now, though.

Something else that will take just a little bit longer is Acorn opening its doors on Saturdays. We were going to try for this weekend, but I don't think I will make it through the end of February if I don't take off two days in a row soon. It might not be in our best interest, but we decided to make March 3 our Saturday Grand Opening Day. So, for everyone with weekday commitments that don't include jaunts through the Pearl District, Saturday March 3 is your day. Come early while the parkings good!

Finally, the meatloaf sandwich I was serving at the Acorn last week is moving over to Half & Half tomorrow, for as long as it lasts (probably until a week from today, if we're lucky.) I know that some of you out there were upset to see it gone today, but that's why they're called 'specials.' The meatloaf is pretty special, but the tomato chutney served with it is, if I might brag, quite special. It's secret ingredient is tamarind. I found the recipe in an issue of "The Pleasures of Cooking," a food publication my mother used to subscribe to from the 80's. I have the whole collection and it's such a treasure. Most of the recipes are somewhat dated, even the 'exotic' ones, but it's a little bit like studying fashion and flipping through an issue of Vogue from the 70's. I had been making tomato chutneys here and there over the years but it never occured to me to use tamarind, and it's the flavor that bridges the tangy with the sweet. It's my "a-ha!" moment of the week.

Hey Internet Public, remember me? I don't blame you if you don't. It's been awhile and frankly I'd like us both to forget our last post. I've neglected our poor blog for so long that I have doubts about my entitlement to Urban Honking Membership, and that in itself is reason get through this ice-breaker.

Honestly, for the last two weeks, the only thing I want to do at the end of the day is blog about the events of the last 14 hours. The two hours I have between office work and bed has been occupied by cotes du rhone, celebrity gossip blogs, and an episode of The Rockford Files if there's enough time. Jeff and I are having a hard time talking about anything but work and I wonder if that's better or worse than if only one of us was going through the birthing of a new business. The good news is that we are actually getting along better than I ever would have expected. Because we're both aware of the amount of work we've been putting into our new venture, we've each been a little gentler on the other. Although I still manage to do the dishes.

To recap: we opened our second cafe, The Acorn, about two or three weeks ago. It's an adorable space on NW 13th Avenue, between Glisan and Hoyt. We are calling it a microdeli, because the space is truly micro and we couldn't imagine operating a space without an adequate supply and interesting array of food. Jeff is spending his days floating between Half & Half and The Acorn, and I am working from 5am-12pm at a commercial kitchen in Northeast, baking and cooking for both cafes. At around noon I go back home to give our pup Victor some exercise, and then head back downtown to "do damage control" (a belittling, but apt description) and pick up Jeff. On our way home, we dissect the events of the day and make dramatic declarations about our uncompromising principals of service and quality. We usually stop at the QFC for wine and rotisserie chicken or ingredients for nachos. By the time we're home we're saying, "Ok, I don't want to talk about work anymore, but I do want to say this:" Eventually, we've worn ourselves out and let the television wash over what's left of our consciousness. I am usually in bed at 8:30. I think Jeff comes to bed an hour later.

I don't know how long I can keep up the 4:30-4:30 lifestyle, but I think we're taking the necessary steps. I have a couple new people in the kitchen, and at some point one of them will go in early a few days a week. When we get a delivery vehicle, we will also hire some kind of delivery driver, so I can actually take the bus and read every once in awhile. I still haven't found a bookkeeper, or finished my taxes, or sent out a press release, but this blog is a big step.

We're still trying to figure out the food thing at The Acorn. Personally, I think I am coming up with some of the best sandwiches and salads I've ever made. I've been doing a meatloaf sandwich at The Acorn that's going to move over to Half & Half on Wednesday. We're doing exciting things with eggplant and parsnips. I went on this romesco streak over the last month which needed a rest, but beets and braised kale are making their way onto the menu, and I'm finally able to roast our own turkey, beef and pork. Jeff wants to build a ham pit in our yard this summer. The dilemma is that we now have a lot more in the way of resources, but less in the way of time and space. Every day I come into the kitchen with a list of projects, and every day only the essential ones are crossed out. We haven't figured out the right way to display our food and pies at the Acorn, so I feel like we could be presenting our products better, but how...

Trial and error, they say. Which is why I am glad we haven't done too much to promote the new space, though I now encourage everyone to visit. This week we'll be open on Saturday! I'll try to post some pictures this week, or bribe someone to post them for me (Daniel.) Well, it's 7:50 and I've got a big day tomorrow, so adios!