Welcome to the Bistro!

​And, another fine week it has been. Sharon, Mike Chipps, our lead sauté line cook, and I spent part of our day Tuesday at the Michigan Restaurant Show held at the Suburban Showcase. We came away with lots of ideas and information. How fun to see many colleagues whom we only get to cross paths at tradeshows. The morning started with a great demonstration on Modern Plate Presentations. It was extremely informative and we will implement some of the techniques we observed. I went back on Wednesday to hear Tom Izzo deliver the very powerful and motivational keynote speech. He is a great and energetic speaker.  He is very opinionated about cell phones and told a story about a bus trip that he and the team took where he collected their phones as they boarded, much to the player’s dismay. They “bitched and moaned” but within 10 minutes on the road he was thrilled hearing them laugh, talk and interact rather than pasting their faces to an electronic device. On the way home they got them back and the bus was silent. “Our phones are such a source of information for us, but, at the same time, poisonous as they destroy people skills.”  And, by the way, he is not a tweeter or face book fan either as, in his opinion, both eat up time and emotional energy. While some will agree, others not but it was interesting to hear an elite coach give his opinion on the subject.
 
Sweetest Day (SD) is tomorrow.  It is a holiday primarily celebrated in the Great Lakes region on the third Saturday in October. The first SD was planned by 12 confectioners in Cleveland in 1921. They distributed, for free, 20,000 boxes of candy to “newsboys, orphans, old folks and the poor.” They described the day as “an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember the sick, aged and orphaned, but also relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.” Naysayer's refer to it as a “concocted promotion” created by the candy industry to increase sales of sweets. Like Valentine’s Day SD is associated with the colors pink and red and heart-shaped boxes. Greeting cards are also experience huge sales and Hallmark has over 150 designs. Detroit and Cleveland are the biggest SD cities. Frederick Sanders was a large promoter of the holiday.  Remember all your sweeties tomorrow!
 
And, we celebrate our 4th anniversary in the “new digs” on Saturday too. Time flies when you’re having fun.
 
Sharon and crew have some great Chalkboard Features starting tonight. There are Sautéed Sea Scallops (the little sweet ones) served over Creamed Fresh Corn and Chives; A Crab Stuffed Lobster Tail Accompanied with Buttermilk Mashers and Drawn Butter for Dipping; Slow Cooked Lamb Stew Full of Leeks, Carrot and Onions Presented over Farrow Risotto and Seared Ahi Tuna Served with Udon Noodles in a Miso Broth, Shiitake Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choy. YUM!! Can’t wait for show and tell!!
 
REMEMBER YOUR DOGGIE AND KITTY FOOD FOR THE PET PANTRY….
 
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE BISTRO!!
 
GO GREEN – GO WHITE!!
 
 
XXOO, Mary

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