Shelley G.

I am so glad you enjoyed the tiny Tempest, and glad that you went to Fid. Tomorrow we will have fresh Annapolis Valley sour cherry and almond crumble with homemade vanilla ice-cream. Come back soonest!

You will not be disappointed - alas, we are really busy at my restaurant (up to my elbows in berries), so probably not for a bit. We were there a month ago. Horrid weather, but the Rossmount dinners more than made up for it. We went for the three nights consecutively because the decision process was too agonizing to confine oureselves to one experience. I could not imagine anything better than that lamb.

Onyx is on Spring Garden Road - although I prefer the atmosphere at Fid, the food is really outstanding. I'll be interested to hear your take on Seven - I've given it a try twice, and have been rather underwhelmed. Everything on the menu sound wonderful, but the impression I am left with is that the execution falls a bit short. La Perla, which is just across the bridge, on the harbour on the Dartmouth side, has the *best* calamari I have ever had. Anywhere. Any time. Come to the Queen of Cups and say hi - I love meeting fellow e-gulleteers.

Oh, are you kidding? The Rossmount Inn is one of our favourites - we get there at least three time a year, and the last time we stayed in St. Andrew's for three days, we ate there every single night! One night I had haddock, another the most fabulous rack of lamb. Also a yummy lobster and avocado thing. And dessert - always dessert. I wouldn't miss the Rossmount for any reason.

Sweet is right - Dennis and Monica are pretty delightful. Lots of us who own restaurants eat there - last time he was bursting to show me tiny turnips the size of a baby fingernail, and one night I took my two young cuisiniers there (part of their bonus). They were, of course, welcomed cordially into the kitchen. Come to the Queen of Cups sometime. You might like us. Did you have any dessert at Fid? The ginger creme brulee is exceptional.

Fid is my favourite, but Onyx is pretty fabulous, too. Pricey, but fabulous. John's Lunch in Dartmouth is actually the best for fried clams and scallops etc. What did you have at Fid?

I enjoyed this show immensely, though I thought it was too short. I shall make an invidious comparison here by saying that unlike HK, which seems pretty orchestrated and absurd, I learned things from this one. I thought that the show had integrity, and the judges were mostly thoughtful and balanced when delivering their respective critiques. Sara was my hands down favourite, but I admired Katie for her attitude when she goofed. No self-justification or excuses, just an impressively steely resolve to do better. I wish her lots of success in her new gig. Having said that, despite Sara's failure to scrub the truffle, I thought that being almost half an hour late was pretty bad on Katie's part. In fact, it would be inexcusable during service. Whether or not she's a sous now, where slowness is less important, I still think it was a big problem. She was constantly tardy throughout the series. It's my fond hope, that should they do this show again, they'll show more of the cooking.

Welcome to the city... I am originally from Vancouver, and was pretty anxious about the semming lack of availability of ethnic goodies when I arrived seven years ago. However, there are some good spots. For starters, there's an impressive array of middle eastern groceries - one of my favourites is the Persian Bazaar on Gottingen St. Really spectacular dates, pistachios and frozen mango and passionfruit purees (great for lassis). There's an Indian grocery store on the corner of Robie and North, and a very decent little Asian store in Dartmouth. The farmer's market on Saturdays in Halifax is congested but fun... I own a restaurant in Dartmouth, one block up from the ferry terminal. It's called the Queen of Cups - stop in some time. I love to meet fellow egulleteers.

I much prefer "Cooking Under Fire". GR's over-the-top abuse (and I am not especially PC) seems - well, ridiculous. However, it's actually the mean-spiritedness of the contestants, most of whom cheerfully admit that they'd stab any member of their tem in the back to get their own restaurant, that I find pretty revolting. For God's sake! Has it not occurred to them that they probably won't have a clue how to run it? Then again, I watched only one episode of "Survivor".

I realize that this may be repetitive - but what I find critical is to have the butter very cold, not to overwork the dough, let the dough rest, and have the oven at 425 for the first 2 min.

Oh, I hear you! In my psyche, I am still living on the West Coast, but here all is still rather frigid and snowy, with more on the way. I want to have a spring cooking fling, but my customers are still desirous of wintry comfort food. Soon, I hope to be able to coax them into sorrel things, and bundles of asparagus, but not just yet, I'm afraid...

Sigh...

We take credit card numbers for our afternoon teas, which are finicky and require special shopping trips. If someone calls to cancel the day before, there is no charge. If they don't show, or call at the last minute, I charge the credit card, and send out a gift certificate in that amount. If people have booked afternoon tea for 8, and 6 show up, they must pay for 8, but we package the goodies up to take home, or issue a gift certificate for the equivalent amount of the 2 afternoon teas. I really had to do something to protect myself, while trying to be flexible. It has worked very well, and cancellations and no shows are extremely rare.

I love the microwave - how shall I count the ways? Like computers, which are often used merely as glorified word processors, I think that microwaves are under-used. I soften butter and melt chocolate. I do the par-cooked potato thing, finishing them in a convection oven. I make gorgeous lemon curd. And wonderful polka-dot chocolate pudding. Hollandaise which never splits and holds perfectly. I use the stay-warm feature for gravy. Defrosting lots of things. Compotes. Really good risotto - hard to believe, but true. Cooking bacon. I love the way it does squash.

Alas - I am a sucker for Pringles, and even worse, Hostess Cupcakes, with the fake marshmallow cream inside...

It's difficult because it's important! You are right to agonise a wee bit. I loved "Flour Power". The Sweet Hereafter or, if your brother is joining you, and you want to be a bit more inclusive of other sorts of cuisine, Whet

Thank you - the site was quite informative. On my second attempt, I lightly oiled and floured the moulds, pressed the dough in and chilled it thoroughly. I did indeed bake it in the upper third of the oven, and let the top (when inverted, it became the bottom, of course) get noticeably golden brown. It all turned out beautifully, and I felt a decided pang of pleasureable nostalgia, sice the shortbread both looked and tasted like that of my redoubtable Scottish grandmother's.

Thank you for the info - I shall persevere, with what I like to think is typical Scots tenacity. BTW, if you are a current chef, are you not also a current mad scientist?

These particular moulds are clay. And does this mean that you don't actually bake the shortbread in the mould? Thanks for your patience!

What a disaster! I have never used a mold before, but was told to soak it overnight, and dry it. However, they also told me not to butter the mold. The shortbread stuck to the molds, and was ruined. What happened? Should I have buttered the mold? Help!

I have people nip off with the sterling tea strainers and sugar tongs. The servers stay very alert, and give the table a discreet onceover just before presenting the bill. If said strainers or tongs are missing, they are added quietly to the cheque (at a hefty price, I might add). The items usually reappear as if by magic, no one is humiliated publicly, and they beat a hasty retreat, never to be seen again.

My feeling about this is that it takes a great deal of mental and physical co-ordination, and also an ability to be swift and intuitive in perception of the customer's wishes to be a good server. Some people want to be coddled, some entertained, some treated with businesslike efficiency only. The server has perhaps one minute, if that, to determine what is required. Then their job is to deliver a rather complex bundle of emotional wishes which are virtually never verbally expressed. Service is indeed an art. Before I owned the restaurant, in the long ago, I did a lot of serving. I was endlessly fascinated by the process of discovering what each customer really wanted, and while that was happening, I actually did not give much thought to tips. I just tried to provide them with wahat they wanted. Weirdly enough, I made enormous tips. I always tell this to would-be servers at the restaurant now. If their eyes glaze over, I know that they do not now, nor will they ever get it. The two servers I have now do get it.

I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. I guess I just haven't been lucky enough to work somewhere that gives those cool incentives, but I do work in a pretty good restaurant that is constantly busy, so I don't get too bad of a deal. The comment from Shelley about extra money in the paycheck made me do a double-take. Oh, yeah, I thought, servers in Canada actually get paychecks. The kind that don't say ****Zero dollars and Zero cents*****Null and Void**** ← I don't want to imply that there are absolutely bags of $$$ showing up on the paycheque... but the servers definitely appreciate their bonuses. And yes, servers in Canada definitely receive real paycheques. Most of us struggle pretty hard with labour costs. We also must contribute 4% vacation pay (accrued or paid out on each paycheque) as well as the inevitable pension, UI and Workman's Comp contributions etc. Every time the government raises the employer's share of contributions, or institutes a hefty increase in minimum wage, it usually means foregone raises and other benefits for employees. Neil's province has a huge minimum wage - $8.00 an hour. Anyway, I realise that I'm a tad off topic. I am a big believer in profit-sharing. Though I never give people the speech that starts with "We're all family here..." - because that is utter rubbish, IMHO. What I want is happy, attentive staff, who will do their utmost to give the customers the most enjoyable experience imaginable. A little tangible expression of my appreciation for their efforts is well worth it - and I note with pleasure that they seem to value the verbal appreciation as well.

Um - I offer incentives to my servers who upsell. We are only open for lunch, so individual cheque size is really important. Sometimes the goal is to move starters, sometimes a glass of wine, sometimes both, because the main and dessert orders are given. No coaxing on dessert She who sells the most extras receives a gift certificate for something I know for certain she likes, or a bonus on her regular paycheque. I am a big believer in incentives - if the restaurant doesn't profit, neither do they, but extra effort is rewarded. I too have troubles with squawks about the additional gratuity for large parties, though it is printed on the menus. Credit card transactions are not really the problem for us - it's debit transactions that can be sticky, since they punch in the tip themselves. Despite being told what it is going to be, many times I have had to politely suggest that they must have made an error when adding the tip, and redone it. I am proud of my servers - they are attentive and kind without being saccharine in any way, and they always go the extra mile for the restaurant and the patron. Therefore, I do not allow them to be shortchanged. However, I have been told that I am extremely diplomatic, and I hope that this is true - I do not let the servers discuss tip issues with customers, naturally.

I don't charge for one iced tea or lemonade refill, but have started charging $1.00 for hot water and lemon. There were too many people enjoying the benefit of our full tea service, and not paying for it. The labour involved in providing the bone china cup and teapot with tea cosy etc, is definitely a cost to the restaurant.