gfron1

I toss them with a bit of salt to get things started - an hour or so, then when the weeping begins, I rinse and put in a solution of boiled rice vin and salt 3:1 with some salt, tellicherry, and a stalk of cattail. Let them pickle for about 2 weeks. The crunch is what I'm going for - crisp outside with the baby petals inside which are crisp yet delicate. The flavor is tannin and desert sweet - much from the dessert has this - its kind of like a sweet dust, which I find much more appealing than I describe it as.

They're pickles (or they will be) and so they're a component in my tasting menu. Not sure what they'll go with yet.

I'm pickling agave blossom right now. Cattail pollen is pretty much done for the year which is too bad - its my favorite to gather.

When that's happened to mine it was grit/flour/dirt underneath the weighing plate. Disassemble, clean and reassemble.

And just finished the cake packed with this note: Vegan Chocolate Apricot Cake Gleaned apricots from my neighbor’s tree this morning. Cake using my recipe: http://blogquat.blogspot.com/2008/11/recipe-vegan-cakethats-goodreally.html Filling is fresh apricot marmalade Topped with water base ganache using Amedei “9” which is a dairy free, soy free chocolate from Italy 75% cocoa mass, finished with Rothman & Winter Austrian apricot brandy. Decorated with fresh apricot paté de fruit and Pacari raw organic cacao nibs ---- Cake turned out so moist today! Very happy and like I said, naturally vegan all around.

Ironically I just got an order for a vegan chocolate cake and made this this morning, using fresh apricots (our local trees are bursting) to make a fresh apricot marmalade to go with it. A splash of apricot brandy and they'll be happy as vegan clams. I hadn't made that cake in a while so today when I made it I followed the recipe except when it came time to mix. I put my dry and wet in a stand mixer and whisked until smooth, then added the vinegar and finished. Worked really well actually - more lift than I remember it having.

The orange comes through for sure, and I've played with other juices and they all seem to do fine, some flavors coming out better than others. Its mostly just liquid.

I don't do Vegan or Gluten Free as a general rule because there are already plenty of recipes out there that are naturally those things. I don't need to use GF mix when I can make a killer dacquoise for example. I just have to make sure I use the right sugar, no honey (or at least ask if they care if I use honey), etc. For what its worth, here is my standard vegan cake - nothing too goofy just using the old baking soda and vinegar as leavener trick. http://blogquat.blogspot.com/2008/11/recipe-vegan-cakethats-goodreally.html Editing to add: This is my goal not a universal truth. I'm just suggesting that we not think in terms of vegan but look at tried and true classics that are already so.

Just picked up Le Strato (also a late 2013) - absolutely stunning in both design and function! http://www.le-sanctuaire.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ls&Product_Code=266-00-00135&Category_Code=BO

Chimmicurri shark coming up

I use it in a number of dishes but my favorite is to coat and age local goat cheese as a sort of cheesemakers joke - yellow mold is not a good thing on cheese, so it just makes me laugh knowing that I'm serving yellow powder coated cheese. I forgot to add my pic earlier.

Cattail pollen from today's foraging. Good haul for one day.

I forage for the restaurant about 4-5 times per week. This is yesterday's excursion with my cookbook photographer capturing the exotic moments that happen in foraging. I take my little Camry down some pretty serious backwoods trails and he's always done great. This time I blew out the side of his tire on a rock while gathering nettles, cattails, watercress and green gooseberries. Expensive harvesting. I had Ari Levaux from Outside magazine video me on this same road last year because he couldn't believe my car was rock hopping so well on it (I've driven it no less than a thousand times so i know just what spots to hit...except yesterday).

I do the 30 day version as well (can't wait 17 years to serve my customers). I add a pinch of saffron and a green cardamom to mine.

This was eluded to before, and one key factor that someone state keeps ringing in my ears - now that we're a destination restaurant we can have a bit more wiggle room with the rules. So here are the real numbers. My pricing is crazy but appropriate for remote small town rural New Mexico. I do a 5-7 course modernist foraged tasting dinner with significantly sized entree and dessert included for either $39 or 44 depending on which entree you select. I already pay my server double tipped minimum. As I previously said my server averages over 20%, but let's just say we bump 20% - that puts the meal at $47 or 53. 39 bumps to 47 and 44 bumps to 53. That's a hefty jump but also still low. Nightly I hear, "If you were open in (insert any big city here) you could charge $75-125 for the same meal." But when I opened I was very clear that I wanted to be accessible to my local clientele. In reality we haven't raised the prices, we've just been more clear in pricing to include what historically has proven to be the full amount after tip. As others have noted, the downside is if you don't think the server warranted a tip you can't do anything about it.

in an attempt to not go OT on the taxes thing, Shel_B gave me the direct text from the IRS website. Thanks.

I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but our accountant said that as a business we only report tips made by credit card; and the common understanding is that cash tips just disappear. That's why probably a quarter of all tips are made with cash even on bills paid by credit card - probably by former restaurant workers.

I would never start a speech like that referring to their country of origin - it appears to be a cultural commonality, but more specific to this one guy. And yes, tears. Anyone who has put in time as a server can appreciate her frustration. That said, we are beyond that conversation in my books. I often forget how our cache has changed in the past 18 months. I hear every night that we're nuts to have prices as low as we do, so upping our prices 20% and turning that money directly to the server would make a lot of sense. The downside for the server is that she would lose most of her non-reportable cash tips as folks who now separate bill from tips would see it as one payment. Minor thing but something to consider.

Are you drying the starch? I've never had the liquid soak into the starch before.

All great comments - and very much appreciated. I'd tip all of you at least 18% if I could The original question really is about the culture nature because we have other customers of the same national origin who all tip about the same, its just the others are not as regular, but they do tend to be equally critical/demanding. When the customer came in last week this is what happened - just to give you an idea. The kitchen (aka me) screwed up the duck confit. I did. First time in 6 years, but I did and it was dry. Midway through eating his entree he told the server. She told me. I asked if he wanted a re-fire (10-15 minutes) or did he want to finish it. The answer would determine how we proceeded. He finished it and so we comped the meal (not the drinks or dessert). But from the moment that she told him the meal was comped he three separate times from across the room (its a fairly small dining room) said loudly to her that it was the driest duck he had ever had "it shouldn't' have been that way." She works hard at creating a positive vibe in the dining room including often engaging tables among each other. He was killing the vibe, bitching unnecessarily and doing potential harm to reputation and her revenue. When he left he made one more jab. All we could assume is that he was pushing for the whole bill to be comped. He was an ass. Rarely, and by rarely I mean, I can't think of a single instance - a kitchen mistake is punished in the tip. That said, someone above suggested that the conversation is shifting from shitty tipper to shitty attitude. I don't think it matters. We've got plenty of shitty attitudes most of which are resolved when we get food in their system and their blood sugar rises.

end of shift tonight she pulled me aside and burst into tears. She said - "you don't understand, he badgers and badgers me from across the room for every little thing and shits on me to boot, do you know how that makes me feel? We don't have another customer who treats me that way." So yeah, she's tired and frustrated. I told her I'd serve him from the kitchen. Its awkward but not impossible in our small restaurant. I think we all need a break, but my happy customers are what keeps me plugging along with my 16 hour days. I promise myself I"m taking a vacation this year...hopefully she'll do the same.

as an example, last night he brought 2 guests - which he had never done before. They split the ticket. One guest tipped 22% and the other 20%. He was his standard 9%.

Well I had my conversation with the server already. My general gist was the we're in the business of bringing money in and not turning it away; and if boot him, who's next? She wasn't happy to say the least. Her response was that the guy makes her hustle more than most customers, asks jackass questions more than most customers and complains more than most customers. I responded with, "'most,' so the ones that are worst than him should be booted too?" She said, no because they tip better. I didn't want to take this out any further and simply said that we're not going to be turning guests away and if she just can't bring herself to serve him then she can have those nights off and I'll bring someone else in to cover. And lest you think she a real hag, if you read our restaurant reviews, she's one of the highlights for most customers. I think that she's so used to 20%+ (her ytd average is 26%) that the mere idea of having to serve such a person is unbearable. We'll see how she is after she has down time to process with friends. And I'm recognizing that she/we are coming off of a very long season and we're all beat.

Seeing the mixed opinions be expressed here...okay, sometimes when you're knee deep in it you need some outside perspective. The answer is clear and I'll remind the server that we have bad tipping regulars who aren't doing it because of cultural reasons but because they're cheap - and no one is suggesting we boot them.

So please don't attack me here, I am sincerely asking for feedback because we've never had this happen before. We have a gentleman from another country (we know what country but I don't think its necessarily relevant here), who always tips less than 10%. We have other customers from the same country of origin who also tip less than 10%, but they aren't regulars like this guy. So among this specific nationality they are tipping consistently. None of my servers want to serve him because he's taking potential tips away from tables that pay better. We know that its not that he thinks the service or food isn't good - he always glows, but he's always right around 9%. Tonight my lead server asked if we can turn him away and say we're sold out (we very often often are). I told her to let me think about it. My gut says no. It doesn't feel professional or an appropriate response. But we know that he will never tip higher. My reminder to my server that this is a cultural difference is falling on deaf ears. I have the right to refuse service, but it also feels like racism although we would only be banning him not others. The more I type the more it sounds like a really, really, bad idea. But I turn it over to you...what do you think?