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looking for platters like these...preferably from a wholesaler. i need 30 of them for a restaurant. http://www.restaurantlevivier.com/media/DIR_326860/royal.JPG http://www.hotel-restaurant-normandie.org/...au_fruits_m.jpg http://images.zlio.com/product/large/1737544.jpg http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2007-11/33660622.jpg thanks B

a bit late but, fathers day dinner. marinated grilled flank steak and yellow squash. Fingerling 'sandwiches' stuffed with bacon portobello, and sage. And green beans. My little brother did the cooking...here he is doing all the plating.. and a closer shot Brendan

For the last couple years we have struggled to maintain a tight control on bar inventory at our restaurant. Part of the problem comes from not being able to install a modern POS system across the whole property. Dining room runs off micros 2600 and all other stations are cash registers. Inside we have 2 bar stations and a service bar for the dining room. Outside we have 2 service bar stations and 8 regular stations. At the large outside bar with 6 stations there is mixed use of liqueurs and large iced bins for beer that are shared. Were only open for 6 weeks out of the year and in that time our weekend nights can bring in 2000 people or more. If anyone can point me in a direction of information on handling inventory for this type of situation i would be grateful. Im open to new ideas because the things we have tried over the last few years have just not worked out as well as we hoped. Hopefully in the next 3 years we should be able to install a full networked POS across the whole property but till then we need to find other options. thanks for any info ahead of time. Brendan

Looking at these restaurants out there that have bottle selections in the 1,000's and 10,000's. How are they maintaining their inventory? Between going over vintage changes, taking off 86'ed items, adding new inventory to the wine list, checking for discrepancies in sales vs inventory, making price updates in the POS system, reprinting the list, making sure waiters know whats getting low in numbers... theres got to be a better way to manage this? I never feel like i have enough time to get this all done correctly. Any opinions? The restaurant i work for is using the older Micro's 2600 and its not tied to inventory at all just reports on what was sold. I work off of two excell sheets marking wines sold from the previous night and new inventory in. then a wine list sheet which i update daily. and print any pages which were changed. thanks B

katie, have any links to wine lists (in pdf form) set up like that? I would like to see how the headings and such are formatted. thanks B

any opinions on a list sorted by varietal? for instance having chardonnay as a heading then within that have your american chards together french chards together. Or does this lead to problems with people now knowing where to find certain french or italian reds because they dont know what the the grape is in the wine? For instance how do you find Formentini Tajut if you dont know the grape is merlot? EDIT: kinsey this is an upscale restaurant with about 400 different wines. Average price per bottle sold last year was $110

My dad and i are having a disagreement about how the list at our restaurant should be organized. So how do you guys like them arranged?

Anyone have some fun ideas for a BBQ i'm throwing this weekend? thanks Brendan

heres a video of a similar technique i ran into on the web. though people might like this. http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=3o9ib0j2bh B

Were going to vermont this weekend and will be staying in a primitive cabin. The place we are going sells lamb that they slaughter on the farm, i was hoping to find a recipe with very few ingredients that i could make while were out there. will probably have a small pot or pan, but i was thinking maybe some kind of tinfoil pocket laid in the hot coals, or maybe some kind of lamb kabob. Open to any ideas. thanks B

my little brother is doing his tryout for Eleven Madison Park tonight, it will be for an externship for CIA. Anyone have any words of advice before he goes? I'll tell you though, im just really excited for him, id love for him to have the opportunity to work at a restaurant of that caliber. hope he does well. Brendan

dockhl i will try my best to get recipes but these are all made by someone with 50 years experience in a kitchen so no recipes to copy. I did ask him tonight to see if he could could write a paragraph or so about how its made which he is going to do. This is why im thinking of doing a video that way i can tape everything then edit together a whole lesson from the video. tonight was beef stew. Stock was made from vegetable trimmings and beef bones, finishing veggies were each cooked separately to keep the right textures. this was a perfect meal given the sub zero temperatures outside.

Ive been meaning to get some photos of my dad cooking for a while and i keep forgetting but tonight i finally remembered and grabbed some shots. Were hoping to do some photo tutorials for a few meals maybe even some video ones. Anyway tonights dinner was roasted chicken with glazed vegetables and stove top stuffing.

I stopped into the newly open Max London's for a cocktail last night. Knowing how detailed oriented his family is (owners of Mrs. London's next door) i knew i was in for a treat. What i didnt realize is just how impressed i would be. I didnt get a chance to try the food (mostly Mediterranean thin crust, brick oven pizza's) but i was able to order a Sazerac and a Corpse Reviver No.2 and both were were delicious. The bartenders are new to the game but hopefully with Max's dedication and passion towards fine foods they will take mixology to heart and catch the bug that alot of us have. Either way both of my drinks were perfectly made and what a treat it was to see Cold Draft ice cubes tumble into my glass somewhere outside manhattan and real bourbon soaked italian cherries! I'm not sure who designed the list but except for a few quirks i thought it was wonderful. Anyway if you in the area make sure to stop by and check it out. B

hah, thanks. im not sure why i rock but hey...wont complain. B

wow ryan, thats awesome. thank you so much. Brendan

Thought id see if the collective could help me dig up some info. Im looking for some names of the top restaurant groups opening either multiple fine dining locations (not chains but seperate upscale hospitality projects) or entertainment complexes with multiple dining options covering fine dining down to snack carts. Things like casino groups are Ok...i realize that within the large complexes sometimes things like restaurant design and operations are sent to major consultant companies that design and open individual venues within a major project. Does anyone have any names of large consultancy groups that do a blended work like design, build, and operate? I know this question is out of place on these forums but i think there quite a few hospitality professionals who roam here. Any information would be greatly appreciated. thanks Brendan

can you offer a list of some producers who you think make the grade? I live somewhat locally (Albany) and would be interested in trying some of the producers you think are putting out great wine from this region. thanks B

La Crema would be another easy to find buttery chard

thanks guys!

go...

fair enough, that all sounds pretty accurate :-) From your original post, and not knowing you were an exec chef, i thought you expected every chef to have spotless shoes. peace, B

sorry fugu, but i think saying that chefs need clean shoes is kinda ridiculous. Being a chef behind a busy line is a messy job no matter how clean a person you are. The line at the restaurant my dad owns is spotless at the beginning of each day and it looks like a war zone by the end of the night, i really dont think you can do anything about it. on the topic of things that would gross you out though, a large party ordered their meals and for whatever reason one of the entrees didnt make it to the dupe for the chefs, so as the entrees come out the waiter realizes and quickly fires another entree. The womans meal comes out a few minutes late and as the waiter lays down the plate a small green catapillar comes crawling out from under a small bundle of sage leaves... How it was missed by both the prep cook who picks over the herbs in the morning and also the expediter i have no idea. but yea..that one is cringe worthy.

Watched a movie called Red Doors (great movie) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0415234/ and there is a part where one girl gets behind the bar and makes her GF a Flame of Love martini and actually tells about where it comes from and references the Velencia as well. anyway, just thought that was neat. B

hmm...strange... raxelita you wouldnt have taken a trip to saratoga springs this summer, and ordered some of those basil gimlets at Siro's restaurant possibly? i only wonder because someone ordered those exact drinks from me this summer... just curious, Brendan