wallchef

Swede, your temperatures and procedures are fine. After about 7 hours of cooking, begin to check the belly for doneness. It would be easier for you to cut the belly into portions and confit them. When reheating, let the pork come up to room temperature in the fat and place crackling side down in a pan an cook until it is deep golden, flip and cook in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Use your old name in your new name, for example: Ukraine Cafe by Weczeria Obviously Ukraine Cafe isn't a good name but create something and add "by Weczeria" and that should work out quite well. People who are fans of the old place well instantly recognize it and also know it is new, exciting place.

Care to extend an invitation? I don't think the interjection of Asian styled dishes will be too much for the guests. I think that it will be an interesting break in the progression of the dinner.

With the pig ear's you could confit them in pork fat, if available, (duck works well, too) at about 200 degrees for 10 hours, let cool, then deep fry them to order for an amazing crisp, flavorful ear. Serve them with a bitter green salad dressed with a lemon caper dressing. You could do a traditional faggot. Take pork liver, salty bacon, braised pork cheeks, onions, sage, and a bit of thyme, mince, then wrap in caul fat. Make a gravy with the cooking liquid and serve with a nice strong mustard. I'm sure a recipe for faggots appear in one of you books, if not I'd be more than happy to give you a recipe.

Interesting defence.

I've place marble in a commercial convection oven to slightly warm for serving canapes at larger tables and left them in for a good while and I've never had one crack. I think it'd work fine.

Just a bit of warning, don't present to many similar textures, it could cause difficulty in your guests having flavor retention after your meal. I've had Henderson's Bone Marrow with Parsley Salad and I highly recommend it for your dinner.

Sorry I don't have a picture but a nice Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Red Pepper Jam, Lardons of Pork Belly Confit, and Rosemary Oil.

I've done Root Beer Braised Short Ribs that came out awesome.

Empty restaurants on a Friday and Saturday can be a bit off putting, mid-week is a little less concerning. Have you thought about ways to 'reduce' your seating capacity during the week? Maybe removing tables or sectioning off a portion of the dinner room. If the restaurant looks full, people get the idea that it is the place to be.

Move it to a better time, say Saturdays.

I cooked a private dinner for George Clooney and a producer or director in one of our events rooms. I've cooked for Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, President Clinton, and Jerry Seinfield.

Much like a previous post, I use pureed scallops in the restaurant as a binder. They make a really nice crab cake. Last night, I actually ran a crab cake that used couscous as a major component of the crab cake. It was an Middle Eastern inspired app.

Cook a beet with the skin on and the skin off by the same method and you'll quickly find out why you should leave the skin on whilst cooking. Very simple test.

I recently served up a variation of the pork cassoulet in my restaurant. It had the basics of a cassoulet; duck confit, toulouse sausage, etc. but served it with a nice grilled porkchop on top. It made a really nice plate.

I don't really know, but I imagine that they actively seek out their challengers.