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Starting a high profile new restaurant (after closing another)

gfron1

By gfron1
in Restaurant Life

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted

I wonder if you can make foraged donuts out of cattail flour and maple or sorghum syrup. 

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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IowaDee

IowaDee

Posted
Posted (edited)

My brain has such a hard time with the word "forged".  My late father-in-law owned an old timey blacksmith shop and the word meant something so different.

Plow shares and horse shoes, not doughnuts and salad greens.   Gotta get my brain to move forward here.   He was such a smart guy.  When times changed and

business fell off he went to work for John Deere in their experimental department and developed all kinds of amazing things for them.

And I should add, all of this was with just an 8th grade education!  

Edited by IowaDee (log)
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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, IowaDee said:

My brain has such a hard time with the word "forged".  My late father-in-law owned an old timey blacksmith shop and the word meant something so different.

Plow shares and horse shoes, not doughnuts and salad greens.

 

I think foraged (the food finding word) and forged (the blacksmithing word) are distinct and have different origins. 

 

1 hour ago, IowaDee said:

Gotta get my brain to move forward here.

Edited to add that you probably don't need to get your brain to do anything, just straighten your glasses 🙃!

 

Edited by blue_dolphin (log)
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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I think foraged (the food finding word) and forged (the blacksmithing word) are distinct and have different origins. 

 

Edited to add that you probably don't need to get your brain to do anything, just straighten your glasses 🙃!

 

 

 

@Smithy could perhaps offer an authoritative opinion.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, gfweb said:

how do you make pokeweed nontoxic and edible?

 

You have to pick the very young leaves. They might as well still be toxic, far as I'm concerned. Stuff's nasty.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, gfweb said:

how do you make pokeweed nontoxic and edible?

 

I have eaten this weed in Louisiana because my elder relatives did. Now that I have more information about it, I do not eat it anymore. Although, what @kaybsays is absolutely correct, you must use the young leaves. I do not agree that it's nasty. The young leaves taste very much like spinach and we used to cook them with eggs and a little onion and quite enjoyed it. Having educated myself further, I feel lucky to have survived eating these weeds even if they tasted good at the time and we had very little money and the eggs were coming from Grandpa's chickens and the onions from his garden.

 

It grows in my backyard, but it is off my table. I'm still here, but it seems a wonder, knowing all that I know now.

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> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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gfron1

gfron1

Posted
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Posted (edited)

As we enter our final week of construction we're wrapping up some fun furniture projects.

20244.thumb.jpeg.e90904f7eb224635885b823b0c9797f7.jpeg

We're lathing some elevated plates for our after dinner lounge experience.

20245.thumb.jpeg.acac18c2f6242394b05191d5abc0b218.jpeg

20412.thumb.jpeg.af0e1c1fe4a0d587d4dd63633787a2f2.jpeg

20243.thumb.jpeg.5c6e48f258a085d28f433164b683912e.jpeg

20411.thumb.jpeg.be2def9a68a972585fbd296e7d88f033.jpeg

I've joked that's it's a golf tee for giants, but it feels sturdy enough that some drunk fool won't break it, yet refined enough to look... Refined.

Edited by gfron1 (log)
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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted (edited)

As a wood lover those  are so cool!  Well I like stone too - any granite/marble similar stuff on your roll out agenda? Glass and slate plating I am not particularly fond of but they can be integrated in presentation.  The wood items evoke for me as an older person those salad bowls of the 70's ;) 

Edited by heidih (log)
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Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, gfron1 said:

As we enter our final week of construction we're wrapping up some fun furniture projects.

20244.thumb.jpeg.e90904f7eb224635885b823b0c9797f7.jpeg

We're lathing some elevated plates for our after dinner lounge experience.

20245.thumb.jpeg.acac18c2f6242394b05191d5abc0b218.jpeg

20412.thumb.jpeg.af0e1c1fe4a0d587d4dd63633787a2f2.jpeg

20243.thumb.jpeg.5c6e48f258a085d28f433164b683912e.jpeg

20411.thumb.jpeg.be2def9a68a972585fbd296e7d88f033.jpeg

I've joked that's it's a golf tee for giants, but it feels sturdy enough that some drunk fool won't break it, yet refined enough to look... Refined.

 

 

They are pretty fore sure. But. You know what? That design is extremely top heavy. You mentioned drunks yourself, and I just have to say that I think, even it they didn't manage to break it, they might topple it quite a bit. It would take a slightest tap. If you persist in this design, perhaps you might consider widening out the foot of the wine glass shaped configuration into something that actually resembles the tried and true design of the age old wine glass? 🙂

 

Just a thought for your most respected consideration. Who, after all, wants to clean spilled food continually when it might better be avoided?

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> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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gfron1

gfron1

Posted
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Posted
6 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

They are pretty fore sure. But. You know what? That design is extremely top heavy. You mentioned drunks yourself, and I just have to say that I think, even it they didn't manage to break it, they might topple it quite a bit. It would take a slightest tap. If you persist in this design, perhaps you might consider widening out the foot of the wine glass shaped configuration into something that actually resembles the tried and true design of the age old wine glass? 🙂

 

Just a thought for your most respected consideration. Who, after all, wants to clean spilled food continually when it might better be avoided?

Be patient until you see how it's going to be used. 😁

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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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curls

curls

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, gfron1 said:

Be patient until you see how it's going to be used. 😁

My guess, bar stool. Kinda hoping I'm wrong since I prefer chairs with backs.

 

Looking forward to seeing and dining at Bulrush in May!!!

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curls

curls

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

 

Except that Rob called them "elevated plates" - so unless he's going all Sweeney Todd on us I don't think that's it!

Ha! Missed that text, too busy looking at all the pretty pictures! :biggrin:  Thanks for bringing that to my attention Chris,  "elevated plates for our after dinner lounge experience."

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gfron1

gfron1

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Final building inspection is tomorrow. All of the subs got inspected yesterday. Health Dept and Liquor license will be early next week...so I made a batch of chocolates. I think I was yearning for simpler times so I used one of my vintage molds and made a foraged nocino bonbon.

walnuts.thumb.jpg.5782e2bcb46d3cb9f55c4021a6809700.jpg

Also our spent barrels arrived so we can start aging...most likely our persimmon vinegar and our pawpaw vinegar.

Barrel.thumb.jpg.c2b98a74c109bdb973062757a9858b49.jpg

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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted

I would so like to be there for the grand opening! It's going to be special. Those bonbons are wonderful in themselves.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

As a veteran of many many inspections my heart is with you. Hospitals were the worst but similar to restaurants. Easier when I was young and cute ;) 

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gfron1

gfron1

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Here is your eGullet exclusive! I stopped posting pics in social media Couple of weeks ago (except for non-revealing images), but eG and I go way back 😁.

 

The dining room

IMG_20190329_162141.thumb.jpg.04dbec7565e12165bd060fad383b89a6.jpg

The wall separating the dining room. The concept was to recreate looking through the Ozark woods at sunrise 

IMG_20190329_162204.thumb.jpg.f97d9f6fe9a36ed7fd67e275775f255d.jpg

One of our lounge loveseats.

IMG_20190329_162226.thumb.jpg.9b96ea2faa81be84528fde84a6484943.jpg

The back bar where most of the liquor is stored.

IMG_20190329_162257.thumb.jpg.2afd1d4111f65b0f6a8c7255cce44f92.jpg

View of the bar.

IMG_20190329_162324.thumb.jpg.74f228578db38998d9a5fc63ea9ce835.jpg

View from the prep kitchen to the front door showing some of the fun play with light and shadows that we created.

IMG_20190329_162413.thumb.jpg.2705ef0aac9c11c41c7a398da72bef75.jpg

 

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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

@gfron1

 

stunning !

 

congratulations !

 

I see a lot of very hard work there , and more to come !

 

MC and I wish you every success !

 

PS  what are yoyu doing w the walnut turnings ?

 

lamp fixtures ?     if its a bar stool I hope your drinks are very very proxy and popular !

 

suprise.gif.414c2f55365da66b63231003b2da2085.gif

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gfron1

gfron1

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6 minutes ago, rotuts said:

 

PS  what are yoyu doing w the walnut turnings ?

 

lamp fixtures ?     if its a bar stool I hope your drinks are very very proxy and popular 

 

I'll be able to show very soon. It's one of the most unique details we've created.

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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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