BistroGal

Bistro 2.0

2012-01-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

We are days away from opening our new lounge and private function room, and completely renovated restaurant. I am simultaneously excited and terrified. The process has been arduous and seemingly never-ending.

Three years ago, we decided that expanding was a good idea. I have always felt little pangs of sadness when I send people away to wait for a table. I feel like they’re in my home, I should be able to accomodate them. And so, we began the process of finding the financing to expand. That was a far more complicated and arduous undertaking than I imagined. When we first opened, banks would not even set up appointments with us. No one, not even the credit union I had been dealing with since childhood, was the least bit interested in gambling on a restaurant. In the end, our friend helped facilitate the opening of bistro. I felt that after 3 successful years of business, banks would be eager to work with us to expand our business and open a lounge. Yeah, no. So we cobbled together a group of family, friends and supporters and managed to secure the financing. Fortunately, in the meantime, the space next door had become available. And so the efforts to open a lounge were really in full swing.

We have had drawings for over a year. We’ve been anticipating this moment for a long time. Of course, the unfolding of it is never as smooth as hoped. We put in permit applications in July. We finally received our occupancy December 23rd. Three different engineers agreed to do the job and then decided they were too busy. Our HVAC people have been AWOL multiple times, we lost our electrician along the way (although the one we eventually got is amazing!)...

Fortunately, in all of that some really beautiful things have also happened. Our friend Derryl Theissen stepped up and became the general contractor and has been doing an amazing job. He has beautifully navigated all the bizarre commercial space rules and the anxiety and stress of Alex and me. I can’t imagine doing another project without him. Mind you, he may not feel the same way! Another lovely situation was a longtime customer called to say he had some leftover tile from his house that he had brought in from Italy, would we like it? He dropped it off and it is stunning. One of the workers on the site has a little puppy that he brings to work every day and that makes all of us happy. But, perhaps for me, one of the loveliest parts has been the designing.

I was fearing the decorating piece of the lounge. I have a lot of ideas and sense of what I want but am not always clear on how to translate that. When we opened the bistro, our dear friend, my mother-in-law’s best friend, gently guided us through making the choices. Her name was Cecile Clayton-Gouthro and she was a textiles prof and artist with a fantastic sense of style. She chose the blue and brown, the art, where the mirrors were hung. She died of cancer the week before we opened.

As I was starting to think about decor and how to tie the two spaces together, I realized I was facing two daunting tasks. First, change. Second, what did I want it to look like? First, I was going to have to let go of the blue and brown; of all the beauty Cecile created. In fact, doing the challenging task of making ‘cold’ colours seem ‘warm’. This is hard to do. And, I believe, we have become a bit identified by our colours. Heck, we even have a ‘Bistro-tini’ that is the blue of our walls. Second, I was going to have to pick new colours, decor, design. Ack!!!

Over the past few years, Alex and I have entered the travel phase of our lives. Our kids are older, we have some flexibility, and we are super energized by travelling. We have been exploring other cities like mad and getting our creative juices flowing, particularly around food and drinks. However, a side-effect has certainly been exploring new ideas of what to do with spaces. We have seen some wild and lovely things in Montreal, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Minneapolis, Vancouver... I believe this has deeply informed how we have proceeded with the lounge, and ultimately the bistro. Our favourite hotel in Toronto is The Drake and one of the things we love most about it is the playfulness of it. I hope that we have managed to bring that quality into the new space.

However, I have felt ultimately incapable of executing the changes without help. And here is one of the loveliest parts of the lounge reno story: A few years ago, my friend Liane Chalmers-Bock decided to go back to school and become an interior designer. Liane and her husband, Ted, have been friends with Alex and I for over 20 years. They were at our wedding. We used to have dinner parties together every Friday night. We were pregnant with our first children at the same time. We had baby play groups. And then life happened. We exchange Christmas cards, see each other a few times a year – at the folk fest or at the bistro – but were not nearly as connected. When I ran into Liane at Loni Beach this summer and had a tour of her beautiful (self-designed) cottage, I asked her if she would consider helping me design the bistro. She agreed and we’ve been on this delightful journey together.

I have really love having Liane to bounce ideas off of, to go shopping with, to gently steer me away from some ideas and toward others. She is calm, patient and has a wonderful sense of style. Through the process of developing a new space and transforming an old one, one that has truly been a touchstone in my life, we have rekindled a really great friendship. It almost makes all the frustration and chaos of the past renovation year worth it!

I look forward to shifting and growing and changing. I also look forward to the rekindled relationship with bistro. The opportunity to feel reinvigorated, reinvested, and energized. To try on new challenges (cheese tasting class anyone?) and to sink into the comfort of all the relationships that make bistro such a special place. I feel pretty lucky. It’s a pretty great gig.

The thing about a blog

2011-05-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

It's very hard to keep up a blog.

Wait, no, let me amend that. It's easy to keep up a blog when life is fun and filled with joy. Life has not been like that and I was saying to Alex the other day that I feel like Debbie Downer! I am normally a very upbeat person and I live life with a 'Suck it up, Buttercup' approach. I really try to see the positive in almost all situations (except when I allow my dark humour side out) and I love my life.

As anyone who follows my blog knows, this past year has certainly tested my resilience in the upbeat department. Lots of death and mishap in our family. I really felt that we had turned a corner this spring and then my dear, lovely, sweet, funny, cousin Chris killed himself. Nothing can change that. My family looks like crumpled up pieces of paper scattered on the floor. We are without a way of knowing what to do.

We have spend a lot of time crying and laughing. Chris was very funny and so we remember those bits as much as possible. We can't seem to get close enough to each other. My other cousin, Chris's sister, was sitting at the bar in the bistro and I realized we were so physically close to each other that we were leaning into one another. That's the way now. We lean in.

I am reading a wonderful book, "Blood, Bones & Butter" by Gabrielle Hamilton. She is a beautiful writer and has reminded me of many things I love about the restaurant industry and life with food. I am grateful for this book popping up now. It is gently nudging me back to writing and back to seeing the beautiful little world I live in, filled with crunchy bread, thick, rich chocolate, glorious oozing cheeses that clear the back kitchen with their pungent ways, muddled fruit soaking up rum in the bottom of the shaker, clinking cutlery, great music and lots of friends. I am being very careful to pay attention to all these beautiful things and people surrounding me. I can be sad and I let myself be sad for all the pain of the past year. But I am also happy. Happy that I have the family I do, happy that I work the job I work, happy that my life is full and splendid.

We're heading to a Cheese Festival in Picton, ON next week. We are renting a car and driving from Toronto, staying in a hotel filled with industry people, and Alex is cheffing with some folks. I think the writing bug is back and I plan on sharing some of these adventures in my blog. But before we head to Ontario, we head up to Riding Mountain National Park to be with my family and lean in for awhile.

Restaurant Manners

2011-01-31T07:27:00.000-08:00

When our kids were wee, we took them to nice restaurants (we still do.) We encouraged them to pick out nice clothes and sit up in their chairs and make conversation and appreciate the opportunity. They were dinner party pros by the time they were 5. Alex's mom fed them off of Rosenthal dishes while in the highchair (this made me crazy with worry!) My point is, we have the ability to learn how to behave properly in a restaurant. With our kids, we call it "restaurant manners" and we whisper this in their ears as we enter a restaurant as a gentle reminder of the social expectations of the situation. In fact, this shorthand often works in other social situations, too. And if a three year old can say please and thank you and appreciate the experience, I'm pretty sure some adults can learn this skill as well.

The other night we had a very difficult table. Now, I'm prepared to go the extra mile for people. I will send dishwashers to pick up the right kind of juice at the store, I will bring them a chair to sit on while they wait at the front door, I will visit with them and make as much effort as possible to meet their needs. And this was the case with this table: we all went a few extra steps to make them happy. I have very few issues with high-needs tables: we're in the hospitality industry! We are good at "killing with kindness", I call it. Lots of smiles and attention. Usually this results in a lovely time for everyone. Yet, the problem was: this table was rude. They were demanding, dismissive & crabby. And, it was relentless: at no point did they shift to being kind or nice. It was as if they had no need to be polite because they were somehow above it. . I am so perplexed by this. What benefit does this bring the table? How can you feel proud of yourself or enjoy yourself if you are demeaning another person? I've been toying with how to address this: should I offer reminders to these tables that they have to be nice to their server? should I post an explanation of "restaurant manners" on the wall? or menu? in the washroom?

The reality is that we get all kinds of customers and 90% of them are delightful, 5% odd and 5% rude. We'll put up with rude because that is the gig. All we can hope is that rude people will recognize their jarring ways and tip accordingly.

Harvest Kitchen Project

2011-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

Last night, Alex and I attended the Winnipeg Harvest board meeting and gave a presentation on the Harvest Kitchen Project.

As a couple, we have been involved in many volunteer and community-based projects over the years but it has been a long time since I have felt so excited about working with an organization and the work we are doing. The whole story, of course, starts with a regular customer at the Bistro who has beautifully shifted into a friend. Sherri Walsh is a lawyer, a wife and mom, and president of the board of Harvest. One night, she started to tell me about her work at Harvest. She has been a volunteer there for 20 years and clearly loves it. Until recently, Harvest has been housed in a series of warehouse buildings on Winnipeg Ave. Harvest has been adapting to space constraints for years. When the federal government created stimulus infrastructure grants, Harvest recognized an opportunity to get rolling on some space designed for their needs.

Currently, there is a wee room in the old building that has some counters, a household sink and a household stove. Every day, a group of (mostly) women come in, set up crock pots and electric skillets, balance cutting boards on rolling carts, and make lunch for 80 people. It is amazing. So, the first goal for the new space is to provide these 'lunch ladies' with some proper work space. The second series of goals relate to training and education, and this is where Alex and I really step in. The goal is to provide educational programming for clients of Harvest: cooking with diabetes; cooking for kids/teens; cooking for new immigrants; cooking for families, etc. WIth a general theme of working with low-cost foods. We also hope to expand this part of the program to include some gardening skills to supplement the food supplies. (Last year, Harvest used old blue boxes to have container gardens!) We're hoping to write some curriculum and get some community members out to teach some of these classes.

The Training Program is going to be more intensive and about creating job-ready candidates, hopefully shifting clients away from needing the services of Harvest. We plan to offer 6 or 8 week courses that will teach people basic kitchen skills that will prepare them for entry level positions in kitchens at nursing homes, hospitals, cafeterias. We will also offer some extended training courses on meat cutting and baking for jobs in butcher shops and bakeries. This is the part of the project where will be tapping some of our chef friends for some support (head's up!) I also think there might be some room to teach a course of being a server but I haven't quite sorted that out.

We have many more ideas percolating away: fundraising dinners executed by students, pea soup making contest entries at Festival du Voyageur (split peas are a frequent item in Harvest baskets),recipes for obscure items provided for clients in their baskets, more Hot in the Kitchen calendars? We are very excited about it and hope that some folks out there in our lovely city will generate some ideas and get into the project with us.

The Year that Was

2011-01-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

I have mulled this post over for months. I have written it in my head 20 times, at least. It is tough one to write. My goal is to not be too personal, yet at the same time provide a glimpse of our lives over the past year; to eke out some context. My other goal is to not be too bleak. It is dark material yet it is simply life. I think this past year will take a long time to process and so very little of it has to do with the bistro but so much of it has impact on the bistro. Complicated, non? Further complication: I need to write about things that are personal to people I love and I don't want to make them uncomfortable. *sigh* I am going to give this a quick go and then move on to what comes next.

It has been the year of deep, painful, life-changing tragedies in our lives. I think it began in the spring with one of our family members being diagnosed with cancer. They are fine now, essentially a clean bill of health, but the process of surgery and complications and treatment were very intense.

Someone in our chosen family had a baby at 28 weeks. That is a scary and long ride which has been really hard.

Two children in our extended family died this year.

My grandfather died. He lived on Dominion St. and was really funny and quirky. My sister and I had to spend two weeks sifting through his hoarder house and tending to his life possessions.

Our eldest child broke her foot and was on crutches for 5 weeks.

Our youngest child broke her arm in the most horrific version possible that has meant surgery, 3 casts, nerve damage, physiotherapy, and to this day, on-going appointments with doctors. We still cry sometimes over this one, she and I.

I have been wondering why I feel compelled to share all this deeply personal and dark information. Really picking it apart in my therapist brain. In the end, I really feel that these events have meant that I have shut myself down, preserved my mental and emotional energy for our personal lives. I am sure that I have still managed to be present at the bistro and I am still able to have fun at work yet there hasn't been space for anything beyond that. And so, I think I feel a need to talk about this year so that I can move beyond it. I want to shift out of this place of difficulty and look toward a dynamic and full year. There are many interesting projects coming up. The lawyers are negotiating the lease for the expansion. We have been invited to Ottawa to cook representing Manitoba. We're giving a talk at a business conference talk on using social media in business, we're doing Folk Fest nuttiness and we've got a new project cooking with Winnipeg Harvest that is going to a crazy fun ride.

So many of the clients at the Bistro are really important people to me and have provided me with friendship and laughter which has buoyed me throughout this year. Thank you all for that support and kindness.

City vs. Country

2010-10-08T08:49:00.001-07:00

As a kid, I grew up in both the city and the country. We weren't so wealthy as to have two houses; we spent the first 5 years of my life in the city, moved to the country, then moved back to the city when I was 15. I have a complicated relationship with rural living. I am an extrovert. I love engaging with people and I get a surge of energy from any interaction. When we lived in the country, our nearest neighbours were a mile away (and they were a little weird, they kept a phone in their house that was reserved for conversations with God...) My only sibling is 5 years older than me and wasn't around much. Most days, I was lonely and bored.

On the flip side, I grew up with 3 acres of gardens, pigs, horses and generally some skills with country living. I can grow all sorts of things, pickle and put up preserves, and capture a chicken. I like putting on rubber boots and stomping around in the field. I have a great affection for this life. But, when we moved to the city, I felt like someone had flipped a switch. I couldn't get enough of being around people. I don't think I was alone for the first five years! I felt buzzy and happy.

It's funny how fundamental this all remains within me. On our travels, I was so happy in Napa. We were staying in Rutherford, a town of 500 people. It was pitch black at night, it was so quiet and pastoral, you could watch the mice skitter and the hawks circle. We travelled through vineyards and organic gardens and discussed ways to garden better. It was perfect.

Then, 2 days ago, we landed in San Francisco. As we drove in, the 2 hour drive, you could feel the shift starting to happen. Gradually, we were surrounded by more and more people. Then all of a sudden you're in 4 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. Once we ditched the car and started walking and walking and walking, amidst thousands of people on the streets, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face! I felt buoyed by the energy of the city, I could feel it pulsating through me. My city girl came alive! We have been to as many parts of the city as we can cram in, met people in every place we've stopped, eaten some of the best food I've ever had, tried new cocktails, ridden street cars, jammed our days as full as possible. It makes me so happy!

And so, I love that I have these parts of me and they both get turns. Our son has lobbied hard for the past few years for some property in the country and this trip has clarified for me that this is a worthwhile investment. When we get home, we'll step up the hunt for someplace to be quiet, build tree forts, plant some vegetables and watch the stars. And then return to the city to get amped up again!

Napa valley

2010-10-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

We're on our last day in Napa Valley. This has been a beautiful and educational three days. I feel like so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet all these amazing people and learn so much about wine and wine-making. The first day, we went to Joseph Phelps and had this VIP tour with a gentleman named Keith. I'm pretty sure he was actually Garrison Keillor. He spoke in this soothing midwest accent and told us stories about the property and the development of Napa and winemaking. I listened to him for two and a half hours and I could have stayed around for more.

After Phelps, we made our way to Quintessa. Phelps is an old well established winery. Quintessa are sort of the new kids on the block. I think they bought their land twenty years ago. Here we had a young woman named Kaitlyn take us on a hike through the property and sat on a hill drinking one of their sister wineries' sauvignon blanc, Illumination. Quintessa was hands down my favourite tour. They are bio-dynamic and after some gentle prodding, Kaitlyn opened up and gave us some really great information about how that works. I particularly like the use of animals to tend to the crops. Kaitlyn explained that some wineries are quiet about being bio-dynamic as it is considered flaky and can keep some 'serious' wine drinkers away. I have to say, I did notice an odd reluctance to discuss organics, bio-dynamics and the environmental impact of say, hundreds of thousands of new oak barrels, at other wineries. I was surprised.

Our final tour that day was Caymus. Caymus is a wine we've stocked for most of the time we've been open. This event was actually just a tasting, with some quick notes about the history of the business from the wine educator. The group had a very drunk couple from New York in it and that kind of made the dynamic a little wonky. In the end, it was the weakest event of the day.

Yesterday, we did Cakebread and Sequoia. Cakebread is a consistently fabulous wine that has always been a popular wine on our menu. It's pretty high end but when you see the production, it starts to make sense. Essentially, the winery tracks every barrel and mixes the barrels in specific lots to achieve a specific profile. It is painstaking. Once they have achieved the profile they are after, they then mix the same combination of barrels to create a run of a wine. The other wineries we met worked in a more 'batch' approach. They played with the chemistry but they didn't track each barrel from each lot. We had a very passionate tour guide at Cakebread, who had been a winemaker himself in Oregon, who clearly felt Cakebread was simply the best. He said that their 2007 Cab had such high ratings that they have pulled it from the tastings! He was also the least interested in talking about organics or the environmental impact of winemaking! Ironically, my favourite part of the tour was meeting with the Master Gardener and touring the organic gardens!

Sequoia is a beautiful winery right next door to Cakebread. Aptly named for the giant sequoias growing on the property, they are a teeny winery with some lovely wines. However by this point, I was pretty worn out and got distracted by a great cheese book from a collective cheese shop in Berkeley. The wine educator liked Alex so she poured him a lot of a big variety of reds, most of which we can't get because they only sell them from the winery. By the end of the tasting, Alex was pretty looped so we made our way to the Rutherford Grill and had a fantastic lunch.

Today, we are heading to Rubicon (Francis Ford Coppola's winery) and then to Boon Fly Cafe in Carneros. I love the name so hopefully we'll have fun! Tonight we head to San Francisco for a different type of fun and hopefully some night life!!

Finally, I just want to send a big thank you in Tina Jones' direction. I know that we buy a lot of wine from Banville & Jones and it makes sense that they would want to get us connected with the winemakers but Tina has gone above and beyond in taking care of this leg of our trip. She's pretty awesome and a great role model for business women in Winnipeg.

Travelling

2010-10-04T10:15:00.001-07:00

About a year ago, Alex and I committed to trying to travel more. As young folk, we were very poor (can we buy a ladle this week? No? Ok, the coffee cup will work for another week... ) We had lots of fun and had dinner parties and went camping a lot. Then we bought a house at 23 and poured all our energy and spare money into renovating it. After that, we had kids. No time, no money, no energy.

So, here we are. We work like crazed people at the Bistro all the time. Most people don't know that we start dealing with stuff from home by about 9 am and usually don't leave work until midnight. I stay home with the kids during the day and we have our adventures in homeschooling. Generally life is very full and we really felt it was time to start travelling. It seems like a good way to unplug and recharge our batteries. Also, about two years ago, we figured out that our kids are fantastic travellers and they are all game for an adventure.

In the past year, we've been to Montreal, Toronto with the kids, Toronto without the kids, Vancouver with the kids (we are avid air miles collectors now!) This week, Alex and I are in Napa Valley and San Francisco. This trip was a gift from both our families to Alex for his fortieth birthday. We have talked about this trip, fantasized about this trip, since we were 18 years old. And now we are here!

Of course, all trips come with hiccups: our flight was delayed out of Calgary so we missed a bunch of stuff that we wanted to do in San Francisco yesterday. And, they lost my luggage. Which has meant not only am I without my things, we had to waste valuable time yesterday shopping for socks and underwear and a toothbrush for me. But we are here! And today we are going to go on 3 VIP wine tours that TIna Jones from Banville & Jones organized for us. I am just in awe of this whole experience. I plan to try to chronicle it as we go. But, who knows, I may just be eaten up by the moment.

I am very grateful that Alex and I have shifted away from buying things for each other and toward creating experiences. It also seems to be rubbing off on our kids: our son asked that no one give him any gifts for his birthday or Christmas. He asked for people to donate money instead. As a family, we decided to also pool our resources to send him on a trip to Vancouver to see his cousin and his buddy. I hope he has the adventure of a life time.

Still alive

2010-07-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

We survived the Folk Fest!!! I believe that I felt at 3 am on Saturday morning wandering around Festival Camping that my survival may in fact have been in doubt. Fatigue had set in. I was surrounded by mayhem. Delightful mayhem but mayhem nonetheless. People dressed up as teddy bears, minstrels of varying quality, a giant sphinx and multiple pyramids, one of my staff in a housecoat wandering around muttering and gesturing to himself, a LOT of glowy stick people and one Christmas light guy, mussels being cooked, lasers being shone into the sky, the smell of pot and booze and cigarettes, seas of tents, and a giant lit up roving dragon. Oh yeah, and we were sleep deprived in a way I haven't been since having a newborn baby.

I loved it, tho. Love the festival, love festival camping. We are now plotting on how to get to Burning Man to cook. I love the idea of bringing fabulous food to fantastic places and being part of this enormous creative energy. We cooked and cooked and cooked. I'm sure that over the next few weeks I will continue to process this whole time in my life because it was so full and amazing.

We moved into our new digs which I have to say I was very worried about. I was not wanting a building, I was happy with my cooking tent and outdoor dishpit and cajoling the health inspector into our perspective: grass if fine flooring. However, change comes and you have move with it or get knocked over. I'm more of a move with it and see where it takes me kind of person. The building is phenomenal! It's huge and airy and bright and has the potential to be enormously efficient. It is cavernous so I had almost no voice by Monday. It was the place everyone wanted to hang out! We had musicians come and play for us and busses drop off folks right at our porch. We have a porch! it is really a beautiful space.

The food was good, too. There were some hiccups: chicken on the bone is tricky but extra tricky when there is no prep time and you have to make it on the fly! Potatoes (most starches, really) for 5000 are just challenging. But there were some highlights: bison short ribs falling off the bone, 3-bean salad out of this world!, grilled cheese sandwiches, and some crazy apple pancake thing that Alex said, "It worked!!" when he saw it (I sense he may have had some fears on its viability). We also cooked in "guerilla tents", setting up tables and burners wherever we could find a bit of space, on the folk fest site and the camp site, we simply started cooking and people would come to get food. When we ran out of food, we shut it down. It was so great! It also has opened up ideas for me around travelling food and bringing food to places.

I have left this festival with many great ideas rattling around in my head and we'll see what they lead to.

Delightful Bedlam

2010-06-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, it's been a whirlwind. Every year around this time I think to myself: Why? Why in the world did you think this was a good idea? Surprisingly I am not talking about a) being married b) having children c) owning a restaurant. In fact, I am talking about running the backstage kitchen at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

When I was eight years old, in 1978 (gasp, I know I don't look it, do i?!), my dad's best friend was on the board of the folk festival and invited my dad to come. My dad and I have similar senses of adventure so he brought me along and we both fell in love with it. We volunteered the following year (this is before people worried about age restrictions, seat belts, smoking while pregnant, general safety, etc.) and were put in the kitchen. I was given jobs to do and started a life long love affair with the place. My dad still volunteers (somehow he got the 30-year volunteer jacket and I didn't?) but he has defected from the kitchen and is now a schlepper. They drive golf carts and look pretty.

When Alex and I were 23, we were asked to take over running the kitchen. At the time, there were about 100 kitchen volunteers and we fed about 1200 people 2 meals/day for 3 1/2 days. Today, there are 3600 volunteers and probably 1500 assorted other people, including performers. This year, our crew has 250 people on it and we will be feeding everyone for seven days. It's a mammoth task.

And, though I ask myself, why in the world did you think this was a good idea?, better than ever before, I know the answer. Three years ago, we were not "hired back" (fired, I do believe) and we had to sit out two festivals. We were given other tasks but truly it was painful. I was so sad I took up running and shed 50 lbs. It was a terrible period of feeling like I didn't control anything and like I didn't know where I belonged. The best part was running. I still love it and I have learned to be somewhat more accepting of the path I find. A smidgen more zen than I once was.

Last year, a new Executive Director landed at the festival and very graciously asked us back. I leapt at the opportunity (Alex did chide me a bit for not at least pretending to think about it for a bit) I have felt completely invigorated by the experience. I am back with my peeps! I love this work more than I can say. Building a kitchen where there was bush, watching cooks become chefs, deciding what song to have the two thousand people lined up for dinner sing for their supper, sharing a glass of wine with an old friend: it is truly magical.

I am currently buried under emails, logistical problems (how to get food to one place from another, how to deal with black pepper sensitivities and vegans with soy allergies, getting people on site when I need them, making sure everyone's ordered their food, do I have enough reefer space?!), personality conflicts (it'll all be FINE, I'm sure), and lost things (I don't even know what those are yet) but I am relishing it. *sigh* I love this time of year.

Now I run to make sure I have my ducks in a row.

3 most common questions

2010-05-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

There are three questions I commonly get asked:

Where do you get your hair done? Buck at Hive Hair Co. I've been going to him for 12 years. I am very attached to him and he is very sweet.

Where do you get your jewellery? Predominantly at bijou on Provencher. I also have a fondness for Hilary Druxman. And, I have been known to get stuff at Zellers (yep) and H&M.

Finally, the one I find hardest to answer: How can you work with your husband?

I am stumped by that one. It's complicated.

It has not always been easy. Last year, we went through a business and relationship crisis. Now the thing about a crisis is that it clears away the clutter and your vision becomes laser sharp. We both needed that. It seems to me that you can bumble along living life without being mindful and the whole thing gets muddy. What is important? It was a process and it took about six months to begin to come to a better place and now, a year later, we are on much firmer ground. I think for me the most interesting part is that the crisis confirmed for both of us that we really love working together. In fact, I would be surprised if we ever worked apart again.

Alex and I push each other to be better, stronger, harder working, more creative, more responsible, more capable, and more fun. We can call each other on our shit or we can turn a blind eye. We know how to make something hum. We both love what we do and love it ten times more when we are sharing it. Wild, huh?

Finally, the most important thing for both of us is that we make each other laugh. Even when it's all a mess, we can find a way to laugh! Makes for a pretty great work day.

May I?

2010-05-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the past couple of months, there has been a bit of a spotlight shining on to the restaurant worker community. Essentially, a Red River student created a book for a project that asked some local chefs to tell her "uncensored" tales of working in a kitchen. One local chef wound up in a jam about what he spoke about. I'm not interested in getting into that - not my business. However, I do want to talk about behaviour by restaurant workers.

Let me preface this discussion by saying I grew up in a feminist workplace. For ten years, I worked in a unionized, left-wing, feminist, health care facility. Loved it! Loved my co-workers. Loved working in this very safe, highly protected work environment. There were days of dark humour born out of the life and death situations we found ourselves processing but there certainly was always very respectful behaviour amongst staff and clients.

Then I came to work at a restaurant. Wow. I'm not in Kansas anymore. First of all, we are in a tiny workspace. I have to say that the amount of bodily contact in a night would make anyone blush. What can you do? Sometimes you can't get pass another person or reach for a bottle without some inappropriate touching! And, the language! I have become the queen of the f-bomb. I talk like I was raised by sailors! And then there are the jokes and put-downs. Got to have tough skin and be able to laugh at yourself or you'll never survive. I always use to admire that Alex can so easily laugh at himself but now I get it: he grew up in a restaurant. Now, I too have that skill. Essentially, it's a brutal environment: you are hot, tired, and inevitably someone has treated you like something they found on the bottom of their shoe, running for about 10 hours at a go. And, SMILE! (Not every day is like this but every day has at least one of those elements.) Add into all of this, the predominantly 15 year old boy support staff and you have a recipe for some very basic humour.

I have to admit, I was shocked by it all at first. I am now acclimatized.

Here's the interesting thing, tho. The piece that hasn't been talked about in the FreeP or the Guardian. During service, restaurants work on an age-old system of basic respect. Everyone says, "May I?" before speaking to you. Servers run each others' food, bussers hustle to clear tables, cooks make beautiful meals for their co-workers, shifts are covered, cooks call each other 'brother' and when they are in the shit, they mean it. Sometimes people comment on how long we keep staff. And we really do. We've had people with us since the beginning. We're small and started with no money so they haven't been staying for their stellar salaries. The environment at Bistro is very familial. We are there to take care of each other. It is amazing how sweet and kind we can be to each other and to the customers. That's very important to me. But just like siblings on the playground, when we play it can be ugly!

So, yes, restaurants breed rude and inappropriate behaviour in their staff. And, yes, restaurant workers are some of the sweetest, hardest-working, most respectful people I have ever met.

beer

2010-04-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

The other day, I had a talk with myself. This is, fortunately or unfortunately, not a rare event. On this particular occasion, I was giving myself a talking to.

Here's the thing: I like to be helpful. I like to have a purpose. I like to aid the project along. And so, when things are jumping at the bistro, I will sidle up to people and offer to get them a drink. Most of the time, this is not a problem. They say, "Sure, I'll have a caesar or a vodka martini extra dry," and I toddle off to create it.

However, sometimes, people say, "Sure, what kind of beer do you have?" Now, at that moment, I panic. Complete despair. 'I don't know' I whine in my head. And then I rattle off a few different beers that I know we carry: Fort Garry Pale, Fort Gary Dark, Stella, and then on into others like Half Pints, Leffe, Heineken. Of course, the person responds with: "Great, I'll have a St. James Half-Pint" And off I go to the beer fridge, muttering a prayer of hope that we actually have the beer that I have suggested we might. More often than not, Murphy's Law kicks in and we don't have the beer they order from me and I have to go back and try again. Including trying really, really hard to memorize what beers we actually DO have.

There are three things: One is I don't drink beer. I really love beer but I cannot drink it as I'm allergic to tyramines which are found in beer. This means that I can't remember the names of the beer beyond a very few specific ones. If I don't drink them, I can't remember their names (a learning style issue, I'm sure.) Second, I don't stock the beer fridge so I have no idea what we have and what we are out of. Third, we are a tiny restaurant and don't have a ton of storage space so if a party of 10 people focus on one beer, they will blow through the two cases we started the night with and I won't necessarily know.

All of this translates into my knowledge of the state of beer at the bistro at any given moment being pretty dismal. And yet, I keep pretending like I know. Hence, the talking to. And the fessing up: I will no longer pretend to know what beer we have even though I feel like a spaced out goof when I say to a customer that I will have to get a server to list them. The price of being honest.

significant moments

2010-03-29T23:29:00.000-07:00

There are moments in time that feel significant. Moments where you think to yourself: Well, that's going to change my life. Tonight, I had such a moment.

Five years ago, I had such a moment. I should preface this by saying that I am an intuitive gal (and I believe that this is an important part of people - yeah, I know, it can flaky and weird but it works for me). I rely on my gut, a lot! So, five years ago I was sitting in my tent trailer at my uncle's property near Clear Lake reading the newspaper and I saw a pencil drawing of the building at 725 Osborne St. and I knew that this moment was a biggie. I called Alex on his cell (he was still at work and going to join us later in the week) and said, "I found it." He knew what I meant. He called the landlord and the rest is Bistro 7 1/4 history.

Tonight, I had a moment. I sat in a meeting with two chefs and a friend and thought, "Well, there you go." Many of you know that Alex and I are constantly curious and working on multiple projects at a time but tonight was a meeting with a significant weight.

We'll see what happens but I am excited to be on yet another adventure!

the news to now...

2010-03-05T07:24:00.001-08:00

I apologize for not writing more recently. It has been a crazy few weeks! First, I turned 40 which felt significant. I'm still processing that one although I sense my forties are going to be good to me. One of the advantages of owning a restaurant is that you can use it to host parties on occasion and so Alex threw me a fabulous birthday party! Thank you to all the staff for working so hard to create wonderful food and a lovely evening for me. Thank you to all my friends and family (my sister flew in from Vancouver!) for celebrating such a important event with me.

Next we flew off to Montreal for a couple days of rest and relaxation (read: catching up on sleep and eating incessantly.) Aside from two overnight trips to Grand Forks, Alex and I have not had a holiday since our week off last January so we seem to be trying to create more space for play (as the work piece is intensifying - see below.) Okay, every time I go to Montreal, I wonder why I don't live there. I love the urban nature, the metro, the restaurants and the markets make me want to weep. I love the French culture, the in-your-face, of-course-I'm-right, let's-have-a-drink-and-laugh craziness of it all (for those who don't know, I am half French Canadian). We ate ridiculously yummy food, mostly involving Au Pied de Cauchon restaurant and the markets. We bought fresh chickpeas, sausage from Ile-de-Madeleine and the most glorious cheese imaginable. My favourite is called Le Secret, a runny, oozing, melt in your mouth bit of joy (my girlfriend and I call it 'cheese puddle'). The cheese list at the restaurant takes up half the chalkboard and is being gobbled up by appreciative cheese lovers! I know Alex is going to write more about the food in his blog.

Next, we are heading to Toronto with our kids for some quality time with Alex's extended family. And, to shop for kitchen items (we need a quail egg cutter - who knew?) and food! In her retirement, Alex's aunt Inara took a part-time job at The Cheese Boutique. Of course, this is one of the few members of Alex's family that isn't obsessed with food so there is a fair bit of irony in that. Anyway, we'll be spending lots of quality time with Inara shopping for cheese! We also plan on checking out Mark McEwan's new market/restaurant, going to our friend Joanne's restaurant Relish, and heading to the Black Hoof for some offal and other nasty bits. If anyone has any suggestions for food stores or restaurants, please pass them along.

We are also planning trips to Brandon for the Royal Winter Fair (I love the fair, horse jumping and pig displays rock my world) and then to Vancouver in May to see our family and friends there. I haven't even begun to wrap my head around the food possibilities of that trip yet.

In between all of this, we have begun the process of planning the folk festival (yeah!!!) and our expansion (yeah?). I joke. Of course we are excited about the expansion of our restaurant to include a lounge and a private party room (and city planners willing, a patio) however I am not so daft as to not recognize the mountain of work involved in that process! We have drawings, we almost have a prospectus done and we are in negotiations with the landlords to take over the space next door. It's exciting and terrifying all at once. I will continue to update on the progress of this project.

As for the Folk Festival: full steam ahead! We are going to have a building to cook in this year. The design (Syvverson Monteyn) is fantastic but I will be a little bit sad to let go of my tent in the bush. There is something very empowering about saying that you cooked dinner for 5000 people in a tent in the bush. We are working on the menus (so if you have any desires/suggestions/needs, say them now), planning our guerilla kitchens (popping up next to you at any given moment), Alex's mainstage act, maybe some wine pairings, and a few surprises, too!

So, off to work and play I go!

The long distance reso

2010-01-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

I am out and about today, running errands, schlepping children to activities, tending to life and an event occurs that takes place about once a week: someone recognizes me and tries to book a reservation.

When we first opened and this would happen (occasionally people would call us at home, strangers as well as friends, and do the reservation that way), I would happily agree to the reservation and remember to write it down when I got to work. I guess a few things have changed since then. Every night, we have multiple reservations for every table and so knowing what is available can be daunting. The other challenge is that I now have to remember 5000 pieces of information; the quantity grew exponentially as the restaurant grew. I often feel like my thoughts are like sticky-notes with no stick left. I have no place to put them and they just fall off.

So, I try to be gracious about resos taken on the fly but I really cannot remember what we have available for Tuesday, February 16th. I also can't be trusted to remember to put your reservation in the book unless I am standing in front of it with a pencil in my hand.

Of course, I can remember the really important things like what the woman on table 4 was drinking last Thursday. Oh well, better than nothing I suppose.

What's in a name?

2010-01-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

On average, I think I meet ten new people every day. There are days when it is only a few but most days it is many people. Or, I re-meet people: someone I met three months ago, I am reintroduced to. Now, 3 years ago, if you had asked me, I would have said, "Oh yeah, I'm great at remembering peoples' names, no problem." Now, I stare blankly at my best friend and think, "Wait, give me a minute, I'll get it."

I have been thinking about ways to up my stats. I want a better average in remembering. Maybe I should get one of those brain games for my kids Nintendo systems. Or, maybe I'll up my intake of brain foods like spinach, soy beans and chocolate (I know, I know, wishful thinking...) I read in the paper this week that weight-lifting increases your brain capacity. I love lifting weights, I love having pipes, so that'll be easy.

Often, we use a team approach at the restaurant. The servers will caucus to quickly discuss what someone's name is. Sometimes it is a brief moment because one of us remembers right away. Other times, it is a little debate and squabble and we disagree. So, if you see us having a little moment, you know what we are up to.

I do have my own techniques, it's just that they seem to be faltering from the high pace of incoming information! I love mnemonic devices and have used them often. In fact, I used a mnemonic technique just this weekend when I met a couple who were at the restaurant for the first time: David and Jennifer. So, in my head, I thought: okay, David and Jennifer, David and Jennifer, Dan and Lisa. Crap. How am going to remember their names? (They very clearly said they would be back and I believe them, they loved it!) Oh, I know, we have regulars that come every Saturday for lunch and were the first table cooked for in 2010: Dave and Jennifer. It's the same, I can do this.

Of course, this whole stream of thinking is going on while I'm talking to these new folks and I fear I seem like an idiot! I am also keenly aware of one being a Dave and the other a David. I just now that is going to trip me up. When the new couple comes back I know I am going to stand, looking at them and smiling, silently panicking as I search my brain for their names and have a fight with myself about wether it is Dave or David.

It's hard to explain how important it is to me to remember people's names and stories. Actually, I have an easier time remember their stories. That relationship moment is incredibly important to me and it drives me crazy that I lose a piece of it (the name) the moment I walk away.

I think my new plan is I'm going to take photos of people as they come in and carry around a binder with people's information in it.

Or, I'm going to hand out name tags. I don't think anyone will object.

Really?

2010-01-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight was busy, very, very busy. Surprisingly so. We had thought that it was going to be slow but we were wrong. We had thought we would make a 10:20 movie but we were wrong about that, too. It was fun, lots of interesting people (thank you to the lovely woman from the U.S. who talked about my blog...)

At about 7:30, when things were really hopping, a gentleman came in the door. I asked him if he had a reso, he said no and asked if he could have a seat for one. I apologized, pointed to my crazy, football playbook looking map, and let him know that I wouldn't have room until 9:45. To which he responded, "You aren't letting me come in because I looked at your breasts. And now that you aren't letting me in I'm going to look at them again. And, once more on the way out." Then he left.

Really? Okay.

Alex says I should have introduced him to my big husband who is in charge of flames and knives...

Happy New Year's!

2010-01-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, we survived it and I would say, it was our best one yet! Often New Year's Eve can feel like Valentine's Day: forced and eerily quiet. As soon as you have a group of people gathered together with expectations of merriment, the situation can go terribly awry. However, this year, everyone seemed relaxed and connected and happy to be out having dinner. Lots of tables talked across to each other and were very playful. The room looked so pretty, with silver stars and balls and garlands; all twinkly and pretty.

It was a busy one, too. The restaurant was basically full at 4:00 and stayed full until midnight. I think most tables turned 4 times and the kitchen did a great job. We had dinner specials (that I assume Alex will blog about) of lobster and veal, with a fantastic appetizer of oysters - they were so yummy, I think I had six at the end of the night! Our drink special was so popular we went through a bottle and a half of Red Alize. I was feeling particularly proud because I made it up and it had what we call "high poundability" which essentially means the drink is easy to drink and goes down like beer on a hot summer's day. Sometimes cocktails can be big and complicated but this one was simple and yummy.

Champagne Martini

1 oz Red Alize (passionfruit liquor)

1 oz cranberry juice

Shake in a martini shaker until it's nice and cold and frothy. Pour into a martini glass.

Top with Champagne (we used Prosecco but a Spanish cava would be lovely or go for the real deal and use Veuve Cliquot! - my favourite)

We garnished with blackberries and raspberry but you could use strawberries or frozen pomegranate pips.

So now that 2010 is upon us and the party is over it is one of my favourite times of the year. I spend a great deal of time running between commitments and feeling like I never quite accomplish what I need to in any given day. The beginning of the year is often a great time for me to contemplate the path ahead and get my ducks in a row. This contemplation comes at a time when the restaurant seemingly slows down (although last January was ridiculously busy so I think it is a bit of an illusion - it just seems slower compared to four turn nights like Thursday!)

This year, I have a new office in our home which feels like a delicious treat. There are six people living in our home and space can be at a premium. We love living in this cozy, hectic environment but it sometimes translates to highly makeshift arrangements like my tiny desk and filing cabinet about a foot from where I sleep at night. My desk is moving into the music room! Yeah! Move over banjo, guitars, basket full of weird Kindermusic instruments, piano (okay, I now that isn't happening), I am making space to think and work! Hopefully my schedule and instrument practice schedule are able to co-exist...

So the question is: what am I working on? Well, there seem to be a lot of rumours flying around (feel free to check out my previous blog entitled "Fish Bowl") and so here is the state of affairs from my perspective: Yes, we are thinking about expanding our space to include a lounge and a private function room. We plan to keep the two space mainly separate, connected by a doorway, in order to maintain the feel of the bistro. We are also looking at 3 other opportunities and thinking about writing more (I will write more about those as they come together). We both love to keep our brains going and feel engaged with life. And, given that it is January, we need to write those folk festival menus! We're also working with the festival to offer food in new areas. I want to put a Bistro 7 1/4 booth at the festival but Alex thinks I'm crazy (I always worry a bit when Alex thinks I'm crazy...)

This year promises to be another fun-filled adventure and I wish you all peace, health and happiness in your year to come!

ring, ring

2009-11-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

On occasion, I have been known to call a customer when they are seated in the restaurant. It happens this way: we keep a list of people who want to come in that night, I see an opening and call the person. However, at some point the person called in, spoke to someone other than me, got a reservation and is now enjoying their dinner in the restaurant. When I phone them on their cell phone, we have a good laugh, I feel a bit sheepish and then we move on.

The other night, I got a call from a customer in the restaurant, they phoned the restaurant line from their cell phone. It went like this: "Hi, I'm sitting at the table over by the bar and I feel that you haven't been paying enough attention to our table. You've been talking to other tables but not ours and I want you to come talk to our table." Me: "Um, ok, will do."

Another night at the Bistro.

More about the fall menu

2009-10-02T06:40:00.001-07:00

Last night was great! It was a relatively quieter evening for us (although some tables still turned 3 times) and the timing was really good so the kitchen could get in its groove. The food looked and smelled delicious and customers gave us great feedback. I am really happy with this menu...

Fall Menu

2009-09-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

New Menu Time. Aaahhh, if only the process was as delightful as the product! Tomorrow, we start the new menu. Alex and I have been working on it for weeks. We have talked food non-stop for weeks. Which, on the outside might sound delightful, but really, there is a limit to everything! We have haggled with each other (okay, you can have Tripe Soup but I get Vegetable Tagine with Cous Cous - I'll let you all figure out who was on which side of THAT conversation), we have dissected and reconstructed, we have priced and priced and priced and hunted down suppliers trying to make it affordable yet still be able to pay the rent and staff. All round, the process is, well, a process.

Yeah, the new menu is here!

Tomorrow, we'll serve fall food and it is beautiful. We have worked hard to make a creative, comforting, luxurious menu. Please come and let us know how we did!

the teen years

2009-09-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

This week, as I sat at my daughter's gymnastics class, I listened to a small group of parents talk about how lucky they were to grow up when they did because they couldn't really get into too much trouble. Whereas, they pontificated, today's kids are surrounded by bad influences, scary and dangerous options and are hard to keep safe.

Really? I am somewhat amazed by this thinking. In some ways, I wonder if it reflects an abdication of responsibility: nothing I can do, the world is a bad place. Or maybe it is meant to be a justification for what I think of as overparenting: constantly breathing down your child's neck and denying them the freedom to explore who they are and what they believe in.

Regardless, I think these parents are terribly wrong. The teens I know today are far more responsible, aware, thoughtful, and safer than I was as a teen or any of my cohort seemed to be. I have the pleasure (and occasional frustration) of working with a lot of teens. They make up a significant portion of restaurant workers. So every day I get to spend hours with a variety of teens and listen to their stories and adventures. I am amazed at how clever and creative they can be.

Last night, one of our teen dishwashers proudly showed me his band t-shirt. He had been in a 'battle of the bands' and a t-shirt had been created of all the participants. It's a great shirt! Now, the night he was in the battle of the bands, he had tried to find another dishwasher to cover his shift. He couldn't and so had to leave from the stage and come straight to work. We figured he would probably ditch work and hang out with his buddies, riding on the high of performing, and find a different job. He didn't. He showed up and worked the night. As it was a Saturday night, we were really grateful!

We have one teen who has been with us since he was 14 years old. He is about to turn 18. He has learned all the kitchen jobs, he will jump in and wash dishes or be left to prep an entire catering with little supervision. He works at the Bistro, plays basketball, goes to a tough school that requires a lot of him, has a girlfriend and will drive to pick up his little brother from a friend's house late at night. He is a good kid. Of course, he still talks back to his mother which drives me nuts but we're working on it!

I guess my point is that teens are lovely and hanging out with them is pretty great. I think most of the kids I know are perfectly capable of navigating our "big and scary" world. Alex and I have been rewarded time and time again for trusting all the kids in our lives. I don't fear my kids' teen years: they will do inappropriate things, they'll be crabby some days but generally, I think they are pretty great people and I'm looking forward to doing fun things with them.

Having said all that, our new 14 year old dishwasher walked out in the middle of his shift last night!

bumpy road

2009-09-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

Some nights at the restaurant sail along beautifully, people come in, get seated, have drinks, eat food, laugh, have fun and life is good! Other nights, are bumpy, odd and tiring. Tonight was a bumpy night.

People came but so many came at once! Some people were late, others were early and so they showed up at the same time and the kitchen got slammed. We couldn't move appetizers fast enough to make room for mains. Sometimes what happens is that we put so much pressure on the kitchen to get stuff out that they put it out too quickly and the food isn't perfect.

Timing is tricky and we try to make it right. Some tables are gracious and can see that we are trying very hard to make it all work but other tables are cranky and snipe at us. Once this starts to happen, we get kind of disheartened and we have to work really hard to make sure we don't snowball into being grouchy ourselves. We feel so bad when it doesn't work as smoothly and we want to make it right!

Of course, once we have refires on food, or food takes awhile to come out because the timing is bad, we can't get tables out in what would have been a perfectly reasonable amount of time if we hadn't got off track in the first place. Then, we wind up with tables having to wait to be seated.

Sigh.

In all of this though, people laughed and drank and ate and for the most part seem to enjoy themselves

Tomorrow is another day and we'll get back at it and make it fabulous!

Performing Happy

2009-09-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a tough night. My apologies to all the lovely customers.

Almost exactly 16 years ago, Alex and I got married. We bought our first house and, for Christmas that year, I gave Alex a gift certificate to the Humane Society for a dog. It was early spring when we felt ready to go and pick out a dog. Actually, 'ready' might be an overstatement - I called our friends and asked that they come with us because I'm a big suck and would wind up crying incessantly over all the dogs we couldn't take home. Alex and Brent went inside while Jaik and I waited outside. A little while later, Alex and Brent emerged with a small, black dog that didn't look anything like our predetermined decision to seek out a black lab. She wanted to run so Alex started to run with her and she immediately laid down. She laid there for a minute and then got up and started to run again. This scenario repeated itself several times. We realized that when she felt unsure about the situation, she laid down. Clearly, this was the dog for us. It also turned out that her birthday was our wedding day of five months previous. It seemed like a great fit. The "Dog of the Day" at the Humane Society was named Lily which we thought was a pretty name and took it for our new dog (anyone who has seen our yard will know that Alex has a big thing for lilies and we have many of them.)

Lily came home with us and fit in quite well. She was incredibly well-behaved. We figured out she had been abused by a silver-haired man (had an intense fear of them) and she had been abused with shovels and brooms (she feared both.) We spent a lot of time giving her lots of love. She only barked when someone came to the door, she loved to run at the park and she slept through the night. After a few weeks, we came home one night and she had had diarrhea all over the floor. She went into the cupboard under the sink and got out the paper towel, pulled off bits of it and tried to 'clean' up the mess. That night was the beginning of her being very sick. She had parvo-virus and was incredibly sick. For weeks, Alex had to carry her up the stairs at night and we would steam her in the bathroom. One vet told us that we should put her down (while simultaneously telling us we needed to brush her teeth and selling us very expensive toothpaste!) In the end, she recovered and lived a healthy and happy life, full of trips to the park and very exciting canoe trips (often involving a lot of wildlife!)

Saturday, Lily died.

She had been increasingly unwell. Lily was deaf and mostly blind. She had trouble walking and she insisted on being outside all the time. She was often confused and would bang into things. She was a coming to the end but of course when it happened our hearts melted. Alex took her to the vet and made the decision that she was in too much pain to keep alive. We all cried a lot.

Then, Saturday night at the restaurant is upon us. There is a lesson in performing! We both felt like we had been hit by a truck: dazed, confused, sad, and hurting. But, when you go for dinner, these are not the kind of people you want to hang around so we had to suck it up. It was hard but in some ways, it was good for us. We definitely weren't at our best but we made the evening flow and except for being a bit disconnected, I think it went okay. So, my apologies to the customers that I didn't visit a lot with (girls from California - really wanted to know more of your stories!) and for being distracted (guy at 2A whose wine order I forgot!) Thanks also to the staff who were wonderful. Especially Roger who was almost as sad as we were.

Fortunately, we are all well-versed in performing happy.

Sound Energy

2009-08-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I noticed that it is noisy in the restaurant. Now, for those of you who come to the restaurant, this really isn't going to be a shock. It is a... vibrant space.

For the first year, we fretted about the sound. Handily, Alex's dad is a physicist with a little subspecialty in acoustics (dinner conversation at the Svenne household can be intense!) We had many conversations with him about how to address the issue. After that first year, we lost interest and oddly enough people simply adjusted. In fact, I think for the most part, people crave the energy created by the sound. A musician friend of ours from New York told us to not change a thing about the sound, she said that the acoustics were fantastic and it was a great vibe.

So many of the sounds are organic to a restaurant. There is no door to the dish pit so you hear the plates being stacked and the pans being sprayed; the servers' station is out in the open so you hear glasses rattling, cutlery being polished and dropped into the bin, and the ice being scooped into jugs. The kitchen is sitting in the middle of the room so you hear the pops and sizzles of cooking and the crash of the pans into the bus tub (you can also hear the conversation of the chefs which I had to remind them of tonight as they were on a long-winded rant...)

You also hear the music and we love music! Our lives are full of music. And, we LOVE to dance. Our best folk festival musical moment this year was being dead tired, 2 a.m. Sunday morning, squished in wall to wall people, dancing to So Called, a crazy hip hop klezmer band. It was delicious! What this translates to at the restaurant is constant music. We have many playlists and are always on the prowl for new music that fits different times of day and different moods (feel free to send suggestions.) We also dance a lot: Alex, the staff, me. In fact, I am sitting and writing this at the bar right now and it is 11 at night after a very busy Friday, and Alex and Clint are dancing away on the line.

Two nights ago, it was very quiet in the restaurant. I think that night is what spurred this post. It was eery. The joint was jammed full, including big parties, the music was turned up to "party" playlist, and NOTHING. I couldn't get the room buzzing to save myself. Every time I went to say something to someone, I felt like everyone in the room was leaning in to have a listen cause they had nothing else going on. It was at that moment that I realized many things: the acoustics of the space contribute to the noise; the volume and choice of music contribute to the noise; all the restaurant sounds contribute to the noise; but, the customers engaging with each other and us make the place hop! We can't generate the volume of sound that lively, happy, chatty people enjoying each other and their food and wine can create. Tonight, I experimented by telling the dishwasher to be extra quiet, polishing the cutlery gently, turning the music down, and none of it really changed the fact that it is loud in our restaurant. Loud with people. And, I love it!

chat with youngest daughter

2009-07-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

Our youngest daughter is going through a phase right now. She needs a lot of attention and energy and is very stressed out by Alex and I being away from her. She cries when I leave for work and she calls me every night before she goes to sleep and demands that I come home. Fortunately, I've been parenting long enough to get that I just need to hang tight, give her lots of hugs and love, and we'll move to a different stage.

Today, as part of all this anxiety, our daughter told me that she was coming to work with me tonight. Well, she is pretty young, and many of her sentences start with the words, "I want..." and so I explained that, in the restaurant, everything is about the customer. I wanted her to hear that when we are in the restaurant, we have to only think about the customer (and taking a moment to plant seeds in her 5-year old brain about empathy!) which means that it would be a very boring and tedious place for her to spend time. She was actually pretty quick to catch on that this sounded dismal and moved on to a new topic (she also didn't cry when I left for work tonight - secretly feeling sorry for me?!) However, the exchange left me thinking about the dynamics of the restaurant.

When you are working at the restaurant, it is like you disappear. There is absolutely no "I want." From the moment you walk in the door, you are constantly scanning to try and figure out how to make life better for customers: are the tables in the right spot so that the (minimal) leg room is maximized? are the lights at the right brightness for the time of day? is the music at the right volume? is it the right kind of music? is the air conditioning too cold or not cold enough? do they have drinks? what is the drink special tonight? can we call their mains or are they wanting to pause after their appys? The questions are endless and they flip through your head all night long. You forget that your feet are screaming. Sometimes you remember to re-hydrate and have something to drink. Occasionally, you remember that you need to pee.

But, most of the time, you disappear. And, you know, it's okay. It's kind of a neat experience. Not meant for the pre-school crowd but it is definitely a cool way to look at the world for a few hours and definitely makes me think about life differently.

pampered...

2009-07-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was feeling a bit fried. Completely exhausted, to be honest.

Fortunately, after a small amount of prodding, Alex noticed and arranged for a bit of TLC for me. I was told to go to Tiber River (tiberriver.ca) on Academy. It is so very lovely in there. The woman at the reception desk is funny and friendly. She knew who I was and related a great story about coming to our restaurant. She was everything you want in a first-contact-with-the-public position. I was led into the back room and given a fantastic pedicure. My feet suffer from wearing high heels and running around the restaurant every day for hours. It was exactly what I needed. But, of course, Alex gilded the lily. As I was sitting at my station, in walks Scott Bagshaw, the chef of Pizzeria Gusto. He brought two plates with ridiculously delicious food: a shrimp appy and some bruschetta. It was perfect.

Now, here's the thing about this experience: it was created by someone with a panache for service and delivered by two companies who clearly understand customer service. I love that Alex thought to add the touch of food during the pedicure. I love that Scott walked it over himself! I love that every minute at Tiber River was serene and gentle and fun. Even the camaraderie amongst the staff was palpable. I love that the Tiber River staff offered to take my dishes back to Pizzeria Gusto (but I'm not that much of a princess, thanks)! This few hours rejuvenated me (which was good 'cause we had a whopper of a catering job after this that I will blog more about later...) and led me to a moment of contemplating customer service. As always, I am contemplating how to make ours even better.

It is a good thing to feel taken care of; I hope to keep the good karma flowing.

we're back...

2009-07-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I have received some feedback that we haven't been posting enough so I'm back and I will try to pay attention. I will also try to help Alex remember to post on his blog.

I read the most fascinating statistic about our lives recently (I often find out interesting tidbits about us from other sources!), on the folk festival weekend we led a group of people in generating 50, 000 meals. This feels mind-boggling and yet at the same time, it was the most incredible, exhilarating experience imaginable. The whole 5 days, I felt consumed by the needs of these 5, 000 people; it felt a little bit like having a giant group of insatiably hungry children. Constant line ups of folks looking for a nosh. We fed them bison short ribs (500 pounds eaten in 45 minutes!), barbecued chicken, baked raspberry cream cheese french toast, lamb tagine, and baked macaroni and cheese. We had a 'guerilla tent' that popped up and served up tasty surprises like caesar mussels and huevos rancheros. We paired drinks like Moroccan sweetened mint tea (like they have at the hamam - so yummy) with the tagines.

We plan for months to do this week. We write the menus and then Alex writes the recipes from scratch. I sort out who does what when to get the food from written idea to end product. We figure out how much food, sort out volunteers, find tents and gators, design and have Hutterites build ovens, meet with health inspectors and office staff. We have to think and work hard to pull off running the backstage kitchen at the folk festival.

On the weekend itself, the running around and trying to physically pull of this feat was pretty crazy... Oh my, 6 boxes of potatoes need to sliced on the dicing wall and this chicken needs to be grilled on these flat tops and I better move these 24-100 oz cans of kidney beans to make way for the 20 watermelons about to arrive. Of course, me being me, I looked down at one point while I was grilling chicken on the fly and realized I was wearing a cashmere sweater, a fabulous scarf and Brown's platform heels! Sometimes I can be ridiculous.

Trying to keep track of the paper work and figuring out who should cook what when, left me with very few thoughts by the end of the weekend (see sweater/footware choices above). I get to a point during this weekend where I honestly think I am no longer making sense. I can't remember people's names, I'm blurry and confused. It's not necessarily pretty. However, I noticed this year, that I kept it together. Usually I wind up having a weepy time where I sort of fall apart and cry for awhile. I usually take a time out and get someone to drive me around the site while I get it together but this year I was fairly calm.

The biggest high comes from the people. My favourite part of the whole weekend is having two thousand people lined up in a giant tent for dinner and yelling out "Dinner's served!" and people whooping and cheering in appreciation; it send shivers up my spine every time. I love walking through the kitchen and meeting the people transforming our thoughts and ideas into actual food. I love listening in to conversations between volunteers about their real-life worlds, or their festival experiences or their thoughts on the food. I love the connection; I find it endlessly fascinating.

After the festival week is said and done, I walk away feeling like I have learned so much that it will take me until next year just to figure it all out. I feel like I have been raised up by the process of two hundred non-cooks coming together and creating haute cuisine. I feel like it is my responsibility to go out for the rest of the year and live the lessons I have learned about being part of a community. I feel like I am challenged to be a better person by being involved in this ridiculous, crazy-ass project.

And so, I get back to my restaurant with high expectations of myself.

the fishbowl...

2009-05-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

So one of the things about living in a bit of a fishbowl is... people seem to have free license to say whatever is on their minds. It's an interesting situation to be in. We put ourselves out into the middle of the room, we are fundamentally social people (just came from a lively dinner party with friends after 12 straight days of having dinner parties at the restaurant...); we love to talk! Sometimes though, I am surprised by what people will say to me. I have had people ask very intimate details about Alex and my relationship. I have been asked (a few times) if I am pregnant and alternately if I am sick (after I took up running). I also had a woman tell me I should get breast reduction surgery. Let me tell you, the impact of all of this on getting dressed to go to work can be enormous.

Friday was a particularly rough day in my world and I went into work deflated. For the first few hours, I struggled with being present and tending to people. I kind of felt like I needed someone to tend to me... But, as the evening bumped along (really, it felt less-than-smooth), I started to gain energy from the people in the room - the servers, the bussers, the kitchen staff and the customers. That is a delightful little moment in any day, a slight shift takes place in my body, my awareness, my abilities, and I relish every moment.

Even when people say kind of weird things to me.

Hi, how are you?

2009-04-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

As some of you may or may not know, Alex and I ran the backstage kitchen (aka 'La Cuisine') at the Winnipeg Folk Festival for 13 years. Two years ago, that relationship came to a bit of a rocky end. This year, the new Executive Director of the festival, Tamara, invited us to sit down and talk for bit. She talked about many things with us but the highlight for me was when she suggested that people working the gate of festival will be encouraged to start their interactions with patrons with the following: "Hi, welcome to the Winnipeg Folk Festival." I felt joyful! Which seems kind of silly and a bit of an over-reaction but this simple phrase has the power to change so much.

When customers walk into the restaurant, I try to greet everyone with, "Hi, how are you?" and look them in the eye. I want people to feel like they belong. Sometimes our place can be so busy and so intense, it might be a little bit overwhelming and I want people to know that they are welcome here. But, it's more than just that. I want to engage in a relationship with people. I am welcoming them into my home (some days I'm at the restaurant more than in my house) and I want them to feel comfortable. I was just listening to a piece on Definitely Not The Opera and it was about the power of looking people in the eye. They were suggesting that not only does it build trust (as in, I want you to have a good time here today and you have faith that you will) but it also creates a 'willingness'. This is a trickier idea but it certainly has come in handy.

Last night, I kind of got confused by how many people were still to come in and how many walk-ins I had accepted and really, generally what I was doing. It happens. I get a little tired, I get a little overexcited by customers I haven't seen for awhile at the door, I let everyone come in! So, I got to that point of the night (mind you, it was almost 10:00 at night... if I did this at 6:00, I'd be a little worried...) where I didn't have enough tables for everyone. I had this lovely couple come in with a reservation and I wasn't sure where to put them. I greeted them and had a little visit. I then asked them if they would like to start at the chef's table and they agreed. Within about 10 minutes, it became obvious to me that I wasn't finding a table. Here comes the moment when I take a deep breath and go in for the are-you-happy-at-the-bar conversation. I even wince as I type those words. It can go horribly awry and I spend the evening dodging people. Fortunately, they were happy! Yeah! I suspect that if we hadn't had time to connect, have a look-each-other-in-the-eye conversation, it may have unfolded differently. Relationship is a brilliant concept and when it comes to life, great things can happen!

And so, before they need to search your bag at the Folk Fest this year, they will welcome you. And, if you volunteer or perform, you will eat our food. See you there!

Taste of the Nation Part II

2009-04-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it was definitely a party. A party with a lot of bodies, food, alcohol and very little air conditioning. It is such a treat to see so many industry people playing together. It starts off with a bang - they open the doors at 6 pm and you get kind of trampled at your little table. Fortunately our table was stationed between the Hendricks gin table and the espresso vodka table which meant some nice diversions. We were serving Thai mussels and pig snout salad - the snout is done two ways, braised and crispy fried, and served on fennel citrus slaw. It was surprisingly well received. It's the precursor to our new appy menu item snout to tail, which is snout, pork belly and pig tail. And to think, we used to be vegetarians...

After we served all the guests, we got to go and eat! It was fun to try all the different chef offerings, see old friends, see which (single) chefs were chasing girls (no names but it was quite the display!). I loved the ravioli in brodo from Dacquisto, the duck from Gusto, and I love Chef Tristan's foie gras with Sauterne gelee (yum! I had more than one...) and I am a sucker for the mini yorkshire puddings stuffed with prime rib and gravy from 529.

Usually at the end of the night we wind up in a lounge hanging out with people and visiting but sadly Alex is really sick so we ended it early. It's a great life but it can wear you out sometimes...

Taste of the Nation Part I

2009-04-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight is Taste of the Nation. I must confess I know little about what this function is or how it works but I do know it was a hoot last year so I'm glad to be going back. Taste of the Nation is held at the Fairmont and the public buys tickets to come and eat little dishes made by local chefs. The money raised goes to provide food for people who are struggling with attaining the basic necessities. I usually know much about the charities I give my money to but found myself along for the ride with this one. One of my goals tonight is to find out more about it.

The event itself is a bit of an opportunity for the chefs to show off to each other so the food last year was pretty fantastic: my favourite was Barry saunder's foie gras cotton candy... yum! Alex did marrow bones which went over surprisingly well. This year we are doing thai mussels and pig snout salad - I love seeing the ladies all dressed up and being polite and trying Alex's food. Speaking of all dressed up, again the pressure about clothing. Hopefully I can figure out what to wear sooner rather than later... Will update on what food we get to try!

Rent-A-Nerd

2009-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the title says it all. Rent-a-Nerd. Sigh.

My apologies to the party involved in the story but how could I not share? I think we all agreed in the end, it was a tale worth telling.

It all began with a relatively straight-forward Saturday night at the Bistro: multiple parties, fun people, parties 'camping' at tables, not enough water glasses or small forks, the kitchen buried in orders and generally a feeling of delightful chaos. We managed to seat our big party a little late (see aforementioned 'campers') but everything seemed to be going well.

Then there is this very loud voice saying, "Didn't this used to be a fireplace store?" In that moment, many thoughts raced through my mind. Is someone lost? Did I mishear? Is someone really drunk? Again, "Didn't this used to be a fireplace store?" Okay, now my brain is really racing and I'm looking around to see where this is coming from and then I see him: the Rent-A-Nerd. My heart sinks. (When I was telling this story to my in-laws, my recently retired nuclear physicist father-in-law piped up with, "I can rent myself out?")

My eyes landed on this guy wearing shorts (it was -5 outside) pulled up above his waist, an oversized suit jacket, oversized glasses and slicked back hair, holding balloons. He was shouting something about the customer and a stay in the hospital... Every minute or so he would interject with "Didn't this used to be a fireplace store?" He was so loud. The cooks and dishwashers in the back kitchen stopped working because it was so loud and awkward. Fortunately, the one birthday group was seated next to a second birthday group and for the most part, it seemed to be okay. Unfortunately, every single person in the restaurant was forced to stop their evening and hang out while this show took place.

I wish I could say that I handled this seamlessly and knew exactly how to behave but that is not the case. Alex and I exchanged about a thousand looks, hoping to see that the other one had figured out what to do. Nope. I walked outside and stood on the street for a few minutes. When I came back in, I got to hear the Rent-A-Nerd yelling "SHUT UP everyone, we have to sing happy birthday." Now I caught the eye of some of the birthday party guests and they looked as confused as me. So, I went over to one end of the table to offer to get them drinks. The guests asked me if I could get rid of the Rent-A-Nerd. Could I?! You bet. I discreetly went to the back of him and suggested that it was time to wrap it up. He tried to turn me into part of his show but that wasn't really going to happen...

In the end, he left and everyone exhaled a sigh of relief. Now we have a funny story! Second only to the couple that hung out in the bathroom together for a long time the same night... but that's for another day.

The Lost Reso

2009-01-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

There is little that will strike fear into the heart of a restaurant worker faster than the lost reservation. Of course, last night, we had one. I had already given away my 'wiggle-room' table: the table that wasn't rebooked that would have allowed me to shuffle people all night long. And, of course, it was the worst kind of lost reso, four people (not a simple 2-top than can be tucked in at the end of the bar or can sit at any table in the place). Four women, 2 daughters out for dinner with their mom and aunt - how can I feel worse???

When the lost reso first shows up, there is this moment of suspended time. You hold the reso list in front of you, scanning up and down, down and up, certain that you just can't see their name. Then you start to panic while still smiling which sounds straight forward but actually requires an incredible force of will. You spend a few moments flipping through the book, trying to find the actual reservation. Every time I have done this, I have wondered to myself the whole time how I think this will be helpful. What difference does it make if I find their name written on Saturday or next Tuesday (which it was), they are still standing right in front of me and need to feel like I'm going to take care of them.

In the end, I shuffled people, had to make another table wait for 20 minutes which cost me 4 glasses of Prosecco, and generally sweated the whole night. At one point in my grand shuffle I had 10 people sitting at a place for 8. Fortunately they were all gracious about it. Overall that makes it so much easier - people being kind. I feel like I can make anything happen with my 10 tables and 8 bar stools as long as folks are nice. It is very hard slogging when people are rude and demanding after you have moved heaven and earth to make sure they have time and a place to sit!

Fortunately, we rarely lose resos and, knock on wood, we get through most nights seamlessly. Whatever happens, I work really hard at making sure that the customers feel like I couldn't be happier that they are here (as opposed to that panic I was describing earlier!)

The Jitters

2009-01-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

Every night, before coming to the restaurant, I go through a ritual. I pick out my clothes (black or black - you'd think it wouldn't be as tricky as it turns out to be), I do my hair, put on make-up, choose my jewelry and say good-bye to my children. Each kid has a different way of letting me go: Ursula gives me long hugs, Sasha squeezes me so tight I feel a little bit lightheaded and then tries to lift me up off my feet, and Olivia cries a little and asks me to stay home, the whole time giving me multiple neck hugs and kissing me on both cheeks like some continental diva. I get in my van and start the drive. When I am about 3 blocks before the restaurant, I get this nervous, jittery feeling and it builds and builds until I park the van and go into the building. I love this and hate it. Every night, I say to myself, 'Really, you're being ridiculous. Why are you nervous? It's your restaurant, it'll be fine.' But, every night I am.

Tonight, more so than usual.

It was my first night back at the restaurant in 10 days. We have just returned from a holiday and I felt like I was starting all over. Going in, I think that I'm going to forget how to pour drinks or spill things or drop things. And, of course, I do. I dropped more cutlery than I have in months (and a coffee cup - right in the middle of the room - just dropped it). I couldn't read the reso sheet and I confused people at the door. I forgot to take a reso's phone number and I wrote in ink in the book (a cardinal sin if ever there was one...) Generally, I was a disaster.

I LOVED every minute of it! I was this bumbling, nervous girl and I still had a great time. Customers were funny and sweet and the staff was gentle with me. I'm very lucky.

When Alex started doing a blog, we thought it would be fun to have some front of the house representation. It's also a place to talk about being a mom and running a restaurant and being a woman in business. It's quite the ride and I'm looking forward to writing about it.