november 2011 news
We have some pretty big changes ahead, from staff to menu’s there maybe even some cosmetic changes ahead over the coming months.....
Given the renovations going on next door & from what whispers I’ve heard will continue until close to the end of November to some degree, with the noise impact & lack of view, we’ve experienced quite a downturn in business. This has meant that we’ve had to throw out valuable stock & produce as we had assumed that even through the renovation period if the weather was good that the impact to us would be little. Given this predicament we are going to change the menu to simplify it & mean that we can focus even more on produce that is seasonal & fresh. It will mean that the menu may change weekly & there maybe items that may even change every few days.
We’ve taken delivery of the first of our taralga spring beef & in the coming weeks, we’ll run “cut of the day” & will try & work in a dry aged steak, we've even had a bacteria light installed in our coolroom! We will receive deliveries of beef every few weeks & use this amazing grass fed beef for most things from the meatballs in our new spanish baked breakfast to organising our own sausages.
With the silly season fast approaching, Barossa fine foods have sent us their Christmas list. They will take orders up to the first week of December so if you would like an amazing ham, they are free range & naturally smoked, we can order one for you. They will be round the 9kg mark, bone in for $14/kg. Likewise pudding, if you would like a Christmas pudding, I make steamed puddings every year, come & have a chat with me about how many people it needs to feed & we can sort something out.
Our last dinner for the year will be on Friday 18th November. Friday’s will probably become a feature of dinner in the future & for consistency’s sake, in the new year, we will try & hold our produce dinners on the last friday of every month. The one that is coming up on the 18th will probably be slightly larger & if the weather is good we will try & set-up outside! The dinner at Pierre’s (pepe saya,the butter & yoghurt man) warehouse that we have talked about has been postponed till early in the new year when everyone has more time on their hands. If you are interested in our last dinner leave your details with one of the staff & we will contact you when we know all the details.
Staff wise, Tanvir has left to go home & Cam will be off in the next couple of weeks to get married. He will be away until Christmas & we wish him all the best! To help fill the Barista void, Karl will be back here & there & between Lucas, Karl & myself we will hopefully manage the run into Christmas. After Christmas Cam will be back & any other shortfalls in the barista department will be filled by the boys from whitehorse in Sutherland. Most of the boys from up there have volunteered their services as whitehorse will be closed as usual from Christmas for almost a month I understand.
This will be a great help as this is normally our busiest period & would assume that I will be flat out baking throughout that time. I have close to perfected my version of a wholemeal & will now move onto a straight rye or spelt when I have some time. We have also had in some sour cherries that we got on spec & I have made a sour cherry loaf a few times which is pretty insane. I would hazard a guess & say that if you would like sourdough for Christmas that you probably should order it as we normally consume a huge amount of bread throughout that time.
look forward to seeing you all soon,
Nick
September 2011 news
Baking is my new all consuming passion I would say... I may even go as far as saying that I may have found my calling in life. We are now baking a white, soy, linseed & quinoa, light rye & caraway, fruit & wholemeal sourdough all made from organic flours & ingredients. Over the weekends an olive, a chorizo, fetta & pepperonata & a fig, raisin & pistachio. I am working on a full rye & a spelt in my spare time along with the question of where is my oven going to go?!
Tanvir is continuing our wild coffee ride. He ordered a cold drip filter to add to the array of scientific looking equipment growing behind the coffee machine. It will be a great addition over summer, once we get the ratios & timings right it will be a refreshing change to your caffeine hit. Dark horse blend from mecca has still been awesome, it still amazes me that we can get our hands on such great consistent coffee!
Josh has joined us from The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay & will mean that coming into summer we have a strong crew in the kitchen & hopefully he will help take us to a new level. There will be some other staff changes over the coming months. Unfortunately, Tanvir’s heading back to Bangladesh for a few months, Cam will be off doing the marriage & honeymoon thing & Nanci is heading back to the states for good. We are on the hunt for passionate & experienced staff. We will need baristas to get us through the summer rush, & a manager. Along with the staff changes there will be an overhaul of the entire menu! Now that we are ordering in whole sides of Taralga Springs beef, we will feature “cuts of the day” with certain cuts of the beef, dry aging some too, & we are also using this beef to make our own sausages that will feature on the new menu!
Already as far as the menu goes we’ve changed a number of our wines & most of our beer as well. Some of the wines that featured at some of our produce dinners have been moved onto the list. The David Hook “de novo” white that featured at the last produce dinner replaces the evans & tate classic white & is a very easy drinking crisp white wine expertly blended from five different grape varieties. After trying it at the produce dinner decided it would be a great match for some of our food & our great location. Likewise the “mosto”, similar to a moscato it is a slightly sparkling wine that will be great drinking over spring & summer. Most of the beers have changed as well. We will feature the little creatures beers which are beautiful, they also make pipsqueak cider & white rabbit which will be added to the list for all our drinking pleasure. There may even be a beer & cider matched produce dinner on the horizon.....
Speaking of dinners, the next one is slated for the 6th October, we are currently working on what it will feature, but will probably be a spring based dinner. We have also floated the idea of a dinner at Pierre’s (pepe saya,the butter & yoghurt man) warehouse. It will be open to maybe 50 people & it looks as though there will be a line up of chefs from around Sydney, some even from hatted restaurants that will cook a course or two each to fill the night. It is quite an exciting prospect & Pierre is extremely excited by it as well, stay tuned for dates, but we are aiming for sometime in November & we will let you know how to book for it. We are talking about opening Thursday & Friday evenings for the next few months to cover ourselves due to the disruption of renovations. I will keep you all posted if we do, as it will be quieter in the evening as no work will be going on.
As mentioned above, Sealevel are renovating their outdoor area until mid November if all goes well. I have been told that it shouldn’t disrupt us too much, & I am hoping we have seen the worst of it already. My apologies in advance for any disruptions that do occur, unfortunately it is out of my control as well.
I’m still trying to get into better shape & spending some time down at Vision personal training. Their weight loss challenge is running again & I’m trying to drop some more kilo’s!
look forward to seeing you all soon, Nick
