taking and making stock

progress report: kitchen's up and working. burners and flat-top all seem to work, although the hotspots on the grill are spread around like a nine hole golf course. the underbench seals need replacing, but it seems to cool properly. haven't fired up the deep-fryers yet, but they look okay. the coolroom door's not 100% either, the previous chef had a large wooden plank to wedge it closed...

the coffee roaster arrives tomorrow, it needs to be flued so we're not sure just where it's going to go as yet. the espresso machine, salamander and panini press arrive next week. there'll be lots of last-minute scrambling, and I don't mean eggs.

the floor's been repolished, the windows cleaned (well, sorta...) and the carpet in place for the music stage. I've decided not to build a riser, we'll just have the floor with a nice rug. these things may change as we go along, y'know.

yesterday I made about ten litres of chicken stock and a few litres of tomato sauce. blanching:

tomatoes are cheap at the moment, only two bucks a kilo at my local providore. I'm still trying to source organic veg and eggs.

I'll get the newslist up and running this week, so anyone wanting email notices about music etc can join.

it's all feeling much closer now.