slow and steady

with a day or two to catch our breaths, we've managed to recap our first couple of months trading in this new biz. as most of you will know, the site we're in has been a fooderie of some sort since at least 1951, and possibly even longer than that, according to some old-timers in the area.

but after a few years of other operators trying to run a quasi-fine dining restaurant followed by two years closed space, we've always known that taking on this gig was going to be a big ask.

at this nascent stage, a few things are already evident: we're on the right track, as far as our menu direction and coffee quality goes. ditto for our price structure. many city types have commented that we appear to be 'too cheap', but we're in the ballpark of what the locals have been demanding, and we need their regular support.

the overall balance of the place seems to be working, the look and vibe of the room, the extras we offer (such as live music, the kids room, the leather lounges etc) all appear to be appreciated. we won't put much more work or money into decor or ancillaries as we probably don't need to, and we don't have any money anyways. a local artist is due to drop in shortly with some of his work, we may let him have some of the empty wall space in the back and do a pseudo-gallery (even though I personally feel that cafe/galleries are so last century....)

so we've ramped hours back to fridays, saturdays and sundays, at least until easter. we'll be watching the tourist trade very carefully, as january was a disappointing month for local biz overall. for every one that tells us winter is the big trading season up here, I keep reminding myself that an economic recovery ain't gonna happen in a quarter. we've gone back to our 'other' jobs during the week, and we'll feed and nurture this fledgling cafe at its own pace.

but it's promising.

back to business

another australia day / chinese new year day is behind us. again, the customer traffic was completely unpredictable. thursday and friday were ridiculously quiet, and saturday was steady from breakfast onwards. sunday began slow, the low clouds and mist failing to bring in the morning crowd as it usually does.

from 2pm, we saw two and four tops begin to arrive, then a twelve top, then for the next two hours, all I saw were yellow order tickets on the rail, the grill top, the salamander and not much else. again, we started to run out of core items, which prompted an early morning scurry to try to find stock, which wasn't easy as most places were closed for the public holiday.

then the much-hyped australia day rush, er, wasn't as we did less than half the amount of covers as the day before. as I'm typing, I'm eating some leftover chicken and mushroom pie.

the demand for burgers continues unabated. we're looking to expland that section of the menu accordingly. I'm still trying to find a decent veggie burger recipe that I'm happy with. I've been playing with a few chickpea and eggplant variations, but I'm not getting the result I'd like. and the pre-made frozen patties from the caterer suppliers are abysmal.

this week's big seller: the aforementioned aussie burger, premium lamb, cheese, tomato, lettuce, beetroot and pineapple:



personally, I hate the idea of pineapple on a burger (same goes for an egg). somehow, I'd not once, but twice sent out a burger without the pineapple. I must have a deep-seated loathing for the stuff.

other news: we're ramping back our opening hours to fridays - sundays, 9am to 4pm. that'll stay til the easter long weekend, where we'll expand hours again.

we're canvassing interest in putting on a valentine's day dinner, which falls on a saturday this year. anyone keen, let us know.

waitress extraordinaire karin (she doesn't like me calling her a 'waitbot') dropped in this morning, her masterchef audition is tomorrow and she still has yet to decide what she's going to present. she's been getting advice from everybody from her chef brother to her chef employer.

and I'm going to spend the day tomorrow cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom and rearranging / restructuring the service areas. I'd rather be anywhere else, but it's got to be done.

aussie daze

coming up fast on australia day weekend. the local bizfolk tell us it'll be a busy one, but you wouldn't know it from the current lack of activity in the village. mind you, we're again heading into another prolonged heatwave which seems to scare away all but the most fervent rock climbers (and are there any other kind, really?).

we're looking at the past seven weeks of trading and trying to get some kind of handle - any kind - on what the potential is for future trade here. we've got until september under our current lease to decide whether to stay on, whether to buy the building, or whether to enter into a formal commercial lease. but if the past two months are anything to go by, there's absolutely no readable trends or patterns.

ordinarily, it's not an issue as one would just plunge ahead and hope for the best. but if we're looking at primarily weekend and holiday trade, we need to weigh up whether it's viable to open, say, thursdays as opposed to working our 'other' jobs, where we'd at least have a guaranteed income for the day. and that income'll be neccessary to float this place during the slower months, one of which is only a week away.

our coffee roasting wholesale efforts are starting to take off. we've approached a couple of restaurants and cafes in the central west who seem genuinely interested. if we stick it out, our coffee biz may actually be more profitable than the cafe itself. that'd be a nice problem to have.

and we've been selling a fair amount of freshly roasted coffee from the counter. anyone interested, we have 250gm packs at $14.00, postpaid anywhere in australia. even tasmania.

speaking of, I read that hobart foodieblogger and regular commenter rita had her photo in the local paper. couldn't find it online, but congrats to you rita, and we look forward to your own show on the lifestyle channel very soon. they've gotta get some new programming in, tonight at 8pm is season one of hell's kitchen usa (for probably the eighth rerun).

specials this weekend: in celebration of australia day, the all-aussie burger - 150gm premium lamb patty, cheese, beetroot, pineapple, bbq sauce & chips. also the return of the popular spanakopita - spinach and feta cheese in filo pastry:

plus some nice veggie quiches and organic pies that we're trialing. whatever doesn't sell, well, that's breakfast again :)

odds n enz

one of our waitstaff, karin, has been selected as a contestant in the new season of masterchef australia.

we did almost exactly half as many covers this past week as the week prior.

aldi was selling truss tomatoes for $2.99 a kilo last week. my providore's were $6.99, and about the same quality. what's wrong with this picture?

I've never known anyone that actually owns a padma laksmi cookbook.

we have enough spanakopita left over for us to have for breakfast all this week.

bloomberg is reporting that the u.s. based black angus chain of steakhouses is seeking bankruptcy protection, along with several others. does this mean the slow death of 'upmarket' fast-food?

iron chef america is pretty lame compared to the japanese original, dont'cha think?

it's well into summer, but we're hardly selling any salads at all. damned if I know why.

brisbane's sunday mail reports about a sunshine coast eatery that invites diners to "decide how much they want to pay for their meal". apparently, most were happy to pay at or even above what the menu price would've been. a novelty, or a necessity in this changing market?

it'll sneak up on ya

'twas a quiet and slow week indeed. that is, until sunday. steady breakfast trade rolled into a steady lunch trade - then the floodgates opened. again, we found ourselves running out of tomatoes, milk, focaccia rolls, steak, olives, ham, cukes, butter, staff, patience... you name it.

jimmi carr performed to the packed house. we had people standing at the door waiting for seats to open up.

nice to see katie and family in again. it's ecouraging to see the regulars trade start to grow.

on the specials board this week - salt & pepper calamari, on a bed of rocket and topped with a chipotle-laced tomato salsa:

every decent cafe needs an s&p squid on the menu, no? amazingly, we only sold three serves all weekend. on the other hand, the steak sandwich special - scotch fillet with caramelised onion, cos lettuce and truss tomato, on a grilled baguette roll and topped with a dijon mayo - sold fourteen serves in one day.

but the upside is - we'll be enjoying the leftover calamari for tonight's dinner :)

if you can't stand the heat...

... don't go near any kitchens. or that seems to be the general consensus with the heat wave engulfing us all. upper 30's may not sound hot, but for the mountain-acclimatised, it's oven-like.

so our total covers for yesterday were.... 0. nil. nada. just takeaways, and not many at that. the pub across the road usually does 40-50 for lunch on a thursday. they did six. the heat kept everyone off the streets, out of the parks and even off the roads.

it's marginally cooler today, but again we're seeing very little activity out the windows, so I'm not expecting much until after midday. at least I can grab a few minutes break to sit in my comparatively cool office and get important admin work done, like... uh... this blog.

so now it's time to get back to biz stuff. no, really.....

edit: took this pic in the kitchen yesterday, this is over at the pass. was even hotter near the stoves:

for you notre hemispherian types, that equates to about 114f.

six weeks in

six weeks of trading under our belts. we've seen a little of both the tourist trade and the local regulars. we've changed and refined our menu as we've gone along to try and reflect what we get asked for.

simplicity seems to be the key around here. anytime I'd put something even remotely adventurous on the board, it'd be ignored as the breakfast and burger orders would flood in.

but I don't mind if we become a glorified gourmet burger bar. whatever our customers want is what we should be giving them. the past two people to have had this place went upmarket quasi-fine dining, which worked for the tourist weeks but drove away the locals. they all reminisced about the couple that had this place a decade ago who did... breakfasts and burgers.

and we're considering night trade... maybe. and then, only after easter in the cooler months. and again, cheap eats seem to be what people are asking for, with the exception of my former accountant, who wants five-star food at two-star prices. so pastas and stews may well be what's on offer, once the fireplace is roaring.

four years ago yesterday, we closed our first cafe. driven out by the new owners' redevelopment group, it set off a chain of events that saw the children move interstate, us back to sydney with the keys to a run-down restaurant and several years of sorting out debts. we're hoping that we're off to a better start in this place.

and so far, so good.