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Saturday, April 07, 2001
Emile's message is about the most beautiful thing I've read all week. Whether we ever serve a meal or not, this project has already paid dividends as we remind others -- and ourselves -- of the might of dreams, of "jumping into the deep."
It looks like we're finally starting to build a readership. Over at Twenty Two Miles, a weblog by Emile Urban, sits the very first independent link to our site. You might have trouble reading the context of the link, like I did, because Emile's site is entirely in Dutch. Fortunately, there's a guy from the Netherlands in my office, so I asked him to roughly translate it for me. Graciously, he obliged. While he spoke, I typed. With apologies in advance to Emile for the inevitable screw-ups, this is what we determined it means: "To dream you have to aspire. Enough people have wild plans and say that they will execute on them. Often it's just empty words, afraid to jump into the deep. It's stupid, because later on you have regrets. I didn't do the same six years ago. I had a need to travel, so I quit my job and I left with my backpack. Now, many years later and one experience richer no one will take away from me, I really appreciate it. I see that there are many people who do it, like the founders of The Making of a Restaurant. They have the ambition to open their own restaurant. And the progress they made you can follow online." Thanks, Emile! And to all of you coming from twentytwomiles.com: Welkom! Friday, April 06, 2001
YAPL update: The tied house I was coveting has a new sign: "South East Asian Center." A community center is fine and good, but if they threaten the Schlitz logo or the giant "Restaurant" marquee, my alderman will be hearing about it. Thursday, April 05, 2001
Also worth considering within the realm of Chicago cooking classes is The Chopping Block. Located in a quaint two-story brick house on Webster Avenue near the Webster Place theater, it offers a catalog of two-hour classes for $40 or $65 each. I have no idea if this is a good deal, but I often hear T.C.P.'s name favorably discussed among my co-workers. Looking at the schedule for April, I'm intrigued by the class on flavor dynamics: "Taste olive oils, vinegars, herbs, spices, and more as we explore how to combine flavors and learn how to make substitutions and cook without recipes." Cooking without recipes. Oh, how I wish I were brave enough to do that. Once our coffers -- cough, cough -- grow to signifcant proportions, perhaps I'll learn how to be. (Note: The Chopping Block of Webster Avenue shouldn't be confused with The Chopping Block, Inc. of New York City, noteable for their excellent graphic design, their association with They Might Be Giants and the commanding force with which they look for extra-terrestrial life.)
There is one potential backfire to the Missed Connection project. What if some enterprising young entrepreneur caught on to our scheme and co-opted the idea for himself? Imagine: Joe Restaurateur wants to open a place of his own, but doesn't have the marketing savvy that we so masterfully possess. He gets wind of some free advertising in the Reader for a non-existant place called, say, Crackpot. Taking the name as his own, young J.R.'s already ahead of the game, marketing-wise. Or worse yet, I can imagine the owner of a current restaurant that's lagging in revenue using this idea as a springboard toward a big name-changing promotion. If either of these do indeed happen, we'd be S.O.L., but we could easily turn the tables on the sonnavabitch by trashing his name the very same way we promoted it. So, if you're reading this, J.R., don't you get any ideas. We'll be after you quicker than you can say, "Holy baba ghanouj, Batman!" Wednesday, April 04, 2001
Nikki reports that the Dellwood Pickle, one of two restaurants that inspired this nutty idea, has closed. Last I'd heard, its owner was looking for a new place after the landlord had raised the rent, but apparently she's still looking.
World Kitchen hasn't updated its schedule lately, but its offerings look interesting and affordable. Its class on Thai curry is taught by Arun Sampanthavivat, owner of the highly rated Arun's. Inspiration Cafe's classes appeal to me as well, though its schedule hasn't been updated either. I see also that the cafe, just down the street from me, is looking for volunteers in the kitchen. This could be a worthwhile way to gain much-needed experience. Monday, April 02, 2001
I can't tell if Luke's setting me up, or what. Not only did I know about Angelina's neighborhood promotion and intend to write about it here, but I happened to visit Angelina's last Wednesday reap the benefits of said promotion. Furthermore, the Reader Ratings comments that Luke referenced yesterday... were, in fact, written by none other than yours truly. But I can't recall telling Luke about this, so it's gotta just be one of those things. Either that, or he's trying to lure me into writing more. So, yeah, Wednesday was my mom's birthday, and since she lives only a few blocks away from Angelina, it seemed an appropriate place to go. But I also wanted to patronize a place that paid respect to its neighborhood and to its neighbors. It's a good idea, it works, and we should adopt it for whichever neighborhood we end up in. A couple more things about Angelina: • They have both a smoking and non-smoking section, which they can get away with because the restaurant is divided into two distinct rooms, connected by a short hallway. The smoke is prevented from wafting between the two areas. A perfect execution of this problematic issue, except they fail at one point: One must walk through the smoking part to get to the non-smoking. If we end up incorporating a smoking section, we must remember to avoid this faux pas. • It's understood that any restaurant will honor a patron's birthday with a slice of cake (or tiramisu, or cookie, etc.) and a lit candle. Angelina's is no different, and neither should we be. The decision we have to make is whether or not we, as a waitstaff, go the distance with a round of singing "Happy Birthday." Angelina left the singing to the diners, and our party decided to opt out of the spectacle. We'll have a chance with our restaurant to further define ourselves with our birthday policy. It should be unique, yet tasteful. I don't have an answer yet, but I'm thinking.
As we've said before, we should encourage regulars. For eight months we've met each Sunday at Kopi Cafe to read papers, knock back the go-go juice and catch up. This week I had a heretical thought: We should try another place. Not a clean break, just a trial separation to expand our horizons. It wouldn't need to be a coffeehouse, maybe one of Uptown's many hole-in-the-wall diners. But this morning I hadn't sat a minute before the Kopi waitress, without my asking, bounded up with my usual: plain coffee, no cream, no nothin'. I've never felt like a regular before, anywhere. Sure, it took her a few months, but it felt great. I tipped more than usual, and I suppose I'll be back next Sunday. I'll have to explore the holes-in-the-wall on weekdays.
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