Chef’s Table at bread&cup
Each Monday in June I am hosting a dinner on the patio at bread&cup to create a unique space for food, drink and conversation.  The event is limited to 12 guests per week and is served family style at the table. I will prepare the meal and sit down to enjoy it with the group, and share any information about sourcing, recipe technique that is of interest. The menu will be seasonal and local, and I will announce the menu on the Tuesday prior to the dinner.

6:30pm
$25 per person – limit 12 guests
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We got the phone message while away on our trip to Portland.  It was from Karen’s oncology office:

“Your test results were inconclusive.  We need to take another look.”

Four weeks ago, I knew in my gut that it was not going to be good news.

I’m sad to report that the doctors have discovered that Karen’s cancer has recurred, two years post-surgery this very week.  The marker in her blood was elevated, and a CT scan showed a suspicious area in her lower abdomen.  The biopsy taken by laparoscopy proved our worst fears this week.

The area is small,… more »

I’m a gardener by nature, and have been doing so longer than I have been a chef.  I love marrying the two pursuits.  The temptation to plow under the remaining grass in my yard, and to cut a deal to do the same to my neighbor’s property is pretty strong, but I have to stay focused and not let my imagination get too out of hand.

When we bought this house we live in, it had a small plot sectioned off in the northwest corner of the backyard and this is the 20^th year I’ve planted more than just tomatoes and peppers. … more »

The unseasonably warm temperatures has brought smiles to many faces, but a few frowns to others.  We are a month out from the opening of the Farmer’s Market, and crops that would just be showing up in May are in abundance right now, making me wonder how farmers are going to market their asparagus or if it will go to waste without their dependable outlet for sales.

For me, I have never planted a garden this early.  I once remember putting out tomato plants on April 14, but March 31^st is unheard of.  A seasoned old gardener once said that if you… more »

Why bother staying open on a day like this?

Good question.  And it’s one that I actually learned how to answer several years ago, long before I entered the restaurant business.  It was a lesson in decision making that I remember from my days in college.

I don’t know why it made such an impact on me, but I was listening to a man lecture on time management and he made this statement that stood out and stayed with me these many years.  He said:

Make a decision and make it right

He explained that we should not put so… more »

If you were to compare some of the music of John Coltrane to the world of food, I think you would be safe to place him in the category of today’s gastromolecular chef.  Both produce a distinct, out-of-the-ordinary experience for its prospective audiences.  Both are easily misunderstood. And I would add that both probably felt a compulsion to create that drives them beyond the norm.

Coltrane was a contemporary of Miles Davis in the late fifties, just at the time Davis was exploring the cool jazz sounds that would reach forward decades later and put his fingerprints on artist… more »