February 2011
9 posts
Food and commodity prices, pt 2 (sort of).
So, once again I’m going to sneak around the edges of food supply and demand, costs to producers (us), costs to consumers (everyone), and the global and political contexts affecting them. Like last time, my goal is to bring your attention to food supply and pricing, and some of the more significant factors influencing them.
This piece has come about because a couple of our vendors are...
January 2011
11 posts
New Desserts Wednesday
As we get closer to Valentine’s day, we’re looking at bringing out some new desserts. Out today is the St. Valentine, a take off of the more traditional St. Honoré.
Like the traditional dessert, ours is a puff pastry base topped with pâte à choux held together with caramelized sugar (tinted red, as can be seen). The puffs are filled with raspberry cremeux, and at the base is a...
Steam Injection
Every now and then, especially in the mornings, Toan or Jay will load baguettes in the bottom deck, push a button, and then hold the door closed while it rattles and it sounds like a jet is taking off. Why does our oven sound like it wants to take flight? It’s a matter of steam.
All three decks, plus both of our convection ovens, have steam injectors in them (the bottom deck just...
Electrical Closing
So, I’ve posted a bit about it, and the day is coming- we’ll be closed this Wednesday, the 19th, so that our electrical contractors can connect the new circuit. We’ll we shut down completely, but will make arrangements for any special orders we have already scheduled for that day.
Again, thank you for your patience as we make some necessary upgrades!
Tap-tap-tap...bzzz! tap-tap-tap...
That’s partly what we’re hearing up in the office today, and we’ll likely hear it off and on for the next few days. Our electrical contractors are busy fitting up new meters and fuse boxes, as well as fitting out conduit for wiring in preparation for when the city comes out to hook up the next circuit. It’s nice to see it all coming together!
There will be a day or two...
Random Tuesday notes
We’re entering into one of our traditional slow periods. People going back to work after the holidays, kids going back to school, universities and colleges back in session, it just adds up for a quiet couple of weeks or so. This means that we will have a pretty consistent selection in the morning, and if you don’t like lines, this time of year is for you.
We’re slightly in...
Pizza News
Unfortunately, for the time being we are suspending pizza nights on Friday and Saturday. We will still take special orders for whole pizzas as per our normal policy (48 hrs notice), so you can still plan on pizza for your weekend, but we will not be having same-evening service. We know there are some loyal pizza fans out there, and we’re sorry to disappoint you. Pizza nights may return as...
Case installation and an early close today
So the installation of the cooling units for our cases will be a bit of a piece-meal affair. Seattle public utilities has to add/activate a new circuit for us (we really are that maxed out on our electrical circuit), our electricians need to do the internal wiring, and our HVAC/equipment contractors have to install the units and put some lines in. As stated before, the cooling units will be roof...
Wedding cake
I just wanted to post a few photos from a very recent wedding cake. It was interesting because it was a different style of decoration.
You’re looking at a detail of the decoration. This was airbrushed using various stencils provided by the bride. It’s not something we do very often, but when done correctly, it creates a very nice effect. While watching Chef with the in-shop...