Monday, August 28, 2006

Update & more tomatoes


Got a lot done today but the post is not going to sound too exciting. The picture is a bunch of our heirloom tomatoes we picked. I've got 30 different varieties.....salads, marinara, salsa's are all off the charts! Reds, pinks, orange, yellow......all different colors. I've got some late sweet corn about to come in directly. Nothing like growing your own food! Anyway, Bo and I spent the morning finalizing the menu. Its still not finalized but its close enought that I feel good about it. Having Bo on board with me is really going to enable me to offer a little bit of variety to the menu to compliment the BBQ. A lot of the other items, actually a big chunk of the other items come out of the smoker and are BBQ related. There are other things on there that have got a little culinary creativity to them and are southern items. I've basically been writing down my "wish list" menu and then leaving it up to him whether or not it goes on the menu or not. If he tells me no problem I can handle that in the "rush" then it goes on, if there is any hesitation then it more than likely goes to the potential daily specials, any other reaction it goes out the window. So far we've only chunked a couple of items. I'm real pleased with the menu so far, I think its very appealing and very manageable. I'm more excited about getting a little creative with things to make us different and give it a little edge. The sign is going up on Wedensday from Jason at SignGraphix in Cool Springs. Ward Boone's band (yes his uncle is Pat Boone) has agreed to play two sets every friday night. Ward is very, very good and I'm very excited about him being a regular. The guy is a real talent! The band "SweetLeaf" (Bo's band), when they have time, will be leading a Saturday night "in the round" with invited songwriters/singers to play......all acoustic. They are are very good and are really starting to turn a few heads on music row. They just picked up a weekly gig down near "On the Rocks" every thursday night. As a matter of fact, it may be "On the Rocks" where the gig is.....cant remember. Working on a bluegrass band and blues band to play also. Its hard to believe that Lord willing we'll be opening the doors in a little less than a month.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

giant nuts? This guy has mental issues

What is this Blog???

You ever been sitting around cooking for your family and friends and been told the following: "Hoss, this is the best I've ever had in my dadgum life.....you have got to open up a place of your own". The thought crosses your mind to do just that, but for whatever reason you dont. Well I'm "that" guy that actually went through with it and did it. I had absolutely ZERO restaurant experience! I decided to start this blog about my own experience hoping that it may be of some use and help to others who might be interested in opening their own place.
I learned this craft almost 20 years ago cooking whole hogs on brick & cinder block pits at a couple of little BBQ Joints in Henderson, TN. I learned from old, lifelong career Pit-Masters, working with them as an apprentice during school off and on for four years. Over the course of that time I learned the old, time-honored craft of REAL pit barbecue. At Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint I am trying as hard as I can everyday to bring that time-honored authenticity to my customers.
As you read you'll see I've made some stupid decisions, and I've made some good decisions. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, especially a BBQ Joint, read this blog! Maybe some of this info can be of use to you. At the very least you will be entertained because I pull no punches.
Now listen, this is my blog to not only help with information but my blog to freely rant about my day to day experiences. There is no real "bad language" on this blog but there might be some things said that are very "tongue in cheek". If you are easily offended and/or cant see the satire in my posts then please just leave the blog. It will save both of us the annoyance of each other. For those of you who do like satire and are looking for good information about this experience, then by all means enjoy!