May
29, 2010
Wow,
this month has just slipped away. BEAUTIFUL! That is all I can
say about the Spring and early Summer this year. Gardens are ahead
of schedule so far and that means menu change next week! Lots
of changes coming... so keep checking back throughout this Summer.
Just
read this morning that the euro is continuing to fall (blame Greece,
*smile*) and they expect it may be a 1:1 with the dollar by 2011.
Wow, France just became a lot more affordable. Chef Klein and
I fly to Paris for the weekend during our staff holiday.
Every
year we close the last Monday in June to have our Staff Party,
and then stay closed for the first week of July. This gives our
staff a holiday, us the ability to travel, and give Meritage herself
an opportunity for a little sprucing up. We deep clean the restaurant,
touch up paint, fix broken things, and just let her breathe. Somehow
when we all come back we all feel rested and refreshed. This
year we will close June 28 - July 5 (we will re-open
for dinner service on the Tuesday the 6th).
When
we re-open this year we will be offering Le Tour de France!
This year it will be on Friday nights; three course Prix Fixe
that explores the culinary regions of France every week for the
Summer. What a great excuse for a date night! Check back in June
for schedule and more information. Otherwise, sign up for our
email list (we only send quarterly or for special events).
Last,
but not least, the Crepe Stand.
Tuesdays & Thursdays; 11:00am - 2:00pm. It has been a huge
hit and the flavors change regularly and are interesting. If you
want to get a simple tweet about flavors and/or hours (we do have
rain-outs) sign up for our Twitter
feed (twitter.com/meritage_stpaul). We also post updates to
our Facebook
page.
April
15, 2010
Tax
day. Well, at least after this we are all past it. This week I
read a Newsweek that was all about how America has been rebounding
out of the Great Recession in a real and unexpectedly resilient
way. Essentially, it was an article about the light at the end
of the tunnel, and I think we are all starting to feel it.
Spring
is here, most definitely, my tulips are in full bloom. The Terrace
is open. Spring menu has been launched. People are out walking
around downtown St Paul, and I think we are all patiently waiting
for the beginning of the Farmer's Market - speaking of which -
did you know there is another Farmer's Market in downtown St Paul,
not just the one in Lowertown?
Important
news: we launch our Crepe Stand
today, so look for our little Margarite (you can't miss her flame
colored hair) on the Hamm Plaza - which is a pedestrian mall next
to the restaurant right off Saint Peter Street between 6th &
W 7th streets (where
the other Farmer's Market is beginning in June). Margarite
will be twittering about the flavors available and her location
and hours every Tuesday & Thursday, weather permitting. So,
sign up to follow us to get updates:
twitter.com/meritage-stpaul
In
other news, we're having a lot of fun with
Wine School. Last night we tackled French White Wines, including
Loire, Alsace, Bordeaux & Burgundy. Everyone got a taste for
how AOC laws are a pain, and at the end of the day wine is all
about geography. We had some laughs, some quips, some canapes.
Who knew school could be so much fun? The best part was seeing
how people mingled afterwards... we love being part of community
and helping bring it together!
March
19, 2010
March
came in like a Lion! Restaurant Week! Wow, what a turn out! We
had so much fun meeting new guests and putting together a spread
of menu items; both classic and contemporary. About 85% of the
guests we hosted that week were first-time diners. What a cool
event. We're
looking forward to August!
Then
a fire swept through a neighboring community in Minneapolis, destroying
two restaurants and the joint efforts of two other husband/wife
teams - Heidi's & Blackbird Cafe. Just devastating.
A
couple of days after, when the shock had become more of an ache,
I started talking with Molly Broder, Alex Roberts & Vincent
Francoul, who had all started churning something of an idea for
a fundraiser to help out. We then assigned tasks, and started
making phone calls. We facebooked, we twittered, we came up with
a name for the event: FORK the FIRE! I came up with it out of
homage for the sometimes irreverent nature of Stewart Woodman,
and by the end of what we started it seemed utterly apropos.
Four restaurants became 12 before we knew it, then 20, then 55.
By the time the event was held - over 80!
It
was truly amazing to watch our restaurant community come together
the way it did. Humbling, truly, to be part of something so extraordinary.
If you'd like more info, or to see progress on the funds we were
able to raise, check out our website: www.forkthefire.org
Now,
this week, temperatures hitting the 60's - looks like it will
be Terrace season before we know it! Maybe March will just go
out all warm and gentle - like a lamb.
February
17, 2010
It
has been a bit of a whirlwind/rollercoaster since New Year's Eve.
I never got a chance to write in January. So, let me start there,
as anyone knows, we are all about our Meritage family and there
are events to be noted.
First,
our Winter Staff Party. Every year we close down for a day to
give our staff a much needed reprieve from the daily grind that
is December. Restaurants love December in that we are all tremendously
busy with family gatherings, corporate holiday parties, and the
general buzz in the air that December brings. But, for staff in
restaurants, the hours can be long and the fatigue wearing. So,
we feel the need to energize staff and make for a little friendly
competition. During summer we play softball, during winter we
bowl!
January
was, for us, the doldrums. Cold weather, gray skies, a foreboding
sense that we are all just pushing through winter, and with the
amount of snow we held onto last year, that was a heavy feeling.
Then
on to February. For us, that means Valentine's Day. Now, for some
restaurants, namely an Irish Pub, St. Patrick's Day may very well
be the crest of the wave for March. So is the case for a romantic,
little French Brasserie with single red roses adorning each table
for Valentine's Day. And, just like a big wave, there is an undercurrent
afterwards.