I’ve still never tried that. It got really famous all of a sudden maybe 10 years ago or so I think? And I didn’t know any restaurants that sold that. Now it’s common enough to be at some chain restaurants, but I have no idea if it’s actually good at the chain places, or if I should wait until one day I’m in the South, and actually at a place that’s got good Chicken and Waffles before actually trying it.
That’s why we have free will… two donuts on a Saturday is fine. Six donuts every other day is not. Too much of a good thing and all.
This man gets it.
In other news, my weekly menu (for my anniversary!) is out! If you’re coming up to Seattle this weekend for the meetup at Mox, this is what you have to look forward to.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9XtRA5gWMu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Might be able to make it over to the U District market on Saturday! Are you gonna have coffee Saturday too, or just Sunday?
I want a rhubarb fritter so bad
I assume that is you? Who did your artwork, it is quite nice. They all sound delicious, too!
Ok I want all of those.
But if you do not have any rhubarb fritters or apple-quince on Sunday, I will be extremely sad.
My wife claims she had an orgasm just from me reading your menu to her.
She’s been known to lie about that, though.
I only have coffee on Sundays. The U-dist market has a coffee vendor two booths to the north of me (and I’m right smack in the middle of the market).
Yeah, that’s me. I do my own menus, having a little skill in the hobby-DTP-graphic design arena (mostly due to some boardgame projects, mentioned in another thread around here)-there’s a ton more in different styles of you look back through my Insta. The pic is just a photo a friend took of me at work, run through a couple photoshop filters. It had a nice low-res photocopy-almost-woodcut look that I liked for the ‘punk rock show poster’ style I was going for.
Menu is good all weekend. I planned to make more than my usual amounts since I’ve been busy and it’s my anniversary, and I’m going on vacation next week, then second guessed myself because of the virus going around (Seattle in public has been a ghost town the last few days) and decided to make less, then third guessed myself and just made a ton anyway. I should have plenty.
Heyohhhh!
wow, your menus are as eclectic as your donuts on your insta, just mouthwatering to look at. So sad I can’t make it up this weekend, but I do make it up there every once in a while so will try & find you when I do.
Thanks, I try to keep things fresh, in every possible way, heh. I figure that Insta is a visual medium, and I should make things look at least vaguely visually interesting instead of the same thing week after week. And I get to put in a bit of my geeky personality (star trek/wars! Books! D&D dungeons, etc), because what the hell, it’s my business, no one can tell me no. Hah!
Your candied ginger rhubarb Fritter feat. lemon glaze sounds awesome. Sadly, I can not afford a 2500 mile trip for a fritter.
I’ll have one dark glazed Tomb of Horrors, a rhubarb Drow with powdered cinnamon sugar, and a Ravenloft maple bacon bar.
Kiwi Cthulhu sprinkled with Star Dust and a Shoggoth Sherry Sherbert for me.
Those menus (both the design and the donuts) look great!
If you don’t mind me asking, is running your own business in this format economically better than being a pastry chef at a good restaurant? I always wonder how the folks at the farmer markets I frequent doing.
That’s a big can of worms. As I’ve said several times around here (and possibly in this thread), the restaurant industry is terrible. Pay is abysmal. Hours are horrendous. They say margins are thin, but somehow every restaurant owner I know owns a very, very nice house and drives an expensive car, their kids go to private schools, etc., but paying workers and buying equipment is not every possible.
When I was still looking for chef gigs here in Seattle, places expected you to work a minimum of 55+ hours/week, and wanted to pay around 50k/year (and probably no benes), which is basically slightly above poverty in this city. Pastry chefs make less- it isn’t like doctors or something that specialization makes you worth more. If you mention ‘work/life balance’ in an interview, you’re done- the culture is such that caring about that means you just aren’t passionate enough about the food, man. That is all changing a little with the tech industry around, though, actually- a couple of companies run all the corporate cafeterias for Google, Amazon, MS, etc., and they’re providing better pay, more stable hours, benefits etc., but at the cost of working in a super corporate environment and all that entails (bureaucracy, etc).
So, mostly, for me, that isn’t a question. I probably could take home more if I knuckled-under and just sucked up the 60-75 hr/week Exec Chef life again (been there, done that for 10 years or so), but I can’t go back there- I just don’t have it in me anymore. Starting my own thing was my last-ditch effort to stay in the industry, the only real thing I know.
When I started my quest to get this thing open, I went back to cooking in other people’s kitchens as just a cook, getting paid even less, but not having any real responsibilities- I just came in, did my job and went away, and learned to live very frugally again. So the first while after starting this thing I made far less than I could have in the industry as management. Since last summer, though, I’ve really acquired a devoted following, and things are generally going very, very well. Part of that is the nature of what I’m selling- even buying local/sustainable/organic ingredients, my margins are very, very good (and I knew this going in, which is why I picked this as a business to start). And all of that is really only being ‘open’ for 4-5 hours a day, 3 days a week. If/when I ever get to a brick-and-mortar operation, I should do very well, even with the added expenses of employees and whatnot.
Too long of an answer?
None of my business, but personally I think you are doing it exactly right. Work to live, don’t live to work.
Definitely not! Thanks for the insight and thanks for sharing. I’ve always heard the restaurant business was tough, from both ends of the spectrum (e.g., works work long hours for little pay, and owners are always at risk of losing their business). Given the current caronavirus situation, I’ve been thinking it must be extra tough in the industry.
I’m glad you’re doing well without having to kill yourself—hope that continues.