Day 195 & 196 - My thoughts on veg and Saturday night & Sunday Lunch

Saturday in the cafe was a pretty standard affair. The usual suspects came and went and we still couldn't seat anyone outside! I really am fearful that the works will not be done in time for Saturday's fiesta. That would be disastrous for us....

We had 5 tables in on Saturday night, a mixture of both 'all you can eat' and my set menu, so I was a chuffed bunny! Since the day our doors opened, we have always struggled to get a good crowd in on a Saturday night. It's completely different from England where that seems to be the night to go to a restaurant. There are probably several contributory factors, but whatever the reason, there's not a lot we can do. Having said that, numbers in the restaurant are still picking up, so we must be doing something right......  It has taken us three long years to really get established, but slowly, slowly, the numbers are rising. A couple of weeks ago we popped over to a hotel bar after work to have a quick drink with our friend (and landlady) and started talking to a local freelance hairdresser. It was so nice to hear here telling us that she had heard so many good things about our restaurant. She had no reason to blow smoke up our arse, she was merely letting us know that we had a very good reputation with the people she mixes with. Cushty!

On to today. Compared to last weeks amazing service, this week was a bit of a damp squib! Although a decent turnout of 38 covers, it didn't quite match the previous Sunday. None the less, a smooth service, lots of good comments and 18 have already booked again for next week! Here are some pictures of today's prep and food...

Cauliflower cheese

The plum and apple crumble filling

Today's veg

The crackling...

The summer fruit topping for the cheesecake

The star of the show...

So, another Sunday lunch comes and goes. I keep saying it , but they seem to come around so quickly.

As you will have probably read earlier, this Saturday is the 'Moors & Christians' parade and we have a full restaurant booked. I will be doing a buffet style meal, but want to change it a little from last year as quite a few of the people have re-booked and I don't want them thinking that I don't have an imagination! I made a lovely stuffed pork loin, some char grilled chicken, a couple of different paellas and 3 or 4 salads to name but a few dishes, but this time round, I'm struggling for inspiration. 

My food head is at the moment focusing on trying to come up with interesting dishes using as much veg as I can. I have recently discovered a love for veg. I never really grew up eating much of it, and as I got older and ate more and more over boiled pub cabbage and soggy carrots etc, it put me right off. My mum was (and is) a decent cook, (if you're reading this mum, it's my birthday soon!), but I much preferred her 'tagliatelle with cream and tomato sauce' than a plate of veggies! I also think I was put off veg at a very early age by my nanny. Yes, I had a nanny! I don't remember what I did wrong, but I was once forced to eat a plate of fried courgettes until they were gone. I hated them! Thinking about it now, it is perfectly understandable that as an Italian nanny, she would cook fried courgettes. At the time it was the most alien thing I had ever eaten, but now it sounds quite nice! Since taking an interest in cooking, and therefore understanding how veg should be cooked, I've discovered that I really like most of them. And, as I am presently changing my eating patterns to try and get away from the bad habits I have, I find myself trying and experimenting with them more and more. Maybe I am a little different to most, but sometimes I like nothing better than a plate of asparagus simply dressed with Parmesan and balsamic. It used to sound like boring food to me, but I've realised that most veg has so much more flavour than most foods. For me, its just a question of which of those strong flavours I like the most, and how to get the best out of them. I'm slowly compiling quite a vast recipe list for veg, not just as an accompaniment, but as the main component of the dish. I promise you, that boring as you may think a plate of veg is, it can be amazing. There will definitely be a chapter in the book purely dedicated to veg!

Okay, that's enough of my waffle and I'm off to watch a little Nigel Slater before bed. Along with Mr Oliver, he is one of my main food 'heroes'.

Nite nite all

speak soon

Jimbo!

Day 192,193 &194 - The unearthing of 'Jiminestrone' soup!

My lack of appearance on here for the last couple of days probably tells you that not much has happened worth reporting.

Its been pretty okay at work, it's just a shame that we'll never know what we could have been doing if we had had our chairs and tables outside. The weather is still in the high 20's and people are still sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine. Alas, not at ours! Its been 6 weeks now, and it's gone way beyond a joke...

It has been a different story upstairs in the restaurant. Busy, busy, busy! The 'all you can eat' option is still proving to be very popular, and I think word of mouth is spreading. Even my set menu is proving to be popular. Surely I'm not changing the habits of the residents of Calpe! I think winter will be interesting.......

Oh, nearly forgot, I have invented a recipe! It's called 'Jiminestrone' soup! I think you can work out from the name that it is just my adaptation of a minestrone soup, but hey, I need to massage my ego from time to time and name a dish after myself! After all it is my own recipe!

On to tonight... Fish and chip Friday! We were fully booked, managed to turn a couple of tables, (as we did on Sunday), and ended up turning 6 people away and still doing 46 covers. Pretty good methinks! We had a couple in tonight who live in Jalon, (approximately 30 mins drive from us), who live 100 yds from a very well known and successful Fish and chip shop. They drove past it on the recommendation of one of our Friday regulars, and now they have told us they would rather travel the 1 hour round trip to eat at ours. That's really nice to know. Another one of those moments that make you think that what you are doing is all worthwhile.

We have a few bookings for tomorrow night, even with the X Factor in direct competition, and Sunday is virtually full. At this point in time we only have 2 tables left. Things looking good for now.

Tomorrow morning will be another weigh in. I can categorically state that I will have gained weight! After Monday's indulgence and only very gentle exercise this week, I reckon I've probably gained 2 or 3 pounds. I'll let you all know the result in the morning.

I'm off to watch the highlights of the England - San Marino game now, so sleep well all and I will speak to you all very soon

Jimbo xx

Day 190 & 191 - A day off and a little too much indulgence!

I had a day off yesterday, and I have to confess to indulging rather a little too much where drink and food were concerned! We headed off to Alicante, as that's where the nearest 'Primark' is, to purchase a  duvet and get Harrison some winter stuff, as he's grown out of all last years things. Alas, before Primark, I found a restaurant selling 'pinchos'. For those of you unfamiliar with pinchos, they are simply pieces of sliced baguette, topped with a vast array of yummy things. Here is what I was sitting in front of for about an hour!...

Apart from what you can see in the picture, every 10 minutes or so, a waiter would appear from the kitchen with some hot pinchos and offer them to the customers. Problem was, we were the only customers! I was soooo strong when declining the continous offers of food heaven, but the bugger left them in front of me on top of the display unit. I must confess to weakening completely, and devouring 8! And yes, that's my beer you can see! Ok, I had 2!

With a full belly, I finished shopping and headed back to collect Harrison from school. Riddled with guilt from the excessive feasting at lunch time, I hit the pool for half an hour and swam like there was no tomorrow!...

On to the evening....

We had been invited out for some tapas and a drink that evening by our good friends Victoria and Ian. With Grandad looking after Harrison, we headed off to one of my favourite eateries, 'La Picaeta'. Oh dear... Once again I succumbed to the temptations of tapas! Proper tapas. Freshly made morsels of loveliness! There were some exceptional ones as always, but the one that did it for me was the 'belly pork, goats cheese, caramelised onion, foie gras and balsamic on lightly toasted bread. Absolutely different class... Here is a picture of it. It may not look as good as it tasted, but let me reassure you all that it's one of the nicest things I have EVER tasted...

So, I must confess to eating 6 more tapas and drinking a bottle of wine! Not good I know, but just one of the reasons that I think 'diets' don't work. I know I have over done it, and I'll simply make up for it but upping the exercise and eating less for the next few days. Something tells me that I wont have worked it off by Saturday's weigh in though.

After tapas, we headed of to a local bar that has a few pool tables. Ian's pretty good and I used to be fairly decent ,so we decided to have a few frames. before we could grab a table, we were accosted by 2 Romanians asking if we wanted to play for a few quid! To cut a long story short, at 3.30 am, we walked out of the bar a few quid richer than we had walked in! I was a good little boy as well and only drank water! Thank you Vic and Ian for a really good night out...

Waking up this morning after 4 hours sleep wasn't fun, but none the less, off we headed to work. If you can call it work. We virtually did nothing all day! As well as being a national holiday, (therefore all the shops were closed and there was no reason for anyone to come into town), the roadworks are still outside. In our absence yesterday, there was still no work done. The biggest fiesta of the year, The 'Moors & Christians' parade will be trundling down our street for 4 hours in 11 days time. If the work is not finished by then, it cannot take place. If it doesn't take place, we will lose approximately 2500€. What are these muppets doing? I have taken a few photos of the roadworks and the state of the street for you to peruse...

I don't know much about the roadwork industry, but it doesn't look like its going to get finished to me. Baring in mind that Friday is another national holiday and they won't be working, they only have 7 working days left. NO chance...

You will notice that we have stuck a cheeky chair and table outside! I don't for 1 minute expect anyone to sit on it, but it makes me feel rebellious! I tell a lie, a chap popped out for a fag while having his coffee this morning!

It was another ridiculously hot day again today. No, you're not reading an exert from one of my August blogs, but the last few days have gotten warmer and warmer. Here's the thermometer outside work at about 2pm today...

Yes, it really does say 45.1C! I popped over to the beach to see how things were and it was pretty busy... Not bad for October!

I arrived home and was determined to head straight for the pool, a) as I was still feeling guilty from yesterday's transgressions and b) how could you refuse this?...

The outdoor thermometer is in direct sunlight and I took this picture just before I dived in... Amazing for this time of the year

I enjoyed my swim and was treated to a very nice and semi healthy dinner made by Laura. It was a sort of cross between a frittata and a Spanish omelette and we had it with a little home made coleslaw pilfered from work and  simple rocket salad. Thoroughly enjoyed it...

Well, that's yer lot! I'm off to bed in a mo to try and catch up on some well needed sleep, so I will be back soon.

Take care all and good night
Jimbo

Day 188 & 189 - The 6 month weigh in and the most bookings EVER on a Sunday

Saturday morning, and I tentatively stepped in to 'the Beauty Box' for my 6th month weigh in. Diet aside for one minute, I've suddenly realised that I, (a dead ringer for Shrek), have been frequenting an establishment called 'the Beauty Box'! It's tickled me! Back to the weigh in. I remained the same as last time, so after 6 months, I have lost 3 stone 1lb. I will be completely honest, as I always am, and say that it hasn't been difficult at all. Because I am not following a diet and therefore haven't deprived myself of any of 'my favourite things', I really haven't had any dodgy moments. There have been the odd occasions where I have realised that I am 'binging' a little, but I have been able to refocus and get back on track. I aim to continue as I am, and hopefully in the next 6 months lose the same amount of weight as I just have. I am still very focused and when I allow myself the odd 'treat', I make sure that I do a little extra exercise, or eat a little less the following day. We shall see how the next 1/2 a year progresses... The last one has been fun!

Back to work, and a decent Saturday night as Saturday nights go. We had 14 in and 3 chose the Set Menu, yipee! The confit duck went down well again as did my spaghetti with deconstructed pesto. Someone even chose the Roquefort, apple, walnut and rocket salad! What's going on! It's Sunday that I am most chuffed about though...

For the first time EVER, we had 50 bookings for Sunday lunch! There have been times before when we have had a potential 50 bookings, but people have been unwilling to sit at a different time to their preference, and therefore we have lost the booking. Not this week! We try and have no more than 2 tables booked for the same time and stagger the bookings at 15 minute intervals, that way ensureqwfing that the service is the best we can provide. There are occasions where someone will try and book for 13.30 and we will ask if they could make it 13.45. Can you believe that sometimes the answer from the customer is 'oh no, that's far too late to eat lunch'! So yes, through being honest and trying to give the best service we can, we do lose the odd booking. Today though was a different matter altogether. We managed to cajole, plan ahead and turn tables, and fortunately everything went to plan. So, although we have done more than 50 covers in a sitting, we have never had 50 bookings. Must be doing something right. Especially when the restaurant 200 yards up the road from us only serves a Sunday roast from 6pm, as in their words, 'there's no market for a lunchtime trade'. I beg to differ!

So, a day off tomorrow, and I think it will be spent driving down to Alicante to the nearest 'Primark', as I need to purchase some new pants! Its about an hours drive, but we need a duvet as well, so it has to be done! I can also stock up on my spices on the way back at a little place just south of Benidorm. It's nice to venture away from Calpe from time to time, it's just a shame we only get 1 day off in 14 and it has to be spent farting around doing all the things that you can't do on the other 13 days...

I'm off to watch a DVD called 'Red lights', which I believe is a film about the scepticism surrounding psychics. Being a huge Derren Brown fan, it's something that intrigues me, so I will try not to fall asleep during it as I do with most films!

Nite nite
Jimbo x

Day 187 - What a Friday night..... and the 6 month weigh in looms....

A fairly decent Friday daytime at work was followed by a seriously busy Friday night. Sod the workmen, (that still haven't got any further), it seems that more and more locals and regulars are returning. Its a bit like the cavalry arriving as the Indians are about to scalp everyone. Before I am done for racism, I am referring to the Red Indians from North America, not our friends from Asia!

We managed 40 tonight for good old 'fish & chips' and managed to turn a couple of tables too. Its a good feeling to know that all the hard work pays off now and again! We sold out of fish, didn't turn anyone away and all in all had a pretty good evening. We also have 47 booked for Sunday Lunch so far, so its looking like a bit of a bumper weekend!

I have the morning off work tomorrow, but I still have to do all the shopping and take it all in. When that's done, I will fly over to the Beauty Box for my 6 MONTH weigh in. 6 months, my goodness, it doesn't feel anything like that. As always, I'm not too confident about the result, but I'll let you all know asap. For those of you familiar with my Facebook page, you can have a look around 10am for the result. For those not familiar with it, here's the link, get joining! www.facebook.com/groups/185455448234743/

Wish me luck, (think I need it), and I'll speak to you all tomorrow

Jimbo

Day 186 - Ok day considering the mayhem outside, and a busy night!

So, a slightly better day in the cafe today, even with the goings on outside. There were lots of workmen all beavering about today, but at the end of the day, not much seemed to have been achieved.... I'm a little worried as there seem to be some pipes lying on the ground outside. Surely they're not going to dig it up AGAIN! I'm hoping they are meant for the other side of the road, which is now also in full swing. Here they are...

I was a little peckish early on this morning, which is strange for me because I don't usually have anything until about 11am, so I decided on a mushroom and onion omelette. 3 eggs, a piece of wholemeal toast, 3 large mushrooms and 1/2 an onion. 450 calories and pretty filling! Here's what it looked like...

After wolfing that down, I headed off upstairs for my usual Thursday prep. I will show you tonight's menu, as its easier than typing it all out again!

I usually adorn my headphones and immerse myself in some music while prepping, and this week I chose 'Madness'. I had downloaded a  free 'ITunes' app a while ago, and I've been working my through it for the last few weeks. As a 'nipper', I suppose I must have been around 12 when I first started listening to them, I was hooked. I wasn't that bothered about the rest of the 'Ska' stuff, just Madness. There was something about them that 'The Specials' etc didn't have. I loved their music, and still play t

only 1 had the set menuhe 'Absolutely' album from time to time. However, I listened to them playing the I Tunes festival at the roundhouse in Chalk farm today and I was not impressed with their new stuff. They played a few oldies that had me singing along, but the recent stuff is not my cup of tea. I turned them off and listened to Alicia Keys instead!

So, with the dulcet tones and piano playing of Ms Keys ringing in my ears, I set about preparing tonight's fayre. There were the usual salad bar staples of coleslaw and potato salad,and today I added a pasta salad with chorizo, red pepper, oregano and black olives. This is what it looked like...

We had 19 in tonight, (it would have been 24, but a group of 5 came in, sat down, read the menus and then walked out!), and you guessed it, only 1 person had the set menu! Still, it meant that I got to serve the Roquefort, walnut, apple and rocket salad and the confit of duck leg, so I got to 'do my thing' for a little while! Some great feedback tonight, so although we didn't finish until nearly midnight, it was one of those nights where I felt like I actually achieved something...

On that note, I'm off to watch 'Eastenders'!

Nite nite all

speak soon

Jimbo

Day 183, 184 & 185 - Roadworks and News!

Well, its Wednesday night, and I'm back! I've been ridiculously busy for the last couple of days - not at the restaurant - but setting up a new little venture... I will talk about it later in the blog!

The roadworks continue! Here a some pictures of the 'progress'...

As you can see, we couldn't even get in the door yesterday morning!

We've had our loyal regulars this week, bless their little cottons, but its been a bit boring! To be honest, we've got a lot going on over the next few weeks, so it's nice to have a bit of a quiet period to recharge the batteries. The 'Moors & Christians' parade will be trundling down our street in about 2 weeks, our busiest night of the year, we have a 'race night' on November 3rd, and then we're in to the Christmas bookings etc, so gonna be busy!

Those who follow my blog religiously will know that a couple of months ago, I had a very interesting and important meeting regarding a possible something! On Monday this week, I had a second meeting, this time with the owner of the possible something and he has promised to give me a decision before the 14th of this month. I really can't talk about it until then, but wanted to share what I could with you all! I think the meeting went well, but I wont know for a bit...

So, as I sat at work with time to spare this week, it allowed me time to think. The one thing that kept cropping up was the ludicrous amount we were charged for the cleaning of our former house. I only joked about setting up our own company at the time, but the more thought I gave it, the more it seemed crazy not to give it a try. We are starting out as a property management company, which will cover key holding, rentals, gardening, general and pool maintainance, and cleaning.  So, I have designed some business cards, (they should be here in the next few days ), and yesterday, we got our first customer! It's only a cleaning contract for 1 villa, but its a start. I'll let you know how we get on with it...

Laura's little business 'Crafted Gift Creations' (www.facebook.com/CraftedGiftCreations/photos_stream) is slowly building, and she has had a few orders already, so please for her. Feel a bit sorry for her as she is spending nearly all her spare time designing and sowing, but it's what she wants to do, so good on her. 

Back to my real job! The restaurant will be open tomorrow, so as always on  Thursday, I will have a load of prep to do, and I will share my creations with you tomorrow. I'm sticking with the confit of duck leg tomorrow, as its proving popular. Here's a piccy for those of you that haven't seen it yet...

I'm thinking of doing a Roquefort, apple, walnut and rocket salad as one of the starters, and I think I'll 'pimp up' the bruschetta a little by using black olives and oregano in the bread mix.  A minestrone with pistou will be the third starter. I'm going to do spaghetti with  a 'deconstructed' pesto as the second main and some pan fried cod with dijon mash as the third. Puddings will be poached pears in cider with a caramel and pecan ice cream, apple crumble and 'Affogato'. The pears sold really well last week and are in abundance and very inexpensive at the mo, so it seems silly not to use them. Although I like to change and rotate the courses, sometimes you just have to let the produce decide for you. I think the 'affogato' looks really nice too, and the customer gets to chuck in the espresso and cointreau themselves, so a bit of something different. Pictures of it all tomorrow. Again, if you haven't seen it yet, here is the 'Affogato'. Its literal translation is 'drowned'! In  the same way that words and phrases sound sexier in French and Italian, I think food does too. Imagine ordering 'drowned' in your local restaurant in Peckham! It wouldn't have quite the same ring to it!

Ok, that's my lot for now. Sleep well, and I'll be back soon

Nite nite

Slimbo xx