Day 209, 210,211 - The east coast of Spain is on wind alert!

I arrived at the Beauty Box for my weigh in on Saturday full of hope of a decent loss. It was one of those days when I really thought I'd lost weight as I felt lighter and thinner. The scales had other ideas though! I stayed the same weight. Although a little disappointed, I am heartened by the fact that my clothes are baggier on me, I feel thinner and I feel lighter. The weight will fall off soon...

Work was pretty slow in the cafe during the day, but the evening was excellent for a Saturday. It's hard to know why there are slow days and good days, there just are. Saturdays can be very hit and miss in the cafe, it's either all or nothing, there is no set pattern. Saturday nights are usually quite quiet, but not this week . We had 28 in, which is way above average. After 3 years of experimenting with different menus, I think we may have found the best option. It seems that the 'All you can eat' option, running in conjunction with the Set 3 course menu is the one that brings the most in. We have been doing it for 6 months now, and it has grown form strength to strength. I am not saying that it is the answer to all the financial difficulties we have in running the restaurant, but it's what pulls the customers in. As I have stated before, the 'All you can eat' is not what I wanted to do when I opened a restaurant in Spain, but it pays the bills. I still get to do 'my thing' on the Set menu, so it's not so bad really....

Sunday was another full house for Sunday Lunch! Everyone came in at the time they were supposed to, so it ran very smoothly as well. Sometimes all the planning in the world can go 'tits up' when people don't turn up when they are booked, so for everyone to be more or less on time is a real treat! Until you open a restaurant, you will never understand how difficult it can be! I never realised before, that when I used to book a table in a restaurant for 8pm and arrive ten minutes late, how much this could balls things up for them! People are given a slot time for a reason! I get so annoyed when people ask if they can book for 2pm, for example, and you politely ask if they can make it for 2.15 as it is really busy at that time. They agree and then turn up at 2pm! Why do they think they have been asked to arrive 15 minutes later! As I have just said though, unless you experience the problems first hand, you will never know the disruption it causes. I forgive them all!

This weeks starters were a choice of mushrooms soup, or a tomato and mozzarella salad. I always have a little bet with myself as to how many will order each one, and this week I predicted a landslide for the soup. Although only a simple dish, the salad is something that the majority of our customers would find 'too foreign muckish' for their taste. Happily, on this occasion, I was wrong! The majority of those who had a starter, ordered the salad! Yipee! Here's a piccy of it. I made a little basil oil to accompany it and I think it added to the presentation as well...

If you are thinking of making the basil oil, a little tip is to quickly blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for 10 seconds and then immediately plunge into iced water. This keeps their vibrant green colour. If you don't blanch them first, the oil will be a much darker shade of green and not look so nice...

On to today... Busy, busy, busy... especially for a cold Monday at the end of October! Again, not sure why today should be so busy, it just was! Not complaining, just banking the dosh!

I decided to be a little adventurous today and have some home made falafels for my din dins. As well as being pretty good for my diet, I really fancied doing something with the jars of chick peas that sit in my kitchen cupboards! As I couldn't deep fry them for fear of digesting too many calories, I couldn't make them to the proper recipe, so I made them with cooked chick peas. They were really easy to make. I just mashed up some chick peas, added some cumin, garam masala, spring onion, coriander and a little harissa paste, made into little patties and fried in a tiny amount of olive oil. I have to say, they were pretty tasty too! I also made a little tomato and onion salsa and a little mint and yoghurt dressing, shoved it all into a pitta and voila! Stuffed....... Here's what they looked like.....

If the Americans think they've got wind problems tonight, think of my neighbours!!

That's it for now I'll be back when I have some more news for you all! 

Thanks for reading, and if you have any friends that you think might be interested in following the blog, just send them the link! So far the blog has had approximately  9500 'visits' and I would love it to get to 10000!

Jimbo

Day 207 & 208 - Finally, more had the menu than the 'all you can eat', yipee!

Thursday is prep day and it was spent listening to Ed Sheeran and Michael MacDonald. A bit of new and a bit of old, both completely different genres, but both excellent in their own way. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to both.

On to the food...

Although I like to change the menu as often as possible, I have stuck with the confit of duck leg now for about 4 weeks as I keep getting really good feedback, and everyone keeps ordering it, so it's going nowhere for the moment! If you've never tried it before, it really is worth giving it a go. Bags of flavour, and I think the canellini bean and bacon goes really well with it. Here's a piccy...

I also reverted back to an old favourite of mine, roasted pork loin with lentils. I didn't stuff it this time, as sometimes I think it's nice to taste meat just as it is, without any outside flavourings...

On to the salad bar....

I made cous cous with sundried tomatoes, coriander, apricots, courgette and aubergine,and it was jolly lovely!

For the pasta salad, I used some lentils, tomatoes, cucumber, white wine vinegar, olive oil,  and black olives. I wouldn't normally use those packets of 3 coloured pasta, as I think it's more for kids really, but I thought the colours might go quite well. I cooked the pasta in chicken stock instead of plain water for a little extra flavour, and it worked quite well...

I also made some coleslaw, and here they are in the 'salad bar'...

For the first time ever, MORE PEOPLE HAD THE SET MENU THAN HAD THE 'ALL YOU CAN EAT'. Yipee! Although we only had 14, 8 had the menu. Finally!

Today was a very busy day in the cafe. For 3 hours at lunchtime, it was like an August day full of holiday makers. It was unbelievable. Wave after wave of customers sitting inside and out. Unfortunately, some walking past as they couldn't get in. Not bad for the last week of October!

Tonight was pretty average with 32 portions of fish and chips being served, so all in all, a very good day financially.

I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be an equally busy day! We have the early morning shop to do BEFORE getting to work, I have to pop to the Beauty Box to be weighed, we have a full day at work tomorrow, and have 20 already booked in for tomorrow night. For those of you who regularly follow the blog, you will know that Saturday's can be pretty quiet affairs, so to have 20 booked is good news. I'll let you all know how the weigh in went in the morning.

I'm off to watch Eastenders and play a little 'Songpop', so I'll speak to you all tomorrow.

Jimbo

Day 204, 205 & 206 - My sore bottom!

Before I start, I must show you the front of the cafe. Those following the blog will know of the dispute over the plumber. Remember the wooden boards that covered the mess?... They've gone! But unfortunately, this is what is in its place... Note that we have our tables and chairs out!

They've dug it up again!

I give up! When it's done, it's done....

So, the weekend is over and its back to normality. Although the pavement outside is not at it's most attractive at the moment, we have been pretty busy! We've had people sitting outside for the first time in nearly 2 months and the sun is shining!

I bought a second hand exercise bike on Monday as the pool is almost too cold to swim in at the moment, and I need to keep up with the exercise. My idea is, rather than watch telly like a couch potato, I can watch it while exercising. So with that in mind, I straddled the aforementioned beast and put Eastenders on! I cycled for 30 mins 20 seconds, covered 10 kilometers and burned 370 calories! There was however a downside... Who on earth designs those seats? Do they think we have arses made of concrete! My God, it's uncomfortable! I have just purchased some cycling shorts on line as I am not happy with having to apply 'Sudocrem' to my buttocks every 6 hours!!! I will not be getting back on until the soreness has subsided! Last night, I chose instead to go for a brisk walk/jog. I did more walking than jogging, but nonetheless, got my fat, sore arse out there and managed 25 mins. There are some very steep hills not too far from here, and my calves are pretty tight today! I will be out again later. I am going to try to walk further tonight, but with less hills!

Not much else to report that I can think of, but it's prep day tomorrow, so I should have some pictures etc for you all tomorrow.

Thanks for reading
Jimbo

Day 201, 202 & 203 - What a weekend!!

I'd first like to start by showing you all how the pavement outside our cafe has been left. Due to the fact that the management company, 'Crespo', and the town hall cannot agree as to whose plumber will connect the pipes, it had just been left like this...

We complained to the Town hall on Friday morning, who 'didn't know anything about the problem', and were told that the Mayor, Senor Cesar Sanchez, was on his way to sort it out! A bit strange we thought. About 15 minutes later, the mayor did indeed arrive, but simply went into the Restaurant across the road, (you know, the one I spoke about the other day), and spoke to them. He then went back to his office! WHY did he go to see them? They don't have an effing eyesore outside their place and they didn't ring to complain, WE DID! A lady told us not to worry, as the matter was in hand. By the time we left work for the afternoon, nothing had happened.

We arrived back at work at around 6pm, in time to be ready for the bands and Fish & chips. This is what we found outside our door...

Seriously, this is no joke! They have placed 6 wooden boards over the mess! Simply laid them next to each other. When you step on one end, the other raises up! From the view you are looking at, the fourth plank, (that's in reference to the wood, not the guy from the town hall), sticks up about 4 inches where it meets the paving! It's only a matter of time before someone trips or slips. Still, we needed worry, as 'the matter is in hand'. These 'fuck wits' get paid for this!!! I'm sorry about my language, but I really have had enough now... So we are are still faced with the dilemma of where can we put our chairs and tables... Later in this blog, you will see where we have had to put them..

As the title says...what a weekend! It started on Friday night, (as most weekends do!), with some of the bands due to be playing in Saturday's 'Moors & Christians' parade, doing a little 'jolly' up our road. Its a crap picture, but you get the idea...

It meant that there were a few people milling about and we were able to take a few quid in drinks before opening for Fish and Chips. It was an okay Friday night, not the busiest we've ever had, but by no means the worst. I think a lot of people were saving themselves for the big parade on Saturday...

Saturday, and the 'Moors & Christians' parade were causing me great concern. I was faced with the problem that if it rained, it was more than likely to be called off. All the signs and forecasts suggested a torrential downpour. We had a fully booked restaurant and they needed feeding. However, if the parade was cancelled, I doubt very much if those who had booked would have even left home. I decided that rather than cook the menu I had in mind, I would have to have a reserve menu up my sleeve. Something that I could cook last minute so that if it was cancelled, there would be no waste.

I decided to wait until the morning to make my decision...

Saturday morning arrived, and it was chucking it down. Seriously heavy rain. So serious that after we had done the final bit of shopping and dropped it in the restaurant, we were unable to get home our normal way as roads were being closed! The drainage system in Spain is non existent, so when there's any sort of heavy downpour, the roads just end up being flooded. I felt pretty certain that it would not take place. I checked and double checked the weather reports, and it appeared that if the rain was to abate, it would be around 7pm. Would the parade have already been called off by that stage, or were 'they' waiting to make 'their' decision. There was no way of finding out for certain, so I resorted to plan B!

For those of you not familiar with how restaurants work, I can only say that the hardest thing to deal with is everyone turning up at the same time. As the parade had a scheduled start time of 7pm, we knew that the majority of those that had booked, would be arriving at the same time. I decided to give each table a little sharing platter consisting of some Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, home made tapenade and crostinis. It wasn't the most inventive starter I've ever thought of, but it wasn't the time for poncy or  fancy! Here's what it looked like. Again, not the greatest photo I've ever taken, but...

I needed to be able to get a lot of food out quickly, without compromising my standards. That sounds a little 'anal', but that's me! I will never change! I needed to do things that I was familiar with and comfortable with. I decided to do rib eye steak, fall off the bone ribs and chicken wrapped with bacon. No pictures except for the chicken before it hit the oven...

The night was a success, and the food went down very well. Although a decent return financially for us upstairs in the restaurant, we were about 50 percent down in the cafe. There were no where as many people milling about as there were last year. Most probably something to do with the fact that basically from the moment the parade started, it rained! I have a little bit of footage for you to see. Note the people walking down the pavement. Last year it was 8 deep and you couldn't  move... Again, sorry it's not the clearest video you will ever watch, but I was hanging out of the window and using my phone!

By the time everyone had gone, we had finished clearing away and getting ready for Sunday lunch, it was a little after midnight. I quickly watched Chelsea give Spurs a good thrashing, watched the recording of X Factor, and went to bed.

NO idea where I was when the alarm went off this morning at 7.45, but soon realised it was Sunday, and shot out of bed! We were dreading this morning, as it's the morning after the parade and they re-enact the 'battles', right in front of our cafe. The noise from the guns is deafening! I have made a little a  video of the proceedings to give you an idea. even though it sounds loud on the recording, it really doesn't come close to being there. Here it is...

Another full house again and for the third week running, we managed to turn a couple of tables and get a few more in! We had a few travel from a fair old distance who said that they had come because they had heard good things about us and wanted to give us a try. It was a 45 minute drive for them and they said they'd be back, so pretty happy with that. During the mayhem, I only managed 1 photo! It's my home made smoked 'Jimackerel' Pate!... 

So a really busy weekend all round!

I'm off for some dinner now and then X Factor, so I'll be back soon!

Take care

Jimbo

Day 199 & 200 - Absolute joke! Our road is COMPLETELY closed to cars AND people!!!

What an absolute liberty! Arrived at work this morning to find that the road was closed to both traffic and pedestrians! Effing joke these people. If there is a little high note to all of this, it looks as if the parade will go ahead, (provided of course that the torrential rain that is forecast, stays away...) The roadworks will be 'finished' in time. I write the word 'finished' in inverted commas, as the pavement RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR DOOR is to be left as it is for the moment, as the management company who are in charge of the block of flats above us, and the company in charge of the road works, cannot agree as to whose plumber will be doing the job of linking the waste pipes together. (I think that's the longest sentence I have ever typed!)

That may not seem like a major problem to most of you, but believe me, it's serious aggravation for us. Here's a picture of how it's going to be left...

Where the f**k do we put our chairs and tables????? That's just for starters. I wont bother listing all the other difficulties it will cause us, not to mention the eye sore that it is, I will leave it to you to ponder... Two words.... Not happy...

Back to work.. As you can imagine, baring in mind that the road was closed completely, today was virtually a wash out. I need to speak to someone about how we stand from a compensation point of view, but being in Spain, I won't hold my breath.....

 I did my usual prep upstairs, but to be honest my head is filled with so much anger over what is going on outside, that I forgot to take pictures of my creations today. Except that is, for a little rice salad that I knocked up...

It wasn't bad for something I threw together! I also made a smoked mackerel pate, but as I said above, forgot to take a picture. I will try and remember to take a piccy and post it. I may also have invented my second dish to be named after its creator..... 'Smoked Jimackerel Pate'!!!! Okay, okay, I'm only teasing! But, you never know!

It's late, I'm off for a couple of games of 'Songpop' before bed! 

Nite nite

Jimbo

Day 198 - A very busy Tuesday..even with the noise and dust!

Well, out of the blue we had a really busy day today in the cafe. It didn't seem to matter to our hardened regulars that there was dust and dirt flying everywhere, (we gave up trying to wipe the dust away after the 24th time) and the noise was as deafening as ever, there they were, chomping heartily on our freshly cooked wares!

It was reminiscent of a August day. From the moment we had set up and poured ourselves a coffee, in they came. And came, and came.... Madness! Why the sudden rush? Who knows....., who cares?

Talking of sudden rushes, it would appear that the workmen have had a bit of a kick up the backside! They were like a swarm of bees at times today. High viz jackets everywhere... Here's some pictures of them!...

Not sure if I'm being paranoid, but the Spanish guy that has owned the restaurant across the road from us for 30 odd years and has the town hall in his back pocket, has several men outside working furiously to get the work finished, and yet us, the English couple who have been here 3 1/2 years have one knob head digging up the road outside ours AGAIN. The work started on our side of the road 7 WEEKS AGO and the front of our cafe looks like a tip. They started work on the opposite side of the road 7 DAYS ago and have nearly finished. It maybe paranoia, but I doubt it.... Here's a picture of Senor Knobhead...

Today was also the day we undertook our first property management job. It was 'only' a villa clean, but you gotta start somewhere! Our business cards arrived today from Vistaprint. Not that I'm on commission, but what a service. Paid nothing for 500 business cards, and paid just 7.99€ postage. Here's what they look like...

So after a long and busy day, I decided to have a simple supper of chicken with lentils. It's been on the menu at work on and off for a month or so, and I had never eaten it as a meal, so decided tonight was the night. I had some spinach in the fridge that the rabbit hadn't yet feasted upon, so chucked that in as well. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Although not a great picture, here's what I ate...

Okay, that's it. Time for bed!

Speak to you all soon

Jimbo

Day 197 - Actually saw some men working outside today!

A pretty quiet Monday as far as Monday's go, unless of course I am referring to the pneumatic drill that did 'it's thing' RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR DOOR...

Can you imagine this happening in England! People were just happily walking inches past as they worked! Unbelievable... On a positive note, who knows, we may be able to put our tables and chairs out tomorrow... Yeah, right! There is also the worry about the works being finished by Friday evening in time for the parade on Saturday. What do you think?...

Harrison finishes school at 4.30pm now, and as we close at 3pm, we have an hour and a half to kill every day. Today I managed to persuade Laura to have a walk along the sea front, (and a cheeky beer)! Here are some photos...

That was basically today...

Talk to you again soon

Jimbo xx