Thoughts on a Menu

I have been thinking about posting some sample menus just to get some ideas about a menu up so that folks can see where my head is. But, the more I thought about it and the more I wanted to create, the more I thought about space, time, heat and storage. It's great to be able to create in a vacuum, but what is difficult is to create beautiful, delicious food that is easily finished ala minute (at the last minute) and efficiently plated, then reproduced quickly for the next order if need be.

You can formulate and plan, trying to figure out the best setup for your station, mise en place (how to place the ingredients within your reach) but until the kitchen is in place, putting it together in your head, without the true crush of service is an exercise in futility.

Another complication, albeit minor is the issue of storage/cooler space. The kitchen we are looking at is very small. The entire restaurant is, in fact, small -- just under 900 square feet. So getting small enough pack sizes that will still be enough to get by may be an issue we will need to deal with at some time in the future.