Thursday is a full load of meeting manufacturer’s reps. Thursday night, however, the fine folks of Ice-O-Matic took us to a really nice steak house. Ok, “really nice” is an understatement. I did not keep track of what everyone had, but I had the best NY Strip I have ever had in my life. I also shared an appetizer that was different, but oh, so good! It is the Goute' 33, consisting of Gulf Shrimp Remoulade with 1/2 dozen Deviled Eggs, 2 Smoked Trout, 2 Crab Ravigote, and 2 traditional Caviar with Ghost Pepper. This made Mama's deviled eggs look really bad. Well, it made everybody's deviled eggs look really bad. Best deviled eggs EVER!
Viv had the Filet, which looked very good. Denis had a Lump Crab Cake that he said was terrific. The service was exceptional, and the atmosphere very nice. The only problem was the noise level. You almost had to yell over the roar of everyone in the building. Go to www.galatoires33brandsteak.com to see the menu and watch the video. Great steak house! After the wonderful meal it was time for a walk. Bourbon Street was getting into full swing, and my wife had never been on Bourbon Street. I think she is in for a shock. I do not intend on elaborating on the sights of Bourbon Street, but I think Viv is still in shock. You just don't see things like this back home. Thank God!
Friday was a day full of meet and greet, and room service again. This is getting old. It’s ok sometimes. I really don't feel bad about room service and TV. I’m here because I love the foodservice business. I love selling restaurant equipment, designing kitchens, and at one time, installing the equipment that we sold. I always wanted to be the last person out of the building when we installed a new restaurant. All the stainless shined up and sparkling, to me it’s really a work of art. Now when you come back for a visit two months later, the shine has gone somewhat, and you can see a few dents, scratches and heat marks. Now it’s a working kitchen, and most of them are workhorses turning out several different menu items and in a short amount of time.
Some kitchens will serve several hundred people in a very short time span and all this happens in the planning stages. The right questions need to be asked and answered as realistically as possible. The main question is "What's on the menu?” Then, you need a delivery area for the food truck, and dish wash area. I could go on for days about how you build a good functional kitchen and my learning experiences in getting to where I am now.
