My wife and I are huge fans of Frank Herbert's "Dune" series. We love it so much we quote it constantly to each other and even to those who have no earthly idea what the hell we're talking about. We have read all the books and watched both movies. Now, when it comes to the movies, we agree that the more recent one that was put out by the Sci-Fi channel follows the story line closer, but we enjoy David Lynch's 1984 version much better. One my favorite scenes the Lynch version is when Piter De Vries has been summoned by the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen to explain how they are going to over throw House Atredies. The conversation goes something like this:
Piter, "As you instructed me, I have enlightened your nephews on my plan...."
The Baron, "MY plan!"
An exasperated Piter, "the...plan, to crush the Atredies."
So, here is "the" plan for The Cooks' House. As most of you have probably heard, we have been told we can't allow wine to be brought into the restaurant anymore. It has thrown somewhat of a monkey wrench into the cogs but it's not going to slow us down. We have adapted and most of our fine guests understand it wasn't our idea. So, we are applying for a liquor license but do not expect to see this until March or so.
We are going to be applying for a DDA license but currently state law requires a restaurant to have at least 50 seats, but with the help of Senator Allen we are trying to get this changed to a more do-able number. I'm not sure what said number of seat will be but whatever they (the law makers) settle on it will be what we need to get our license.
With that said, whatever the number of seats will be, we are sure the current location of the restaurant is not big enough. We have jumped through every hoop, looked for every possibility, begged for any exemption we could to stay in our current location but everything we tried was met with a resounding, "NO!" leaving us with no other option but to move The Cooks' House into the space our other restaurant, The Wellington Street Market, is. We are planning to take all the best of market and incorporate it into The Cooks' House while keeping The Cooks' House as our flagship. We will still offer the curries, our most popular sandwiches and other plates, the take out dinner, etc. while also bringing to the table everything people love about The Cooks' House.
While we were not so hot on the idea in the beginning we have actually started to look forward to it. I have believe that what is necessary is often also the right thing to do and if we follow the same thinking we did when we opened The Cooks' House, that is, to allow events to unfold naturally without us getting in the way then what comes out in the end will be the right path for to follow. The trick is to not get in the way of the natural progression of change that is the one constant in the universe.
What we are looking forward to is making The Cooks' House an even better restaurant than it is now. We will have the room to improve many aspects of the restaurant that we can't do in our current location simply because of the lack of space. Most important is Jen and I will be able to cook together again in the same kitchen. Over the past couple years we have not had much of a chance to cook together and we miss that part. We look forward to refocusing our efforts together to draw the strings tight and present an improved version of our food. We are always looking for ways to make the restaurant better and with this new direction we have been pushed in, we think we will come out even better than we are now.
We have lots of plans for our new space. People already identify that space with us anyway and so we don't think the shock will be to great. We plan on transferring the feel of The Cooks' House over to our new space and all the things you love about us now will be there. And as an added bonus, the things we have discovered we don't like about our current space, ie. the guest going home smelling like dinner, the smoke that accumulates when we are busy, the damned heat of the restaurant when it is hot outside (we have already contracted to have central air put in the new location), and well, you all know the draw backs to our current location so fill in the blank___________________________________________.
So that's THE plan. The Cooks' House may have hit a bump in the road but it is only a minor one. We will remain the restaurant you have grown to love but with the added bonus of bettering ourselves. Hope you come along on the ride with us.
chef eric
vor of what is grown but what actually grows in a given region; the barks, weeds, grasses, berries, sprouts, shoots, etc., that can be found in the local region. For me it's not only usingwh us some of her whiles and ways. We want to discover the cuisine of Northern Michigan. We want to listen to the spirit and terroir and help it find it's way onto a plate. The beauty
Posted by: free essays | January 07, 2012 at 12:49 AM