I like bratwurst and
I like beer…
I like burgers,
and I guess I’m gonna have to start liking Bourbon too. Before Monday, when The B Spot opens.
Check out more of my sneak peek of The B-Spot & don’t forget to enter my Shop Local Holiday Challenge (lots of freaking awesome local prizes)! You can enter as many times as you would like!
xoxo bitches
That’s right friends. You heard me correctly. THE Bobby Flay loves Greenhouse Tavern chicken wings. THE Bobby Flay who runs 400 million successful restaurants, is married to my favorite ex L & O DA (if you can figure that out then we should be bestest friends), & THE Bobby Flay who made over 15 gazillion million dollars last year, LOVES LOVES LOVES our chicken wings.
Evidence:
I know the above fact because as a Chef’s Widow sometimes I get lucky enough to be invited to some really fucking awesome events. One of these events happened last Sunday at Lola and then later at The Greenhouse. The event was an event that Mike Symon does every year and holds near and dear to his heart. Share Our Strength is an organization whose goal is NO KID HUNGRY. A beautiful goal. The entire evening was very inspirational and quite emotional. Listening to the cold facts about hungry children in our country is devastating and somewhat hard to believe. The whole night got me thinking about charity. As a restaurant we are given many opportunities to participate alongside charities. We do benefit dinners, we give away gift certificates & cooking classes, and we participate in other restaurants charity events. We haven’t however really aligned our restaurant with any particular charity. Symon does an SOS dinner every year. This year alone he raised $55,000 $95,000 (early morning text from Symon letting me know my faux pas)for the cause. Way awesome. We support Slow Food however that is more of an organization (an awesome one at that) than a charity. This leads me to believe that we (as a business) need to align ourselves with a charity. But how do we choose?
I have always been a write the check kind of girl when it comes to charity. When Global Green sends me a letter, I send them money. When the (RED) organization asks me to buy (RED) products like computers & clothes, I do. I would like to choose an organization that we can support year round. We could have events, drink specials, or even classes were a portion goes to our charity of choice. I suppose that is something that I should start to research. I (and the Chef) wholeheartedly believe in giving back to the world that gives us so much. And we are very fortunate enough to have a tool to do so. I would love suggestions of strong organizations (local, international, and national) that are sucessful, beneficial, and true. xoxo
Now back to Bobby Flay.
The SOS dinner was delicious and beautiful, however the afterparty was the funk. Symon asked the Chef to host it at The Greenhouse Tavern and host he did. The tavern rented a Slushee machine and made Dark & Slushies and Watermelon Coolers. Afreakinmazing. At the afterparty I watched Bobby Flay inhale a plate (s) of chicken wings, I played Bocce Ball against Jonathan Waxman (and won!), and I was 1/3 of a Nolan sandwich(see below). Not bad for a night in the Cleve.
The lovely Ms. Symon, myself, and Nolan enjoy a little sandwich time
***There is exactly 33 minutes left to try and wine a kickass swag bag from Chef’s Widow. Bonne Chance.
***And if you are feeling so inclined please check out Bon Appetit’s Top Ten Best New Restaurants and leave your comments about your GHT experience.
It seems we’ve got a hater on our hands. Someone’s getting crazy with the haterade.
Boo ya. Congrats my dear friend. You deserve it. Thank you (and Lizzie) for being such a fabulous chef and such an important part of our family.
I’m still not gonna make out with you though. xoxo
More congrats to Emily & Michael who were our big Caption This contest winners! Please send me your address so I can get you some awesome Greenhouse Tavern tees.
Opening a restaurant is no easy feat and it times it seems that it would have just been easier to move to the Keys, open a 10 seater, and relax. The Greenhouse Tavern started out as a small idea the Chef & I had back when we first moved back from NYC. Then it grew and grew and grew and soon had become a full fledged corporation with a business plan, investors, and all. The Chef’s vision was what defined the inception of the tavern however with a larger company and more people , the vision was constantly questioned, criticized, and changed. This became hard for me to watch. Actually it still is quite hard for me to watch. You see I 175,000% trust my husband. I trust his food. I trust his knowledge. I trust the fact that he has opened 4 restaurants in his life (all before the age of 27), one of which he received a 2 star review from The New York Times, and another that was declared the Best Restaurant of 2008 by Cleveland Magazine. He has received awards, been on long lists, and been a constant figure in the culinary scene. And his food is incredible. In short he’s a badass who knows what he is doing when it comes to restaurants. {By the way I know if he’s reading this he is embarassed as holy hell & definitely wants to kill me. I love you honey.}
Basically I get emotional. I know that there are other people involved in this restaurant. I know people have invested their time and their money to see the Chef’s vision become a realty. But I’ll be honest. It wears on me and it wears thin. There are times when I think how much easier it would have been….could’ve been if we chose another path. But we didn’t, and I am glad 90% of the time. And now that in just 3 short weeks I will get to see my husband in a kitchen again doing what he does best and I know seeing that will erase all of the drama, all of the emotional anger & energy, all of the crap that goes into opening an awesome fucking restaurant.
Last night we hung with Mike & Lizzie (& got to check out Mike’s AWESOME Cookbook). Mike told a story about his and Lizzie’s trip to the SoBe Food & Wine Festival. When Mike spoke about their night it was so obvious that his time spent with his wife is still as genuine as it was 5 restaurants ago. They were hilarious in the story and in telling the story, and I truly saw a vision of the Chef & my future. Is that weird? I guess it was just encouraging to see a couple. who had been thru ten times the shit the Chef & I have been through. that still smiled at each other.
Through all of this I know that eventually the Chef will be successful, his restaurants will thrive, and his career will grow. I see that in him. I always have. I just have to trust that everyone else will as well. And believe me people, I know that my husband needs input. Any great business person needs input and the Chef surrounds himself with great people for that reason. The team working on The Greenhouse Tavern is by far the most eclectic, creative, and intelligent group of people I have known to open a restaurant. They have their shit together and it shows. Without them there would be no restaurant and I know that and I am thankful for their input the majority of the time. Every now & then though….
Peace & War Bitches.
****Seriously kids I totally got a sneak peak at Symon’s new cookbook and I must say that I absolutely love it (also he mentions the Chef a few times which is super cool). And I ABSOLUTELY do not love cookbooks. In face I kind of despise them. Granted I also despise cooking but that’s another story. Head over to Amazon for the presale of Live to Cook.
*****Also the widow may not be as consistent as she usually is. I got hired to write my first magazine piece for next month and my focus has gotta be on that. Wish me luck cause I am hella nervous.
******The Greenhouse Tavern will serve food in the month of March. Details on the website.
How cute does Symon look in this pic? I gotta embarrass him a little you know:)
From Guest Blogger/Chef Michael Symon:
So after a crazy couple days at the SOBE wine and food festival I am back in Ctown and ready to roll.
The event was absolutely amazing. We did the Best of the Best party for 2500 ppl with some of the countries greatest chefs including Paul Kahan, Jonathan Waxman, Nate Appleman, Rick Tramanto, Michael Mina & Morimoto..just to name a few. I also did two sold out demos to great crowds that where having a blast to say the least. This event is one of the greatest parties on earth and i highly recommend attending if you haven’t already. Lee really knows how to give the people the perfect balance of food, wine, entertainment and education and my hat goes off to the entire SOBE team.
Upon returning I found out that my book, Live to Cook just went on presale on Amazon. This book has been well over a year in the making and has been one of the toughest and most enjoyable projects of my life. It will have stories and recipes from my childhood until now and to say I am proud of it would be a vast understatement. I really need to thank Michael and Donna Ruhlman for making the process enjoyable and Rica for pushing us to do such a great book…You can presale order it HERE.
As a friend and reader of Chef’s Widow I have offered up a copy for a giveaway when it comes out. So keep reading and keep your eye out for the release of Live to Cook:Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen .
Live to Cook, MS
Chef\'s Widow Moments
