Claudia and I have now for the most part contributed and decided all we can contribute or decide as to the fit up, construction and equipment. (View a pdf of construction photos.) We now leave it in Paul Mansback’s talented hands and do what we do best, food, beverage and hospitality.

Along with Chef Keith Rennie, we have made the decisions on the opening menu. It was difficult indeed. Each of us came with a library of ideas and taste opinions. I must say that what you will see, you have not seen before in Manchester. Some ingredients will be familiar, but the presentations hopefully will surprise and entertain you. Expect the offerings to morph as we explore and refine our technique and please be vocal. We can take it and look forward to it.

Just as when Claudia may bring up a remembered taste or ingredient, Keith would expand on how he used something similar with a small addition or I chime in on how we may have also seen it in some small cafe somewhere and reproduced it with a slight variation, we would add your experiences to our catalog. We are having a very good time……

In January if you taste something we have cooked and it reminds you of a meal in some other city on a wonderful vacation, we would love to hear it. We may use it and if you are very vocal, I guess we will have to give you credit.

—Ed

Not only is Paul an accomplished designer and tradesman, but now you can add treasure hunter to the list. As he was pulling up floor boards he stopped and behold…… a diamond! From the start of construction every one was joking about finding a mother load  of  jewels hidden away and long forgotten. Workman occasionally mistook a shard of glass, or some piece of colored detritus for a gem, but now the first find. It’s not big, barely larger than the head of a pin, but it is shiny  and it cut glass. Its power as a good omen is far weightier than its size in carats. We will find a place for it in lieu of that “first dollar” always pasted behind the register.

All major hardware is ordered and en route. Our chef starts on Monday as does the R&D. We look to put on staff just after Christmas with training beginning first of the year. Opening still on target for January 11.

If you see me doing the Walter Houston dance (Treasure of Sierra Madre) on Elm Street, you know that we found that bag of gems.

Ed

It may not look like it, but much has been going on. To date, and with the aid of a talented and dedicated designer and GC, Paul Mansback, we have finalized a design and we now have most of the construction bids in hand. The Kitchen equipment has been identified along with the furniture, and lighting fixtures. Our building permits should be in hand by the end of next week then the project begins in earnest.

Once all the decisions are made as to the construction and hardware, the most important work will begin, menu development, product and vendor identification, and wine list. Claudia and I will have to suffer through the arduous task of tasting all the food that our chefs will be testing and working our way though uncountable bottles of wine.
More to come…

Ed