Until now I have been a bit cryptic about the direction of the menu. It has nothing to do with paranoia ( although there is this strange man that always seems to park behind me???) but much to do with honing our focus. The culinary direction has always had a Mediterranean influence, but what a large body of water it is, and so many cultures add to its flavor.

Chef Keith, Claudia and I have spent more hours talking recipes, delving into uncountable and obscure cookbooks and re-mixing recipes than I care to recount. Add to the mix that we intend to source 100% of our meats and poultry within the region and out of the corn economy, and participate fully in the newly emerging NH Farm to Restaurant initiative that by Summer will supply 90% of our produce and we hope 100% of our cheese. Our heads have been spinning.

We now have and will soon release to only those of you who are on the blog, our first draft. We will be asking you to place your first orders as if you were in the restaurant for the first time and offer opinions. As I said in my earlier email, we can take it and look forward to your responses. You will see items that are inspired by cuisines from France, Spain, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia and, of course, Italy.

We will offer a menu that is predominately non-protein based with wonderful seafood selections and augmented with naturally raised beef, lamb and port which will be featured as blackboard specials. Chef has made contact with a unique character in northern NH that beginning in March will be raising all of our chickens and hopefully ducks.

Then there is the wine, Oh so much wine have I had to suffer through. Even know as I write this I am slogging through another …… well more on this later. Look to the email for the menu.

—Ed