Tuesday, July 10, 2007

july

hey, everyone --

yes, it's july. yes, we're open. this is the first time i've had to really sit & compose my thoughts enough to write.

first off, we're busy. that's for damn sure. one of my long-time regulars, upon getting turned away the other day, said he was happy that even though we're now 3 times the size (he was off a bit) the wait is still the same. it seems that bigger restaurant = more phone calls, on an exponential level. just like the old days, if you show up at 11:30 without a reservation we're gonna tell you you can get in at 1:15 or so.

second, we're not really all there yet (on many levels) -- we're waiting for shelving that was on order weeks ago but doesn't seem to really exist (my kitchen staff refers to it as the "shelving of mass destruction" -- we've got a cooler that freezes & a freezer that only cools, all brand new of course. the website still said we were closed for almost 2 weeks after we had reopened because tom, my bar guy & computer tech, happenened to be in jamaica on his honeymoon. todd's in india for the whole month.

otherwise -- hey, what the hell -- it's a restaurant again.

we're doing great numbers, we put together a dy-no-mite new staff of fun & cool people & we like each other & we don't really care so much if you enjoy the place or not.

no -- really, we tried as hard as we could to make this place seem as much like matt's as possible & i think we got at least a good deal of it right. if you think you're disoriented when you come in here, take just a moment & consider how it feels to me. i cooked on the line with the guys a couple of nights ago & i can barely keep up with the salads.i'm used to facing north when i work. i've made a full-time job of cleaning & reorganizing the office. you should see how much linen we get every couple of days.


it's good to be back. almost unanimously you people have welcomed our return openly, with friendship & genuine affection & i've missed pretty much all of you --

well, maybe not you, peter --

it's good to be back. thank you.


matt

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Hi Matt--
We have been waiting for you to re-open, and I just read your blog and it sounds great. I am Jim's (Neal) mom and my husband and I love your restaurant. So we will call and see when we can get in and hop the ferry and get over this week, hopefully. (we live in Kingston) Jim talked with you about our 50th anniversary dinner at your restaurant on Dec. 30th. We will chat about that, or Jim will, before long. In the meantime, we look forward to coming for lunch or dinner.

glad things are exciting for you.

Mary J. Neal and Gil Neal

9:03 PM  
Blogger Julie Olson said...

What can I say? The space is beautiful, light and airy, but still intimate and so lovely. The staff, as always, wonderful. ...and you, Matt, look no worse for the wear. Been there three times - the first time treading carefully as I didn't know what to expect - pleasantly surprised! See you at 12:45 this Sat - love turning people on to your new space. Julie

11:35 AM  

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