matt's in the making

Top floor of the Corner Market Building

2007-09-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

The bar at the top of the Market.
For reservations, please call (206) 467-7909

computer guy in jamaica

2007-07-10T18:49:00.001-07:00

july

2007-07-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the lunch crowd...

WE'RE OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-06-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

we're open!

for right now, lunch is every day, 11:30 - 2:30

dinner is monday - saturday, 5:00 - 10:00

for reservations, please call 467-7909

see you!

june 18

2007-06-18T15:31:00.002-07:00

ok, here goes --

if things go just right, we're hoping to load this place with food, prep up & make sure we still know what the hell we're doing, go get some wine & booze & open the doors -- it'll mean a couple of practice sessions and a bunch of cleaning & organization, & then perhaps we'll be open some time over the weekend.

i really wish i had better info for you -- we've gotten a couple of inspections under our belt, with about 3 to go, including the health inspection thursday afternoon. the hood is ready, most of the plumbing is connected but we may have to repair part of the gas line, some of the cabinets aren't here & some of the equipment either got delivered incorrectly or wasn't even ordered. so it goes.

we're getting all of our staff together tonight to go over a game plan. we're all ready for you.

matt

today's news

2007-06-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

it's wednesday the 13th -- keep it to yourselves, but we'll be open sometime next week -- say, by friday the 22nd? no shit.

the equipment is all in & being hooked up -- the hood is about 99% complete. our health inspection is scheduled for monday the 18th. after that, we can prep & go.

thanks for watching & waiting -- catffish is about to be had.

i will post again the evening of the 18th.

2007-06-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

look for us soon!

2007-06-13T13:31:00.001-07:00

it's gonna be a kitchen

2007-06-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

chet still thinks we're using butane

2007-06-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

needs more cowbell...

2007-06-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

It's quite the space...

Somethin's cookin'...as they say in Jamaica: "Soon come..."

tuttle ... buttle ...

2007-06-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

june 7

2007-06-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

here's the word --

the hood, as you can see if you scroll down, is here. it's hanging from the ceiling & almost hooked up. we've got our dishmachine in place, the tile work is mostly done & even the speakers are hanging.

we will be open this month -- right now, we've got a pretty good idea of when that'll be but we're gonna keep it to ourselves for a couple more days.

bear with us & keep watching. thanks.

matt

these are lisa's tulips

2007-06-07T14:58:00.001-07:00

meet the producer?

2007-06-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

a hood came in through the window ...

2007-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

2007-06-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

in a blue moon .....

2007-06-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

the hood is in!

first thing this morning, under the blue moon, they took out the southwest window & swung it in. five feet by twelve, it wouldn't fit up the stairs. now it gets installed & a hole is cut through the roof & we're a lot closer to being there. as soon as tom helps me with the pictures i'll show you.

speaking of the blue moon, i don't know if you were out last night late but there it was, hanging fat in the sky, with jupiter just above & to the left.

if you get the chance, get hold of a decent telescope & take a look at jupiter -- the best viewing is coming up from now to june 9. jupiter's cool because you can clearly see its moons, all 4 or 5 of them, strung out in a spiral around the planet. watch for a while & you'll be able to follow the motion of whichever one it is that's got the closest orbit, going around. back in the 17th or 18th century some guy developed a system for telling accurate time -- and therefore, longitude -- by charting all of the various positions of the moons for an entire year. i'm not sure how easy it would have been to have tracked those moons from the top of a mast on a ship at sea, but it's for sure it wouldn't do you much good in cloudy weather.

what's the time?

2007-05-31T11:38:00.001-07:00

so this guy is driving down the highway & passes an orchard. he sees this farmer holding up a pig so that it can gobble apples right off the tree. the pig is going crazy eating apples.

"that's the craziest thing i ever saw," the guy tells himself & he pulls over to the side of the road, gets out of the car, & goes up to the farmer.

"hey, i couldn't help noticing what you were doing. does your pig like apples?"

the farmer says, "my pig loves apples."

"well, if you don't mind my saying so, if you took a stick & knocked the apples on the ground instead of lifting the pig up, you would save lots of time."

and the farmer answers, "what's time to a pig?"

-- michael kaminsky, pig perfect

see you soon?

it's gonna be june

2007-05-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

hello. it's gonna be june.

as much as i've tried to be in denial about it, that's the word. late june at that, at best.

there's just too much still to do, and perhaps a couple of things that have to be redone, most notably involving the hood. as you can see from tom's latest photos, the bar top is in. the counter tiles are going in soon, shelving is going up, the dishmachines are here & the hot water tank is installed (it's nice & big -- we like hot water). some time next week the hood will be coming in via the window -- we'll try to get photos.

so there you have it, again. i'm not even going to throw out any dates until we get closer, though i have a couple of ideas. if it's any consolation to you, i usually go without lunch, too.

since i've got a bit of time on my hands, i took a part-time job the other day. if you want to come see me, you can find me cooking in madrona at restaurant cremant, sunday & monday nights (reservations are recommended -- 322-4600). the place is great, the food's really good -- it's great practice for me & it gets my ass off the couch. plus, i live a couple of blocks away -- you can't beat the commute.

there you have it for now -- i'm off to cook catfish sandwiches for the staff of delaurenti. i'll be in touch.

happy 33, chet!

matt

The Bar

2007-05-21T17:19:00.001-07:00

How about a Scotch?

the ides of may

2007-05-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

well, it's now mid-may

unfortunately, we're really nowhere near there yet.

back in late march/early april, when delays had put us seriously behind, it was necessary for our contractors to go onto other job commitments. like pushing a big snowball down a hill (a little spokane lore for you there), this set us back everywhere -- mechanical permits, fabrication of equipment, everything. to make it worse, our head guy on the job had a long-planned vacation -- in south africa -- and as soon as he got back a little over a week ago he went right into the hospital for emergency surgery.

ken's fine, by the way, though a little immobilized and perhaps rather fond of his percoset. as of yesterday he & i have begun to set the wheels back into motion.

so here's the latest, and i should know more at the end of the day:

- mechanical is complete. this means we have permits in hand for the installation of the hood, pending coordination with our landlord, the pda, for the roof penetration. if you were to come in to look at the restaurant right now, you'd see that the entire back kitchen & dish area walls are painted & the fire retardant wall panels are installed. it's all ready for the hood, the back kitchen stainless wall & then all of the hot, cold & plumbing appliances. amazingly, once we can set that date for penetration the whole thing can be done in a matter of a couple of days, from bringing the stuff up the stairs to plugging it in & turning it on.

- the much-talked-about gas line is ready. the market made it past all of the red tape the city could deal & have gotten everything prepared for us -- it's now just pending the installation of the hood & final connections of our plumbing lines.

- the liquor license is in hand. after lost applications in the mail & a good deal of miscommunication, we've achieved the right to "dispense" liquor (i love that word).

- our tile-work has yet to be done. that was to be ken's baby, but he's now unable to do the heavy work so we're farming the job out. we think we've got the guys to do it.

so, once we get our equipment in & connected, there's still a bunch of finish work to be done, lighting installation, stereo hookup, etc. we're looking at some weeks. i wish it weren't so.

on the positive side, we've hired some great people -- i'm looking forward to working with the new team. some new faces, a bunch of familiar ones. the restaurant is looking wonderful -- we actually pulled off a wedding in there last saturday and, although it was lot of work, it came off well. the room's good for a party - tom's a natural at shaking a cocktail.

there you have it. i should know more by the end of the day -- whenever i feel i can give out a new calendar, i will do so. keep thinking good thoughts, watch out for wolfowitz & go get out in the sun.

matt

New Menus!

2007-05-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

Dinner
(Click on menu to view)

Lunch

new hours, new menus

2007-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

hey, here's what's new this week --

- we've set our hours for the new place.

having the extra prep space & the lounge gives us better flexibility, so we'll be keeping part of the room open with a smaller menu during the afternoons & later into the evening. we'll also start opening earlier on the weekends with some breakfast-oriented items on the menu as well as our standard lunch stuff. and, we're going to add sundays & monday nights.

here's the schedule:

lunch monday - friday, 11:30 - 2:30 lounge appetizers 3:00 - 5:00

saturday-sunday, 9:00 - 3:00

dinner monday - saturday, 5:00 - 10:00 sunday 4:00 - 7:00

if we schedule special events like wine dinnners, maybe we'll mostly do them on sundays

- we've drafted lunch & dinner menus for opening.

i'm not savvy enough to figure out how to upload them onto this blog, but i've hung copies outside the restaurant & sent copies to tom to post on the website. if you see me out around town, pretty much anywhere but in the sauna, i'm probably carrying a marked-up copy i can show you.

we like it. having more equipment may not be so damn cute as before, but it opens up a lot more menu possibilities. the oyster sandwich comes back, the range of salads & appetizers is bigger & we're reintroducing entrees to the lunch menu. of course we're keeping the catfish & tuna sandwiches (going back to ahi tuna) but now we can also serve a lamb burger from don & joe's meats. we've also decided to make the commitment to serving humanely-treated, hormone-free animals & sustainable fish. i think pigs are pretty cool, but i still like eating them.

so it goes. it's good talking at you -- i kind of feel like a radio dj, hoping someone's out there listening. we've actually been sitting idle for a couple of weeks for various reasons but we should be swinging back into the loop this week -- as soon as i have a newly-estimated timeline, i'll share it. believe me, i am looking forward to seeing you all. well, maybe not you, peter.

enjoy the sun while we've got it.

matt