To Be or Not To Be

I was watching When Harry met Sally the other day. There were many things that I wondered about when watching this movie. One was, how could this be on ABC Family? Then of course I thought have I turned into one of those prudish parents who likes to keep sexually oriented things away from my kids? Or maybe it wasn't  family time (3:00 Sat. afternoon) the kids should be outside playing, the parents inside watching tv . I just found this to be odd.

What I really got out of the movie was all the people in the background!! It is weird, I think that I have spent the last 20 years of my life figuring out how to do things when no one is around! Before the BBC I would always work nights and weekends. My time off was when everyone else was working. No lines at the grocery store, how many people would go to a matinee on a Tues afternoon!!, when i would venture to the mall there were not as many people and the bars were not nearly as crowded or noisey on a Monday or Tuesday.

Now I am a business owner. My business is nestled between two small communities, I believe the population of the two towns is less than 5,000? I generally think it is the perfect situation. Then I see this movie, I also spent a day in downtown Newburyport MA over the summer, and wow there are people all over the place!! Do I want this? What would it be like to have a business in a place where people hang, not a business where people hang. Don't get me wrong the best part of this place is that people come here to hang. I guess it is just that I keep thinking I need to try hard,to do better and more is better.

Shoot I have only been here for six months. We are doing better than before, we see way more people come through our doors than at the old place 1 block away.

That was last week. I am not really sure where I was going with all that. Here is my re-cap so that I can move on. Seeing people in bustling downtowns over that past few weeks made me wonder, would the Black Bean do well in a well traveled area. My conclusion is that I don't want to find out just yet. We are a great business in a great local. I am a lucky man to be able to do what I do and to do it where I do. When I need a fix of crowds I will take a trip to Portsmouth. Now I will relish my life in the hamlets of South Berwick and Rollinsford.

Shine a Light

So someone mentioned this "contest" to me a month or so ago. I paid no attention. Then I saw an ad for it. Then Alice nominated me. Now I am curious. I think the BBC is a very community oriented place, the kind of place that every community needs.What the hey, I really want to see what happens with this. If you think it is at all worth your time check out the website below and shine a light on the black bean cafe!!!


Now for a brief blog update. Even though I have not blogged here all summer I have kept it up in my head! the summer has gone very well. the move has worked out well, in all ways, so far.

Josh, the cook behind the scene is off to culinary school in CA. I still keep waiting for him to stroll in and start working. We now have Heidi in the kitchen. She worked for us the first year we opened and is giving us another try. The breakfast this weekend and last weekend were amazing. California Benedict, Apple Pie French Toast and of course she has already mastered out famous corned beef hash. Like Owen says about 2nd grade, "if things go the way they have it will be the best year ever"

We have a few things in store over the next couple of weeks. We all look forward to the onset of Fall. the food starts to come alive this time of year!! Orange,greens, red and yellow show up in the food as well as in the trees. Kate, my daughter, will be getting married in October. Family will be around, and I have to get the wedding cake made!!!

I have been trying to ride my bike farther. I went about 12 miles last Monday. And 6 on Tuesday. On Friday I had a fall!! Minor injuries, unfortunately i am the only one who can see them, remember when you see me that the slow movement is from the fall, not age or is the fall from age.

I am not correcting this or anything,, if i do it will never get posted!!!!

I hope to see you all at the bean soon, the soup is on!!!!

Widget

Straight LIne

I have been making it a practice lately to ride my bike more. As it turns out I do not go very far!! While riding home from work the other day I was thinking of different routes to take. As my mind did it's usual meandering I was brought back to elementary school days. My brothers and I were going to go to the high school(which was behind out house at the time) to watch a baseball game. Uncle Joe Pacific came by and said he was going to, did we want a ride. I thought why of course why walk when you can ride? big bro said he would run there and beat us!! Wanna bet I said. Sure, and the race was on. While going there Uncle Joe said he that Johnny would win!! Not if you don't let him I thought. Then the math teacher in him came out. How could he beat us this car can go like 30mph there is no way he can run that fast. Yes but the shortest distance between two places is a straight line. Huh? Well we got there and golden boy was sitting watching the game before us, and Joe got out a paper and pencil and drew me a diagram to show me the straight line rule.

This has fascinated me for the past 40 years. I think from that day on I always looked for the straight line to places. I think it is an obsession when traveling with many people. Then many I heard the phrase you will go straight to hell if you do that! Yikes, I certainly don't want a short cut there!! While riding I think shortest distance, shortest distance, shortest distance... to success is... a straight line? Hmm what does that mean? There has to be a message here somewhere.

Okay this stuff is in my head for a week. Tuesday Becky comes in like usual. We have this sorta bartender relationship. She talks and I listen and talk back with my deep thoughts. Well she mentions how she wishes that she had just gone to baking school right off the bat instead of waiting 20 years. I being in my straight line mode am THINKING yeah then you would have gotten to this point years ago and have a successful baking business, now it will take to long and you may never get there(am I thinking this for Becky or me?). What I said was, "did you want to bake 20 years ago?" "No, it wasn't even on the radar," was the response. The conversation continued us coming up with the whole life is a journey thing and you have to take different routes to find yours blah, blah blah. This didn't really sit well with me, but I had to make breakfast for people and think of lunch specials so it was going to be the end of it for today, or at least till the bike ride home.

On the ride home I realized that there is no way to get from point a to point b in a straight line without cutting through someones yard or even house! I don't think that would be a good idea, Forest!! Now at home I look out the window ant think do I see any straight lines? Yes but not in nature? Or is that what I heard somewhere so that is what I am seeing? The tree trunk starts out straight then branches out? I am supposed to learn something here. But what. Oh well it is bed time, maybe I will figure it out tomorrow.

Okay it is now a month since I wrote this. I am to tired to re-read it and have no idea what it says anymore. Yet I have posted because I have not in so long. I hope it makes sense. I am also going to post one that I thought I posted months ago. What the heck!!

The picture was sent to me by two Black Bean customers. What a shiny place. It is fun to see it from a different perspective.

Off to bed now to read Moby Dick, this time I WILL make it past "Call me Ishmael"!

Not Again

I can't believe it, it has happened again. I set out to write this blog as soon as I got home from work today. The computer was not working properly, Owen was starving, Eliza is in her room wondering about prom, Liz is off working out and I am in charge.
Soup made,Pizza ordered, Eliza hugged (and lectured), computer re-booted. I am in business. We eat and chat. I sit down to do this and of course have to check out facebook and other blogs. Now it is 7:30 and time for me to get ready for bed. Wash up, read and lights out by 8:00.

I am forcing myself to get something written down. Everyday when I leave work I look around me in gratitude. The Black Bean is such a beautiful place. It is not just the space that makes it, it is every person who comes into the space. I thank... , whoever, for giving me this opportunity. I think that when we first re-opened I had reservations about the change in focus. That has subsided and I feel that we are well into establishing ourselves as a destination restaurant. This weekend we had the place blessed and smudged. This was done to bring us and the space's energy into sync. There has been a large amount of craziness surrounding this new space. I hope that this weekends energy work has put it all in its place, the past.

Here is to the future. This week Josh has a few neat things in store for us. Today we enjoyed a Roasted Beet salad. I think that Weds. we will have a grilled chicken with prosciutto and mushrooms. Liz is looking forward to us making her pork and tszaki greek salad. I want the roasted veggie sandwich with pesto sandwich. Also I will attempt to make a Loaf and Ladle bread that I always had a BLT on, Orange Cottage. This week for dessert we will have a peanut butter brownie, chocolate cake Jennifer's Lemon squares and peanut butter and jelly bars!!

Oh yeah it is open studio day on Sat.May 9th. We will be open till 4 !!!. This week also marks the return of Cindy in the kitchen!!! Oh what a wonderful life!!

Check In

I am sitting here with an ice pack on! I think that writing the blog will take my mind off of the throbbing tooth.

It has been 1 month since we re-opened and I have to say I am happy!!! Things are going better than expected and seem to be getting better. We are assimilating in the space. Everyday I am blown away at the space and how it is evolving into the restaurant we planned.

The breakfast and lunch continue to grow and there are new faces all of the time as well as the familiar. I have heard that 5 years is when it will start to happen. Meaning that if you get past the 5 year mark you should start to make a profit. This seems to be true. That combined with the move seems to be working for us. The Black Bean philosophy of fresh made to order real food goes well with the new Black Bean environment. What ever the reason I am slowly learning to accept it, relax , enjoy and not wait for the bottom to fall!!

Speaking of enjoying I think that we have had some pretty great specials. The Sticky Bun French Toast was delicious. We have enjoyed coming up with interesting poach specials too like the one with asparagus, tomatoes and a maple wasabi mustard sauce or Easter weekends with the fennel infused pork tenderloin with leek and mushrooms topped with sage hollandaise and fried fresh sage, yummers!!

I am looking forward to the next month and the years to come. We are slowly working out the kinks of working together and how to make it all flow efficiently in the dinning room. Right now though it is time to take something for my tooth!!

See you at the Bean!! Or see you at the BBC!! What is a better tag line? Should I have a tag line? Am I taking all of this to seriously or not seriously enough?

Are you Happy?

Have I posted this already?


It has been three weeks since we re-opened and it seems like we never closed! The environment has changed tremendously, yet it is still the Bean to me. Liz has walked out 4 times, called me numerous names I can't repeat,and yet still shows up for work everyday at 6:45 or 7 or there about! I have gone in as late as 4 and as early as 2:30. It seems that the work gets done no matter what time we get there, sometimes it is easier that others, getting to work on time helps this!! The responsibility of having a restaurant with matching silverware and chairs is incredible.

When a regular comes in and sees the difference the look of shock is always apparent. Wow this is... nice, beautiful,shiny, clean,different,bigger, smaller, the response is mostly positive. There is no denying that it is not the old Black Bean aesthetically. It is indeed really really nice. I have a hard time having all that I have there. The ability to breathe fresh air by opening a window is so great. The way the smoke just disappears through the hood when I burn something, or washing a load of dishes in under 3 minutes is mind boggling. The counter tops, the chairs, the flatware, the china, the grill, the list goes on and on.When seeing the new Black Bean many people have said Are you happy?

At firs I don't think that I really understood the question. Am I happy? When someone asks that I don't think am I happy now this instant I think am I happy in whole. Then I think why are you asking this, do I seem sad? This seems so silly, but I truly started to think about the whole question. Why would someone want to know if I was happy (with my life). Gosh there are so many things that I worry about and so many things that I would like to control and cannot, how could I possibly be happy. When I asked a few people the question most, if not all, said they were happy with their lives, content. Again I thought wow how could anyone be content with all that is going on in this world? The funny thing is I think of my self as someone who rarely takes anything seriously. Why then is this simple statement/question nagging at me? If I were to say that I was happy would I have to remain happy? Doesn't happiness come and go? Or if I said I was content would it all become boring?

Over the past 3 weeks I have come to view the question differently. "Are you happy" is not are you content, nor does it mean to encompass my life in its entirety. It is simply a question are you happy with... the change in your business? Duh, why would I think that the question had to have such poigancy? Maybe because I am so self centered and think that everyone wants to know about me? Three weeks ago I was in such a state of shock that I was not able to comprehend what was going on around me. So to answer the question, Phil are you happy (with the way it has all turned out? Yes!!Never in a million years would I have thought that I could bring to fruition such a place. It is definitely not the old Black Bean with the living room to lounge in. It is indeed a cafe/restaurant.

To be in the new place is truly refreshing. It is bright and the air flows through it. The counters and tables remind me of an era past. The new equipment makes it seem like I am playing. With all the newness around me it has been hard to remember where I am, at The Black Bean. A cafe we bought 5 years ago on a wing and a prayer. Where it would go we had no idea!! Through those years we did develop a plan. Over this past 6 months we were forced to put that plan into action. If we wanted to survive and continue we would have to change.

In all honesty I was unsure about the change. I miss the old Black Bean. I miss the relaxed atmosphere that it had. I miss the eclecticness of the place. I miss the two separate rooms, one for lounging and one for eating.I miss the peeling floors. I miss the colors. I miss the couch!! I am glad that I have so many Black Bean memories there. Like when my parents came up and blew up one of those giant snowmen in the living room, or Friday night dinners and game night(nor cross buns),open mic and potluck dinners.

I am happy. I am happy