Penny Profiler #59

Betty Frost. Have you ever known someone for a long time but never really known them?  Betty is someone with whom I have crossed paths for years, often at wine and food events.  I have always had an affinity for her but never really known the source since our engagements have been in passing, until now.  Betty immediately responded to my penny query and we recently sat down for a lovely breakfast.

I learned of her deep love for animals, pastry, wine, cheese, volunteering, cooking, travel, and tomatoes (in no particular order).  She has lived in England, Italy, and Peru almost counts as a place of residence. 

Her active life and mind is no doubt a magnet for my adoration.  She radiates style, confidence, warmth and charisma.  I couldn't be more thankful for our penny exchange breakfast and look forward to strengthening the existing ties.

Maria’s Got Your Back (Literally)

As most of you know, my recent post has been working with the Maria Hines Restaurant Group, first helping open Agrodolce and the last few months as Lead Server at Tilth.  Maria was kind enough to bring me on board knowing my long term potential was limited. 

Her culinary achievements speaks for themselves and loudly:  James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest, Food & Wine Magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs, New York Times top 10 best new restaurants in the country, Iron Chef winner, and all three of her restaurants certified organic under Oregon Tilth. Only ten restaurants in the nation have the latter certification by the way. 

As impressive, it is worth noting that Maria is a board member with PCC Farmland Trust.  Their mission is to secure, preserve and steward threatened farmland in the Northwest, ensuring that generations of local farmers productively farm using sustainable, organic growing methods. The Farmland Trust takes its mission one step further by working to place farmers on rescued property, actively producing food for the local community. To date, PCC Farmland Trust has saved eight farm properties, totaling 1169 acres that support 13 organic farms.

Hopefully it is obvious how she has your culinary back, but wait there’s more!  Maria is in the process of updating the dining room at Tilth with a fresh paint job and new chairs, slated for a debut later this summer.  Knowing firsthand the daunting list of expenses for getting started, she has gifted me these green chairs.  They will undoubtedly get a little makeover before the B&H introduction but I am a firm believer in good juju and given the great dining experiences guests have had in them to date, I am beyond grateful for this amazing gesture. We want to make her proud and the future guests of B&H.

Penny Profiler #58

Yes, I intentionally skipped #57.  You'll see why soon enough.

#58 is dedicated to Mr. Gary Simeral. Gary is one of the most loyal and generous customer I have ever met.  His work routine brought him to the market weekly and he made a point of coming by The Tasting Room on each visit.  He would talk to anyone that would listen, attend every event we hosted, and for a man in his mid seventies still finds the time to tend to his several hundred roses, collect art, travel, and run his own business.

I have no doubt that Gary will be sitting at the bar upon opening, and I can only hope the neighbor to either side will indulge in his hair raising stories from yesteryear.

Penny Profiler #56

Kristen Winn.  Industry relations connected us while she was at DeLille Cellars and me at the Washington Wine Commission.  Needless to say our worlds have commingled for the better part of a decade and recent times have spawned deeper roots.  It is humbling to join in the transition from colleagues to friends.  I am grateful for the evolution and can't help but hope that B&H will initiate the same sort of introductions and conversions for the people that find themselves within our walls.

Kristen’s foot in the artistic world is such a gravitational lure.  Her peaceful and imaginative demeanor continues to inspire.  In addition to being a professional woman in the wine world, you can find her works of art online at www.kristenwinn.com

Hope Springs Eternal

Spring symbolizes new life and lends to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation and renewal.  For me, it has generally been a time of awakening and development.  This year is no exception. 

As the winter season rounded out and 2013 became a reality, I have spent the last several months with my head down and working hard within the Maria Hines Restaurant group.  Maria is an advocate for growth and personal development and she has fostered my curiosity with open arms.  I am forever grateful for this opportunity.

The last few months have also delivered property and bank negotiations.  Formal offers are being penned and SO hopeful of securing a permanent resting space for B&H.  I invite anyone willing, to cross your fingers, light a candle, do a Hail Mary, or rub a rabbit’s foot for us.  We could use the extra good vibes. 

Our Future Logo

A logo by definition is a graphic mark or emblem to aid and promote instant public recognition. Logos are either purely graphic (symbols/icons) or are composed of the name of the organization.  It anchors a company's brand and becomes the single most visible manifestation of the company. 

Over the last several months, I have worked with a myriad of designers and have narrowed the designs to three finalists.  As the search continues for our space we’ll hold off on making any final decisions on our logo and that also includes color and sizing. 

Factors that go into our final decision include: memorability, distinctiveness, likability  alignment to our brand look & feel, and appropriateness.

I welcome your feedback on the design(s) that appeal to you.

Glass Bottle Recycling

Call it a creative outlet for all my spare time or just temporary insanity.  The idea was birthed a few years ago while doing a holiday retail stint and fell in love with recycled beer bottles cut off and used as water glasses.  I conducted a little research and at the time deduced that doing it myself was more than I wanted to bite off.  Fast forward and a dear friend had sent me an article on the subject to reignite my obsession with making my own water glasses for B&H.   It didn't hurt that my present employer was turning up an endless supply of wine bottles for experimentation.

So at the end of January my dad and I set out to give it a whirl.  Sad to say, our first go at it did not produce a solid return on investment and left us feeling rather deflated.  I had purchased the Green G2 Bottle Cutter (roughly $25) as featured in the article and our success rate was at best 1 out of 10.  That model was returned and with the recommendation from a friend the Kinkajou was purchased and we are now feeling a much greater sense of accomplishment at almost a 50% success rate.

The process is quite simple and affordable, it’s just rather time consuming as you can imagine.  About ten hours in and less than $100 invested I have a dozen glasses so far.  Clearly I have my work cut out for me and pops if we’re going to have enough to supply B&H.  My supplies are limited to rubber gloves, an SOS pad, steel mesh scrubber, my grandma’s old paring knife, and the Kinkajou cutter.

First, I take home any used bottles I can find from beer to water, or wine.  I soak them for a night in water to assist with the label removal, and then I scrub off the glue residue to get a clean surface.  Once the bottles are dry they’re ready to be scored.  Once the etching in the bottle has been made you simply alternate running hot and cold water along the score mark until it breaks off at the seam.  Protective eye wear is suggested.  Sanding the edges is the last step to ensure a smooth, clean surface.  

I probably won’t make another entry on the subject so you’ll just have to see when the doors open if this obsession continues.

An Unlikely Valentine

When this season delivered me a cold, I turned to Bourbon for consolation.  It is probably safe to say that when the season doesn't deliver a cold, I also turn to Bourbon for consolation.  It is my favorite winter spirit and can thankfully sooth a stubborn cough.

Classic cocktails are among the first in line for my taste buds and when I was recently turned on to this little gem, it was love at first taste.  Sometimes mistakenly called a whiskey Negroni, the Boulevardier cocktail actually predates the Negroni.  A tasty combination of bourbon, sweet vermouth and Campari, this cocktail is simple to prepare and a deliciously layered drink.

You may or may not be surprised to learn that most of my industry chums would name the Negroni or the Manhattan as their favorite cocktail, but it did come as a surprise to see several of my seasoned colleagues scratching their heads when asked to make a Boulevardier.  It is classically prepared with two parts American whiskey (rye or bourbon work equally well), with one part each sweet vermouth and Campari.  Stir ingredients together in a mixing glass filled with ice, strain into either a stemmed cocktail glass or a rocks glass with ice, to preference.  Garnish with a twist of lemon or orange zest.

Turning back a few pages to the early 1900's, Harry McElhone, the proprietor of Harry's New York penned the drink in his book "Barflies and Cocktails" and gave credit to Erskine Gwynne as the actual inventor.  Erskine was a well-off American living in Paris to start a magazine called The Boulevardier.

So tonight as the lights dim in the restaurant and the dining room is vacant and we are left only with the essence of love from all the couples that once filled it, I will belly up to the bar and have a drink in Mr. Gwynne's honor.  Oh Boulevardier, won't you be my Valentine?

Penny Profiler #55

Norm Babcock & Micki Kent.  These darlings are relatively new acquaintances turned friends.  You see Norm is the father to a wonderful man, Rand, that I am also lucky to call a friend.  A few years back Norm and his beloved girlfriend Micki joined our Christmas Eve tradition and I instantly fell in love. 

I think it is safe to say that they have more combined interests and hobbies than any other couple I know.  They are vital, active, sweet, engaging, curious, funny, and wickedly creative. Such an inspiration!

Their generous penny collection arrived in the piggy bank pictured above and I think it’s safe to say she’ll find a new home in the future office of B&H. 

Today also happens to commence the Chinese New Year.  This 2013 year of the Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail.  Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create.  

Crowdfunding

In the field of economics, the new buzz word seems to be crowdfunding.  By definition it is “the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically, via the Internet.”

In conjunction with generating pre-opening word of mouth, Brimmer & Heeltap is considering taking part.  This is a unique pre-business marketing tool that has gained considerable momentum in the past few years.  The concept is pretty simple and maximizes social media and internet usage to propagate advance funding as well as publicity.  We would first set a preliminary financial goal and pitch our unique culinary concept that will also detail material incentives to participate in the business start-up.  An unlimited audience then has the opportunity to get in at the ground floor.

According to a great Forbes article, the idea of “it’s not what you do, but why you do it,” really sends it home. By focusing on a bigger purpose, the driving force behind a brand, project creators will be able to create a unique community of like-minded individuals. Each campaign is set for a goal amount of money and a fixed number of days. Once the project is launched,each day will be counted down and the money raised will be tallied up for visitors to follow its success.

A great additional benefit to crowdfunding is its economical helping hand. Anything that aids in generating revenue is needed in our sluggard economy, and crowdfunding has proven to be a powerful force.  Not only is it pumping small businesses with desperately needed lifeblood, but it is also encouraging entrepreneurs to continue creating even in the face of slower times.

There are numerous crowdfunding platforms where consumers can safely ask for or donate money. Here are a few of the most rated:

•       ProFunder - www.profunder.com

•       Kickstarter - www.kickstarter.com

•       Indiegogo - www.indiegogo.com

•       Crowd Funder - www.crowdfunder.com

•       WeFunder - www.wefunder.com

•       Peerbackers - www.peerbackers.com

•       StartupAddict - www.startupaddict.com