Dear Feastlings,
Had I but gone to trade school. Working in restaurants for 44 years, I’ve learned my share- I install a thermocouple in a oven, do some basic wiring, melt the ice off the condenser of a refrigerator and swap out a motor, or a pump, or any other part of a swamp cooler. But today a transformer went out in the dining room, and the electrician who’ll be fixing it can’t come until Thursday morning. So if you’ve dreamt of coming to Feast to eat by candlelight, tonight and tomorrow are the nights for you.
It was while I was on the phone trying to find a transformer here in town that Mike came into the office, and, hearing me talk electrical talk, assumed that I was already dealing with the refrigerator- the newest refrigerator, mind you- whose temperature was climbing steadily and is now filled with ice as if it were the turn of the 20th century. I wasn’t. The lighting going out and the refrigerator going out simultaneously is no great surprise- I looked into the sky last night and tried to convince myself that we’d be unscathed by the full moon, but anyone who’s spent any time in hospitality or retail knows that the effects of the full moon are real and palpable. And I don’t know what it means that this one is referred to as a Worm Moon, but I can’t imagine it bodes well.
I don’t blame the foundering of various pieces of equipment on the full moon, or on the fact that Mercury is in retrograde, as a few of our former staff would invariably note at the failure of so much as a light bulb. I am, however, inclined to regard as the foreboding of more hardship and distress. Oh, Worm Moon, why do you torment us?
All this, and the wine tasting is still five days away- on a rough Saturday, I often hope that there’ll be a few dribbles of wine left in which to seek solace, but it’s Tuesday, which means it’ll have to get bad enough that I feel entitled to open a brand new bottle. And it may yet. Dragging the ladder out of the dining room and getting on the phone to search for transformers has already started the ball rolling. Meanwhile, that wine tasting that doesn’t start until Saturday at 2 can be seen here- maybe by then you’ll be inclined to join us.
On the other hand, the new menu has begun and the transition was remarkably smooth. Vegetarians, you’ll be pleased to note a number of new small dishes, but omnivores, you’re welcome to enjoy them as well. We’ve tasted all the new dishes at the menu meeting today, but it’s your turn to taste at your leisure.
https://www.eatatfeast.com/dining/menus/lunch-dinner/
Other upcoming treats include the St. Innocent dinner with owner/winemaker Mark Vlossak,
and about ninety pounds of brisket has been quietly corning for a few weeks now so that come March 17th, you’ll be able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the most tender and least red corned beef you’ve likely had in recent memory. There’ll be more to discuss- we’ve settled on another special dinner with Italian wines from Giovanni Triscornia of Ethica Imports on April Fool’s Day, and another dinner on May 7th with erstwhile Tucsonan Greta Arendsen of Quintessential Wines, with Portuguese delights from Quinta do Vallado.
I’ve checked, and the April dinner falls on a full moon, but with any luck, tonight’s full moon will have limbered me up for it.
If not, I’m going to refrigeration trade school.
Love,
Doug