BUDDHISM, OLD AGE, I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT...

Old age must slowly be creeping up on me. I sat down last night to write up a post. It was a post on a dinner that Laurie and I went to with two good friends to a local restaurant. Over dinner we all decided that the place was really worthy of an unbelievably in depth post about how bizarre the entire evening was. The menu was insane, the service was sloppy at best, the food was mediocre, place was just a huge mess, not literally, but decor was kind of every decade (from the mid 1700's to present) and genre (80's bar scene, revolutionary muskets, stuffed game fish, gumball machine, period furniture) mashed into each room. The food sounded fairly straight-forward until it listed ingredients that were just very bizarre combinations...ok, enough, enough, this is what I am trying to avoid. So anyway. I sat down last night and typed out this very detailed evening that we all experienced, and it read like a novel, a very bizarre Hunter Thompson/ Brett Easton Ellis/Quentin Tarantino type of novel (that truly is how bizarre the whole thing was). Then it hit me. I can't be like those people that I hate. I think the owners, and I am sure the chef, are very proud of their restaurant. It was clean, the food was prepared well, they had ideas, maybe poorly executed, but ideas. They obviously cared, and who am I to judge them. I never wish anything but the best for people that actually care about their businesses, Lord knows we put our heart and souls, not to mention every penny we have into these things. That being said, I wish nothing but the best for these guys, again, who am I to say whether something will work or not. This is a change of heart for me, usually I am one to share my opinion with anyone that will listen (or not listen), and this time it just didn't feel right...had they been rude, or the place filthy, or the food rancid, or anything that would have given a hint that these people didn't care and were just hoping to make a quick buck on unsuspecting diners I would be the first to share and to warn every and any one. That just wasn't the case. So I will keep the name to myself and keep the details of the evening to just this, the chips will fall where they will....Not sure if it's old age or all of these Buddhist studies and meditation, perhaps no longer drinking, I don't know, I can't explain...but it feels better.
b.

THURSDAY'S TOP CHEF RANT..

Bye Manuel...and we hardly knew ya! Really! We hardly knew ya, which is one reason he is probably gone, he brought nothing to the table or the show. But if it were really based on talent there is no doubt there could have been other choices to send packing....say...Ryan. Antonia. Zoi. Maybe even Andrew. But each of them bring something to the table (except maybe Antonia, who was my pick this week by the way.)
I thought the quickfire challenge last night was tough, but thought they all kind of did well on that. The elimination challenge though should have been an opportunity for each of them to shine, and in my opinion, the only ones who really ran with it were Richard, Andrew, and Dale. Though for the same reason that Manuel was booted, for following blindly, so went Andrew with Richard. Fortunately for Andrew, Richard is much better then Spike so he was safe. I also felt that Spike and Manuel showed much more technique and skill with their dish then Zoi and Antonia, c'mon...It shouldn't have come down to how much of your budget you spent over how well you executed your dish. Anyway it was fun to see Daniel....The guy is just a culinary God, and seeing him on shows like that make me realize what an experience it was being able to have worked with him for as long as I did.....
For next weeks pick I am going to have to stick with Antonia, though I don't think Zoi or Ryan have much longer either..
b.

UPDATE...

Sorry these are getting longer in between posts, it just means we are busier both physically and mentally as the opening is approaching. Just to keep everyone in the loop...We have officially started our front of the house training this week. It got off to a bit of a slow start but perked right up on day 2 due to some ice breaking games that Laurie and Jen came up with (something about toilet paper and mummies..as you can see above) Today is training for group 2 front of the house as well as our first kitchen meeting. So as you can see, things are moving along. Septic has hit some glitches but we're back on track with that. Plumbers have been on the job and are finishing up there stuff. So we are "Oh So Close"!!

TWO SALT CONGRATS THIS WEEK...

Happy Birthday to Laurie and
Congrats to Jeremiah and Susie on the birth of their healthy baby yesterday!!

Salt will be making it's debut at this years "Taste of Talent" benefit for Project Self Sufficiency at Perona Farms on Monday April 7th. So if any of you out there are attending stop by and say "HOWDY" we'd love to see you!
b.

A FEW MENU ITEMS....

The menus are finally done and ready to go. This is how they will play out.
Open Tue - Sun
Bar menu- will be offered from 11am until close, all day
Lunch menu- will be offered from 11am until 4pm
Dinner menu- will be offered from 5pm until 11pm

BAR MENU

Olive & feta tapenade with pita crisps
Goat cheese quenelles with a raspberry balsamic reduction and poached pear
Flight of pub sliders (3) with roasted tomato aioli, chipotle aioli, Guiness onions
Salt fries, hand cut and tossed with sea salt
Meatloaf sandwich (chilled) with smash potato and house ketchup on crisp french bread
Cheese plate with a fresh fruit compote and pickles
Boiled eggs

LUNCH MENU

Shrimp Po'boy with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and a srirachi aioli
Turkey club with a sundried tomato aioli and candied bacon
Chilled roasted vegetable salad with goat cheese and sunflower seeds
Bar-b-que pulled pork sandwich with house slaw
Tofu saute', cornmeal crusted with spring herbs and baby greens
Country French salad; baby greens,chunks of crisp bread,olives,red onion,sundry toms

DINNER MENU

apps.
Steamed pot; clams,cockles,mussels in hearty fish broth with crisp bread
Risotto of the day
"Bloody" prawns;skewered,panko crusted with a bloody mary dipping sauce, celery stalks
Baked caesar with beer battered anchovy, baguette croutons and lemon/parm vinaigrette

entree
Rack of lamb,mustard crusted with apple risotto and a cider reduction
Grilled strip steak with brussel sprouts,fries,and a red wine reduction
Mixed Grille,lamb chop,banger,and hanger steak with house kraut and home made mustard
Blue moon chicken, orange/blue moon lager marinated with sweet potato smash
Carbonara pasta with crisp pork and bacon in parm cream topped with sunny side up egg
Fish & Chip...our spin on the "Classic"
Pan seared scallops tossed with lemon and mint with pignoli nuts and white wine
Pub burger flight (3)

Well, there it is, that is just a sampling of the menu which will be posted in it's entirety on the web-site www.saltgastropub.com very soon. What do you think so far??
b.

I'M AN IDIOT

This is for any of you whom follow Top Chef. Good call Michael and Markate....Yea. Valerie was sent home last week, I have to pay closer attention to these guys names...I guess the problem is that there are a bunch of "Valeries" on there, one's who just in no way stand out. So I guess since she is ALREADY gone, my Valerie pick for next week would have to go to Antonia...she's still there right? Thanks for the correction guys!
b.

TOP CHEF!!

Erik sucked and deserved to go home. That guy did'nt bring a single thing to the table in any of the episodes, just whiney excuses of why his food sucked. Then at the end to say their is no upscale Mexican food shows his ignorance and lack of any sort of knowledge of other cuisines. To top it off to say Rick Bayless does'nt know what he's talking about and can go "screw himself" just shows that this guy is a fucking hack! Rick Bayless is one of the best at what he does, obviously. I've eaten at his place "Topolobapo" in Chicago and it really was amazing. Unfotunately they only let one person go this week. I personally would have let go of all of the whining baby's this week...Like Andrew for one...I love attitude and respect a certainn amount of arrogance, in this field you kind of need to have that, you need a thick skin and some confidence or you'll be eaten alive. That being said, if you are going to have the arrogance and attitude you better back it up. Andrew can't. He just comes off as an inexperienced fucking brat...send the bitch packing "His House", who is he kidding? Ryan once again proved he is kind of clueless in the kitchen, did'nt know what chicken piccatta was, now he screws up a classic salad like a "Waldorf" I can't see him going much further. Though I found Ted Allens comment "The Walorf Salad was a for the people salad" silly, come on Ted just the name "Waldorf" tells you it is not of "The People", at least not the people I know...it was created at the "waldorf" for crying out loud! Nikki...c'mon, Mac & Cheese? And you fuck it up? Top Chef? HMMMM!!! Zoi, cmon, a pasta salad, and you screw it up? And whine because its a pasta salad. Make the damn pasta salad, make it the best pasta salad anyone has ever had, and shut up. Again, Top Chef? HMM?
Manuel. I just felt bad for Manuel. Here a Mexican gets beat at a taco challenge, and that's not to say that just because he is Mexican that he should be able to make a great taco, I just feel bad for him that it was probably a huge blow to his ego, and it seemed to take the wind out of his sails. What made it worse is he was beaten out by a jicama wrapped whatever it was. Kudos for creativity, thumbs down on "TACO". I have all the respect in the world for Rick Bayless, but come on, the challenge was a upscale taco....maybe it's me, but I did'nt get it.
Next week's guest chef is going to be Daniel Boulud (my mentor at Le Cirque), I am really looking forward to his episode! As far as a pick for loser next week, its really hard, but i will have to go with Valerie. "Valerie" ?? you say. Yes, and that is exactly why...who the hell is Valerie! I think they will start weeding out those that don't stand out, and keep the one's that make for good tv. We'll see!!!
b.

THURSDAYS TOP CHEF RANT!!

Postponed one day...I am just too beat tonight to talk about those shit-heads and go on about how lame they were last night...so that will be for tommorrows post...
b

THE FOUNTAIN IS DONE!!!!

The fountain is finally done! I love it! I have been conceptualizing this thing for months, tinkering with it in my head, and Tony and i have finally finished it. It runs from floor to ceiling along the back of the original stone fireplace in the main entrance. The copper for it was actually the first thing I bought for Salt way back in January and now it is finally done, and i have to say it is dead on for what I had in my head from the original thought, so I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do! So now that is painting and the fountain done in 2 days, now that's moving at a good clip! Also a big thanks to "Mom & Dad" for coming in today to clean up some chairs and put the new upholstered chair seats on to their bottoms. My Mom (the whole family is involved) has been working on them for 2 months and I have to say they look damn good! Septic guys put in a full day today, so thats a good thing! One more week and that task should be put to rest! So all in all a good day at Salt!

See ya tommorrow!
b.

NOTHING FUNNY OR WITTY TO SAY.....

Not a damn thing! It's been a few day's since I have been here, sorry to all of those of you who actually tune in to see our "daily" progress....Day's have been long and stressful at this point leaving me with not much energy to get on here. We are into the home stretch now, trying to tie up all the loose ends and co-ordinate schedules of all of those we need to bring this thing to its opening day. To keep you up to date with all thats going on...Menu is being finalized this weekend and I'll post it as soon as its done. The outside of the building was primed (paint) on Sat. and was actually painted this afternoon due to the beautiful day we had. Most of the landscaping has been cleaned at this point and will be mulched early next week. We are holding off on actually putting anything in the ground until things start to bloom and we see what we actually have. The septic, which work was put on hold since Friday due to some problems with the prior owner (huge fucking headache!) is scheduled to resume tommorow morning. Plumber is scheduled to finish his work in the kitchen next Mon. or Tue. Fountain SHOULD be finished by Friday. Beer tap system is still being worked out as far as moving heads, flushing lines and what not. Floors in ding room are scheduled to be worked on Monday. Food vendor meetings are being set up for next week.
I'm sure there is more going on, but before my head explodes and my heart actually stops from anxiety I think I will end it there. I'll do some heavy meditating ( that's mediTATING..NOT mediCATING,lol) before I call it a day and will come back tommorrow with lot's of good news and fun things! Thanks for keeping on coming back, and tune in tomm for more of what's going on here! We're almost there!! (Now that I think about it I do have a funny story about a completly coked out drunk beyond belief chef that Tony and I had the devine pleasure of dealing with on Monday at an aution in NYC, that will have to be for another post!) (Oh yea, there is also a story about "Roger", a "friend" of ours that we have made at athe auctions. Roger is kind of an auction groupie and makes his money helping people dis-connect equipment and what not....well, Roger helped us on Monday and flooded the restaurant in the process...leading to my being yelled at and all kinds of hell....again, another post!) Damn, I did'nt realize how much fun i was actually having in the midst of all of this!
b.

JUST SOME RESPONSES TO COMMENTS....

ChefRa.....Glad to hear you are interested, spread the word, I think it could be alot of fun for all of us. It's funny when people think we all know each other and the fact of the matter is that we are all so busy doing what we do that we never get a chance to see each other except benefits and the occassional night out. So here is a time for us to kick back, piss and moan about life and just get together. E-mail me at salttoo@yahoo.com

Anonymous....brickwall tavern is exactly that, it is a tavern. This is just a response to someone saying brickwall tavern is NJ's first "gastropub". I did check them out, and nowhere did they or do they claim to be a "gastropub", but thanks for the heads-up.

Anonymous....Thanks for the interest in the book group. You (or anyone else reading this who might be interested) can e-mail me at salttoo@yahoo.com and I will start to get the ball rolling and contact everyone about schedules.

The Troll...I understand completely what Dufresne is doing and I respect what he is doing to an extent, I just don't think food needs to be tinkered with at the restaurant level. I do understand the need for science to step in as far as a global effort to get longer growing seasons and what not. I am not a purist when it comes to cooking and do believe we should use ingredients and techniques available to us in our time, but I do believe food in it's purest state, with the least manipulation is when food is at its best, both health wise and flavor wise. When food is at its natural peak it is best, which is why we should stick with cooking "in-season" and local...Not taking away from what these guys are doing, and it is just my opinion. Seems to me the more we mix "science" in with the natural way or order the more problems we create that we then need more science to figure out. Anyway.... Now lets solve all the world's problems Troll...You and I!!! (lol)

Frank...I just always appreciate your comments! Thanks for reading!

Linda...Same as Frank up there...I love to see you name pop up in my "in-box". Thanks!

Markate...Thanks for the interest in the book/dinner group..email me at salttoo@yahoo.com and I will get you on the list for info and what-not.

Kleine1us...Yea, the reporters always seem to fuck things up on ya..oh well, I think Laurie cleared up anything in her follow up blog..we also tend to get a little sensitive. (lol)

Debbi...We didnt see the article in Budget Travel. If you have it in e-mail send it over we'd love to read it. (or snail mail..Salt 109 rt 206 Stanhope NJ 07874) Thanks for thinking of us!

Frank...Thanks for the compliments on the sign. Quite a Beacon it is! You saw us out there huh? That must have been some sight, glad it did'nt cause accidents, you know everyone has to watch the train-wreck. And you noticed my salt shaker rating system...what the hell right, makes it fun!

Jeff & Joan...No-one is counting down the day's like we are..lol Thanks for the compliments on the sign...we're really happy with it too. Hey Jeff..How about this running/biking club, have'nt heard you chime in yet....??

Eric...Thanks for letting us hang the sign "our" way, if we did it your way it would have been way too easy and therefore nothing to talk about, or for people to point and laugh at while they drove by on 206.

Anonymous...Yes...Stone IPA on tap...here's to ya!

Mike & Lori...No need to make a reservation, c'mon now!

And thats it for now! Boy I better do this more frequently....thanks for all the comments. Just remember, I can't answer you through the comment board so don't get offended if you don't get and immediate reply, I do read them all and appreciate the interest in what we're doing. See you all soon!!!
b.

THURSDAYS TOP CHEF RANT...

So Dale has come out as this season's prima-donna whiner. "I'm here to cook, not gussy up a table". Going back to each season where these guys have to be reminded this is Top "CHEF", not Top "COOK". A lot more goes into being a chef then cooking, so much more, and if you don't get that then you are just a cook...maybe a very good cook, but still a cook. And what's with this fucking "molecular gastronomy", sure it seems real cool, don't get me wrong, but the day a chef has to trade in his chef coat for a lab coat is the day I hang it up. Since when did cooking become a "science"? I got into cooking because of the creativity it offered, the passion that goes into it, the basic premise of taking the best products you can find and cooking them with the least amount of fooling around. Like I said, this "science" stuff is neato and there is definatly a skill involved and what not, but I don't want to pick up a science book the next time I'm looking for ideas, I'll stick with the good old fashioned cook book. Andrew this season is no doubt the "Ass", I love his attitude, I just don't think he can back it up. There is something to be said for a bit of arrogance and cockiness as long as you can bring it to the table...take Anthony Bourdain for instance...I don't think Andrew can bring it. I missed this weeks dolt, I had guessed last week that it would have been Ryan going home. Though I still think Ryan will be an early departure looks like he might hang for a little bit. I was surprised with their pick though. Nikkis mushrooms obviously sucked, could not be presented, and left her with not much to show. Dale is just a Dick and took what was already a shitty dish and made it shittier...seems one of these two or both should have been sent....Oh well, this is all just my humble opinion.
b.

A GREAT DAY....OR....THE EIGHT DOLLAR PRIVILEGE

Well, not to sound like a broken blog, but it was into Manhattan again this afternoon for Tony, Jeremiah, and myself for yet another auction. So the ride in was great, no traffic, good weather, so it was easy in. (Though it hurts now with the 8.00 to get into the city). It just got better from there...The auction was on the corner of 50th and 9th, we got right onto 10th ave and cruised right up to 50th st. and right on the corner a car was pulling out from a meter, so BAM, we were in, and only one block from the auction. It was 2:00 at this point and the auction started at 2:30..sweeet. I loaded up on quarters to feed the meter for the 3 or so hours we might be and Tony took charge of being the meter feeder for me. (You might see where this is going by now) The auction got off at about 3:00, so Tony ran to feed the meter, good for another hour. Auction went well, and we got some cool stuff as well as a few things we needed and it was now a little after 4, the auction was winding down and Tony run's out again. "Ring-Ring" goes my cell phone..."Brad, your car is gone, it was towed" "Get the fuck outta here" "no, really man, we were towed" "shit".
"Yea, the meters were til' 4, after that it's a no parking zone" "shit". Tony comes back to the restaurant to see what our plan is. So we decide we will walk over to the impound lot over on 38th and 12th. On our way over we notice helicopters hovering over the Hudson, then we see NYPD walking in riot helmets as well as alot of horseback. What the fuck is going on?? Then traffic is backed up, we walk past a bus that was just completely burnt out by a fire. Cops are directing traffic. This is a nightmare. I ask a cop "what is going on?" There is a protest on 12th ave outside the Chinese Consulate over Tibet, and it looks as though someone launced a paint can of "blood" at the building. The NYPD must have felt that these 100 or so Buddhist Tibetens might be complete anarchists and try to charge the building and burn and kill everyone inside because they had a line of mounted officers outside the building and the area was swarming with police everywhere. Anyway, we got out of that mess, found our way into the impound lot, and after paying 185.00 to the very nice woman behind a bullet-proof glass window we were on our way, and back to 50th street to pack up our "booty" and get back to NJ. Just another day in the life of trying to get this place open. I just know the next trip will be great, I just know it! Did I nmane this "GREAT DAY"??? I meant "SHITTY DAY, and the privilege to pay eight dollars for one"...
Tommorrow will be nothing but good news...I promise! I've been meditating!
b.

Ok, so I'm a control freak

But seriously, I have to add my comments and corrections to our article that appeared in today's Herald. For the most part, we enjoyed reading it, but here and there reading it was like taking a punch right in the stomach. I think we were misunderstood--understandable I suppose, happens a lot. So . . . here are my Herald corrections! ---

1. Tony's last name is MANDEVILLE, not Madebille, nor Mandebille.
2. While it's true that Jen & Eric's wedding was one of bula's first catering gigs, and definately its first catered wedding (and oh, there's a story if you want to hear it sometime), Jen never worked for bula. She is our manager here @ Salt and a good friend of Brad and Laurie.
3. Ok, really, do you actually think we were like, ok, so what should we name it? I dunno, hmmmmm Salt? Well ok cause what else will we call it? A pub name needs to be simple and easy to remember, the word Salt, being the essense of the culinary world seemed to be fitting, short and sweet and a little cool. We like it. There really WAS A THOUGHT PROCESS!!!! We were totally misquoted so many times in this article. Argh.
4. 76er's was never a diner.
5. THE BIGGEST MISQUOTE WAS: "WE WANT TO BE CHEERS" That was our punch in the stomach. Specifically what Brad said was: We DO NOT want to come across as we are trying to be Cheers." In fact whenever folks ask Brad what Salt is all about, over and over again I hear him say, "we don't want people to think we are trying to be like Cheers." How did this reporter hear the exact opposite!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????
6. I do not proclaim to know what the owner's of the first-ever gastropub, The Eagle, in London were thinking when they opened it. But what I do know is that they were the first ones and they wanted the focus to be on food.
7. Don't we look dang happy in that picture? We are, cause today the septic system is being put in the ground and now we know that within 2-3 weeks we can open our doors. We are dang happy.

Can't wait to see you all @ Salt. We'll keep you posted, and you keep reading!

Laurie

IDEAS THAT ARE SPEWING FROM MY MIND ON A SUNDAY BEFORE A NEW WEEK......KEEP YOUR DISTANCE

Well Tony and I have gotten a buttload of work done today on the fountain, but the damn thing is still not done...I know, I know, these things take a progress. This is why guys like us enjoy being in the kitchen, where for the most part, you prep it, you make it, you cook it, and after a very brief time, well.....you eat it. This building stuff is just a lot of "what about this way? I don't know, let's look at it that way? Hmm how about we turn it like this, no, turn it back blah blah ,blah, let's get coffee and discuss and look at it again when we get back....My conclusion is, and has always been....the world should be run by kitchen people. We are fairly intelligent, very hard working, never whine, understand deadlines (Hell, if the wedding is 2 weeks from friday its not, I am a bit behind we may have to push the date back a couple of days, or I didn't account for this....It's just get the shit done however you have to!

For anyone out there in the foodservice industry, we are trying to put together an industry night here at Salt. Its really in the shaping idea right now, but the idea is like on every Wed. evening from let's say 11pm-2am we kind of have the place to ourselves. Discounts on food and drink, great company and just a lot of camaraderie, thats for both front and back of house. We just think it's a great way for us all to get to know each other in more of a social sense than a professional one. If any of you foodies out there would think this would be cool drop me a line...we're really hoping to turn it into fun laid back night.

I know I mentioned this before but for all you fitties (or not so fittie, but might want to be) who would like to join a running or biking club we at Salt are surrounded by running and biking trails and would love to sponser and host a group here at the restaurant, which again would entail a run/bike then back to Salt for some carbs..both solid and liquid!

Now how about those readers out there? We want a club for you as well. What we do is, you sign up for the group and there is a list of the books we will be reading (all related to the restaurant industry, more specificly to being a chef). We choose a day every month, we get together to discuss the book, and get some professional insight from those of us in the industry. We (Tony and I) make a menu loosely styled around the book, and we all get to eat and discuss the book...again let us know of any interest.

Last but not least.....We have a very unique program we are starting here at Salt. Since our original idea here, Laurie and I thought it would be a fun thing to do, to present our menus on plain old brown clip boards to the table. Just something different and less formal. Then it hit us that why just have plain clipboards? Let's paint them and poly them so they will last a bit longer. People thought this was a great idea and wanted to know if they too could paint some for us...sure. Well, one night while brainstorming Laurie and I thought "Ya know what, I bet some of these are gonna be great--we could sell the clipboards and raise money. WELLLLL, Jennifer our Manager and her Husband Eric run a summer program for children who have been affected by aids in any number of ways. They offer them a great time away from their problems and thoughts for one week each summer and give them just a great time out here in Sussex County. So we decided that in a very small way maybe we can help them out by donating 100% of all of the clipboard sales to help with this camp...our suggested donation is 10.00, but would of course accept anything. If you have a talent(or even just the desire) and would like to join in let us know, we have plenty of clipboards, and the art is in the mind of the artist...drop us a line..

thanks b.

THE RAISING OF THE SIGN..Cast and crew

It is March 15 2008, a significant day in the History of Salt Gastro pub! Starting with the design and creating of the sign by one of Salt's best friends (and the Husband of our manager Jennifer) Eric Hornung. With some ideas from Laurie and I, and a few tweeks along the way, Eric was able to put together a sign which is awesome and will represent us for eons and beyond...THANKS Eric!

Second goes out to Tim Stefanik, my electrician, and now my friend. Tim was able to supply us with the proper ladder for us to finish our task for today, and a little moral support as we weened Erion on up the ladder to do the dirty work.
To Tony for being the idea guy behind this particular project, as well as the ladder holder as well as moral support for Erion and telling him "there's no way you would die from falling from that height, maybe get pretty banged up, but not die!"

Last but not least to Erion, our own superhero "Tarz-man". Erion blindly, with nerves of steel took to that ladder and made the rest of us feel like little children in wet pants, holding to our mothers legs. He looked up at it, shook it a bit, spit on the ground raised his fist to the heavens. He tightened his belt, put a little chalk dust on his hands from the chalk pouch around his waist and just calmly looked me in the eye and said "see ya on the other side boy" and just started climbing. My jaw dropped as I felt my eyes start to well a bit and my nerves start to get the better of me. But I knew I had to be a man, I had to watch, I had to see what this Man Erion had that I did'nt, what he had that we all strive for, what makes him go where most of us just tremble thinking of...places for birds and planes, not human beings.....So as Erion put his foot on that first step and started to make his way up that 12' ladder I quietly whispered under my breath, "I love you Erion"

So we all played a part in tying the sign and attaching the sign to the truck. (This way no one person could take blame for any failure, deaths, maimings, or any other unspoken of calamities.) With this, it was tied off to the truck, slowly pulled up to its spot where Erion was bravely waiting and pretty easily hooked on and hung into place (on the second try).
So THANK YOU to all involved..it went well and the Salt legend will now begin to grow for years in the land that we have grounded our flag into and claim from here on out as SALT!! 109 rt206S is now claimed by SALT, and it is here we will start a family, grow, and prosper!
Tommorrow we will finally finish the indoor "Water Feature" in the entrance, things are getting sooo much closer... Stay tuned....
b.

A few answers to some recent comments...

Here are just a few answers to some questions that come through in the comments from various people.

-What are some of the wines you will be offering?
Well, in addition to the wines by the glass I talked about in the last post ( some of which did'nt make the cut, and others that will be added) we will have

Chardonnay, Rodney Strong, Chalk Hill Vineyard, Sonoma
Pinot Gris, Ponzi Vineyard, Oregon
Riesling, Hogue Cellars, Washington State
Viognier, Rosenblum "Kathy's Cuvee", Santa Barbara County
Pinot Grigio, Francis Coppola, Napa Valley

Syrah, Rosenblum Cellars, Santa Barbara County
Sangiovese, Silverado Vinyards, Napa Valley
Meritage Blend, Trefethen "Double T", Napa Valley
Pinot Noir, Silverado Vineyards, Napa Valley

These are just a sampling of our wine list.

-What single Malt Scotchs will you offer?

To start we will be offering
Glenlivet
Macallan
with more to be added

-What spirits will you be offering?
I will give just a small sample, but it will give you an idea

whiskey-
Seagrams 7
Makers Mark
Jack Daniels
Canadian Whiskey
Canadian Club
Seagrams VO
Irish Whiskey
Jamesons
Bushmills
Brandy/Cognac
Courvoisier
Remy Martin VSOP
Scotch
Chivas
Dewars
Johnnie Walker Black
Johnnie Walker Red
Gin
Beefeater
Bombay Sapphire
Tanqueray
Vodka
Absolut
Grey Goose
Ketel One
Stolichnaya
Tequila
Cabo Wabo
Patron

-Are you offering Ports?
Yes.

Cockburns Special Reserve
Ferreira White Port
Fonseca 10 yr Tawny
Quinta do Noval Late Bottled Vintage
Sandeman Founders Reserve
Taylor Fladgate 20 yr Tawny
Warre Late Bottled Vintage
Warre Otima 20 yr Tawny

And last but not least..for Sheila
Here are some more of our beer offerings
Draft
Guiness
NewCastle Brown Ale

Bottle
Left Hand Milk Stout
Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout
Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
Eel River Raven's Eye Imperial Stout
Paulaner Weiss
Ayinger Brauweiss
Corsendonk Brown Ale
Long Trail IPA
Victory Hop Devil IPA
Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale

just to name a few.

Thanks everyone for checking us out, we can't wait to get open and get this whole thing rolling...Things are moving quickly now and the opening is right upon us...stay tuned to find out the exact date, trust me, AS SOON as we know we will let all of you know. Next up is the menu to be finalized. Tony, Jeremiah and myself have been working at getting everything down on paper. Now we just have to start shaving it down and making final cuts and tweeks. I will be posting some sample items in the very near future. In the meantime...

"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction."

WINE TASTING...

Another fun night at Salt, tonight was the wine tasting....So along with some cheeses that Laurie supplied from Murray's cheese shop in NYC, some crispy french loaves and some water crackers we dug right in. Bob supplied us with a good variety of reds and whites to try. The wines were
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cycles Gladiator, Central Coast, California
Cabernet Sauvignon, Hahn, Monterey, California
Merlot, Hogue Cellars, Washington State
Pinot Noir, Cycles Gladiator, Central Coast, California
Pinot Noir, Montinore, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Zinfandel, RosenblumVintners Cuvee, California

Chardonnay, Night Harvest, California
Chardonnay, Toasted Head, California
Sauvignon Blanc, Benziger, Sonoma County, California
Pinot Grigio, Rex Goliath, Central Coast, California

These were our by the glass wines that we were tasting and comparing. It was a fun time, and just like last night we were all able to walk away having learned something new about wines. So again we thank Bob!

b.

My Weekly Thursday rant about TOP CHEF..

Ah, the new season is upon us. For those of you who watch, like myself, we have been waiting for this season. For those of you who don't but are reading this, its on Bravo Wed nights at 10. I think since the first season the show had slowly gone down the shitter...til this season. It definately seems this season the talent pool is solid and it actually has some of that grit that really is a professional kitchen...not a polished bunch of whiners and recent grad prima-donnas. Its good to hear "bleeps" on a real "restaurant" show it makes it a bit more true to life. That being said, it seemed very obvious the one going home last night was going to be Nimma. Besides her it seemed everyone was pretty solid and its tough to see any clear winners or even the top 4 at this point (granted it was only one episode, but they all seemed to be pretty talented), should prove to be a good season. What about this couple thing? Jennifer and Lisa, this is where I have a problem with the show...it's good tv, but come on, with all of the talent that probably tried out for the show why would you put on a couple? Oh, think of the drama when they have to go head to head and eliminate one another...kind of cheapens the show, but that's just my opinion. My pick for next weeks loser, Ryan....seems as though Ryan may have been a little pampered by his restaurateur father and might just not be all of that. But its early, who knows. My pick for the top 2..Richard, and Jennifer. Stay tuned on Thursdays for my view on it, and feel free to comment on it.

b.

BEER IN-SERVICE..

Its tough being a new employee at Salt, what with all the beers that need to be tasted and all....Today was a fun day at Salt, we had a beer in service held by Bob our "beer officiando" (?). It was fun seeing all of the new faces as well as some of the old "bula bunch" and I think we all learned alot. From different styles, regions, and countries to the different glasses used for different beers, and the proper ways to pour. So we brought in some pizza, Bob supplied the beer and glasses, and it was a fun time. Tommorrow should prove to be another very tough day for the staff with Bob stopping by with the Wines being served at Salt....Somehow we'll get through it...Thanks Bob!

And Kelly.....you ARE a rock star!!
b.

BEER MENU SAMPLING..for those that care

Drafts
Yuengling
Stella Artois
Pabst Blue Ribbon...sometimes ya gotta have a "classic"
North Coast Red Seal Ale
Blue Moon Belgian White
Corsendonk Pale Ale
Smithwicks
Stone IPA
Budweiser....gotta have it

Bottle
Skyscraper Lug Nut Lager
Scrimshaw Pilsner
Flying Dog Doggie Style Ale
Eel River Amber
Smuttynose IPA
Sam Smith Nutbrown
Brother Thelonious - Belgian Styled Abbey
Anchor Steam Porter
Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
Pinkus Organic Hefe Weisen
Saison Dupont
Lindeman's Pomme
Ayinger Celebrator Double Bock


Thats just a sampling.....stay tuned for more teasers (food, wine, liqour, guest celebrity appearances, million dollar give-away, free car, trips...maybe I am getting carried away, but definately food, wine and liquor..)
b.

The New York City Gods are speaking to me!

How appropriate!
b.

A Few Answers..

Hoping for an opening of March 25....a few weeks later then planned.
Yes, we will honor all valid "bula" gift certificates sold prior to January.
Yes, I did the 07 NYC Marathon...4:56, but vow for a 3:30 next Nov.
50 Beers? Really?.....NO, 61 beers, really!
Yes, I will autograph your copy of the book Frank.
Yes, we have a website www.saltgastropub.com but it is currently under construction
so all you see is the home page. It should be functioning in the next few weeks.
Salt is at 109 rt 206 S. Across the street from the Shop-rite Plaza in Byram.
Yes, the salt lamps will be available at Salt, stay tuned.
No, a salt lamp is NOTHING like a salt-lick.
No, Bigfoot does not live under the man-hole cover in the dining room Mike.
I am a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) grad. Tony is a Johnson & Wales grad.
yankees - Mets.....Mets
Our phone # is 973.347.SALT (7258)
We are the FIRST gastropub in NJ.
Yes, we will have live music. Starting in May.
b.

My most expensive Starbucks ever..or..shitty waste of time!

This morning Tony, Jeremiah and myself left at 11:30 to head into the city to another auction. We drove the hour or so it takes to get into Manhattan, spent another half hour driving in circles in Mid-town lunch time traffic trying to find a place to park, and ended up having to park in a lot anyway, a lot which charged me 26.00 for up to 10 hours and an additional 10.00 for an oversized car. This was after spending the 8.00 it now costs for the honor of being able to drive into the city, and the 25.00 in gas that my "oversized car uses to get me into the city. So let's see this is now what, like hmm, 69.00 frickin dollars. Ok but it will all be worth it in the end, you know with finding everything we are looking for at the auction and what not. So after parking we walk the 8 or so blocks to the restaurant. When we get there, we walk in, take a quick look around and realize the place is full of just absolute SHIT! Broken, dirty, old, greasy, SHIT!! What a drag. So needless to say we spend literally 1 minute and 10 seconds in the place before turning around and leaving. Fortunately on the corner was a Starbucks, so I grab a large redeye for 4.00 and head back to the parking garage, which by now has been about 10 minutes since we left. We get back to the garage, which by the way has not even moved my car from where we had left it when we dropped it off, pay the 36.00 and head on back to Byram. So my point of this is that that was the most expensive cup of coffee I have ever had......which was 73.00 and the 3 1/2 hours of my time. Just another day in the life of SALT.
b.

Happenings..

Did another auction on Monday and Tuesday in Manhattan at the Famous "Evelyn Lounge" on 78th and Columbus. Picked up a few neat things as well as two convection ovens. Unfortunately for Tony and I the ovens weigh about 195,000 lbs. and they happened to be in a below ground kitchen (use your imagination). So not only that, but the truck I rented to go into the city and pick up the stuff, well, it had a hydrolic lift, one that unfortunately did not work. So after humping them up a flight of stairs we also had to lift them another 4ft to get them into the truck.(I forgot to mention that it was also pouring out as well) Fun. A big "Thank-You" to all of those who were there on the other end though to help us unload the truck and actually get the 2 - 195,000 ovens up a flight of stairs (deck stairs) and into the salt kitchen. Thats you Chris, Jim, Erion, Bernie, Dave, Nick, and Jeremiah.
Today was a day of organizing the restaurant, trying to make sense of everything and finding everything its place. The ceiling in the bar area is just about done. Women's room is 90% there with the men's room getting started tomm.
Today was also a meeting with the NJ Herald who wants to do a story on "NJ's first Gastropub", and trying to help us explain what exactly that is. I think it went well. They sat with Laurie and I as well as Tony, Jennifer, and Erion -"The Dream Team" and allowed to us expalin exactly what we are.
We also met with our "wine consultant" and liquor distributor Robert Hannemann who is helping us put together our wine and beer menu (by the way, we will be having 61 beers offered, from all styles as well as about 25 wines). Bob has really been a tremendous help and we are really excited about the menus we have put together.
Tomorrow its back into the city again for Tony and I, looking for those last few items we want for the kitchen. Then its back to Salt to finish up some moving of some equipment into the kitchen, and then.....
it never ends..
stay tuned..
b.

"RESEARCH TRIP"-the Novel

OK, we're back from a long weekend of research and hard work. We will share with you our greuling adventure which you can also follow along with a picture by picture guide.(working your way from the bottom up you can follow our adventure) I must warn you, this was long and arduous, but we figured we had to do it in the name of research for our new restaurant. (We also figured it will be our last hoo-rah for quite some time once we get this thing running.) So here goes....
Saturday started out by heading uptown to pick up my racing number for a race I was running Sunday morning. From there we headed over to see a chef/owner friend of mine on the Upper East Side, no luck, he was off..on a Saturday, go figure. Now the journey begins. We get downtown about 3 ish, get our stuff into the apartment and right away head for coffee. "Think Coffee" on Mercer St. Knowing its going to be a busy evening I go for the large black coffee "double red eye"(2 shots of espresso). Now we are off and running. Over to The Spotted Pig on 11th st. and Greenwich (just around the corner from home) to see if we can get in for an early dinner. Well, that would be fine, as long as we did'nt mind waiting 1 1/2 hours and order from a limited menu (4 items, one of which was blood pudding) Yea right! away we go. We head over to Soho to see if we can score a table at Balthazar, a friend of mine from Le Cirque days is the chef there. No go! Fully booked unless we wanted to wait at the bar for a seat there and only order from the raw bar. (Did I mention my friend is the chef there? Oh yea, but Laurie thought it would be a terrible bother to speak with him on a Sat evening at 4:30, did I mention he was a friend of mine?) Back out onto the street....and time for another coffee....Starbucks, and another large "redeye", just a single this time (I do have to get up early for a race in the morning). We do a bunch of window shopping in the village, cruise around some old stomping grounds, check out how gentrified the old neighborhood has gotten and then hoof it back over to The Spotted Pig to try our luck again. Now its about 6:30 or so and the guy at the door, with a real asshole attitude told us it would be about 2 hours. Needless to say we went on our way again. In our wandering we stumbled across a place I had been reading alot about on the internet, a place called Bar Fry on Carmine Street, how lucky are we. Lucky for us we hit it just before the dinner crowds started. Food was excellent, there thing is Tempura Fried everything....which we tried. Eggplant, crab, and avacado with about 6 different dipping sauces. I also tried a warm tofu custard, which was different, but good and Laurie had a butternut soup, also good. Then Laurie had a Crab Po-Boy, and I had a Tuna Poke (and half of hers)...really, really good...dessert was home made ice cream and sorbet...blood orange, lychee, and a burnt sugar i/c, they were ok, nothing great, but good. From there we had to head back home to get dressed to head over to the Blue Note jazz club on West 3rd off of 6th. We were invited by a great friend through Bula, Emedin Rivera, who was playing in Ben E. King's band that evening. So off to the Blue Note for a 10:30 set. Got there and the place was packed, sold out shows all week. Thanks to Emedin we were in. What a great show, Laurie and I had no idea of the songs this guy had in his catalog, every song the guy did was a huge hit, not only that, he was also inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame not to long ago...go figure, we had no idea. Anyway, like I said, it was a great show and it was great to see Emedin. NOW....12:30 and we were starting to feel a bit hungry again and Laurie wanted a glass of wine, so once again...off to The Spotted Pig to try to get a late dinner. (Third time has got to be a charm, right?) It was, we got there (asshole was no longer at the door) and were brought right to a table in the upstairs dining room...Packed!! This place is doing something right. We ordered a few appetizers and salads, couple of drinks and we were loving life. Place has a great vibe, real good food, loud as hell, but they pull it off. Our journey to mecca (as far as gastropubs in America go) was fulfilled, and it lived up to its rep. Very good. We are finally headed home around 2-2:30 am. Home in time to set the alarm for 6:30 and try and get a few decent hours of sleep before the alarm sounds for the race. Thats when the starbucks started doing its thing! Needless to say, it was'nt a good sleep. So it was up again at 6:30, shower, dress, and out the door, both of us (Laurie is a real trooper)and head straight for, what else? Dunkin' Donuts! We all know "America runs on Dunkin' Donuts". With my stomach still a bit queezy from all the coffee the night before, and a race ahead of me, and no real bathrooms to speak of, I took mine just "small, and black". Off to the Uptown #1 train to Washington Heights. We were off to meet another friend up at the race and had no luck running into each other, so it was a tiring, lonely race...and I did my personal best! Again, go figure. I ended up finishing 631 out of 3259, so I was real happy! Back downtown to shower, change and do some more research! After getting ourselves back together at the apartment it was out to the street again. This time right across the street to The Magnolia Bakery for some cupcakes to bring home a presents. So we loaded up on cupcakes and headed out to try and find some lunch/brunch. We headed right for McDougal St. to one of the first places Laurie and I went on a date, The Olive Tree Cafe. A real kind of hole in the wall kind of place, but solid food and awesome slate tables you can right on, black and white movies playing on the wall, and great memories. So we ordered up some eggs and roasted red potato, a couple of black coffees (starting to see a trend, or pattern here?) and we were set! Now with a good breakfast down we headed on over to the Lower East Side to see if there was anything interesting in any of the sidewalk junk places, perhaps some cool stuff to hang in Salt! Nothing really there so we hit the Bowery to see if any restaurant supply places were open...sure enough, but the only one open was so over priced I thought Laurie was having seizures when she looked at the prices. Quickly out of there! Down the block to Katz's Deli on Houston, it's now about 1:00, and figure we'll grab a few sandwiches for lunch and head back to the apartment. Not a chance in hell, the line to get a 15 dollar turkey sandwich was insane, another day! We were'nt much hungry at this point anyway so we bounced around the village and back up to Bleecker to grab some Fresh Coffee Beans. Porto Rico (that's how its spelt)Importing Co. at 201 Bleecker. Best coffee beans in Manhattan! We checked out all of the beans and decided on a French Mocha Dark Roast, can't wait to try it! From there it was down to a small book store in the West Village to check out some books on wine and a book I am trying to find on Andy Warhol. Score, on both of them. Laurie got a great book on wines from around the world, and I found just what I was looking for on Warhol, so it was a nice find. Our day is winding down at this point and its time to start thinking about getting home soon. So it was down the street from the apartment again to The White Horse Tavern on Hudson St. Famous for being the last place Dylan Thomas (the writer) had a drink before going home to the Chelsea Hotel to die of alcoholism at the age of 39 (just a little trivia). Anyway, a couple of hearty burgers and we were off. Back to the Magnolia Bakery for some cupcakes for Laurie, then back to the apartment to pack up.

And that was our weekend of research! hope you're still awake!
And hope the pics helped! Stay tuned!
b.

Props to the pros....

I have to get in a big thanks to John Knehr of crossroads construction. Doing an outstanding job all around. John is also responible for hooking us up with Danny who did all of our wood floors, Tim, who did all of our electric work, and Rich our plumber. John's web-site is www.crossroads-construction.com (973) 670.5601, and you can contact us here at Salt for reference.

This afternoon its off to The City for our "research", a trip to "The Spotted Pig"..the mecca of gastropubs in America (lol), the Blue Note for some cool music and who knows from there. If anything exciting happens or strikes us I will surely put it on here to share with our legions of followers ( or just the few of you out there who tune it to see what the idiot has to say today).

comments..

Thank you everyone who has taken a minute to respond....it makes us feel as though at least someone is reading this stuff!! Thanks! The only thing is, we can't respond to peoples questions through the blog. If you have any questions, which we love to get, you can e-mail us at salttoo@yahoo.com ....thanks everyone!
b. (above is a salt-lamp we purchased, over 250 million years old and harvested from the foothills of the Himalayas, soon to be available at salt!)

NJ's First Gastropub

After doing endless web searches and research we are going to claim to be the FIRST gastropub in the state of NJ. If anyone can come up with anything to dispute this we will surely change our stance on that, but for now we are sticking with it! "Salt is the first gastropub in the state of New Jersey"...so what, big stinking deal you may be saying out loud to your computer, or to the person next to you...well to us it is, not sure why, but it is (a big deal)! Next....
The Town of Byram, we can't say enough about working with the town of Byram! It has truely been such a great experience, I wish I could say the same about working with the state (they suck, as you might expect!) Nothing gets done in real time, everything is in some sort of time warp and everyone has the attitude that they want to be the boss, that they control something, that they are just going to make your life as miserable as theirs must be. Byram really has been super friendly and so easy to work with, they actually seem like they are really glad to have us in town...we only wish we could say that of other towns we have tried doing business in. (we have only done business in one other town, but we don't want to name names, lol) So if anyone from the town offices of Byram reads this..."Thank You"! (This is not kissing ass, merely a simple thanks!)
Work getting done..... bathrooms are almost put back together, floors have been laid, ceilings replaced, and all is looking good. Floors have their first of three coats of poly on them in the dining room and are looking just amazing. Kitchen floor(the pic up there) is now in and ready for our equipment to be put into place. Septic plans have been approved and permits have been received. Yes, a septic still has to be put in. "Holy Shit Brad, a septic still has to be put in?" Yes, but we have been assured it will be done within 3 weeks! Again, we will meditate on that one and visualize it being put in...can't hurt right!
Menu items...here are a few things we are working with right now on our menu. Tony and I have been working hard on the menus this week and brought Jeremiah in today to help add to it. A spin on surf and turf, a marinated Hanger Steak with Potato Wrapped Prawns looks like it will make it onto the menu, as well as a dish of Goat Cheese Croquettes with a Raspberry Balsamic Glaze and Poached Pear. We will have a "Flight"(3 mini) of Sliders served with sides of Roasted Tomato Aioli, Chipotle Aioli, Onion Jam, and Aged Cheddar. Steamed Butterfish atop Braised Fennel, Julienne Root Veg, and Chicory with a Fish Consomme'. We are also working on some beer recipes to go along with the 65 beers we will be offering. Yes, 65 beers. 12 draft, and 50 some odd bottles. So, there are just a few menu items that are on the board right now. We have about 40 or 50 so items that we are working with right now (between lunch, dinner and bar menus). So once they are tweaked, slept on, tasted, and worked over a few times we will be wittleing it down to our final menus.
Laurie and I are into NYC again for more "research" this weekend... we were actually invited into the "Blue Note" jazz club as guests of a friend of ours whom is playing there with Ben E. King this week. So we will be spending sat night down in the West Village checking that out, as well as a few restaurants, only to wake up early Sunday morning to do a race up in Washington Heights, then back downtown to meet some friends for brunch. Lots of research this weekend. Then its back to work Sunday evening at Salt. This weeks goals are the fountain in the front foyer, the septic started, the bars last coat of poly, some finishing painting, bathrooms finished, ceiling in bar area finished, kitchen equipment in place, fire suppression system in place and inspected, menus getting into final stages, beer taps being flushed and any other things that might be thrown at us. Stay tuned!
b.

Floors!!

First, I just want to say "Thanks Frank"!!! (not Frank M. from my last post, Frank my "new blog-post best friend")
Dining room floors were started today. Danny, our floor man, was at it bright and early this morning at 8am and ripped right into things. After putting 3 cuts into the floors (which is shop talk for meaning sanding the floor at 3 different angles as not to leave any divots...I know this now because I have become a professional at everything...or at least I can sound like one!) we can see that these floors are going to be beautiful. After 50 some odd years of wear and tear onto these things they are showing their beauty! Check out the pic! We'll have a great mix of hard Canadian red oak on one side of the dining room, and a softer pine flooring on the other. This is because of the one room being added to the building later on. The oak it seems is the original floor to the building which was put up some time in the 1930's. The history lesson to the building will be a whole nuther (?) post unto itself...I am digging up as much info as I can, and would gladly take any from anyone that might have some to share, as well as any stories that anyone may have of the building! You know, like marriage proposals, first dates, celebrations, drunken brawls, lurid affairs, shootings, buried loot on the property (include maps if you can), whatever anyone wants to share. Tommorrow is the trip into the Bowery in NYC to start and pick up the new kitchen equipment, and from the looks of it we're going to have a beautiful day!
b.

Staffing....

Today we pretty much wrapped up the staffing. As far as the kitchen, we welome aboard Jeremiah M., David O., and Frank M.. Frank M. some of you ask, could that mean Frank Martinez? THEE Frank Martinez? The same Frank Martinez who a few years back when you thought you were kind of play fighting with him, and he thought you were doing a "Bula Fight Club" and kicked you in the knee tearing your ACL and sending you into orthoscopic knee surgery? That Frank Martinez? And my answer is "yes" THAT Frank Martinez. We welcome Frank back with open arms (and guarded knees). What can I say, I'm a sucker for hulking, violent, hard working, barking guys from Guam. Welcome back Frank. Jeremiah is joining our crew as our sous chef and brings alot of great ideas, energy,and experience. We're glad to have him as a part of our opening team. David is our new "Young Gun" and is coming in with not alot of kitchen experience but a great attitude and a desire to learn. He'll be joining our crew that came with us from bula, Corry B. (yes, Boyle..mini me) and Nick. All of that will now be under the watchful eye of Salt's chef de cuisine, Anthony Mandeville. Tony was my sous chef for 5 years at bula and is now taking that leap into running the kitchen, allowing me time to run the restaurant and concentrate on YOU, our customers, menus, business, and making sure everyone and everything is running smooth. We have put together what I think is a great team and can't wait to get rollin'.
As far as front of the house (waitstaff, bus-people, bartenders, manager), there we have a fantastic team as well being led by Salt's new manager Jen Hornung. Its already been great working with Jen and are really excited at having her on board. The front of the house starts with our senior employee from bula, Sir Erion Adams, whom not only comes and joins us as our senior employee, but is a good friend as well, so we are totally into having Erion with us. Erion is joined by Ms. April, Ms. Kelly, Corey S., and Rachel M. All bula alum. Add to that mix of a bunch of fresh names and faces that we have hand-picked, put them all under the watchful eye of our resident Hawk...Laurie, and I think we have an awesome team!
Tommorrow's work is...Dining room floors, kitchen floor, fountain, and next coat of poly on the bar!

And now I know by the counter that's posted on this sight that all of you are reading this, I just find it hard to believe that no-one has anything to say...not even a "Hey Brad, your blog sucks, stop wasting your time writing all of this crap that no-one cares about. Why don't you get a life, or spend the time you are wasting by putting up posts on getting your restaurant open." Or "Hey Brad, that blog thing you are doing is so f-ing incredible, why are you wasting time opening a restaurant when you should be writing for a magazine or for tv shows, you are awesome dude, keep it coming, I sit and stare at the computer for hours just hoping that you will put up another post soon." SAY SOMETHING...ANYTHING....LOL
b.

Damn snow.

Snow just seems to put a damper on everything right now. Today we are getting just a little bit closer to the end, or the beginning, depending on how I am viewing it at the moment. I spent the day building out the box for our fountain that will be in the foyer.....and I have to say it is going to be awesome. I may be a little biased but I think everyone will like it. The bar got another sanding and another coat of poly on it, which I think is now coat 9....Here is a pic of how the bar is shaping up. Yesterday Tony and I held interviews for the sous chef (2nd in charge of the kitchen)..or actually I should say "interview" because we actually only met with one person yesterday. The staff is shaping up all around, and we think we are putting together quite a team. We have really got some great people coming on board. Our beer and wine menues are really shaping up as well, and boy, wait til' you see them! They're really interesting, and full of surprises...Thanks for the help Bob!
Kitchen floor goes in on Sunday, thats exciting! Dining room floors get their start on Sunday, and by Tuesday should be like new...that is really something I can't wait to see!! There is also a great find going into the new DR floor, after 7 years of searching for an autentic/old manhole cover, when I was'nt looking, there it was. While dropping off scrap metal at Raimo's in Byram, there it was...my 1907 Morristown manhole cover that will be prominently displayed in the middle of our DR floor. That pic I will post tomm. Thats it for today, time to rest my body while my mind races with menu items, deadlines, appointments, phone calls that need to be returned, endless Home Depot lists, kids social schedules, bank deposits and bank withdrawals, oil deliveries, interviews, interview questions, employee handbook info, the lyrics to "Sweet Caroline"....lyrics to Sweet Caroline???? you ask, that's for another post, and countless other things....Kava-Kava is my answer, if you have'nt tried it, its great stuff, and meditation.....these keep the head straight...

a glimpse into trying to have a meeting..trying

Trying to get Salt opened involves meeting with A LOT of people. Yesterday, we had to squeeze in a meeting with our liquor distributor for 4:30. A sketchy time since it would involve our kids possibly joining us. But not to worry, we have Direct TV at Salt now, so they could just watch tv during the meeting, no problem. Plus, Bridget had dance class and our friend would be driving her. Ok ready to go. Trying to get Bridget off to dance, she suddenly develops a "Stomach Ache" because she didn't want to go because the costume that she has to wear for her dance recital in JUNE is too girly and well, she just doesn't even want to dance anymore. Ok, we finally get her to leave. Get to Salt in the knick of time--Mom, Corry, Mike (corry's friend) and Kai. Dad is waiting with the vendor. Ok, Kai watch TV and quiet please. We start the meeting. Somebody comes to the door--applying for a job. Ok. Phone rings. Phone rings again and again and again. Kai doesn't WANT to watch tv. Ok, out to the back with Corry and Mike to explore the stream. Sit back down. Someone else is at the door. Ok, back to the meeting. Phone rings, it's our friend who took Bridget to dance-- Bridget is "sick." Ok, call the school. She's fine, but weird, she has your house phone with her in case she wanted to call you. What?! Back to the meeting. Corry has come up the stairs (our office is above the restaurant). He is motioning me to come out--looking worried. Kai FELL IN THE STREAM! Needless to say I finally left Brad to conduct the meeting without me. Wrapped Kai in an apron and headed home. Seriously, we could really use a nanny. Another day in the life....

Salt Art!

THANK YOU LORI! Lori D'agostino painted our signature piece to greet everyone as they enter Salt's foyer. PERFECT! 5'x4' arcrylic on canvas

La Dolce Vita....nyc

Today Tony and I hit NYC for yet another auction. A soho landmark La Dolce Vita on the corner of Sullivan & Spring (my old stomping grounds) closed its doors this weekend and we were there to help them. Well kind of, we were there more to help it live on through Salt, in a small way, by picking up some small wares and some great solid wood tables......bringing a little bit of NYC's Village to Byram's. From Spring Street we headed over to the Bowery to look at new equipment for the kitchen. I think we have finally nailed down what exactly we want for the kitchen. So Thursday or Friday it is back to the city to pick out, and pick up our new kitchen equipment. I also just want to say thanks to all of you who have stopped in to say "HI" and to see how things are coming along......that would be you Frank, and Vinnie & Roe, and Jen & Pete, Jim, Jay, Corey and the Boys, Jim & Jan, Spencer & Max, Jill, and anyone else I may have forgotten. Now it is time to go meditate on all that is going on........ More Tomorrow

interviews/working/playing

The past few days have been jam packed with all kinds of fun. The kitchen hood is fully installed, which makes way for the kitchen walls to be finished and the new floor to be put down. The kitchen lights have also all been installed on the ceilings. The bathrooms are in the midst of being ripped apart and put back together. Toilets and vanities were ripped out, new walls and floors will be going in, then new vanities and toilets, some fresh paint, new ceiling, and new lights. Tony and I have gotten the 5th and 6th coats of poly onto the bar, and the 1st and 2nd coats of poly onto all of the dining room tables, all of that this morning and afternoon. The roof was tarred (?) to fill in a few pin holes that were in the roof, so with tommorrows rain should prove how well I did that! The interview process began yesterday. Laurie and Jen (Salt's manager) interviewed 15 - 20 potential waitstaff and bartenders and came away with a lot of future Salt employees. They all seemed to deal well with the quirky Salt interview process which means they will fit right in. Tommorrow brings our way another auction day in Manhattan. This time Tony and I will being making the trip ourselves, so there should not be any stories of odd buys....such as waiter uniforms and what not! We really need to pray for some warm (50* or more) and dry days in the near future so we can get at least a first coat of paint onto the outside of the building...help us and pray to the paint God's!
Tommorrow I will let you know how the auction went!

Full Steam Ahead...

New bar top has been set and stained! Tony and I laid the entire bar on Monday. We used 3/4 inch red oak and it really is amazing. This morning I stained it with a red mahogany oil and it came out beautiful, can't wait to see it with its 5 layers of poly, that I start tomm evening. Pic will be coming soon. The hood is in the process of being installed right now and should be finished by tommorrow night. Next step in the kitchen is to have to new equipment installed. What might move the installation process along a bit quicker would be if I would actually purchase the equipment. I can't seem to pull the trigger on what exact equipment I want in the kitchen...with 2 weeks to opening I guess I should make that decision very soon. This weather has really sucked and put a huge damper on getting anything outside done. We had started pulling and chopping at the landscaping a few weeks ago, then got caught up inside with things, and then the weather crapped out on us. One good thing about the weather...well good and bad. With all of the water I was able to find exactly where the roof was leaking...the bad part is that prior to this weather I did'nt know the roof was leaking! At least now I know and once the water dries a bit I can get on the roof and spread some tar and do some minor repairs. Fortunately they are just small pinholes and can easily be repaired. Tommorrow we move into the bathrooms for complete renovations while the guys finish installing the hood in the kitchen....stay tuned!

NYC research trip (LOL)....

A great break was had to just get away and to see things and get ideas, all in the name of research. Had a great dinner at Perilla restaurant on Jones Street due to the fact that even an 10:30 pm Spotted Pig had over an hour and a half wait. Dinner was fantastic; had some Sauteed Fluke with Root Vegetables and Baby Spinach. Laurie had some Eggplant Canneloni which she enjoyed, and we split an order of Edamame Falafal with a Fresh Cucumber Yogurt Sauce. For dessert we split an order of Meyer Lemon Doughnuts with lemon and chocolate puddings. All was great! We skipped the brunch and just hit coffee at "Porto Rico Importing Co." on Bleeker Street for some fresh brewed "French Mexican Roast" to take home and The NYTimes. From there we hit some small cafe in the West Village and got some Homemade Granola, some Smoked Salmon, and a Bakers Basket of fresh breads and jams...A great Sunday morning. The afternoon we spent at a small specialty Olive Oil importing place and picked up some incredible Tuscan Olive Oil after tasting about 15 different kinds from all over the world. We also picked up a 7 yr old Balsamic/Fig Vinegar, thinking of putting on a new dessert with home-made vanilla ice cream and fresh berries! From there it was off to the world famous "Murray's Cheese Shop". Picked up a nice block of some imported Parmesan Styled cheese from Italy and a couple of incredible sandwiches. Last but not least, and some record shops, shoe stores, and a bookstore later it was off to "Magnolia Bakery" for some cupcakes only to find the line around the corner and down the block....needless to say we skipped cupcakes. Then it was back to the apartment and off to NJ. Great research was had and new ideas are in the head to bring back to Salt. Its back to wearing many hats tommorrow and putting the head down and getting this place up and running...can't wait!

Bad day-Good day

There was not too much to put on here the past couple of days, things were moving along at a snails pace. Though we did stain the ceilings, gut the kitchen and pull up rotted floor boards, finished grouting and misc. other odds and ends it didnt seem like we were getting anywhere. That being said, today was a productive day. Today with the help of many hands we were able to get the first coats of paint onto the dining room walls (they were actually the second first coats since the very first coat looked like hell next to the newly stained ceilings and we had to pick new colors), so I owe thanks to Bernie,Tad, Tony, Jim, Mike, an Chris...as well as my little nephew Christopher who acted as a very good foreman and approved of our paint choices. We also picked out our spots for the track lighting in the bar area as well as the dining room, which by the way I must say look awesome. All of that being said, I think tonight I will be able to sleep a good nights sleep. Actually tonight Laurie and I are spending the night in Manhattan and will be checking out The Spotted Pig down in the West Village for a late dinner and either Perilla, Balthazar, or Prune for brunch tomm. morning, and maybe end the trip with cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.This is strictly a working overnight, no fun at all, strictly work (yea right). Tomorrow we will be re-surfacing the bar, and hopefully a few other things....Anyway, still working on those pics, hopefully tomorrow. 3 more weeks!

Redemption..

The tile is up. After reading the directions of how to apply paper backed glass tile, I gave it a second go, and as of 12 pm tonight it is still up and looking good. Tommorrow is grouting. Ceiling is moving along at a good clip right now, and looking fantastic. Second coats of paint are on the foyer walls...so we are moving right along now. Direct tv was installed this afternoon, dishwasher was finally disconnected so the last peice of the kitchen can be removed tomm. Permits on the new hood are still pending, but I am told they will be ready very soon.
The big thing today was moving our final things from bula to salt. The office was cleaned out today as well as a few final things. Tommorrow is the closing on bula, so its an exciting chapter as well as sad. It is almost 7 years to the day that bula was opened, and boy what a 7 years it was, Big "Thanks" to all of you who made bula what it was and supporting us, and can't wait to see you all at salt. Menu items are starting to brew in the head....we'll get some teasers on here starting next week. And hope to get those pics up soon...stay tuned

Progressing...

Last evening with the help of Tony, Erion, and my electrician Tim, we were able to take down the old 76er's sign. And what a fiasco, with Erion hanging out on a ladder 20ft in the air with bolt cutters, rope, wire, and a hammer. Somehow the sign did make it to the ground with the help of my truck, without there being any injuries. What a sight it must have been for those passing on rt 206, oh yea, and we were doing this while it was dark out. Pics coming!
Today we were able to get the first of the inside painting started with the help of Tony, April, and Bernie (my Dad). My Dad who just 7 weeks ago had broke his hip while running with me in Central Park and now thinks for some insane reason it is just fine for him to climb a ladder and paint walls. Nothing exciting to report there, thank God.
We were also able to start taking out the old hood in the kitchen to make room for the new one which should be starting next Mon....if the "Permit God" is smiling down on me.
Tomm is also the big day for the second round of trying to hang tile in the bar area, now that I have actually read the instructions for hanging such tile I feel really good about this....if anyone is reading this, please keep me in your thoughts tomm. LOL
Last but not least.......damn, how about that super bowl prediction?

superbowl prediction.....

Giants by 3!!

why chef's wives should stay out of chef auctions!

Just to add to the prior blog of the restaurant auction in NYC the other day. Usually I go into the auctions with my chef Anthony. Unfortunately this week Tony was busy, so Laurie came along. Long story short, if anyone is interested in purchasing some beautiful "Oriental" style black waitstaff jackets, we are now the owners of approximately 675 of these jackets, because "you just never know"! Coming Soon......some before, during, and after shots of inside Salt!
b.

Why chefs should stay in the kitchen . . .

So we ordered this beautiful glass tile to put behind the main bar as a focal point. No problem about putting it up--Brad and Tony were on the job. Now, keep in mind, glass tile comes covered in a smooth brown paper with the back of the tile exposed. Brad and Tony were perplexed as to what this brown covering was on the "back???" of the tile. So they got to work, and applied the tile to the mortar PAPER SIDE TO THE WALL. Ok. When all the tile was up they got to thinking . . . "what is going to keep the tile from falling off the paper since it's not ACTUALLY adhered to the wall????? With that, they READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLATION. I think you know the rest.