Sunday Brunch (2/28)

Wow. Has it really been over two months since I posted one of these? I couldn't believe my eyes as I rolled through the blog archives, but here we are, months later, resurrecting the posting of sample brunch menus. So be it.

Though I do have to admit, it's a little embarrassing. Especially given the fact that we're convinced our kitchen has been pumping out some of its best food to date. What in the world has possessed me for so long, leaving me awfully neglectful of you and denying you from reading the deliciousness that defines Sunday Brunch at the LRBC (I mean besides the fact that lately our heads have been spinning off their axises)?

Silly me. Sorry, Folks. Let's hope this doesn't happen again (for both our sakes).

STARTERS

Bread Board
served with Fleur de sel butter, mustard, citrus marmalade, and radishes

Broiled Grapefruit (v)
with vanilla bean-sugar

Fruit Salad (v)
plate of fresh fruit drizzled with agave nectar and fresh lime juice

Arugula Salad
with lemon, candied hazelnuts, and shaved pecorino

EGGS

Huevos Rancheros
2 sunny-side eggs with black beans, pineapple-pico de gallo, avocado, roasted jalapeno mousse, tomato-ranchero sauce, and queso fresco on two corn tortillas, served with lime juice and mango chili slices
add house-made chorizo...2.00

Lox, Potatoes, and Eggs
wild Oregon lox stacked on top sweet potato gratin with 2 sunny-side eggs, avocado, and goat cheese, served with greens and a buttermilk biscuit with jam

Salami and Cheese Omelette
Molinari dry salame with aged white cheddar and green onions, served with greens and a buttermilk biscuit with jam

SWEET

Granola, Fruit, and Soy (v)
house maple-flax granola with toasted almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame, topped with fresh fruit, served with soy milk

Honey Yogurt Bowl
Nancy's Honey Yogurt with house granola, fresh fruit, cinnamon and honey

"Carrot Cake" French Toast
thick slices of challah dipped in a spiced carrot batter, served with maple cream-cheese butter, carrot ribbons, and toasted walnuts

SAVORY

Buttermilk Biscuits and Rosemary Mushroom Gravy
half portion...5.00 add 2 eggs...2.50

Tofu Banh Mi (v)
sesame tofu, pickled carrots, bell pepper, green onion, avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, lime, and vegan sriracha mayonnaise, served with potato chips

VLT (v)
smoked tempeh strips, arugula, tomato, vegan dill aioli, and avocado on toasted ciabatta, served with mixed greens and a dill pickle

Oregon Tuna Melt
wild Oregon albacore tuna, lemon-herb mayo, cheddar, green onions, and farmhouse relish on Italian como bread, served with potato chips



(v) vegan

Ahem...
and it would be terribly rude of me to not pause for a minute here and give a shout out to my one and only sister, whose birthday happens to be this very day. So let's give it up to all the Pisces out there.

two of my most favoritest people in the world

Dearest Sister,
I hope it goes without saying that you are the one and only *one.* Thanks for making my life so much brighter, and for being 4.5 years wiser. XO to infinity and beyond.

LRBC Little Known Fact #213

Strata.

We first began making strata four years ago, when we owned and operated a farmer's market booth under the name "Green & Green Salad Company." At the time, the Green & Green menu focused on salad recipes and wrapped sandwiches, but after spending too many early mornings twiddling our thumbs and standing put while our neighbors booth's accrued lines of customers which wrapped around our own booth (cough...Pinestate), we finally decided that enough was enough. It was time to start serving up some breakfast fare to entice the early morning market goers.

Seemed simple enough, however at the time, the Portland Farmers Market was very strict in regard to exactly what type of food people were allowed to serve. In order to ensure that there was not too much crossover between vendors, the market employed a jury process in which vendors had to submit any new food items they hoped to serve at the market to an official review process. Our initial attempts were shot down one after the other. Egg sandwiches: no. Crepes: no. Biscuits and gravy: no. After a few weeks of deliberation, we suggested the possibility of "strata" on a whim, partly hoping they would allow us to serve it based on an assumed lack of familiarity with the cuisine. Wouldn't you know, they finally said yes. The rest, as they say, is history.

Strata became our signature breakfast item at the farmers market, and since then has become a favorite amongst many of our LRBC patrons. The beauty of this stuff, is that there are limitless possibilities in terms of what one can do with it. We enjoy using our strata to highlight seasonal ingredients as they reach the peak of freshness.

8 Questions with... Colin

disclaimer: this photo was shot on Halloween and shall have no reflection whatsoever on Colin's love for American Hogs.

Name: Colin
Position at the Cafe: Cook, trivia specialist, professional knife wielder/food sculptor, American legend

Your favorite Michael Jackson song is:
"Smooth Criminal"

In your dream garden we will find the following things growing:
Raspberry bushes, my favorite berry and a nice line of thick thorny hedges make for a great fortification in the event of zombies

Famous person I want to dress me is:
The Pope, because let's face it, the man has million dollar pieces of jewelry, I'd be set for life

Best thing you’ve put in your mouth recently?
Slow Burger

What do you never eat?
The heart of an unworthy opponent

Salt or Pepper?
Pepper: real men like it hot

Last great book you shared with a friend?
It was probably a Dungeons and Dragons manual

This spring you’ll find me…

On my deeply spiritual Burgerquest

Tutorial: Cooking With Us on Valentine's Day

photo courtesy of (the A-mazing) Our Labor of Love

We were elated when the Los Angeles editor of the insanely useful and chic website DailyCandy got in touch with us to ask if we would want to contribute a recipe for Valentine's Day. She was working on a story called "What's Cooking, Good Looking," featuring recipes from restaurateur couples from across the country. It took us about .1 seconds before typing "yes" and hitting the reply button on the computer.

Needless to say, we were honored to be chosen and featured by DailyCandy and we thought it would be silly of us not to share this great news with all of you.

The parameters of the recipes were pretty open; didn't matter how fancy, how savory, or how sweet. Just had to be something that the lovely folks and readers of DailyCandy could cook at home. Evan and I instantly remembered one of our first Valentine's Days we spent together, about nine years ago. We were fortunately spending the holiday away at his parent's cabin in Central Oregon, a place we still hold dear to our hearts, and one that can be considered pretty much the most romantic place ever. The premise of our gifts was simple: each of us would cook a meal for the other. Looking back, neither of us are quite sure what Evan made. Perhaps this is a testament to the fact that even at 19 years old I was the ring leader in the kitchen. We did recall that I had whipped up a quick and easy pot de crème recipe. Since then, we have tweaked that recipe many times over to satisfy the cravings of hungry customers. The one we dished out to DailyCandy is the one we were serving at our (now defunct) dinner service. Thought you guys might enjoy it, too. Go ahead cook these up for your sweetie. We'd be delighted to hear if they help jump-start a long-time love affair for you, too. Oh, and if you care to see the recipe in print (online, that is), or wish to peruse the other restaurateur couples' recipes, here's the link.


Chocolate-Espresso Pots de Crème

Makes eight servings

Ingredients
8 oz. Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1½ c. heavy cream
½ c. whole milk
2 2-inch strips orange peel
1½ tsp. fresh ground espresso or instant espresso powder
6 large egg yolks
2 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 300°. Heat a kettle of water.

2. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

3. Scrape seeds from the inside of the vanilla bean and combine with pod, heavy cream, milk, orange peel, espresso, and a pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan. Heat the mixture until it begins to boil and remove from heat.

4. Pour mixture over chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisking vigorously, add the chocolate mixture to the yolks in a slow, steady stream. Strain through a through fine sieve over a medium bowl. Discard pod, peel, and any other solid ingredients.

6. Arrange 8 coffee cups (or ramekins) in a small roasting pan. Ladle custard into cups, making sure they contain a equal amounts of custard, and fill the roasting pan with enough hot water so that it reaches halfway up the sides of the cups. Cover the roasting pan with foil. Bake about 30 minutes until custards are just set around edge but centers wobble when cups are gently shaken.

7. Allow the cups to cool in the water bath about 1 hour, then serve at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with fresh whipped cream, espresso grounds, and orange peel.

Trying to Remain...

I'm glad Evan took the challenge of writing that last blog post. You should all know by now that I am FAR too emotional of a person to pull something like that off without completely losing it and going off the regrettable emotional deep end; something I'm not quite ready to face head on in the blogosphere. I love you guys and all but really, I think it's best to let the more stable person handle explaining what our life has been like during the last month.

Know that I've been curled up in bed at night, thinking about all of these issues. You can see me can't you? Covers pulled tightly over my head, hiding clenched fists, tear-stained cheeks and hoarse throat, wishing the whole world would just go away...if only for a minute.

It's good though. I know for me at least that I require days (and even weeks) like that. Moments when it takes the rug being pulled out from under my feet to remind myself that I am, that we are, only human. While a bit shocking needless to say, I also find it invaluable to be reminded of what we hold dearest to us, even if that very thing is threatened to be taken away.

My husband did an excellent job of summarizing why the lights seemingly went out on the blog for a few weeks, so I think it's now my turn to try to pick this thing back up off its feet so that we can continue down this path that we're convinced was chosen for us. That is to say, to continue to pursue our dream and carry you all along with us during the journey. We are so blessed to have this blog; our only real tangible memory log of what has proceeded to happen since we first dreamed up the idea of having a restaurant. It would be a shame to not have documented it all; both the good and the bad. We are even more blessed to have you all as our witnesses, proof that we're not completely crazy and have pursued a worthwhile cause.

So please allow me to reboot this thing with some positive energy, 'cause Lord knows it hasn't ALL been bad recently. In fact, many wonderful things have happened for us and for the ones we love around us, and that is what I care to share with you tonight: the good stuff.


First and foremost, we are excited to announce the opening of our friend Morgan's Dovetail Bakery. This is a project that has been in the works for sometime now, and even before entering the newest outpost, we knew it would be a business defined by the phrase "labor of love." Morgan has been the vegan community's Go-to-Gal for a few years now, and has dedicated countless hours supplying delicious vegan treats to us, our friends at the Half and Half (where we were first introduced to this baking genius), as well as New Seasons and Whole Foods around the city. We couldn't be happier for the ladies of Dovetail, who were able to free themselves from the depths of their windowless, wholesale-basement-bakery and expand into a gorgeous, light-filled, inviting space located on the corner of 31st and Alberta in NE Portland. There you can expect to find smiling faces, all of Dovetail's fantastic treats (we're obsessed with the sticky buns and trail-mix cookies), and another reason to drink Courier Coffee. Congratulations, ladies! Your hard work has surely paid off, and thank you for opening your doors to all of us! Lucky indeed, Portland, lu-cky.

We also have another friend making waves in the food community and that's our friend Ethan. Ethan just opened a new pizza place called Pizza Depokos. Perhaps even more exciting, at least to those of us who reside in the Northern part of the city, is the fact that this place is holding it down on N. Greeley and Killingsworth, at the new Refuel North Station Food Pod.

We met Ethan five years ago when we first moved into our north Portland neighborhood. We actually met him on the internet by responding to a craigslist add for a "really cool retro couch." I'll never forget Evan telling me about his journey to pick up this couch; from the super-cute house with vintage trailer, and the amazing back warehouse space located behind the house which contained all sorts of collectible odds and ends, to the incredibly nice and decent guy who helped deliver and move-in the massive sectional we had just acquired. Naturally, we never imagined we'd see him again.

Imagine our surprise when this man walked into our shop two years later to buy a cup of coffee. The three of us had one of those, "hmm, I-think-I-know-you-but-don't-know-where-from" kind of moments. We were finally able to put the pieces together over Ethan's latte. Turns out Ethan and his wife Ferris own the incredibly savvy and essential Portland vintage and collectibles shop, SMUT (which stands for So Many Unique Treasures, before you go and get your panties all in a bunch). SMUT, located on SE 28th, is definitely one of the coolest shops in Portland, dare I say it's a Portland GEM, and it makes total serendipitous sense that one of Ethan's hunting grounds happens to be the flea market that takes place every Sunday on Lombard St. The very same Lombard St. our cafe is located on. So began our second meeting with this man, and eventual meeting of the rest of his equally charming family, whom we've now grown quite attached to. We've come to learn over the years that Ethan is quite the handy-man, and besides having a keen eye for that-which-we-cannot-live-without, he can build stuff...lots of stuff.

So it came as no surprise when Ethan informed us he was building a wood-fired pizza oven. We were delighted upon discovering that he planned on sharing his creation with the public. Ethan opened his doors last Friday and since then we have consumed four pizzas from him, a fact that both frightens me (do we really eat out this much!?!) and makes me so very pleased to have an awesome dining option in the neighborhood.


After years of dedicated consumption of all things dough, sauce, and toppings, we have no problem in declaring that Ethan's pizzas are the real deal. The first sign of assured wood-fired greatness? Two words: charred crust.


Those of you Apizza Scholls addicts out there will know what I'm talking about. It's an absolute must, and we're ecstatic that Pizza Depokos got this one correct, right out of the gate. Ethan's hand-built oven gets up to 1000° F, which not only aids in creating the perfect crust, but allows the pizza to cook fast...and we mean really fast. Our pies have usually been done somewhere between 2-3 minutes, which is pretty incredible when you think about it. So yes, to summarize, if you are in the Portland metropolitan area, get your butt down to Pizza Depokos and meet Ethan and his one-man crew. You are bound to learn something extremely interesting from the guy, as well consume one the fastest, most affordable, and freshest pies out there.

And we cannot continue to talk about wood-fire pizza without mentioning the extremely exciting opening of Lovely's Fifty-Fifty, the newest creation from the Minnick sisters of Lovely Hula Hands fame. Longtime admirers of anything these ladies do, we were only half-surprised by our experience there. I say "half-surprised" because we knew the space would be charming...we just had no idea how charming. We're beginning to wonder whether or not these two should start their own interior design company because their atheistic vision continues to surpass all others in our humble opinion. Even before we received our salads, pizza, and homemade ice cream I declared I never wanted to leave their space: the ambiance they create tends to do that to a person. But alas, the check did come, and I had to accept the fact that I do have a real home 3.8 miles away (Evan looked it up). But boy will this place become a second home with the amount we're anticipating hitting it up.

In fact, just the other day on our bike ride Evan declared this summer his "Summer of Pizza (his most recent "summer of George"-esque declaration). And taking into consideration our near religious-radical-like devotion to Dove Vivi, our recent fascination with Pizza Depokos, and the latest arrival to the Mississippi neighborhood, I think he may be on to something.


I on the other hand, am currently engaged in a torrid love affair with hamburgers. Well, bacon cheeseburgers to be exact. After nearly ten years of vegetarianism with bouts of veganism mixed in, I recently fell off the wagon and began eating meat, or I should say pork and beef. Oddly enough these were items that least appealed to me back when I was a more aggressive meat-eater, but for some reason this is what my body has been craving upon its relapse. And when my body craves something, particularly food related, I am rarely one to deny it its pleasures, for better or worse. What can I say? Some days it's tempeh and lentils, and some days it's a bacon cheeseburger. While I don't know how long my affair with crossing back over to "the dark side" will last, I can say I've enjoyed the ride thus far. Try to imagine the surprise, and in my case, the delightful dance my taste buds experienced after years without tasting flesh. It was both surreal and exhilarating. After years of battling and cursing the limited menus found all too often, I was suddenly able to scan a menu and ask myself, "what sounds good?" Suddenly, the possibilities seemed endless. And so I have gone forth and conquered...burgers that is. Here's where my palate has been most pleased, and of course in no particular order because favorites don't apply during times of battle: Slow Bar, Toro Bravo, Clyde Common, and Country Cat, and with many more yet to be faced. I'm aware I have a long road ahead of me, as the number of burger offerings in this city appear to be quadrupling by the second. Would it be crass of me to mention here that Little Red Bike Cafe is also hoping to add a burger to its repertoire sometime in 2010? And so the truth comes out; my personal Battle of the Burgers has really been nothing more than researching "The Other Guys," but boy, has it been fun. Trying to outdo Ray in the race for "Burgers Most Consumed" has been challenging but certainly worth the effort.

Which brings me to a bit of bittersweet news. After nearly a year and a half of being our lead barista, and your dedicated espresso extractor and latte pourer, Ray rightfully accepted an offer he couldn't refuse from another coffeehouse. While we are saddened to see him go, we are both proud and elated that his dedication to the craft has been rewarded with an exciting opportunity elsewhere. If you drink coffee, and particularly coffee worth drinking (i.e. Coffeehouse NW, Barista, Half and Half, Red E, Fresh Pot, Ristretto, Extracto, Coffeehouse Five, Cellar Door, Grindhouse Coffee, Albina Press, Cartola, Spella, Velo, Sterling Coffee Roasters, and/or various Stumptown locations throughout the city-just to name a few), you're likely to run into our dear friend Ray. And when you do, please make sure to thank him for serving us and you for so long. For those of you who are interested in taking in some of Ray's handiwork, you will now be able to find him downtown at Portland Coffeehouse.

So you see, things haven't been all bad around here. Let's just say that after a less than fruitful winter, we remain hopeful for the buds of spring.

Weighing Our Options

Been awfully quiet 'round here...we know. Truth is, any time the blogging slows down, it usually means that we've been away on vacation or busy as hell. These past five weeks the latter has consumed us. We launched a soft dinner service, an experiment that proved equally as taxing as it was instructive. After five weeks of service we have decided to take a sabbatical from dinner while we contemplate the positives and negatives of the entire experience, and how we can improve upon our efforts in order to create a more cohesive service in the future. Additionally, we need to create some free time for ourselves in order to take on more immediate and important tasks (see below). Our plan is to "re-launch" dinner by extending our regular business hours into the early evening beginning in March, and extend our hours again mid to late spring. So "seasonal hours," isn't that what they say?

Though our "dinner" was only served three days a week, the experience proved incredibly taxing. Serving food at night is a whole different ball of wax than running a breakfast/lunch service, and as a result of testing the waters I have gained further respect for the many crazies out there who take on this task night in, night out. For example, the hours. In my experience, breakfast/lunch is a part-time endeavor compared to the time it takes to serve food at nighttime. One might think that serving two meals a day versus one might be more difficult, but such is not the case. With breakfast and lunch, your day begins early. Ironically, the earliest I get up throughout the week occurs on Sunday, the day we open the cafe LATER than any other day of the week (9am). On Sundays I usually awaken sometime around 4:30am so that I have ample time to bake biscuits for our brunch service, as well as do the necessary rearranging of our kitchen that is required in order to carry out a menu which is slightly larger than that which we offer Monday through Saturday. After the day is over, cleaning the cafe usually takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, and on some days we have to run around and do some shopping for specific items. When the shopping is done, we may have to complete one or more random tasks that, as owners, fall on our shoulders, such as replying to emails/phone calls, organizing mail, filing paperwork, making trips to the local copy store, bank, etc. You know, the fun stuff (insert facetious tone of voice here).

My point is that with a breakfast/lunch service eventually the work day ends, and on occasion we actually end up with free time which we can use to relax, eat, sleep, or take care of any number of life's chores that do not involve work. This, in my mind, is the good life, the easy life, a life made in the shade. Dinner, which we only recently discovered, is an experience unto itself. You see with breakfast, you don't have a choice; your day starts early because you have to be ready to serve others who need their drug, er I mean coffee and food so they can get their day started. With dinner, even though you ain't serving anyone until the evening hours, one still has to start their workday shortly after they awaken. In order to serve food in a timely manner there is a great deal of prep work involved, and if one is to be ready for the hungry masses that arrive once they finish work, one has to be on top of their game. This means: get out of bed and start prepping.

Orders arrive throughout the day, and as the day flies by, one keeps themselves busy trying to get ready for dinner. Then dinner comes, and in a flash, its over. Now it's time to clean. Even if one closes early (such as we did, flipping the CLOSED sign around at 9pm) it's still quite common to be serving dessert at 9:45pm, which means you're lucky to be all cleaned up by 10:30, and more often than not, you're locking up the shop around 11:00pm or later. Call me crazy but after a few hectic hours of serving food and drink I often found myself pretty amped up and not exactly ready to hit the hay upon returning home. Throw in a couple hours of "unwinding time" and before you even realize, it's already 1:00am; which means that even if you're not ready to go to bed you'd better at least force yourself to try. And so begins the vicious cycle that is dinner; get up, work all day and night trying to simultaneously prep for both services, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day. Which brings me to the point of this most current rant (rant #416 in 1,000 Things That Get Evan All Fired Up, available in bookstores everywhere December 21, 2012), which is that breakfast/lunch is WAY easier than dinner service. Again, to all you out there who make a living serving dinner, give yourself a GIANT pat on the back; you deserve it. Know I'll be savoring these next few weeks as we try to figure out how to make our own dinner experience more manageable.

...big sigh of relief...

On top of all of that (hope you didn't take it the wrong way, we really love what we do; apologies if my dramatic attempts at self-deprecating humor come off as erratic) Ali and I have labored a great deal trying to determine the future of our beloved cafe. During the past few months many customers have asked us if we plan to relocate the Bike to another part of the city. I would like to take this opportunity to answer this question, as well as clear the air regarding why we would even contemplate leaving the neighborhood (our neighborhood), and the people who have helped make our dream of owning/operating a restaurant possible during these past two and a half years.

I would like to begin by stating the facts: our current sublease agreement which concerns the space we currently occupy is scheduled to terminate June 22, 2010. During the past ten months we have received a great deal of correspondence from our landlord, all of which resonates with a concise message that I think is best summarized by the following statement: "You are not wanted here, get out!" My words, not theirs, but I think you get the picture.

Which brings us to our most recent challenge, one that occupies a great deal of our time, and from conversations I have had with a number of customers, a question that concerns at least a few others beside Ali, myself, and everyone who works with us: What is to come of the Little Red Bike Cafe? This question has resulted in more than a few sleepless nights for Ali and myself, and thus far, the hunt for a new location has shown only glimmers of hope. We did come very close at least once. Prior to leaving over the holidays we thought for sure that we had found The Space, only to later discover that our interpretation of the deal varied greatly from that of our potential new landlord (not to be confused with the Dolly Parton song of nearly the same name). No hurt feelings, just disappointment (huge disappointment).

In order to assess the potential of a given location one has to picture themselves occupying said space, however, in imagining the possibility of taking over a space it is impossible not to get attached to the idea of actually moving in. It's a strange phenomenon, and a predicament we wish we didn't have to be facing right now. It's a tough process both emotionally and physically. One that makes us feel as though we're starting all over again, despite the insurmountable amount of love and effort we have put forth in building this business in the first place. At times we have been left feeling that it has all been for not; that despite our efforts in trying to rectify the situation, we have been left with nothing. I know I touched on this earlier folks, but please allow me to reiterate our point of view so that you fully understand where we are coming from. We do not want to leave our little home on the North Portland Peninsula. It is difficult to be facing the task of finding a new home after working so hard to get to where we are today. This crazy ride began five years ago when we first hatched the idea of starting a restaurant while traveling through Takaka, New Zealand, and visiting the Wholemeal Cafe, the point of conception for our current journey. I'll never forget the chills that ran up and down our spine when we cracked the pages of the Wholemeal Cafe Cookbook and read that the owner had been inspired to start a cafe in his home country of New Zealand while traveling through Oregon, USA. Though we had never (and still haven't) met the owner, we felt as though we were of the same spirit, living out a parallel reality on the other side of the planet. Some people our age and in our situation choose to have have kids...we chose to start a restaurant (some choose to do both, and boy do we LOVE the hell out of them!). And now please take a moment to assess how we feel knowing that "our baby" is on the brink of being taken away from us.

Until now we have chosen not to share any of this with you because it's hurtful, and it's ugly, and we generally shy away from putting anything negative out into cyberspace in fear that some kind of web-karma might come back to bite us. However, the inspiration for sharing this with y'all is not to gain your pity, nor are we attempting to reduce the backlash that might very well ensue should we have no other option than to take up residence someplace other than our own 'hood. This is a call to arms. We need your help, and at this point we feel we can use all the help we can get. Everyone keeps telling us it's a good time to be a tenant in search of a lease, but from what we can tell, there ain't a lot of options for potential tenants who have run their business based on LOVE as opposed to the bottom line. More truth: we still love what we do. It's a roller coaster and we're addicted to the ride, both the ups and the downs. Along the way we've accumulated some fellow addicts who help keep us afloat as we sail the high seas aboard this ship made up of fried eggs and ciabatta bread. Please know that this is their livelihood and passion too, and we'll be damned if this whole thing isn't going down without a fight.

Thanks for allowing us to escort the elephant out of the cafe (and you thought it felt cramped in there at 10am on a Saturday). Apologies for not being as open and honest with you as we could have been (will you still be our Valentine this Sunday?). Whew, I know I feel better already putting it out there and finally making it known that the LRBC is (forcibly) on the hunt for a new location. But until we find a solution, we're currently weighing all and every option.

Gearing Up

I don't know about you, but here at the LRBC we're gearing up for Valentine's Day. This means lots of chocolate and other sweet things that will allow even the greatest cynic to enjoy the upcoming holiday. To prove my point we'll be serving up this tomorrow morning:

Blood-Orange and Chocolate French Toast
with Nutella, orange marmalade butter, bittersweet chocolate shavings and real maple syrup

Hope to see you then.