Last night we disappointed some of our customers. We had at least four groups of diners come in after our scheduled Wednesday kitchen closing time of 8 PM. We turned them away. Argh. Double argh. It bothers me that customers have given us their…
Chef Mathew Gregoire and I are in the final stages of designing our planned bar renovation. Nothing major, just moving the cheesecakes cooler to face the door and installing a small bar with about six seats. Chef Mat is considering “bar snacks” that customers…
Chef Mathew Gregoire and I want to make a small, meaningful contribution to the community. This has long been my goal (now our goal), but other than ad hoc donations of Dinner-for-Two to various charities, The Flying Banzini’s charity giving has never been as…
There are several rhythms in a restaurant – daily, weekly, and annually. Every day begins calmly. The morning cook arrives and begin prepping the line to open at 1130. The Front of House staff arrives and begins cleaning to open the restaurant and 1130….
When we opened, what are now called our “roast meat sandwiches” were called “soft bun sandwiches.” That was always my vision – lots of tasty roasted meat on a soft, soft bun. With Chef Mathew Gregoire working on revising our menu, Mat and I…
I have been joined in partnership at The Flying Banzini by Chef Mathew Gregoire. Mat is an experienced Chef, adept at running big kitchens. Most recently he was the Executive Chef at the Heart and Crown in the Byward Market. I am thrilled to…
It was a great week. Mom got free cheesecake yesterday. I gave away 100. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who joined us. After a very tough January to February, one starts to doubt one’s restaurant. But, talking with others it’s clear that EVERYBODY had…
Love having the windows open but it’s hard to manage in the heat. Today we will test opening them for lunch (11:30 until 1:30) and then closing them for the afternoon to cool the space before opening them again for the supper service….
In the months leading up to opening The Flying Banzini I bandied around a lot of ideas with my friends and family. In particular, driving to speed skating with Oliver or Fencing with Arthur we would talk a lot about ideas. On one of…
Here is the conundrum that we face… I LOVE my restaurant with the windows open. I love the feel, the vibe, the street, appeal… But, the restaurant can get really warm with the whole from open. I think that people like the windows to…
VIDEO OF THE DAY First Lady Michelle Obama Carpool Karaoke ow.ly/g33F302zsg4<< Hard to imagine Melania pulling this off