[KeeperOfTheGood]

Hey oh

Yes and Yes, sort of.

There is a Chinese restaurant in town that has FIVE menues. One of "north american" immigrant developed chinese foods, one of traditional Mandarin foods, a Dim Sum menu, a take out menu, and a written in on wall boards in Mandarin trditional daily specials.

This place has 2 tanks 50 gal each. One holds eals, and the other fish. They also have 2 tanks 25 gal each for crabs and the like. When you request one of these prettys, they fish it out, and present it to your table for your approval befor killing and preparing it.

There is also an Italian restaurant in town that has a main seated section, and a pasteries section seperately.

As far a dreaming goes, I would like to have those old style deep booths that will fit a VW bug, is all in black walnut wood and red velour, and is closed from the aisle way by heavy curtains. Silent and undesturbed dinner.

I also like the idea of a "theater" style kitchen. The idea being that the "working kitchen" is a show for the patrons.

I have also pondered a restaurant with the concept of "just appatisers". No dinners, no entres, no buffets, no salad bars-- JUST APPATISERS.

Realistically for me would be a "little" shop, with half a dozen tables, where I can serve roast beef sandwiches, big plates of beans and crusty bread, have hot coffee or apple cider. And most importantly a spectacular vista to enjoy while eating. The kind of little place a famouse author would feel happy to sit and write a best seller in. That is my own personal goal

[Phaedrus]

Given the amount of dead from the recent tsunami, my dream place would be 1,500 miles from any ocean.

[PhishStyx]

My dream place will hopefully be a reality in the near future. Things are falling in place so far (actually they're not just falling, I'm having to shove a lot of it in place but it's the same end result). I'm going to open a pastry shop. Desserts and pastry are my thing even though that's only part of what I do at my current job. I'll have no competition here, it's a fairly small remote town and no place of that type currently exists but the place has a large restaurant to population ratio and they all do well (the people here work hard but don't seem to like to cook). It's also somewhat of a tourist area in the summer for people who fish. The difficulty will be that I intend to maintain my current position at the restaurant at least for a while and just do the baking for my place with someone else there to handle sales/customer service when I'm at the restaurant. Future plans (if this goes over well) would be to add seating and a dessert-only menu. At that point I'd definitely have to give up my current position but it'd be worth it.

[kuan]

Heh heh... my ideal restaurant would be called CAFE SOUS VIDE!

Just like Cheddars. Everything comes in a bag!

[ChefAshley]

hi,
i really wasnt to be a pastry chef to, but i am not sure what i would become in the future. i dont want to end up working for some old cranky woman, at a job i probably wont like, so i am afraid the i wont have anywhere to go in the future. i want a CAREER as a pastry chef, but i also think that i should have something else (cooking wise) to fall back on.. i dont exactly know what my ideal restaurant would be, but i know that it would be decorated in a way that will make children laugh when they walk in. i hope that one day, i will own a party place for childrens birthdays, and have a nice playground, and excelent food, and the best dessert ever made. .. but that is way in the furure.. since i am only in high school.

Ashley Hope Losurdo

[blue_wolf]

My dream would be to run a small (40-60) seat shop. Seasonal menu serving international/american cuisine. Not overly extensive but good selection of wines (I need to study this more). I would love to go with the old Irish/English pub look (hard wood floors, dark stains, low light) with a touch of eligance (white table cloths, art work, uniforms of the servers). The food would match the decor, simple yet eligant. That seems like a prety good start.

[hipjoint]

Originally Posted by Skeleton

My former Chef often told of his idea for a dream restaurant, 60 foot aquariums, guilded in bronze sweep around the open kitchen, and bronze range hoods over 15 feet of char grill and flat grill, with cutting boards in front. The entire concept of the restaurant is fresh seafood. When customers order, the living fish are snagged, butchered and grilled with just a simple olive oil, lemon and fresh parsley marinate. Have a single 6 fire range for some light apps, maybe a few pastas. Display fridges behind the cooks with all other ingredients. Have a salad/cold apps section tended by waitrons, and.. well, he was the worst chef ever for dessert, but as long as we are talking about a dream restaurant, why not a seperate, dedicated pastry section?

For me, the idea of having all of the proteins alive when you sit down to eat is exciting. Not just the usual bivalves and crustations, but all manner of fish, grilled fresh.

He said that El Cangrejo Loco in Barcelona has a similar idea. I'd love to see that. I can just imagine the nightmares of dealing with suppliers though, imagine getting upset because the salmon wasn't alive when it was delivered.

Anybody ever see a restaurant like this?

+++++ uhhhhh .... guess you never went to higher quality chinese seafood
restaurants?? when i took a friend fromthe midwest to one of these places
he was thinking, wow, big aquariums, what a decor!! then when i ordered a dish and he saw the waiter go to the tank and net a fish to cook, he was shocked!! but this only works for smaller fish ... imagine how big a tank you would need for a 200 lb. tuna or 400 lb. swordfish!!

[hipjoint]

Originally Posted by Nicholas

I thought that it'd be neat if cooks could double up as cooks, and runners. He cooks the food, and brings it to the customers.
I likedthe idea that the person who cooks my food, will also bring it to me, to add a personal touch.
A few wait staff to take the orders, bring the drinks, turn the tables, etc etc.

And then practicality sets in. I imagine a large kitchen is going to be needed, for the cooks doubling up as runners.

Or, tables placed around the open kitchen, where people can watch their food being cooked, and more tables around the restaurant for those who don't. That way, cooks can put the dish right infront of them, taking away the need to leave their stations.

i always thought that this would be a great idea for a restaurant!!
it is amazing how the waitstaff often has NO idea what it takes to
cook something or what goes into a dish. when i ask how an item
on the menu was prepared, i usually get a puzzled look. i would have the
chefs as cooks and runners, maybe on the same night, maybe on alternating
nights. either way, a more personal and knowledgeable staff!!

OH!! and just a thot .... at least half my staff would be culinary school
grads, their first job after graduation, just to give them a taste for
all aspects of the restaurant game.

[chefbk]

Kuan....I like your idea for the small place, pizza for after school and classical guitar concerts!!! Does anyone really get into large volume anymore??
I had my own place for about 2 years..fell through though, thats the problem with PARTNERS!!! Steak and rib place, country setting, seafood, homemade pizzas, we did it all!!! I miss it sometimes. So what did I do??? I moved to a shithole called Detroit!! I've met some decent people though. Worked at a few hotels and seafood restaurants. Oh to own my OWN place again! It was nice.
BK

[hipjoint]

i always thought it would be fun to own a CHAIN of restaurants ... fun, easy
dining place where you can go for just hanging around ... and get this ....
it would be a seafood restaurant with a pirate theme ... shapely young lady
waitresses with tight blouses and hot pants and i would call the place
"BOOTY". yeah, and the fun part would be to have them located behind
a "HOOTERS" restaurant so ... you guessed it ... my motto would be
"HOOTERS in the front, BOOTY in the back!!"

sometimes i crack myself up.

[dano1]

yeah, you're killin me.....

[Alyce]

It doesn't have to be a "high-end joint" to be clean, well-stocked, etc....our little cafe does, I hope, satisfy all those demands, plus we're friendly!

[redace1960]

a small, hole in the wall luncheonette sized place that does breakfasts,
huge ones, out in the country brush where people need their carbs and
fats to get through their workday. no smoking, no psychotic staff, an early morning local
radio show playing, plenty of newspapers, where you can come out and shmooze with
the customers and make sure everyone gets
their day off to a good start. there are places like that in the hills around
here, and the gratitude the customers feel when their days needs are being
met like this is amazing. i know i wouldnt get rich, but id be happy and so would the folks.
i do this now at home for the worlds two grumpiest humans and so far
no complaints!

[Metrakay]

The problem with breakfast is that where I'm at, a b&b, everybody wants the same thing... So, it is sausage gravy, sausage, biscuits, eggs and fruit "something" day in and day out. The only time I get to serve anything else is when people stay for more than one night. That's one of the reasons I'm expanding my catering business -- I'm sick of making the same things! If it isn't the sausage gravy breakfast, it is bacon & eggs & scones... Once in a while I can get someone to have crepes, but no, everybody wants sausage gravy.

I have a parlor I want to make into a tea room, if I can get my act together. I think tea, a couple afternoons a week, breakfast for those who want it, and a few catering gigs a month would be just about right.