The Economy

I get asked all the time if we feel the effects of the sluggish economy in our restaurant, and I have to say no, that business keeps getting better for us as time moves along. I don't know what exactly to attribute that to, for we certainly are not in a bullet-proof industry, but there are a few factors I believe have given us an edge in these uncertain economic times.

• People are still like eating out.

Our 21st century lifestyle includes going out to eat, regardless of the call by Oprah to eat more meals at home. I don't believe the common pace of life these days will ever slow down to ever exclude eating out. It may, but I believe we are a long way from that point.

• We've priced ourselves to meet a variety of budgets.

Being in a college town, we knew we needed to have a menu that would be affordable to our university across the street. You can come by for lunch and get a savory bowl of soup for four bucks, and I guarantee it will be made with fresh ingredients and not heated up from a frozen block of ice delivered on a semi-truck from some central kitchen 200 miles away. But you can also buy a nice bottle of wine of Stag's Leap Cab with your locally raised beef short ribs.

• You know us personally.

We are an independently owned restaurant. How many of those do you find in Lincoln today? Most of your choices are franchised chains that are nothing more than a system of "charts & graphs." Do you know the owner of Applebee's? Or further yet, does he or she know your name? We take personal interest in you and your experience, because it OUR place. If it fails, we go down with the ship. If your favorite franchise goes under, the corporate machine swallows the loss. And who's going to bust their butt a little harder for you, the guy who knows your favorite wine or the one who sees you as a statistic? Our customers recognize this and make their choice accordingly.

• Our first competition is with ourselves.

I know at the end of a night if I have done a good job or not. I know if your food tastes as good as it could, and whether or not I got it out to you on time. I don't have to ask you for that kind of feedback. Rarely do I get a comment about something that is not up to par that surprises me, because it usually has to do with a customers preference and not the condition of the plate. I stay closely observant over my dishes and taste everything I make. If I am my first critic and competition, I reduce the risk of sending out sloppy food.

We do all we can do to provide a great product, but without you coming out to support us and enjoying what we offer, we would be in the tank. Thank you for helping make bread&cup a success!

Working in the kitchen

I love the environment of the kitchen, especially a commercial one. Albeit very small, my headquarters allows me to do a job that I love and run it how I see fit. All chefs have their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. Here’s a glimpse into my world.

1. On the days I bake, I arrive at 4:15am. After turning on the lights, the coffee extractor and checking the credit card report, I plug in the iPod. One of my favorite albums to turn up loud is John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. I think its the juxtaposition of styles. As a baker I have to follow a regimen, much like a musician following sheet music. But Coltrane's improv solos allows my mind to wander off from the written notes.

2. I constantly check fridge doors to see if they are closed all the way. I can't tell you how many times I arrive in the morning to find a door cracked open due to an inattentive kitchen guy cramming a container in that won't allow the door to shut properly.

3. My staff knows that the best way to suck up to me is to clean something. I am not ashamed of this arrangement.

4. My kitchen floors bug me. If I had it to do over again, I would have done something different to them.

5. I was naive to think that if an appliance was labeled "Pro" or "ProLine" that it means it is professional quality. Sorry to say that's not the case. Its just a way to fool the home consumer into thinking they are buying something of higher quality.

6. I need a clean, uncluttered work station in order to get things done. I will spend 20 min tidying up before I can get started it the work space was left a mess. If I don't, I will obsess on mess rather than the food I am making.

7. My favorite bread to make is ciabatta. Years ago when I discovered the use of a couche, I was fascinated at how it created those long striations on the crust. I still love seeing those loaves lined up in the basket on the wall.

8. The potato has surpassed the onion in the race for product used most in my kitchen. We are going through about 75 - 100lbs of potatoes a week with our gnocchi, soups and starch for weekend entrees.

9. I can usually tell if someone is visiting the restaurant for the first time. Follow the eyes and see where they go. Most new eyes are drawn upward to the lights, open space and the quote on the wall.

10. Besides a chef knife, the utensil that has acheived Most Favored Tool status is the immersion blender, affectionately known as the Boat Motor. It is the size of a trolling motor and could probably serve the same function if it had a proper mounting device. It creates the smoothest soup directly in the stock pot.

Why we travel.

As you can see from these photos that are worth a thousand words, you can see why we take the time, spend the money and make the effort to travel. We do it for the sheer joy of it all. {k & k at Guinness Gravity Bar}

8 days unplugged from cell phones, from email, from Facebook, from peer pressure, from homework, and this is just what our kids were liberated from. It was eye-opening to see the release and reconnection that occurred when these common distractions were removed.



Sometimes it requires a little vision to see past what people think they want to what is really at the seat of desire. The immediate demands of gratification that are assuaged by constant electronic contact can overshadow the age old practice of simply being together. The urgency of the in box leads one to believe that it is more important to give it attention than the quieter invitation of rest & reflection. {l & k @ The Burren}

Our family made such great memories through this trip. We have stories to tell, and retell, and laugh along the way, like on the day we arrived and I was so exhausted from the travel, I fell asleep mid sentence while talking about cars.



One of the best decisions was to take the advice of a friend and purchase a small video/still camera for the trip. Even though we had a camera already, I forget how quickly technology changes and improves on itself. Photos like these help tell the story in ways that words don't. {c & k & Galway City Square}

So if your Bucket List includes taking a family vacation this year, make sure to move that one to the top of the list. Time marches on, and so will your kids. Opportunities don't necessarily wait, either. My dad always encouraged me to stop and smell the roses, because we don't know when we will pass this way again. Following good advice like this is rarely met with regret.

More on Ireland

Now, back to remembering where we were a week and a half ago.

We were about to reach the train station to hop aboard for our journey westward when we got the phone call that Karen's dad had passed. After returning to our quarters and phone calls back to the states, discussing details with family, it was agreed that we should continue with that portion of our trip.

{photo} We arrived in Galway late afternoon, and our hosts were ready to show us their city. An immediate stop at this pub gave us our first serendipitous moment. Typically, traditional sets start late, around 10pm, but this place had an early session, meaning the kids could attend. If I ever return to Ireland, I will plan to visit a pub with music every night of my stay.

What made this spot so memorable was the man who tapped Karen on the shoulder as we were about to leave. "Yer gonna wanaa stey fer this next song." he said. And so we did.

Most of the music we heard was instrumental, but it seemed as part of the tradition, when someone began to sing a song, it was courtesy to lower the conversation and turn attention to the performer. Now to know Irish history is to know its familiarity with conflict, struggle and oppression. When the young man, early twenties, began singing, the his lyrics reflected this awareness in an extremely poetic way. This is the beauty of live music. It only happens once. Sure it can be recorded, but the real moment happened at the venue, not on video. I have a short clip of it posted on Facebook.




The best fish & chips of the trip were found here in Galway at McDonagh's. {photo} Fresh, light and flaky fish that was battered in an equally pleasurable crust. Their chips were voted best in Galway as well.

The next day, our host took us for a personal, day trip through County Clare out to see the Cliffs of Moher. Along the way we made several stops of interest, one at a spot referred to as The Burren. He managed to snap this shot of me walking gingerly across the rough rock surface high up on the hill. {photo}


Photos can't do justice to beauty of the cliffs, but you can get a little perspective at their magnitude from the size of the people in the photo below {photo}