Pre-Dinner

We had a dinner for the city club here in town the other nite..here's a cool pic of the calm before the storm.

Kitchen Finished and Ready for Service

Here's some pics of the finished kitchen as we've been open for over 2 weeks. It's finally come together and I'll get Ashley to take some photos of the front of the house. Enjoy.

Baguettes

I make my own bread....I was going to make baguettes and brioche, but it's proven to be too time consuming...so, I'll be making baguettes only...

Heirlooms

Went to the York Farmers Market to get some produce for the restaurant. Among the usual suspects, I found some great heirloom tomatoes, which I'm very excited about. I'm going to use them in my gazpacho, which will be great. Too bad the season ends soon.

Fryer

Got new fryer today..the kitchen is 90% complete...just need to finish up some painting/poly'ing. Dining room is almost complete as well. We open tuesday.

The kitchen is finally taking shape!!

It's Alive!!

Tonite the gas was connected to the range.

Stainless Steel

I hung the stainless behind and beside the range today...Needless to say, it was a pain in the ass and almost resulted in the loss of a finger or two..that shit is sharp. However, I did get it hung and it looks okay.

Decor

Ashley is in charge of the decor for the restaurant..pictured is a valance she made and a group of fleur de lis paintings. More to come.

Article

The Charlotte Observer did an article on Ashley and I. See http://www.charlotte.com/286/story/698769.html

Hood Lights

No big deal, but its exciting to me. Electrician came in today and finished up all his work. One project he finished was the lighting for the hood. To the left of the range will be a fryer and I'll be installing stainless steel behind that and on the adjacent wall too, basically all the beige in this photo will become steel. The white you see is my latest painting project complements of DHEC.

Update

So, this week will be a busy one. The electrician was here today (which you've seen) and will return tomorrow to finish up. The hood will be finished on friday, so that's good. Also, bar construction started yesterday and will be finished up this week with the help of Ashley's brother. Oh yeah, I have to paint the kitchen too, so I'll be finishing that up today. Pics to follow.

Heat Lamps

The heat lamps were installed today. They're retractable, which is nice. The electicians also moved some lights for me and installed some new ones in the kitchen so I'll be able to see now. The difference is amazing.

New Hood

The new hood was/is being installed yesterday and today. It's 8.5 feet, so it'll fit my 12 burner range and a fryer. It's pretty sweet.

Dining Room View

This is the view if you're the bartender, watching everyone eat. The bar will commence construction shortly and the tables and chairs should arrive in a week. In the meantime, Ashley and I will start painting.

Smoked Chicken

I've been grilling and smoking a lot of stuff lately, so I decided to try chicken. I marinated it in Tupelo honey, cider vinegar, salt, black pepper, and cayenne, seared it on the grill first, then smoked it at around 225-250 degrees. It turned out nice and the honey marinade gave it a nice crust. Tupelo honey is really good, try some out if you can find it.

Ice Machine

Got my new ice machine today!!! After a few weeks of trying to find a good one at a good price and spending countless hours on ebay, I decided to just buy a new ice machine. I would rather know I dont have to worry about it breaking and if it does, its under warranty for 3 years.

Work

Finished my FRP (wall cover project this morning). I managed to install the FRP and it looks good. I was able to get my hands covered in liquid nails, so that's great. The wall that is pictured will have a triple sink, hand sink, and ice machine on it.

Pork..finished

Finished the pork butt this morning. Started smoking it last nite and let it smoke for 4 hours, then finished it in the oven at 225 degrees for another 9 hours. I'm letting it cook and will eat some for dinner, but did pull off some to try. I like it.

Progress......

So, it's been a little slow around here in terms of getting the place open. Much of that is due to the fact that I've been notified that I have to install a new hood, which is a downer, but oh well. Currently, Ashley and I are researching tables and paint colors and I'm also finishing up a wall we had to build to seal the upstairs from the downstairs (thanks fire marshall), and I'm getting ready to build the bar with some help from a guy who's renovating an office building down the street, so that will be fun. Today, I picked up some FRP (wall covering to go behind the triple sink) and also tore apart a shelf with a sawzaw. That was fun, but I was waiting to cut my leg off, which would not have been the best thing in the world. I'll probably go buy some shelves tomorrow or maybe this weekend, and hang those, we'll see. I do have all my refrigeration in place so that's cool. Oh well...more to come.

Pork..again

Ok, so this time, I'm using a bone in pork butt and with a different approach. I didn't like the first pork experiment for a number of reasons, so I decided try something else. I've made a brine with mustard, cider vinegar, fennel, salt, sugar, and water and will let it brine for 2 days. After that, I'll smoke it and then finish it on low heat in my oven. I may cook it all the way in the smoker, but am weary that it will be too smoky. We'll see. I tried this brine and smoking method on some pork tenderloin this weekend and it was great. I smoked one loin and pan/oven roasted the other and both were good. They were a touch salty, too much time on the brine combined with too much salt in the brine (oops), but were still good. The present butt has been on the brine for 24 hours and will continue for 24 more. I'll then let it sit in the fridge, uncovered for a bit so it forms a tacky surface for the smoke to adhere to. I'll post the finished product and how it turned out.

Counter Top

We had an old counter unit laying around that the owners of the building left, so i decided to paint it black and build a wood counter for it. I think it turned out pretty good.

Brioche Practice

Making brioche to make sure I can still make it and see how it turns out in the pans that I bought last week. After mixing in all ingredients, I let it rise until it doubles, then punch it down and put it in the fridge over nite. In the morning, I punch it down again, roll it, and put it in the pan. As it rises, I'll put egg wash on it so it develops a nice crust when baking. I'll actually put 3 coats of egg wash on it thru the rising process and with the last coat, I'll put some sea salt on it. I plan on trying this brioche out with the pork I roasted last nite and this morning.

Pork Continued

Pictured is the pork shoulder post marinade and pre-rub and roast. I roasted the shoulder for 13.5 hours, waking up in the middle of the nite to check on it and baste it. Top picture is finished product.

Freezer/Hobart

Here's some photos of the freezer and the hobart mixer I picked up yesterday from an auction. The hobart weighs a ton, it was easier moving the freezer into the kitchen than the Hobart!!

Chicken Braise

Testing out recipes and methods during down time when i'm not buying equipment or sealing cracks in the floor. This one is a braised chicken, or coq au vin. Marinated for 18 hours in redwine, mire poix, garlic, and thyme. Will post more today and tomorrow as I have a couple other things in the works.

Pork Shoulder

Pictured is a pork shoulder experiment in progress. So far, it's been marinating for 15 hours, but will go another 9, then will be rubbed with a mixture I came up with last nite, and then roasted for a bit.

General Layout

You can get an idea of the layout for the kitchen. Cold Apps/Desserts will have the reach in closest to you in the picture as well as the freezer directly behind them (not pictured). Entrees and Hot Apps will have the reach in that backs into the cold apps reach in. That way, hot and cold can have eye to eye contact and hot can keep an eye on what cold's doing or vice versa. Immediately to the right of the range will be a prep table that will have heat lamps above it. This table will be used for prep and during service will be used for plating/expiditing of hot entrees. Immediately to the right of cold apps will be a work top refrigerator that will serve as the area for all cold apps and desserts to be expidited from.

The Range Has Arrived

Delivered Today.

Range/Refrigeration

Bought this range today, 12 burners and 2 huge ovens. It gets delivered Thursday so i'll have photos of it in relation to the rest of the kitchen. Hitting up an auction tomorrow for some more refrigeration. Also, got 2 6' sandwich units last week.

Biscuits

Had a party this weekend for Ashley's jewelry business and also used it as an opportunity to show our friends and family the plans for the restaurant. Needless to say, I happily contributed to the occasion with some food...here's a pick of the mini biscuits we served.

Welcome to The Brandon House

Hey Everyone, Ashley and I have embarked on a new adventure. We've returned to where we grew up and are opening a restaurant called The Brandon House. I'll be posting photos of our progress and keeping you all informed on what's going on. Pictured to the right is our new spot. We'll be living on the top floor and the restaurant will be on bottom floor.