March came in like a lion and left like a Colorado lamb... very delicious ha ha. This has been the best March and the best quarter in the history of man kind! And Governor Paterson's sales tax office can be my witness.

I've been working so hard to get seasonal produce in and as a side effect we have been running a lot of specials. I think at one point we were up to about 20! My wait staff told me that the customers start to laugh at them after 8 so we cut it down to 10 specials for now.

It looks like the giant diver scallops are done. We keep trying though. I will go back to Jon in Boston again I wish he can get me U8. There are two boats that might have them. We are also keeping an eye on the Alaskan King Crab market. The price is about to soar. The quality is still fantastic but the portion is smaller. We usually get about 14 straight legs which is the "filet mignon" of crab, now they cut down to about 11 straight legs and that's all we can get for entrees. This needs to be fixed or we won't be able to have them on the menu anymore.

Tomorrow I will fly to Boston along with my brother Lex and a few other chefs from the area. We will check out a new seafood company to see what they have to offer. They will show us their facility, capability and efficiency... lets see how good they are!

Your Chef,

Max

Spring has sprung and we have all the goodies to prove it... Fiddle head ferns, baby wild leeks, colossal asparagus, wild mushrooms and fresh baby corn still in the husk. It has been the best spring ever! Today is Good Friday so the restaurant is loaded up with all kinds of seafood. Pook is going to kill me when she sees the bill!

Yesterday I got in 10 whole Black Grouper about 2 to 3lbs. each. We are serving them the same way we did the Black Bass last week. The Pacific Halibut is still going strong. A new batch will be shipped in today. My new old guy Ken got it from the North Coast and its quality has been fantastic. Every time we get more in I am thrilled with it.

Jonathan, my guy from Boston sent us Blue Fin Tuna yesterday. It came from a 545lb fish. Last night we sold a lot of sashimi and Blue Fin steaks. We also have fresh squid that we will grill and serve with our double roasted peppers sauce for my good friend Nick. The squid appetizer special has been selling very well with our famous Prig Pow sauce.

As for the Oysters... Today we are getting in Melpaque and Wellfleet both from Maine. They are big and very good.

Now I am just waiting for soft shell crab. My best friend George keeps asking me about them. I always give him the first ones of the season but its still a little early.

Your Chef,

Max

One of our regular customers asked me how the basketball tournament has affected our business. Very honestly for the past few weeks from the Big East Tournament all the way through the Elite Eight we only had one good Saturday. The bars and University area do very well but not fine dining.

Monday was a different story... It seemed like everyone flocked in from hibernation. It was Neil's (the Grass' sou chef) first night on the Bistro line. He was filling in for DDT's day off. I watched him prep the line before service and when I walked away I smiled... he did such a good job! I could tell he really cares about the products and their preparation. I knew he was the right guy for the job and at the end of the night he proved it.

The scallop war is still going on. There was a meeting in Portsmouth, NH earlier this year and the scientist agreed that the stock is being under fished. They restored a 5 million pound quota to the scallopers. But why does the price keep going up? In Boston all of the scallops U10 and under are up to $16 -$17 per pound. I'd like to see who is getting rich on this one. I know its not us we can't jack up the price. The overall market is still soft, to increase the cost to the customers would be so stupid!

I will give you an update for the weekend soon.

Your Chef,

Max

Last Tuesday I met Rick Jackson at Brugger's Bagels in Nottingham Plaza. Pook and I wished him and the team good luck in the Tournament... that didn't work out too well! Their emotional loss put the whole restaurant morel down. But business on Saturday brought us back to working mode again.

I was so distracted by all of the Tournament goers that I forgot to write my blog on Thursday. So lets pick up where we left off...

We got in whole Black Bass (about 2lbs each) on Thursday. I slashed off their heads, trimmed their fins, flash fried the rest and topped it with my chili tamarind sauce. Believe it or not it was the best fish in the History of Man Kind! We sold them to fish connoisseurs and Pook and I ate some too!

This week I went back to the whole baby corn still in the husk and I wish that it will be here to stay. It is a little more work but well worth it. I should be able to get it year round.

Saturday afternoon we had a tasting for "My Best Friend's (daughter's) Wedding." It took a good three hours to go through all the food. Everything went really well we just have a couple of minor adjustments to make with the stuffing for the quail and we are going to change the sauce for the artichoke ravioli. Thank you Dave, my Bistro chef, for working so hard on the tasting.

This week there is still a lot to do with seafood. Lately my Godzilla scallops turned out to be Iguana again. They used to be huge now they are getting smaller and the price keeps going higher. I really hate these suppliers that try to fill their pockets and do not care how the end user will feel. They really SBT...sucks big time!

Your Angry Chef,

Max

The NCAA Tournament is coming to town and the whole city is buzzing about SU and Cornell making the Sweet Sixteen. All the headlines about Tiger Woods and Sandra Bullock... no one cares this week its all about the Orange and the Big Red!

Even though business was light last weekend during the Tournament we are looking good for this weekend with all of the out of towners coming in. We are hoping they will stop in for an early dinner before the games or maybe to watch the games on one of our TVs.

As I predicted last week the Pacific Halibut sold very quickly and the seasonal greens were great. For sure I will get in more Pacific Halibut. Also we will get some fresh whole calamari, Black Bass - two pounds each, and some Colorado Lamb. We are still waiting for the fresh green peas and I have started to look for wild leeks and sea beans. I know it is still early but I am hoping we can find some from the Southern states. I found some morel but it is too expensive to even dream about getting. It looks like we will have a great season ahead of us.

Your Chef,

Max

Yesterday morning Sue, one of my floor captains brought in a crocus from her garden. For the past ten years she has brought in her first flower so she can brag to me that her garden is better than mine. But for me it is just nice to see that spring is finally here!

Some of my favorite greens will be here soon... Fiddle Head Ferns, pea shoots, green peas, and baby corn. My good friend Norm is trying to get the Fiddle Heads in early from the Southern states. I can't wait for the fresh peas to come in. There is nothing like biting into a fresh pea, you can feel the little crunch and when it pops in your mouth you can taste the starch on your palate. Last week the asparagus price was so reasonable that we decided to use it for our seasonal greens.

I know it is a lot easier to buy from the Syscos of the world but it is a lot more fun to buy from my local friends. They have given us such great service over the years, always putting their heart and soul into their businesses. Spring is always a good season for them and it is always fun to see what they will be getting in next!

The Pacific Halibut came in yesterday. It is the first of the season and wow is it amazing! Pook and I tasted it last night and it is so light and flavorful. It is so good that I am afraid that we will sell out of it by Friday night.

Your Chef

Max

Saturday was the St. Patrick's Day Parade. This brings thousands of people down to Armory Square. However, green beer and Pacific Rim Asian with a steak twist isn't exactly everyone's idea of a perfect match! This year was no exception. After bragging about how well we did the last few weeks it is now time to cry about how mediocre we did this past weekend. But we take the good with the bad and we are always glad to see our friends doing well.

So in the spirit of the holiday...

Long live the Bar

Long live the Beer

Long live the Leprechaun!

John, my fish guy from Boston is back from his vacation and he told me yesterday that he can get me West Coast Halibut. It's the first of the season! He made my blood move again this is so great I can not wait to see it!

Your Chef,

Max

Spring is in the air and this week has been all about the food. I have had meetings all day everyday about what we need to be getting in and how we are going to update the menu for spring. So to get in the mood I will start with seafood.

Our new seafood distributor sent Palmer some J.P. Shellfish from Maine. They are really serious about their oysters too. They have almost 20 different kinds from both the East and West coast and they come in fresh everyday.

This week for oysters I chose the Begaduce Oysters from Maine, they were featured at the James Beard House, and French Kiss Oysters from New Brunswick, Canada I chose them because they sounded sexy! They both have a high meat yield and are extremely consistent in both size and shape... just what we were looking for!

Our good friend Steve Fraum from Palmer sent us some fabulous Kobe NY Strip. He aged some of the 9 - 12 grade ( the best on the market) for us. I tasted it the other day sooooo delicious! Our dry aged NY Strip from "our new old guy" has been very well received by our customers. Steve told me yesterday that we have our very own small private shelf at the Palmer Dry Aged House with our name on it and everything... not bad, not bad at all. I can breath easy knowing they will take good care of me.

Wait I'm not done yet. I got some blue fin tuna in from a company called North Coast. They deal with tuna from around the world. We are not very familiar with them yet so we just ordered 10 lbs. to try them out. They will also send us four whole snapper 3 - 4 lbs each... we will see how good they are.

Well this is a start for now. We will be changing our regular menu soon to reflect the season.

Your Chef,

Max

We were amazed by the turnout this past Saturday night. Ali was out of town this weekend so Victoria, my experienced hostess tried her very best to keep the restaurant floating. The reservations poured in after the game and the weather was so nice that everyone was out. Imagine if SU had beaten Louisville.. ha ha Victoria would have drowned at the door!

Friday and Saturday were tough on my kitchen staff and dishwashers. On Saturday we ran our kitchen with nine cooks. Three on the appetizer and Pad Thai line, one on sushi, and one on dessert. On the entree line there were two on the Lemon Grass saute line and "Downtown Dave" my Bistro chef was holding the line along with my grill and pan man to his right.

The Grass and our Elephant have had the best four consecutive weeks ever. For me this is the best four weeks of my working chef career in the 20 years I've been in Syracuse. Thank you Syracuse and everyone who has contributed to our success. I will talk food in a day or two.

Your Chef,

Max

This is not the best week for seafood. My man Jonathan is on vacation so I had to buy from a new guy. Actually he wasn't bad at all. He can get me my Beau Soleil Oysters that I've been looking for and some wild stripped bass by this Friday. This is the same company that will fly me to Boston in early April to take a look at their operation.

We are looking to build strong relationships with new suppliers. I keep telling my salesman that no matter how good the suppliers products are if we cannot work together we will not get a good result. If this new partnership works out well we will gain a great seafood supplier. I am excited to see how this turns out.

Our new dry aged beef is in. It looks great and you can really taste the dry aged difference... yummy! We also added grilled Japanese eggplant to our menu. It is served with Yuzu-Soy, toasted sesame seeds and roasted seaweed. I got this dish from an old friend of the family about 48 years ago. He was a serious Japanese gourmet chef. His name was Morio Kutsura. Thanks Morio!

Your Chef,

Max