Welcome back students! Last week was crazy, in a good way. It was so nice to see so many of the returning students and their parents. We also had a great chance to meet many of the freshman class on Saturday during the "Feel The Pulse" event. Our Pad Thai was a big hit we must have given out over 1200 samples.

We were so busy last week that I never got a chance to fill you in on Max's trip. Pook, the girls and Max started in Switzerland for Nattah's graduation and are now dining their way around Spain. He called me from Barcelona the other day to brag about how beautiful the beaches were... so jealous!

He only calls once or twice a day which is very little for him considering when he's home he calls at least 30 times a day! Although he has discovered the wonderful world of text messaging... he woke me up at 4am a few times this week with trip updates.

Pook and him are having a great time but it is tough for them to stay away from the restaurant for this long. They will be back this weekend. I am sure Max will have lots of stories for you.

Ali

This week Pook and I are in Oregon visiting her family. It is so fun out here. The food is so cheap! At the park there are food trailers all over the place. So many Thai and Asian venders and their food is so good. I tried as many as I could.

We will be back in Syracuse for the weekend to check in but then off to Europe on Tuesday. Sooo much traveling! I will have Ali take over my blog next week so she will keep you up to date on whats going on at the Grass and my Elephant.

Your Traveling Chef,

Max

I'm back to normal after four weeks of very bad health. My batteries are charged and I'm ready for a busy September.

Last week we met Mark, a local tomato grower specializing in heirloom tomatoes. He brought in all kinds of tomatoes for us to sample. All organic heirlooms... so delicious! We liked them so much we added a Buffalo mozzarella and heirloom salad to our list of specials. It is tossed with baby arugula and topped with a basil and pine nut vinaigrette, a perfect late summer salad. We call it a "Sometimes" salad because the heirloom variety changes depending on what Mark has ripe at the time.

Now a day green mangos are sold all over Wegmans, Price Chopper and all Asian grocery stores carry them. I have a dish that we always serve to a few hardcore regulars. Its raw mango with tamarind dip. We are thinking of adding it as a new salad too.

Now to the meat department...

We have changed our Black Pig cut from a regular chop 15-17oz to a French style chop at 14-16oz. It will be better quality, easier to eat and its going to look so cool with the bone in!

As I mentioned last week, we were getting in some veal chop. I ordered 10 pieces for the weekend... Not enough! We sold out by 6:00 Saturday night. The veal was served with a sauce of locally grown chanterelles. It was "oh my God" level, believe me it was really that good!

For this week we are pushing it to the next level with a Tomahawk steak. First we will get in the 24-28oz steak and for the weekend we will feature a 41-48oz steak for TWO. It will be the Godzilla of steak. HUGE. I can't wait for the weekend they are going to be so beautiful!

Brown Trading is flying in some Sockeye Salmon from Washington State. Nick G took good care of me, Steve tried his best but his selection did not make my blood move, just too ordinary. We are also getting in flounder. We will serve it like the we did at the MOST Gala with the whole fish on the plate... it is so delicious everyone loved it.

My food rhythm is back! This is a good result of being mentally well. My restaurant and its food are a clear reflection of my mood. And this week I'm in a really good mood!

Your Back-to-Business Chef,

Max

Summer is winding down which means business should be picking up. Even with the hot, humid weather we are still going strong. The phone has been ringing all week with reservations and private party bookings. But no matter what we bring in this month it will still be so tough to beat last year. Last August was huge, Fuccillo HUGE!

We have been focusing a lot on our wine list lately. We sold a tremendous amount of wine this summer. Most of them off our "Last Bottle" sale list. Everyone loves this list. The can purchase really good quality wines that we only have a bottle or two left on deep discount.

As we clean out our inventory with the "Last Bottle" list we are making room for new wine. You will start to see some new hot bottles of wine on the list again. Pook told me I was moving too quickly but I want to stay on top of the new trends for the up coming season.

We have CAB Prime steak and one pound plus veal chops coming in tomorrow. We will have them on special all weekend. I've been trying to line up some whole fish from my guys in Hawaii. They will let me know what their selection will be for next week. Also coming in next week are Niman Ranch Lamb Loin. They are supposed to be amazing I can't wait to get them in!

Its about time to change our menu again. I plan on adding  curry noodles to the menu and revamping the salad selection a little. Ali and the rest of my front staff are under protest because I want to cut the Strawberry Maytag Salad out. The would sell this salad for the rest of their lives if they could. Come on guys! Strawberry season is way over in Syracuse. Its time for zucchini, baby beets, peaches, plums, nectarines... there are so many to choose from right now.

Sushi is very popular theses days. I just went to dinner at Moro Bistro in Auburn and they have a sushi selection too. If you do not have sushi on your menu right now you are behind.

The busy season is approaching so its time to gear up, get ready and hope for the best!

Your Chef,

Max

Its been a tough summer. Seafood prices have gone through the roof. Everything from soft shell crab to shrimp. Fish filets have increased in price and decreased in variety. It is so hard to keep up with the price hikes while not passing it along to our guests.

Business has been hit or miss but we are still going strong even with out the Summer Dining Weeks. The Candlelight Series is a nice boost for us. As long as the weather is nice our outdoor seating always fills up for that. Unfortunately there are only two more left, August 7th and 14th. I wish they were every weekend.

A new "Sushi War" is starting to brew. The chain restaurant "Koto," a Japanese steakhouse, has opened up on Erie Boulevard. They must have put a lot of money into the place. There are 7 to 10 hibachi tables with Down-Draft technology, plus another 40 to 60 seating.

One good thing about this place is their sushi and sashimi are good and inexpensive. Put it this way, I cant buy some of the fish they have for less than what they are charging for it. Maybe this is some kind of promotion or maybe because they are a chain they get it super cheap. Either way it will be interesting to see how some of the other sushi places will respond to this. In the mean time I will take advantage of their pricing.

Your Greedy Chef,

Max

PS. Next week the blog will be late. Pook and I are traveling again.

Last weeks was a little crazy. We started with the MOST Gala on Tuesday night and I was in and out of the doctors office all week. Then on Friday Pook and I hopped on a plane and flew to Chicago for the weekend. We went to visit our daughter and recharge my inspiration battery. I ran out of juice with all the work I have been doing and I bet that my fans can tell too.

The greatest thing was going to the Chicago Farmer's Market. It was all certified organic foods and products. If you want to open the box and sell them in Syracuse the answer is no. The next morning I just walked around the neighborhood where there were a lot more smaller farm stands. I saw Rick Bayless, the grand master chef from TV. He was shopping next to me! I bought Faises des Bois (baby wild strawberries) which you would never see in Syracuse. So I took some home and whipped some cream... so delicious!

Now I can't wait to go to the Syracuse Farmer's Market. I really want to see again what Syracuse will offer my customers.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about my Peking Duck! The restaurant called and told us that they did not have the duck so we canceled our reservations and went to the "Black Bird" instead.  The chef is Paul Kahan, he is a recipient of the James Beard Foundation Award and has been named as one of the best chefs of the year. Their pastry chef, Patrick Fahy worked with Thomas Keller before at French Laundry. The dessert was amazing... better than our meal!

Now lets go back to the MOST Gala... actually I was not impressed with my kitchens' performance. Don't get me wrong they did just fine but I wanted more. The food was ok to very good but not at the level that I wanted it to be. Maybe my menu was too simple. My front staff did a great job. Thanks to all of them.

I still want to write a lot more but  this blog is getting too long.

Your Chef,

Max

Its been quite slow at The Grass lately, but we are all still busy preparing for the MOST Gala on Tuesday night. Numbers are down a little for the Gala be we will still serve over 200 guests.

The business will keep its own track until the end of the second or third week of July so in the mean time we will start gearing up for this fall. Next week we will start to meet with food suppliers to discuss the options of a new cut of meat.

The trend now is to focus on local farmers and growers as long as they keep the quality up. This is not a new trend, as I can remember, we tried to use all high quality products form local and neighboring states since 1994. It is ok if the price is slightly higher its worth it. For sure we will see more farmers in the few weeks to come.

Next week I will go to Chicago to taste Peking Duck at L20, so we'll see how good its is. It will be fun to go to a few new restaurants while we are there. Last time I went to a Japanese place that served tapas. Soooo good. I at so much. I kept the menu and marked what I ate so I could keep track of what I haven't tried yet.  I wish a place like this could make it in Syracuse but for now I have to go to a big city.

We adjusted our menu again. We added grilled squid steak and a few other items to both Lemon Grass and Bistro Elephant.

Your Boring Chef,

Max

Summer is finally here! Unlike last year this June seems to be too quiet. We just hope to get a fair number without "Summer Dining Week" for sure... now way for a new record again.

The MOST Gala will be here in 2 weeks. This year the food and wine donations are better than the last couple of years. From the appetizer reception to desserts we will serve 21 courses. Neal my sous chef will take over all preparation and kitchen staff management.

Shrimp prices are out of control. Even the Gulf is supplying less than 2-4% of the world's shrimp consumption. Panic... maybe or somebody is getting so rich while those shrimp guys over in the Gulf are getting really poor.

This season is too busy for Pook and I. A lot of traveling with more still to come. At the end of August Pook, the two kids and I will go to Spain. Both of my daughters have good palates on most of the cuisine. They have even made reservations at several 2-3 Michelin Star restaurants. We are all so excited.

In the past 4-5 years I've never once gotten a new idea or new look from South East Asian cuisine that I can use in my restaurant. Most of the concepts and looks have come from seasonal American, Euro-Asian, Asian-Euro and European chefs. Lately a lot of them came from Spain too. I will come back with lots of ideas for a new fall menu.

Asian concept... we got it! Its not hard for me to whip out great Asian dishes. No, the hard part is marketing them the right way to our clientele. In order to be successful you have to lure them with the presentation after that the rest will follow. Of course you must be sure you do not cheat on the original cuisine in both taste and concept.

By the way I know that I missed last weeks blog and would like to apologize for that. There were too many things going on for me in Thailand. Now I'm back in shape and will be here on regular schedule.

Your Chef,

Max

This time last year we were gearing up for summer dining week. Unfortunately there will be no dining week this summer. Neither the Downtown Committee nor the other area restaurants have the funds to support the advertising budget.

So far this spring the downtown business has been quite slow. Some said it is the Pascale Effect, they may be right. Pook, Ali, DDT and I went there last week and we ended up having to say "Hi" to half of the customers in the dining room. We went there twice to finish the whole menu. Their concept is great. Its a lot more casual than before. Those 2 bros will make it well over there. For sure we will miss them downtown too.

Next month Pook and I will go back to Chicago again to see one of my daughters. She made reservations for us at L 2 O (L two O) it is a French-Japanese or French-Asian restaurant. This is one of the very top places in the area, we will go there for their Peking Duck special. My kid sent me L2O's blog about their Peking Duck and told me to check out a different preparation. Its really quite interesting what they are doing there.

While Pook and I were in Thailand I ate several Peking Duck at two of the best restaurants in Southeast Asia. This is the way they serve it...

The lacquer skin with a homemade crape, Hoisen sauce, fresh cucumber, and green onion. Then the rest of themeat they cook to your liking. We had them cook it two ways. One with black pepper sauce and the other sauteed with sprouts and celery.

Soft shell crab may not last that long this season. The fish, shrimp and oyster price is going up very fast. They are using the Gulf excuse to murder us on the price. We'll see what I can do.

Your Chef,

Max

The past few weeks have been too slow. Its been good for the staff's sanity just not good for their pockets!

Last week we got our first shipment in from Brown Trading Co. They are good to very good. I can't wait to put my hands on the Lobster Roe for this coming week's special... it will be very yummy in my tummy!

We had a meeting with Tony and Nicole from the MOST to discuss the menu for the Gala. This year we will take a slightly different approach. We will have more variety of food but lighter in style. This gives me a chance to be a little more fun with the food. Ali will post the menu once it has been finalized and approved.

Two weeks ago I had a chance to taste a Black Button mushroom, a delicacy in Northern Thailand. They have a very short season just like our ramp and fiddle head ferns do here. Just two days into the season four locals had died because they mistook them for a poisonous mushroom. I bought mine from the older vendor and I figured if they have stayed this long they were okay to eat... I was right I'm still alive!

I used to get this kind of mushroom in a can but then they got banned by the USDA. When I got back I asked around and my guys said the ban was lifted and they are safe to buy again. I was thinking of using the Black Button mushrooms and roasted prawn with an orange curry, shredded Kiffer lime leaves, pickled young bamboo, palm sugar and tamarind jus.

I will test it out and save you a picture.

Your Chef,

Max