My how time flies! Look how the chickens have grown!

April 2011- a few days old

May 2012- a year old

We have a bunch of lovely little hens laying fresh eggs everyday. We have found plenty of delicious uses for the eggs at home, and love when we have a whole bunch to bring to Liliana's for the Chefs to use. There really is nothing quite like fresh eggs from happy hens!

Tuesday Tasting Menu April 17th

Tuesday 3-course - April 17 - Bay of Pigs

The infamously failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was on April 17, 1961, with the intent of overthrowing the Castro communist regime. It was originally proposed by Richard Nixon, planned by Dwight Eisenhower, and approved by John F. Kennedy. It was a disaster.

Kennedy ordered a full investigation of the failed operation. The controversial Inspector General's report concluded that ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance on the part of the CIA were responsible for the fiasco. It criticized nearly every aspect of the CIA's handling of the invasion: misinforming Kennedy administration officials, planning poorly, using faulty intelligence and conducting an overt military operation beyond "agency responsibility as well as agency capability."

Aside from being a major victory for the Cuban Revolution and a major embarrassment for Kennedy and the CIA, the attack at the Bay of Pigs set the stage for the nearly catastrophic confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union: the missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The only good news is that we used the Bay of Pigs invation as our excuse to feature the incredible Fox Valley Bershire Pork in our menu this evening.

Last September the Heide family visited the farm - see the details in the restaurant blog here.

Tuesday 3-course menu - April 17

Fox Valley Berkshire Pork

3-course dinner $25, wine flight $10 additional

First Course

Braised Fox Valley pork shoulder and feta ravioli
with wilted spinach in a citrus brown butter

Second Course

Grilled Fox Valley pork chop with smoked potato purée and charred asparagus. Topped with lemon herb compound butter.

Dessert

Fox Valley bacon apple crumble
with vanilla ice cream and brown sugar bacon caramel

Tuesday Tasting Menu 4/3/12

Tuesday 3-course Preview - April 3 - Apples

Apple Computer keeps reinventing itself, over and over and over again.

Who would have thought that the small niche computer maker would evolve into the company it is today, with some of the most sought-after commercial products in the world?

They reinvented the intelligent cell phone, created a whole new way of selling and playing music, and made tablet computing popular. They launched the first generation iPad on this date back in 2010, and since then by December last year had sold over 55 million iPads. Their newest generation was released earlier this month.

Our menu next week is our tribute to Apple!

Tuesday 3-course menu - April 3

Apples!!!!

First Course

Gala apples, candied pecans, montrachet cheese with an apricot vinaigrette and field greens

Second Course

Fox Valley Berkshire Pork Chop with gingered apples, bacon braised collared greens and crispy sweet potato pancake

Dessert

Warm apple crumble with cinnamon semifreddo

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

Tuesday Tasting Menu 3-27-12 Aphrodisiacs!

Tuesday 3-course Preview - March 27 - Aphrodisiacs

On this date in 1998, the FDA approved the drug Viagra. We thought it would be fun to look at foods that over the years have been considered afrodisiacs.

We've colored all of the foods that have been considered aphrodisiacs in the menu red.

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 27

Aphrodisiacs!!!!

First Course

Fresh shucked oyster with basil mignionette

Second Course

Pan seared salmon with avocado-honey tomato salsa
and fresh grilled asparagus over shitake risotto

Dessert

Almond rum cake with chocolate ganache,

strawberry with a vanilla bean creme anglaise

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

Tuesday Tasting Menu 3-20-12

Tuesday 3-course Preview - March 20 - 1st Day of Spring!

Next week marks the first official day of spring, and it's a great time to think about the upcoming new spring menu. Be looking for our announcements - we're going to be spending most of a week introducing you to our new spring menu, launching a new item or two each night for you to get a preview.

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 20

1st day of Spring!!!!

First Course

Braised lamb ravioli with brown butter sauce

Second Course

Pan seared salmon with grilled asparagus and cilantro couscous

Dessert

Key Lime Tartlet with bruleed meringue

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.

St Patricks Day Specials

St. Patrick's Day -

We're celebrating it all weekend (Thursday through Sunday)

The Irish are a big part of New Orleans history. An early wave of Irish immigrants, fleeing British persecution at the end of the 1700s, landed in New Orleans and became well integrated into the economy and social life of the city. The first St. Patrick's Day celebration was held in 1809.

Immigrants from Ireland started arriving in significant numbers as famine began to drive them out of their homeland in the 1820s, a famine which peaked in the 1840s. Living conditions for the thousands of Irish immigrants once they arrived in New Orleans were also far from ideal.The Irish laborers found hard work digging the canals, where thousands died because of the poor living conditions and disease.

The Irish founded many well known churches, and of course a number of terrific Irish Pubs.

Pat O'Brien's (with the flaming fountain in the courtyard) invented the Hurricane cocktail, a New Orleans classic. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with enthusiasm in New Orleans!

Irish heritage figures prominently in Fitchburg's history and settlement as well. Many descendants of those first families can still be found in Fitchburg...the Kinneys, Gormans, Lacys, O'Briens, Foxs, Purcells, and Barrys.

We can't get enough of St. Patrick's Day! We've just got to get started on Thursday night, and we'll keep things really moving all weekend, including our Saturday Late Night and beyond.

Here's what we've got planned:

Lunch

We'll be serving Liliana's take on a Reuben Sandwich - House-made corned beef, house-made sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese on toasted marble rye with thousand island dressing and horseradish on the side. Served with our sweet potato chips and white bean salad - 9.

Dinner

Irish 3-course Dinner
(Thursday through Sunday)

3 courses for $25

Paired beer / Irish coffee flight $8 additional

1st course

Mussels in Guinness

(Abita Turbodog)

2nd course

Corned beef and cabbage with roasted garlic mash

(Abita Jockimo IPA)

3rd course

Guinness Brownies with Baileys Ice Cream

(Irish Coffee)

St. Patrick's Day Saturday

$3 taps all night

$3 Green Cows all night

And don't forget the Saturday Night Raw Bar, starting at 8pm.

Tuesday 3-course Preview - March 13 - California!

March 13 is the anniversary of the founding of San Diego State University, and since Chef Dave's wife Tiffany is from the San Diego area, we thought we were overdue in recognizing the cuisine of California. Here's our tribute to the food of California:

Tuesday 3-course menu - March 13

California!

First Course

Shrimp cevice on avocado with chili lime tortillas

Second Course

Pan seared mahimahi with grilled orange salsa

on a bed of kalamata and feta couscous with baby arugula

Dessert

Citrus cheesecake with orange caramel and creme anglaise

John Vitale, Marilyn Fisher, and Ken Kuehl will be playing in the bar.