A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Fenton, MO Ruby Tuesday's Sunday Brunch

   
 For something new and different, we checked out the Ruby Tuesday Sunday Brunch which turned out to be quite good. I'm hoping they start having it here at the Springfield location down the street from us.  From 9am-12noon, it's a four course inclusive price for lovely bread, yogurt parfait or salad bar, and then a choice of several different entrees followed by cookies or cheesecake for dessert.  I had the fresh spinach, mushroom and feta omelette above and Lynn had the cheeseburger quesadilla to the right.  In the top right hand corner of the picture you can also see one of the three trio benedicts with crab cake.  Also really good.  The other entree ordered in a our group was small steak served with scrambled cheesy eggs and a really nice sweet cornmeal crepe with stewed apples and cranberries. 

We were all very pleased with our food and I'd go there again with or without a special occasion.

Jenn's Birthday Sushi and (Hooray) the REAL Japanese steakhouse "Orange" Seafood Sauce Recipe

 

Saturday night, we were invited over to our good friends', Corbin and Jenn's, house to help celebrate Jenn's (cough)nd birthday where we were told there would be a few people and some finger foods--a total underestimation of the food and fun! We met Janis, a fellow foodie who took on the task of a 3-course sushi meal for nine people and her daughter, Jordan, who along with Jenn's daughter, Chelsea, made dessert for us all of chocolate chip cookies and fudgy brownies.  Good work, ladies! Also invited were another lively couple, Al, and his wife Melissa (can't believe I didn't get a decent picture of them all night)  whom I think (from my investigation on Facebook) might know a bunch of people I know which is even more fun. Melissa also had the dubious job of keeping me ante'd into the poker hands last night since she was sitting next to me instead of Gene.  I think she didn't realize she was going to have to take on his job all night of taking care of me but I thank her!

Happy Birthday, Jenn!  Thanks for the great party!

Rosati's Authentic Chicago Pizza--Restaurant Review TAKE TWO

 

For those who are just joining us on the Rosati's review, I had had a problem with service on an order I place last Friday.  I have since (yesterday) talked to the store manager who was kind, professional, and genuine. She offered to do "whatever it will take to make this right."  I mentioned that I was studying for my ACLS (adult codes) recertification and she volunteered to send over dinner so I didn't have to cook.  I so appreciated the offer since the last thing I wanted to do was cook!

Charlotte was so very generous with both our dinner and with a gift certificate that I can use at work to feed pizza to the night shift crew who were working with me the night the problem happened, that she ended up making this MORE than right and my confidence is regained in multiples and so will that of my co-workers be regained as well, I'm confident.

I had wanted to try Rosati's for several months. I'd seen the brochures around the hospital and had driven by several times but just hadn't gotten there yet.  Last night I got my wish and can now honestly tell you what I thought.

Aunti Miranda happened to call right before they were to deliver, and since she had been one of the first commenters on the original post and she only lives a few miles from us, we invited her over to break bread, so to speak.  She, also, was very pleased with dinner and her affections have been re-won as well.  After dinner, I rudely kicked her butt out the door so I could finish studying.  (Kidding)

Our collective favorite thing was the ribs. Yes, I know that sounds strange that a pizza place has great ribs but they were dynamite. Actually, the menu is quite extensive which makes them a great choice for co-workers ordering together or any family where one person wants pasta, one wants chicken, one wants pizza, one wants, a sandwich, etc. 

 

The ribs were meaty, succulent, tender, and the sauce was very tasty, not too much, not too little, not too boring, not to spicy. An all around great rib.  Gene, our family rib fanatic, will always say "almost but not quite" any time I order them take out and bring them home (except Buckingham's) but this time he not only demolished them all, he (sort of) pretendingly cranked that and Aunti and I had taken any from him, and said "Yes, that will definitely work."  From Gene, the man of few words, that's high praise indeed.

Our next favorite thing was the salad.  The Ceasar salad was good with nice crisp, the greenest, romaine but the clear winner is the Greek Salad with homemade dressing.  THIS is a definite pop in and grab for dinner on your way home from work or for lunch or whatever.  Gene's not much of a salad guy but Aunti and I will be going back for this one again and again: fresh baby spring greens, tomatos, red onion, pepperocini, feta cheese, and KALAMATA olives.  Let me say that again: KALAMATA olives. Not the California tin-tasting ones.  The dressing, a good balance of sharp, sweet, and herbs. The Greek Salad equals and all around "YUM!" for good salad fans (and salad snobs like Aunti and I).

 

Pizza! We're up to pizza!

I asked to try The Godfather:  sausage, sauteed onions, fresh garlic, and hot peppers. I also asked for them to leave off the hot peppers just because I knew my stomach couldn't take it on the night before a recertification. They would have been a nice zing but even without them the pizza was delicious.  The sauteed onions and fresh garlic added a sweetness and under-layer to the overall simplicity of one meat, sausage, that made it a hit.  I'll be ordering that again too.  This is going to sound weird but I like cold pizza. I actually prefer cold pizza, or at least pizza as it cools and the cheese sets.  When I went back for a slice of the pizza after it had cooled I found that the garlic and onion flavors were even more pronounced and the sausage flavor more in the background which I really loved.  I can't say enough about how much those two simple flavors added and you can't get sauteed onions and fresh garlic on your pizza anywhere else that I know of. Even when I order other toppings I'll probably always include those two items as well for the extra taste dimension they add.

 

The desserts were also very nice: cannolis and tiramisu.  We laughed that this was our kind of dessert menu--no chocoloate included!  (At least with our order.)  For some odd genetic perversion most of the folks in our family aren't big chocolate eaters but we will scarf down cannolis and all things tiramisu in a heart beat.

 I said I would be honest and I will. The one thing we were completely neutral about was the Baked Mostaccioli.  We didn't love or hate it, it just didn't hold our attention like the ribs and pizza.

The one thing we all commented on, though, was that we liked the slight sweetness of the red sauce. The way I was taught to cook red sauce by my mother (Aunti's sister) and my grandmother (Aunti's mom) and Aunti is to always add a pinch of brown sugar to cut the acid in the tomatoes so, for us, often a red sauce with a high acidic end note is jarring. This wasn't. It was smooth with a pleasant mellowness we enjoyed.

As the radiologists at work summarize their reports: "Impressions:"

Rosati's:  Impressions:  We were deliciously sated by the ribs, pizza, and salad, and pleased by the attention and genuine enthusiasm of the store manager, Charlotte Lundin, and WILL be ordering/dining in again.

Rosati's Authentic Chicago Pizza--Restaurant Review

UPDATE:  I want to thank everyone for your comments and for sharing your stories and your support. I especially want to thank Charlotte Lundin, the STORE MANAGER for Rosati's who not only posted an incredibly kind and professional comment to the blog last night, but also tried to reach me at work last night, and called my house today.  We had a lovely conversation and I am completely at ease about the whole situation now. 

I told Charlotte I'm at home today studying for ACLS class tomorrow and she volunteered to send over dinner for us tonight so I don't have to cook.  I'm looking forward to getting to taste the food, like I wanted to in the first place, and I cannot begin to express how much respect and appreciation I have for Charlotte as a person and as a manager.  The owner of that franchise is a lucky man to have her heading up his restaurant. She is now very aware, from all of our comments, about the training that needs to take place on the evening shift and I have no doubt that the problems we've had will be taken care of. I'm not happy about "winning" per se and any negative actions that might come of this, because I would have much preferred the original problem to not have happened at all,  but I am very pleased by the prospect of the improvements that I'm sure will happen and I was happy to be able to tell Charlotte how friendly and helpful both the driver and the cashier who took the order were to work with.

I'd like to ask everyone to give Rosati's another chance to show the "best side" of their service and product.

I'll photograph and review the food either later tonight or tomorrow after ACLS....

Thank you again to everyone!

Glenna

 

I review a lot of foods, products, and restaurants on this blog and I am always honest.  Rosati's?  I'll be honest on that one too.  I've wanted to go there and have mentioned to Gene that I wanted to try it. I knew it was a chain store but I like the logo with the four old guys.  The marketing appeals to me.  Did I like the food?  Have no idea.

Let me tell you my experience. 

Last night several folks in our dept ordered (delivery) from Rosati's. We work nights so we're usually the last order in before closing time.  Connie had just called everyone else's order in a few minutes before I came back to the tech room and found out they'd ordered.  I called and added my pizza to the list.  The gentleman on the phone was very nice and personable and verified which order my pizza went with.

All is well.

I went out on the floor to do more Asses & Treats and came back in. Connie said the delivery person was waiting for someone in the ER entrance and asked if I'd mind going to get it. No problem. I took our stack of cash down there, met the nice delivery girl and she gave me the total.  It was a different figure from what I thought I remembered but, shrug, I hadn't been that involved with the whole thing and I figured "How do you divide $10 up between the 8 people who ordered?"  Too much of a hassle and I really feel for people who work on tips. I figured "What the hell, we'll make her night" And gave her all the cash even though it made for a $25.00 tip.  It never hurts to be generous, right?

I took the food upstairs and we divided everything out but my pizza wasn't there. 

All is not well.

I was disappointed but it was almost 11pm at that point and I figured they were already closed....what could I do?   Connie was ticked and called them anyway and it happened they were still there. She needed to go do something else (work must go on!) so she handed the phone to me to wait for the person she had explained the situation to to come back on the line.  The same man I'd spoken with earlier came back on the line and said they were sorry, that when he'd added to the ticket the cooks didn't realize it wasn't simply a reprint of the ticket and didn't look at it.  Hey, mistakes happen. I was by then out of the mood for pizza, I was busy, and I didn't want to have to walk all the way down to the ER again, only now from Peds, to get the pizza if I made them go ahead and make it.  So I told the guy that I understood it was a mistake and I wasn't upset but that I'd appreciate it if someone could bring my money back by the ER and give it to the ER RT whom I would catch up with later.  He said no problem, seemed sincerely concerned about the order not being right, and was very pleasant to deal with.

I hung up the phone and everyone talked about how much it sucked but, but again, I wasn't mad.  I'm really not a loud bitchy customer.  Mistakes do happen and as long as people are nice about it and admit it, like the guy on the phone, I"m pretty easy to deal with.

While we were talking, the phone rang again and I answered.  The man introduced himself as the "Manager" of Roasati's and said that HE had been the one to pick up the reprinted ticket and didn't double check to see if there was anything added.  Not only did he NOT apologizefor the mistake, his tone of voice implied that he was angry with me.  He said that we hadn't been charged for my pizza so they weren't bringing any money back. I was in shock. I explained that I gave all the money we collected to the girl thinking that there had been a misunderstanding of the total but that of course I never dreamed that my pizza was left off the order. The leftover $25 tip included my $10 pizza. 

I kid you not, the next words out of this MANAGER'S  mouth were "It's not my fault you gave her a big tip, now is it?  You weren't charged on that ticket and we're not bringing  money back."  That's it. That was the sum total of this man's customer service skills.  I was like "Are you kidding me?"  This entire conversation had no warmth, no concern, no attempt at customer service.  He didn't even offer to send the pizza he never cooked instead of the money. Then he said that he GUESSED he could ask the driver when she came back if she wanted to bring my $10 back but he didn't think she would and he wasn't going to make her because it was MY fault I paid for food I didn't get. 

Are you kidding me?  Blaming the customer for your staff not filling the order correctly?

I was so angry I slammed the phone down.  Not very nice of me but then I don't remember ever being treated so rudely by a restaurant manager. Ever. Everyone in the room was in shock. And pissed.  The consensus was pretty much "I wouldn't take that crap!  We won't be ordering from them again."  (And we've since been informing other units in the hospital who also place orders with them.)

Here's something to think about.  If I HAD told them to make the pizza and send it over....do you think the manager would have charged me AGAIN for it? I get the feeling he would have.  I'm now very glad I didn't ask them to make it because I would have ended up paying over $25.00 for a $10 pizza by the time I paid for it twice and tipped the driver twice. Yeah, that's fair and good customer service on WHAT planet?

So, for those of you in the Springfield area who've been thinking about trying Rosati's, give them your money at your own risk.  Apparently any mistake they make is your tough luck because you're not going to get customer service and they'll just blame you for their screw up.

That's what bugs me the most.  Mistakes happen.  People are human.  All I expected was to be treated fairly and with a little generosity of spirit in the name of normal customer service.  The first mistake was his--they didn't cook my food--that's a pretty big mistake.  My mistake was at least on the side of decency--I was too generous to his employee.  His second mistake was being snotty and hateful instead of turning that situation into a win-win for his restaurant by employing a little honesty and humility.   All he had to do was be nice, apologize for the mix up and, if he didn't want to send cash back, he could have asked for my address and offered to send me a gift certificate just as a good faith gesture over the mixup. That's what a good manager would have done.  No harm no foul.  Restaurants  have marketing budgets for just that EXACT situation.  I would have walked away telling my friends "No big. Mistakes happen.  Look how nice they were about it."  But instead I feel personally insulted and ripped off.

I realize I'm only one person. I realize there are only about a dozen and a half RT's on night shift any given night.  There are about 75 of you folks here in Springfield who read this blog and even if we ALL chose not to go there it wouldn't break their business but if you add our lack of enthusiasm with all of the other people this manager's abused, it's certainly not going to help them maintain a clientele.  I'm not so egotistical as to think that this man was rude ONLY to me out of eveyone he deals with on a daily basis.  The restaurant business is a hard business (I worked it for 15 years) and there are tons of problems, snafus, and complaints that happen all the time no matter how streamlined the operation.  Thnk about it.  If that man was so easily dismissive and snotty to ME, imagine how he acts with people who AREN'T as understanding and generous about his mistakes as I am.

Rosati's, I would have enjoyed tasting your food but it's not worth the heartburn from your night manager.

Caprese Salad with Pickled Green Tomatoes

 

Auntie Miranda went with friends to The Keeter Center in Branson for dinner the night before last night.  The Keeter Center is the small hotel and dining room run by the Hospitality Dept of School of the Ozarks.  And run very well.  We have a respiratory conference down there that's dynamite as a conference and The Keeter Center as a venue is superb.

In the dining room, Auntie chose this Caprese salad with fresh red and pickled green tomatoes.  She said she took one bite, rolled her eyes in delight, and said to the waiter "Can I get one of these to go?"  I went to bed early that night but it was waiting for me in the fridge when i got up the next day. 

Wow. I don't know how much better it could have been fresh because it was still incredibly fresh, crispy, and wonderful the next day.  This is definitely a do at home thing too. I know you can buy green tomato pickles, or even better would be to can them from the garden.  I'm thinking even fresh green tomatoes mixed with red tomatoes and fresh mozzarella would be wonderful fresh out of the garden....maybe drizzle a little honey across the top with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar to add that sweetness from the pickling syrup.

Thanks Aunti Miranda! What a lovely and healthy lunch. We'll definitely be working on a home recipe for this one!

Preparing for New Year's Eve: Caviar and Foie Gras

 

Gearing up for New Year's Eve, which I won the work lottery to be off for that one holiday. Yay!  No running down to help the ER with whatever idiocy the new year brings in!

We'll be celebrating at home with James and Lynn, and Aunti Miranda.  In preparation I got our caviar and foie gras order in to Petrossian, along with a mother-of-pearl caviar spoon.  As a presenter, I'm going to use one of the beautiful depression glass bowls from my grandmother's collection or Gene's grandmother's collection, I've forgotten who owned them but the set is beautiful.

And then Aunti and Lynn and I will be making accoutrement for the caviar and foie gras and other treats for the evening.  Gene and James are in charge of the champagne.

The one punchline so far was when Chase called me to verify an "odd" charge going through on my card. What? Don't I order caviar every day?  Puh-leaze.  Hehehehehe.  When I called Petrossian back and told them what happened the gal laughed and said "Don't worry about it. That happens ALL the time. At least they're checking to make sure it's really YOU."

www.petrossian.com

Petrossian is the same bar/company where we had caviar at the Bellagio in Vegas. We enjoyed it so much I ordered the same kind only twice as much, the Tsar Imperial.

The little blue bag in the upper right hand corner of the photo is the way the caviar came chilled. It has two mini cold packs, one on top and one on bottom of the jar of caviar to keep it chilled.  The spoon came in its own little velvet holder.

Eureka Springs with Cindy--The Food

I've been gone all week on a mini-get away with my friend Cindy from Rhode Island.  She came here to work but one day of her assignment got cancelled so we grabbed the time to head down to one of my favorite Ozarks' towns, Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  I've blogged about Eureka Springs before but it's been a couple of years since Gene and I last visited and almost 15 years since we lived there. This is one of my favorite pics from the Balcony Restaurant of the Basin Park Hotel because it's not all glam.  It's a simple shot of one of the town's streets right before the sun set, after the shops had closed for the day, and the fog was rolling in off the hills.  It's the Eureka in October I remember from living there.

Part of me took Cindy there for the entertainment value. I wanted to see the look on Gene's "favorite Yankee's" face (Rhode Ilsander) when she was plunked down in the middle of Eureka.  Not that that's an insult to either one.  Anyone who's been to Eureka knows that the very best wonderful thing about the town is that everyone is welcome and everyone (within reason) gets along. The town is famous for being the transplanted home town for artisans of all kinds and there is more talent and more brains in those hills than anywhere else in the world (allow me the hyberbole--I'd move back in a second if we could). When Gene and I lived there we knew a banquet planner from Vegas who got tired of the city lights, several writers of all genres, an electrical engineer who got off the corporate ladder, a nuclear physicist who owns a Bed & Breakfast but travels all over the world for "think tanks" and some of the most artistically gifted people I've ever been in awe of anywhere.

Today I'll talk about the food. Tomorrow and over the weekend, I'll talk about the attractions and the Ghost Tour (awesome!) and how a ghost must have followed us back to our own historic hotel.

Steph's Wedding

   

Went to the wonderful wedding of a friend of mine over the weekend where we were all treated to a wonderful meal.  Aren't these nice plates?  Love the flower.  Have no idea what it was. It almost looks like an orchid blossom but it can't be. Wouldn't orchids be too expensive to use as garnishes? 

The chicken was fantastic, pounded thin and with a light sauce on it, extremely tender.  The pork loin was good, if a little tough, but the cranberry cherry sauce was dynamite.  The green beans and potatoes seem generic but they were seasoned very well, the potatoes tossed with bleu cheese--yum!

We did laugh at this though (because let's face it, what's the fun of going to a wedding if you can't make fun of the catering, right?:

 

While Ashley ended up with the ginormous portion of pork at the top of the page, Chris, obviously a guy, ended up with the Mini Me portion in this pic. That's exactly how the plate was placed in front of him (he had just moved the flower though).  Hmmmm...somebody in the kitchen wasn't paying  attention, huh?  Little bitty portion, great big white space...and then the server set it in front of a man.  But don't worry, Chris didn't starve.  Ashley shared her manly man plate.

I have a serious question on catering though.  When I was a convention planner all through the 80's and early 90's, we would NEVER have pre-set iced tea at an upscale banquet like this.  We would have pre-set water but we would have served iced tea and coffee to the guests.  The last several banquet/catered meals I've been to the iced tea has been sitting on the tables watering down when we arrived in the room even if the meal wasn't scheduled for an hour because of a cocktail reception.  Is that happening everywhere across the country or are the caterers in my area getting lazy?  Anyone been to a banquet lately?

Do I Have the Greatest Auntie in the World, Or What?

One of mine and Auntie Miranda's favorite stores in town, The Cheddar Block, has started a Thursday night wine & cheese tasting. I didn't get to go but she and Uncle Paul did. I didn't think anything about it until they pulled up in my driveway bearing a gift sack.  Holy Cow Milk (and sheep's milk).  What a haul.  I'm speechless. This is absolutely so sweet.

Cheeses:  Formaggi Podda,  Prima Donna (had that, wonderful!), Port Salut (yum!), Old Amsterdam, Basil's Rauchkase, and Horseradish Cheddar (be still my heart, two of my favorite flavors mixed together). She brought recipes from the event too.

Thank you, Auntie! Lunch(es) are on me next time!

Fire & Ice: One of my FAVORITE Springfield restaurants

 

Just so we're all clear :-) These photos are NOT mine; I took them off the Fire & Ice website www.springfieldoasis.com The first photo is of Executive Chef Wing Yee Leong, son of David Leong, the creator of Springfield-style cashew chicken.  The second photo is a nice publicity shot of the curved ice bar in the restaurant, the only one in town as far as I know and full of yummy cocktails staying nice and cold as we left the restaurant tonight with out good friends, Corbin and Jenn.

I ate too much! But it was soo good.

It was Wednesday night, when Chef Leong runs an all day special of cashew or sweet/sour chicken which is very much appreciated in this town.  Even though there are tons of "cashew chicken joints" in this town, none are like this.  The chicken is plump and juicy, the sauces nicely balanced, and the fried rice full of flavor. Click here for my version to make at home:  http://afridgefulloffood.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/03/springfieldstyl.html

But I also have to say that I don't go there just or even usually for the cashew chicken. The menu is a one of my favorites in town, not overwhelming, but nicely covering a variety of dishes from Asian noodles to tender and juicy steaks to well created chicken and seafood dishes.  There always seems to be something on the menu that fits my whim in the moment.

I confess I was a bad blogger and forgot my camera, but Jenn was nice enough to whip out her camera phone a snap a couple shots of our desserts:  creme brulee and chocolate lava cake.  I have to give her a hard time and remind her that taking the photos took a few seconds but not knowing immediately how to send said pics to my email queue cost her several bites of her share of dessert. We wait for no woman even if she is doing me a favor!

Chef Leong was kind enough to stop by our table and play my game of  "Will you give up the recipe to me tonight?" "Nope."  It's not like I really expected him too, but hey, it doesn't hurt to ask, right?  He did mention that his father turned 88 this month. I asked Chef to pass on to his dad how many former Springfield folks, and you know who you are, have written to me asking if I have an inside scoop to get the recipes and to please give him our collective best wishes.

Although I didn't expect Chef Leong to remember me, he has chatted with us before when we've dined and he's always been a gracious and friendly host. 

One of the special promotions we'll be going back for is a Chef's Saturday night special of $29.00/couple three course meal. I looked at the menu and it's a very good deal. There are a choice of three appetizers, four entrees: an Asian entree, a pasta, a salmon, and medallions of Angus beef, and then choice of dessert including both of the two above. 

We'll be going back soon, right Jenn and Corbin?

For the uninitiated, Fire & Ice is located on North Glenstone inside the Oasis Hotel.