As many of you know, I like to cook. I have fleeting thoughts of owning a restaurant and designing the menu; of writing and publishing a cookbook; of earning fame or recognition for my culinary exploits. As a boy I would often pretend I was hosting a TV cooking show and narrate my actions as I cooked [“…here is where I like to add a little salt to really get the flavors going…”]. At this point in my life I have little desire to do more than cook for myself and my friends. In these uncertain economic times, I’ve toyed with the idea of being a personal chef for special occasions and small groups. My services could be hired to design and serve a small dinner party, or a celebratory dinner. Such a dinner could be a prize from a company to the employee of the month, or this quarter’s highest earner, or perhaps an anniversary gift from a cuisine inept husband. I would come to your home, cook your meal, clean-up, and go home. I could do two or so of these a month to collect some cash on the side. To be honest, it’s becoming a more attractive option the deeper I get into unemployment. The hard part would be getting clients.
But that’s not why I’m writing to you. I’ve had an idea for another type of business. It’s nothing new, I’m sure, but I thought it could be exciting and unique. Seasonal, organic ingredients are gaining increasing popularity in haute cuisine and many restaurants have partnerships with local growers to supply local produce. I thought it might be a neat idea if the restaurant did one more and actually controlled their ingredients by growing most of it themselves. That way the chef could literally be in control of his menu from the ground up. The menu would change daily according to what was harvested that morning. This is not a new concept. In fact, the Fairmount Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver has its garden on the roof—a garden used to grow $30,000 worth vegetables, flowers, and herbs annually. To not get started on the benefits of green roofs, the point is this could be a money-saving venture, as well as strengthen the restaurant’s concern for quality ingredients and support of healthy living [that’s integrity]. Old ideas, I know, but my thought was, if the garden were on-site, why not have a service in which customers could essentially buy a plant, say a tomato, and invest in it? The restaurant would then cultivate the tomato until it was time to harvest, at which point they would call the customer and tell them their food is ready and schedule a time to come in. The chef would then customize a menu for them to showcase the flavor of the tomato. This meal could be free or highly discounted, depending on the price of ‘buying’ and ‘rearing’ the tomato. The client would then have the option of taking surplus produce with them, ‘selling’ it to the restaurant, or setting up a prolonged harvest schedule in which, just like a market, the customer could pick up their tomatoes as they ripen. If any of you have start-up capital and are looking to become a restaurantier, I’m willing to be the brains of the operation.
Pan-seared tilapia with a curried cranberry glaze.
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