Breaths for the first time in days... since receiving a call from Dennis Getto,
THE Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel food critic that makes and breaks restaurants with the stroke of his pen
who dined here the other night.
[URL=http://www.onwisconsin.com/dining/dining.asp?id=3625]Dennis R. Getto[/URL] wrote:Scouting Report: Cedarburg Bistro
By Dennis R. Getto
Journal Sentinel dining critic
Published: June 10, 2005
For the past few years, the restaurant in the Victorian mansion in downtown Cedarburg had been an Italian spot called Camille's.
That changed two weeks ago when the restaurant reopened as Cedarburg Bistro. Owners Jeff and Diane Robinson and Bill Ward have introduced a new bistro-style menu to the 120-seat restaurant and decorated the outside grounds with multicolored mulches that match the colors of the building. They have also reintroduced a number of wraps and sandwiches served at lunch. Appetizers and varied selections of wines are also available.
The main menu features a respectable cross-section of meat, poultry and fish, with three Italian pasta dishes. A bananas Foster ice cream cake on the menu captures the spirit of that classic American dessert.
In addition to indoor dining on two levels, the Bistro has 30 seats outdoors.
Interestingly, he seems like a very nice man. He said he'd never actually critique a restaurant as young as ours (Phew!), so we've got some time to get our sh!t together. Today we did our first Charity event and I'd say it went pretty well. Camp Heartland is for children afflicted by HIV who were not allowed to go to camp with other children for reasons that were obviously no fault of their own. Last year the event raised $40,000+ by some 125 restaurants or so. This year I can proudly report that we're donating $750 (25% or our gross sales) on top of whatever our generous customers donated. (This is the kind of
selfish act that makes my partner and I feel better about ourselves, Rand fans.)
Next week is our benefit for
Love for Lexi. This poor kid needs a multi organ transplant.
We're hoping to raise at least $4,000 plus to help cover the expenses insurance doesn't.
I actually got to go downtown in Milwaukee on Tuesday (too late for a good dinner everywhere in Cedarburg, including by us because it was after 9:00. :wink: ) We went to the
Twisted Fork and it was good, but I'm happy to report neither the drinks nor the food was as good as ours. It sure was nice to take a me-day though... even if it was just a late night.
I've decided to train a replacement bartender for me so I can focus more on other things. 19 year old girl who doesn't drink, has read Atlas several times and already works like she owns the place. One day, her and her boyfriend (also an a$$ buster on the payroll) may very well own the place. I could easily see them managing it in the not so distant future. In this day of me-me-me children, or X-generation or whatever the common complaint may be; these kids stand out, head and shoulders above their peers and I think I'll likely cry come fall when they leave for college.
Much of the old staff is now gone... and along with some of the wisdom about the place, so went most of the drama. I hate drama. Give me cold hard efficiency, not emotion when things heat up... okay? And don't make mountains out of molehills when we're slow either
got that? Or say goodbye. Some of the servers that came with the place were so good it takes two people to replace them... but I'll take two non-drama orientated persons with some raw aptitude over one drama-driven seasoned pro any day. Except, perhaps, the day the Critics show up. :wink:
My workload is still staggering, but seemingly a walk in the park compared to my partners'. How he deals with the heat of the kitchen in the heat of the rush, day and night, day in and day out, I have no idea. He's pretty special. The food here really is amazing and it's all him. If I can ever get my servers to deliver service half as good as his food, we'll become very, very wealthy in short order. I can't tell you how much fun it is to hear the oohs and ahhhs so consistently.
By the time Summer is over, I'll be ready for the slow season... but I'm starting to wonder if we'll really have one that slow. So many of our customers are becoming familiar faces (local folks), that I'm starting to think we might not lose as much as we planned in the off season (maybe even break even
). That would rule! But then again; a lot of those faces no doubt have winter homes in better climates so I guess I really have no idea. We'll continue to hope for the best while planning for the worst.
Yikes, is that the time?
I'd better get home to bed. Good night all.
PS. Nice to meet you Stray Cat and thank you for the well wishes. Brooklyn is indeed beautiful, inside as well as out, and it would be a fairytale-like turn of events if we wind up with in-person-chemistry that matches our obvious online attraction. Stranger things have happened, right here on this very site. :wink: We'll just have to wait and see.
)
Congrats on all your success!!
