Our new venture!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

KEYS!!!

We're half way through our contract and tomorrow we get the keys! So very exciting. Still another 4 weeks after that till we take over but at least we'll be able to get in when we want too and get things done. Still SO much to do before we open.
In other news, we found out on Friday that we have been approved for the house we want. It's a brand new 4 bedroom house, with 2 living areas, ENSUITE and DISHWASHER. Both of which I've never had before. Can't wait to get in there. We're moving on Friday, 12th November. Hopefully our house here will be sold fairly soon.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Our first menu that hubby whipped up while driving back after signing the contracts.

MENU

Roasted garlic, cheddar and herb bread
Tomato, red onion and basil brushcetta
Home made bread roll with butter or olive oil and balsamic
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Chef's soup of the day served with home made roll and butter

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Caesar salad - cos lettuce with olive oil croutons, crispy bacon, boiled egg and chef's caesar dressing

Add 5 prawns
Add spiced chicken
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Coconut crusted tiger prawns with pineapple, snow pea, watercress and macadamia nut salad. Served with a mango and star anise chutney
Entree size
Main size
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Char-grilled rib fillet on toasted turkish bread, cos lettuce, tomato, bacon and caramelised onions, topped with BBQ sauce. Served with fries

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Paprika crusted chicken atop an asparagus and corn risotto, topped with rocket and parmesan salad and a drizzling of balsamic syrup$19.50
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Pan fried tiger prawns, onion, garlic, chilli and fresh herbs in a tomato provencale sauce, tossed through linguine pasta

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Pan fried salmon fillet, on kipfler potatoes, slow cooked tomatoes, asparagus spears and a caper and herb dressing

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Herb crumbed fish of the day with lemon and tartate sauce. Served with your choice of salad and fries, or vegetables and potato mash$19.00
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Braised lamb shanks, creamed mashed potatoes, roasted vegies served in a tomato and parsley sauce

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Char grilled (?) steak with your choice of salad and fries or vegetables and potato mash

Sauces - choice of pepper, mushroom or gravy
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Char grilled pork chop, pumpkin mash and buttered green beans, served with an apple fritter and mustard grain sauce

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SIDES
Crunchy fries with garlic mayonnaise
Steamed buttered vegetables
Side salad
Mashed potatoes

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KIDS MEALS (for kids aged 10 years and under) -
Pasta bolognaise or pasta napolitana
Char grilled steak with either chips and salad or vegetables and mash
Crumbed fish with either chips and salad or vegetables and mash
Chicken schnitzel with either chips and salad or vegetables and mash

Free ice cream with topping
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DESSERTS
Selection of cakes served with thickened cream and berry coulis

Plus there will be specials such as curries, noodles etc.

It's happened......

For several years now, hubby and I have wanted to move out of Brisbane. We have no family here and I grew up in the country and wanted to bring my kids up there. With hubby being a chef, there wasn't a lot of opportunities there for him though. He needed to either be in the city, or near an area that was "touristy". So we plodded along with our lives in the city, dreaming of one day being able to take our kids (and dog lol) and move to somewhere a lot less populated.

Several weeks ago, while ironing.......I thought about how lovely it would be to have a little coffee shop somewhere. Somewhere I could take the kids and somewhere comfortable and nice for others to take their kids. So, me being me, jumped on Google and looked for coffee shops/cafes/restaurants in the South Burnett area which is where I grew up. A couple of places came up....one wasn't that nice but one looked really nice inside AND it had a fenced off kids play area. It seemed perfect, the only problem was that they wanted WAY too much money for it. I told hubby we should just have a look at it the following weekend when we were going to be up there anyway. So we went and had a look, realised what great potential it had, the kids fell in love with the play area (and tidied the whole area up while we were there lol) and we left thinking nothing would come of it. That was on a Friday and hubby told the RE agent that we would offer a LOT less than they were asking. Monday he got a call from the agent, asking if we'd consider HALF of what they wanted and hubby still said no, I am sticking with the offer I made. So, the next day we get another call asking for a bit less and he stood his ground. 10 minutes later, the agent called back saying they had accepted the offer. OMG! We were both speechless. So we actually got it for a QUARTER of what they were asking. I think they were hoping someone would come along with lots of money and just pay it. Crazy. So the following weekend, we were up signing contracts. SO fast, but very, very exciting.

Now we have lists upon lists of things to organise to start up a new restaurant, plus sell our house here as well. We get the keys on the 1st November, but don't actually take over till the 29th. So we'll have 4 weeks to get everything ready inside - while not paying rent :), so hopefully we'll be ready to open as soon as the 29th clicks over, providing the Food Licence has been granted by then, but that shouldn't be a problem (fingers crossed).

So for now...pics. Here it is. We wont be changing much inside, except next year once we get our Liquor Licence, we'll be moving the bain marie up in the back corner and putting in a bar. We plan on opening from 9am (for the Mum's with kids), lunches and then staying open for dinner. Dinner isn't a very late affair up there, except for maybe Friday and Saturday night. Will also probably be doing breakfast on a Sunday.