The Reports of my Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Well readers it finally happened. I finally opened a restaurant after 2 years of career changing, mind bending, relationship destroying, life altering activities that took me from Olean NY to Hells Kitchen to Soho, to Alma, to Baltimore and finally to Calle’s Cucina in the Heart of Charles Village.

So much has occurred recently that I have to say it would take several days to write in detail about it all.

I am now the owner/chef of Calle’s Cucina at 2431-2433 St. Paul St. Baltimore Maryland.

From the time I took  possession to opening took 60 days, quite quick actually in the world of restaurant openings.

Cleaning, painting, remodeling, equipment purchases, furniture purchases, staff recruitment and hiring, menu development, HAACP plan writing, vendor research and selection, to creating the first dishes.

Calle’s Cucina is about 2000 square feet located on the first floor of two adjoining townhouses. We are BYOB and have an art gallery. We serve lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.Check out our website for all the details.

CALLESCUCINA.COM

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So much to talk about but so little time. Below is a chronology of the past two months. I will now be updating this blog frequently. Thanks for following this adventure of a lifetime.

Let me start with a chronology of the past 2 months.

October 9, 2011. Sign lease for my restaurant in Baltimore. Two empty rooms painted hideous colors.

October 15, 2011. Take possession and begin cleaning and renovations.

October 20, 2011. Meet Deon Brown who has since become my right hand.

October 24, 2011. Paint exterior.

October 27, 2011. Initial health department inspection.

October 28, 2011. Begin remedying health department identified issues.

November 1, 2011. Begin painting interior.

November 7, 2011. Begin floor cleaning.

November 9, 2011. Begin researching kitchen equipment and food vendors.

November 13, 2011. Begin purchase of kitchen equipment and furniture.

November 14, 2011. Apply for Fire Prevention Permit.

November 15, 2011. Rent U-Haul and begin picking up equipment and furniture.

November 16, 2011. Fire Prevention Permit obtained.

November 17, 2011. HAACP Plan approved.

November 18, 2011. Health department final approval. Begin work on menu and HAACP plan.

November 19, 2011. Fire Department initial inspection. Begin remedying FD issues.

November 22, 2011. Obtain Food License.

November 24, 2011. Initial Building Inspector inspection.

Thanksgiving.

November 26, 2011. Begin remedy of Building Inspector issues.

November 27, 2011. Purchase of dishes, silverware, pots, pans and smallwares.

November 28, 2011. Obtain Building Permit for removal of 23 recessed lights which pose fire hazard.

November 30, 2011. Obtain Building Permit for replacement of stairway. Begin interviewing vendors.

December 1, 2011. Begin interviews for servers and kitchen staff.

December 8, 2011. Receive approval for lighting modifications.

December 9, 2011. Complete 30 inch deep concrete footer and reassembly of steps.

December 10, 2011. Purchase sound system for dining room and make meatballs for freezing.

So, I have been very busy in a very good way for the past two months.

The Building Inspector should, higher power willing, give final approval tomorrow or Wednesday and we should be open by Wednesday or Thursday.

WE OPENED TODAY. 12/14/11

Coming out of the Closet, Part II. (Read the fine print not just the headline.)

Hey blog fans, family and friends I realized after communicating with a few readers that some folks may have gotten the impression that I was “coming out of the closet”  in the straight – gay kind of way. Well, that “idiom” has two definitions. Here they are straight from Idiomsforyou.com

“to come out of the closet”

1. to openly admit to being homosexual

2. to openly admit a previously secret or hidden point of view (sometimes used humorously)

I was humorously using the #2 definition and I was opening admitting, a not so secret, secret that my marriage was over and I was giving up in it.

So……  for all you really attractive gay men out there, I am not available except for friendship. For the rest of you, who knows?

Cafe Einstein. Tonights Menu!

1705 Eastern Ave. Fells Point Baltimore Maryland.

Owner and Co-Chef Claudia prepares the German specialty dishes and fabulous cakes and desserts and I prepare the Italian fine dining menu on Friday and Saturday nights.

CAFE EINSTEIN MENU FOR SEPTEMBER 23 AND 24, 2011.1705 Eastern Ave. in Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland.

The Cafe Einstein Websites contains all of the menus for the past 7 weeks so take a look at the range of amazing fare. WEBSITE.

Why Einstein? Claudia was born in the same town in Germany as Albert Einstein.  Ulm, Germany in Bavaria.

And if you were wondering about the header it is a Focaccia we learned at Alma from Chef

Chef Antonella Ricci from Puglia who I wrote about on June 15, 2010. PAST POST.

It is on the menu tonight!

Not Needing to Be Important.

Sometimes I wonder who I am or why I am. For so many years I was Mr. Success. College, Law School, honors graduate, landed job before graduating, passed the NYS Bar Exam on the first try while it took JFK, Jr. 4 or 5  tries I think. Fighting for my clients, winning cases, loosing cases, jury trials, all night preparation for cross examinations, starting my own law firm with one lawyer, me and one secretary and 4 years later owning the largest law firm in Cattaraugus County, NY by number of lawyers,  not large by big city standards, only four lawyers plus 6 full time staff but had I been working for a large firm with my annual billings I would have been a partner in a very few years.

I was a workaholic. A ten hour day was a piece of cake. Preparing for a felony trial or a personal injury lawsuit plus supervising and managing the office meant 17 hour days and restless sleep when sleep it came at all. I took a lot of high priced vacations to exotic places but my mind spun with thoughts of up coming trials, the adversarial and frequently mediocre opposing lawyers and  not always brilliant judges who would be deciding my client’s fates .

Ultimately I realized I was crazy. I never relaxed. Cortisol was pumping into my blood stream 24-7. My resting heart rate was 84 to 89 beats a minute. High blood pressure, self medicating with alcohol, a weekly massage, neck and shoulders full of knots, anxiety, what was there not to love?

In 1998 I crashed for the first time. Suddenly I took a 3 month leave of absence from my practice to deal with clinical depression. But I came back raring to go, Prozac running thick in my veins, feeling better than ever, working harder than ever, making more money than ever until of course the Prosac stopped working and I plunged again. This time I took an indefinite leave from the office. My large, high paid staff kept it going for a mere 4 months before abandoning ship. I don’t blame them. One became the Olean City Attorney, one is currently the County District Attorney and the others are doing great as well.

All have become important people in their own right and I, their mentor, sort of, desire only to be an anonymous gourmet Italian chef in Baltimore Maryland and happy at work as well as at home.

You know I really feel guilty about this because I have lead such a gifted and amazing life. I know, first hand, how difficult life is for millions, actually billions of people without fresh water, food, toilets, medical care, schools, electricity, you name it, we have it and billions of our fellow humans on this planet don’t have it. Our country has trillions of dollars to spend on war and we depend on charities to feed children. Right now 750,000 people, mostly children, are literally starving to death in East Africa and I am complaining about my job choice and career path. Wow. Who is this man I have become?

Wanting to have a job you love is an intellectual luxury experienced by maybe  10 percent of the earth’s population, all of whom have food, water, toilets, education, medical care and of course secure jobs and income. Desiring financial security in uncertain times, a growing 401 k and a spouse you are really in love with? Maybe 5%  of the planet gets a shot at that and few ever really achieve it but many more die trying.

So, where am I going with all of this? Good question actually. The good thing is that I am starting to care about writing again. I am wanting to share some of this with you all. I am sure I sound like a mixed up mess to most but for me writing is an end in itself. When I write it down and click publish I can stop thinking about it and that is good.

The moral of this story is that I no longer have any desire to be important. I just want to live and be happy. Everyone who eats my food is happy. Really, I am not kidding. They taste what I have created and they smile. And, they are happy to pay the bill which never happens in the legal world. Perhaps I am not charging enough but I don’t think so. Good food, like good wine, makes good people happy. In Italy and France Chefs are well paid respected professionals. In America they are respected, sort of, but the pay is nothing unless you are a celebrity chef, star on a cooking TV show or own a successful restaurant.

At Cafe Einstein where I am a guest chef for only 4 weekends now, we have gone from a few tables each night to turning them over almost twice. We already are seeing repeat customers and this might just be the beginning. Even thought I am going through some intellectual, emotional turmoil, I feel happy.

And great news. Today I received a check for a water well in Niger from Vicky, a former Peace Corp Volunteer from New Hampshire who Mary and I met and became friends with, who is giving back in a big way.

Typically attributed to Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson but not really his work but still appropriate here.

Coming Out of the Closet. Everything Changes.

Writing a blog where you tell family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and a few strangers what happens in your life means that sometimes you have to share the negatives as well as the positive,  the good and the not so good.  I have been silent for some time now and I know, at least a few of my readers are wondering what is up.

It could be that like my friend Greg I am working 90 hours a week in an elite NYC restaurant or like my friend Nassirou in Niger I have been suffering from interrupted internet and electric service. It could be that I have been in the hospital losing my other appendix or I could be lost on a bus in le Marche or escaping to Livorno for a few days of well-needed R&R. Well it is not any of those things. I have not even lost my wallet, thought it is by now quite empty.

There is no easy way to talk about this but I know I will feel relieved when I click on publish so here goes. And please no one call me or tell me they are sorry. I want no pity and I have no regrets. When I quit the lawyer game to become a chef I knew there were changes brewing, perhaps a Mackerel Sky and of course, I did not think it all through so I really had no plan much less a backup plan or plan B.

Before I write further, I will say that had I not quit when I did; had I not changed my life so dramatically when I did, I would now be dead. I know it as sure as I know my father loves me. A heart attack, stroke or suicidal depression would have finished me off by now so I am not sorry about it but I am sad. Sad but alive, physically fit, healthy, feeling younger and stronger than I have in many years.

My wife Mary and I are through. We have very amicably, without recrimination or anger or umbrage decided to end the struggle to stay together. Almost one year to the day from when I ran to the bus, jumped on the train and then the plane to return to Mary we are letting it all go. After all, we are both divorce mediators so be cannot become the horror story we have fought against for so long. I guess the best way to describe it is that we have grown apart, our interests, once united are no longer so. Mary and I have different aspirations for what the balance of our lives should look like so we are letting each other go. Yes, I am sad but I will not look back at the past 11 years as being wasted. They were not wasted. I prefer to look at them as 99 percent successful. Everything in my life that has occurred up to now has made me who I am and led me to where I am and where I am going.

Though I can only speak for myself, we have accomplished a great deal during the past 11 years. I won’t bore you with the details. Most of the details are discussed somewhere in the past 233 posts. However, one cannot live on past accomplishments rather you must live each day for the next.

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”
— William W. Purkey

The only living things that follow the advice in this quote are our beloved dogs.

So, I gave it my best, I gave it my all, the truth be told it almost killed me several ways, several times. I loved her but it is no longer worth the struggle and she agrees. As we speak Mary is moving on with her life and I mine. I will fight to remain friends to the end and to play a role in the  4 children’s lives, as much as they allow. I need to move forward. Pull myself up by my boot straps and throw self pity out the door like a unwelcome former friend. I need to push forward and not look back and I will. I am sure of it. Writing this post is the first step.

If you remain interested I will be back. All will be good.

My first dog was given to me by my brother Rick who will no doubt read this. His name was Baron and he was scheduled for lethal injection like millions of other throw-a-way pets each year. Baron brought joy to my life in so many ways but the facial expressions of a Golden Retrieve are truly priceless. Windows to their perfect souls. That is why I have chosen these images for this post. The heading  is a painting by renown Swedish painter and a long ago relation of mine, Otto Hesselblom. The lake is Animin in Dalsland where Mary and my Red Hus is located. My Swedish brother Han’s and I fish on that lake each summer as did out grandfathers, great grandfathers and great great grandfathers etc. Otto was a great, great, great cousin 3rd removed, or something like that but he painted the landscape like no one else.

No regrets.

Coconut Ice Cream – Bruno Worthy!

At Alma in Colorno Parma Italy we had an amazing culinary teacher. His name is Bruno Ruffini. He was like a big brother to most students. To me he was more like an amazingly talented son. I was exactly the age of his parents.

Anyway, I judge the success of my culinary creations by whether or not I believe they are “Bruno Worthy”. Both appearance and taste are critical.

Here are a couple that succeeded in meeting his highest of standards.

Coconut Ice Cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegetable Tartar. Each ingrediant cooked and seasoned separtely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Bruno!

My First Restaurant Gig in Baltimore.

This weekend is part of Restaurant Week in Baltimore and I have been asked to be a guest chef at Cafe Einstein in Fells Point. The owner is from Germany and she will be serving German cuisine. I will handle the Italian side. Should be interesting.

Because of Restaurant Week we are serving a pris fix menu. You cannot do a lot or use many rich ingredients for $35.11 but every place in

Baltimore has a $35.11 menu. Here is ours.MENU.

Chef Calle quit his cushy, well paying lawyer job to become a Swedish-American Italian Chef. Am I CRAZY?

Prof. Einstein authored the theory of relativity and a few others and frequently said “A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy? Albert Einstein

Mixed Vegetables.

Italian Tuna, the Perfect Cool Summer Sandwich without Oleoresin.

Chef Calle’s Italian tuna sandwich is a perfect, nutritious and delicious cool meal on hot summer days.

First you start with the finest, fresh, local and organic ingredients you can find. Organic Avocado, organic tomato and canned imported Italian tuna. Yes, it is more expensive but if you taste it you will know why. I also used my own, home grown Basil and Thyme and fresh ground pepper in this preparation.

Another reason that this sandwich is special and healthy is because I use no mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is a wonderful classic French sauce and when made fresh at home can be amazing but it is full of fat and calories and if you use mayo from a jar it is typically filled with additives that you can’t spell and don’t want to ingest. 1 tablespoon of mayo adds 100 calories, 90 of which are fat calories. 10 grams of fat from one tablespoon and who would ever use just one tablespoon. Typically 5-6 tablespoons are added to one can of tuna so 70 calories of healthy tuna turns into 500-600 calories and that is before you spread a tablespoon or two on each slice of bread. OUCH!

So why do we always use mayo with tuna? Because that is the way our Mom made it.

Rather than mayo I add a tablespoon or two of extravirgin olive oil, some fresh Thyme leafs and finely diced red onion to the tuna. Yum and fewer than 1/2 the calories and you will fine that if you spend a little more on the “imported Italian tuna” you won’t need to add as much of anything to make it taste good.

In checking the label of mayo I found one ingredient I did not know. That was oleoresin.  So I Googled it. Well, oleoresin is found in most store bought mayo and many other processed foods and is extracted from paprika and peppers. So far so good. Then I see how it is extracted and I quote  from Wikipedia “Extraction is performed by percolation with a variety of solvents, primarily hexane, which are removed prior to use.”  The article doesn’t say how they remove the solvents like hexane. It is enough to know that hexane is a “significant constituent of gasoline“. And it gets better. Did you ever wonder what the main ingredient in “Pepper Spray” is? You got it. Oleoresin.  So check your labels.

Watch the slide show. It is pretty much self explanatory and and easy and beautiful combination of premium ingredients.

I know what some of you are thinking. What do you coat the slices of bread with if you don’t use mayo. Who wants to eat dry bread. Well I say use really fresh bread but if you don’t have any and want something on the bread do what I do. Take a couple of the left over slices of avocado and mash them up with a few drops of olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Spread it on the bread and you will find that it is better than mayo and tastes amazing.

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Perfect Tuna Sandwich with Avocado, Basil and Tomato – NO Olearesin.

Chef Calle’s Italian tuna sandwich is a perfect, nutritious and delicious cool meal on hot summer days.

First you start with the finest, fresh, local and organic ingredients you can find. Organic Avocado, organic tomato and canned imported Italian tuna. Yes, it is more expensive but if you taste it you will know why. I also used my own, home grown Basil and Thyme and fresh ground pepper in this preparation.

Another reason that this sandwich is special and healthy is because I use no mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is a wonderful classic French sauce and when made fresh at home can be amazing but it is full of fat and calories and if you use mayo from a jar it is typically filled with additives that you can’t spell and don’t want to ingest. 1 tablespoon of mayo adds 100 calories, 90 of which are fat calories. 10 grams of fat from one tablespoon and who would ever use just one tablespoon. Typically 5-6 tablespoons are added to one can of tuna so 70 calories of healthy tuna turns into 500-600 calories and that is before you spread a tablespoon or two on each slice of bread. OUCH!

So why do we always use mayo with tuna? Because that is the way our Mom made it.

Rather than mayo I add a tablespoon or two of extravirgin olive oil, some fresh Thyme leafs and finely diced red onion to the tuna. Yum and fewer than 1/2 the calories and you will fine that if you spend a little more on the “imported Italian tuna” you won’t need to add as much of anything to make it taste good.

In checking the label of mayo I found one ingredient I did not know. That was oleoresin.  So I Googled it. Well, oleoresin is found in most store bought mayo and many other processed foods and is extracted from paprika and peppers. So far so good. Then I see how it is extracted and I quote  from Wikipedia “Extraction is performed by percolation with a variety of solvents, primarily hexane, which are removed prior to use.”  The article doesn’t say how they remove the solvents like hexane. It is enough to know that hexane is a “significant constituent of gasoline“. And it gets better. Did you ever wonder what the main ingredient in “Pepper Spray” is? You got it. Oleoresin.  So check your labels.

Watch the slide show. It is pretty much self explanatory and and easy and beautiful combination of premium ingredients.

I know what some of you are thinking. What do you coat the slices of bread with if you don’t use mayo. Who wants to eat dry bread. Well I say use really fresh bread but if you don’t have any and want something on the bread do what I do. Take a couple of the left over slices of avocado and mash them up with a few drops of olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Spread it on the bread and you will find that it is better than mayo and tastes amazing.

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