Buy Restaurant Gift Cards
Restaurants are being hit really hard by the ”Stay At Home” mandate being required by the Covid – 19 risk. Many are still offering takeout, but there is no way they can keep up with their regular cash flow. There is something we can all do now to support our favorite restaurants and increase the chance that they will be around when the economy reopens.
Basic premise:
- BUY GIFT CARD FOR RESTAURANTS
- Restaurants get cash now when they need it
- Consumers can use them when things reopen
While different restaurants have different accounting practices where some get cash sooner than others. Either way buying gift cards now helps restaurants through a tough time. This particularly true of the smaller privately-owned establishments. They have overhead and need cash.
A chef that used work with me at Kraft Food Ingredients has a great restaurant in Collierville TN.
Justin Young is a really amazing chef and his Raven And Lily Restaurant was doing really well. Then the coronavirus hit. Justin has made the decision to close the restaurant short term and focus on feeding hospital staff working on the front line with #feedthefrontlinememphis. These are tough times. You can reach out to Justin and most restaurants via their websites. Some have links to order gift cards, and if they don’t, requests for cards can be arrange via text or email.
One thing that Susan I like to do is to use gift cards for a portion of the bill, so that when we use them, it doesn’t hurt the restaurant’s cash flow on the back end. . The purchase of a gift card now is welcomed cash. The problem for many restaurants will be that when the cards are used in the future, they take a hit. So if our bill is $100, we use a gift card for $50 and a credit card for $70 ($50 towards the bill and $20 for a tip). Another thing to remember when you use gift cards is to tip the waitstaff on the full amount of the check, not the net amount after using the gift card.
Justin makes an amazing Bordelaise sauce. He has shared the recipe with me, but there is something special about the way he makes it. Buying some gift cards now is an investment to help restaurants through a difficult time so that they are around in the future. This way, you get to enjoy that amazing sauce when things reopen.
If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.
The “Freshman 15” Now The “Covid -19”
Remember when you went off to college and pretty quickly put on 15 pounds from the dorm food and regular beer drinking? Now, many of us are “Sheltered in place” and eating pretty well with threat of the coronavirus and Covid-19. Hopefully, we can avoid getting sick and all we get is a few extra pounds (AKA “The Quarantine 15) from eating well.
Last night we splurged a little with:
- New York Strip grilled to a perfect medium rare
- French Fries
- Chopped “Three Hour” Salad
- Pan Roasted Shishito Peppers
- Caramelized Onion
- Phelps Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Talk about all the food groups!
Steak
We don’t eat a lot of red meat. When I get the green light to grill a steak, I like to work with a thicker cut of New York Strip. We bought a whole loin from Costco with our bulk shopping at the start of the lock down. I cut it into steaks that were 2 inches thick. The added thickness widens the window to get it cooked to the perfect medium rare.
French Fries
What is not to like about homemade French fries. The French really know how to make them. I will never forget my first trip to Paris and getting fries at a Bistro and thinking: These are better than McDonald’s. Growing up in the states, my gold standard for French fries were found under the Golden Arches. After working with a French chef, I learned that the Bistro in Paris and McDonalds both know the magic secret to a crispy fry. YOU HAVE TO COOK THEM TWICE. The key is to pre-cook them, let them cool and then finish them quickly in hot oil. It works every time.
3 Hour Salad
My daughter Jennifer has renamed my Romaine Wedge Salad with Gorgonzola Aioli as the “3 Hour Salad”. The combination of:
- Roasting homemade croutons
- Sautéing bacon
- Whipping together a Gorgonzola aioli
- Prepping a combination of green onion, olives and grape tomatoes with live oil and vinegar
- Chopped Romaine Lettuce
What takes me about 30 minutes, will take Jennifer 3 hours. There is something to be said about trying to cook while at the same time keeping an eye on three kids under the age of 6.
Shishito Peppers
These are easy to make, taste great and add a perfect amount of zip/color to your plate. I love that they add the zip without too much heat, The funny thing is that 1 in 10 will have a real pop of heat, but that isn’t exactly a bad thing,
Caramelized Onions
These were a last minute addition. It just so happened that we have a lot of onions from our “Buying In Bulk” exercise. A wonderful offshoot is you will add something different
Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon
Talk about a little splurge. Phelps is one of our favorite vineyards that we first visited back in the 1980’s. Do their wines taste better to us because they remind us of a wonderful afternoon in an idyllic setting 40 years ago? Probably! Past that, Phelps makes a pretty tasty Cabernet.
We can’t eat the way we did last night or we will be adding and unwanted Coivd-19 POUNDS. But, we certainly had a pretty good meal last night. Tonight, may be a pan seared chicken breast with extra vegetables. Being “Sheltered in Place” doesn’t mean we cant eat well.
If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.