spring
May 19th, 2011
Our Favorite Holiday

National Waiter and Waitress Day 

By Ryan  

 

waiters crossingI searched and searched and searched for a nice website honoring "national waiter and waitress day," but I could not find one that I felt was done nicely. However, I assure you that Saturday, May 21st is national waiter and waitress day! Most of the websites I found were community blogs and while most of the comments were discussing things that you can do to honor your favorite waiter or waitress, there were a few comments on each page, that just weren't appropriate to link to this article. So, because of that, you will just have take my word.

There are a few interesting dynamics about this day and when it falls this year. First off, when the rest of the world gets their "special day" they usually get the day off. Not in this business. On the special day for waiters and waitresses, they are honored by having to work bad hours. A hot topic amongst service staff in the blogosphere's was that national waiter and waitress day was highly anticipated this year. The reason being.........it falls on a Saturday, the busiest restaurant day of the week! In the past, when the day falls on a weekday, it's typically not very busy and the people that would tend to go out and celebrate this day well, they are all working.

So, what can you do, to honor your favorite waiter or waitress on their special day and why are they so excited about it falling on a Saturday? Most of the ideas I found were to tip them a little extra, bring them a gift certificate or a thank you card for all the wonderful service they provide you. But, overall it seemed like the standard across the board was to tip your server 30% if the service was there. The standard for good service is about 17-20%. So on this day, if service is standard, tipping 30% seems to be the norm. That is why the blogosphere's are abuzz this year with National Waiter and Waitress Day falling on a Saturday. The service world is hoping for an extra big pay out on their most financially lucrative day of the week. Of course, the final gratuity decision is completely subjective, but even we deserve a holiday, right?  

 

Restaurant Owners

Are Chefs to Blame for Obesity? 

By Ray 

 

Fried Mozzarella Sticks inside a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Today I was reading an article in time magazine with the above title. I have been thinking about addressing this topic for a while and until I saw this title I did not quite know how. It seems like all of a sudden the blame has shifted. We are not to blame, but we do have a responsibility. It is between you the customer, and us the restaurant.

 

Fine Food and Fat: Are Chefs to Blame for Obesity? 


There are so many things happening in our business these days relating to our customers health and the expectations of the restaurants that our customers eat at. Whether you are talking menu labeling laws, trans fat bans, the smoking ban, or salt ban it can make your head spin. I remember one morning a couple of months ago in one of my daily trade emails there was an article about the state of Kentucky allowing food stamp recipients to use their benefits at Kentucky Fried Chicken. The very next article was on the recently announced Obama Care menu labeling requirements.

A chef is not a doctor and government will never and can never make people make healthy choices. People know what makes them fat. It is their own choice. Personally, I have always believed it should be left to the free market. I am not saying we should not be regulated in anyway. Customers do have a right to know what they are getting and what is in the food they are eating. 

 

This is where the conundrum starts. For me, there has always been two distinct methods of selling anything on your menu. The splurge and the non-splurge. First and foremost our job is to make food taste good. Obviously food has to taste good and it must be enjoyed. Just like many things that are enjoyed, some of them are not good for you. Besides going out to a restaurant for convenience, most restaurant patrons like to splurge when they go out to eat. This might mean a nice big ribeye, a heaping pasta dish, some fried shroomies, or death by chocolate. A splurge once in a while will never kill you. All things in moderation. Another consideration is some customers like to order something they will not make at home, for example something deep fried.  

$2 Meal from Taco Bell

 

If a customer never splurges and will only eat healthy items or a customer dines here often enough that it is not a splurge to eat here, we have to offer something for them. When we opened in 1985, it was maybe only 10% of our business. Many of my staff would question why we would hang on to menu items that we sold so little of. As the frequency of dining out has increased in the last three decades, we sold more and more healthy items. So much that the healthy items now keep pace with the other half of the menu. The free market is working.

Since we opened, I have always felt that we had to offer healthy options at the same time as the splurge. We have always used only fresh vegetables and made all of our soups, sauces, and dressings from scratch. We try and stay away from anything pre-made, so we know what is in it. Maybe over time we will experiment with organics and more locally grown produce and see if customers will pay the extra price. The market will tell us.

Fast food and chain operations don't have this luxury. Their operations require low cost, bullet proof production. It has to be ready on demand and their product has to be the same from Portland Maine to Portland Oregon. These are all factors in their ability to offer healthy choices.

There are trends that we see that totally and completely defy all logic. We see things like sliders, bacon everything, fried mozzarella sticks in a grilled cheese sandwich and a double down from KFC. There are diets that restrict salt, fat, sugar, seeds and roughage. There is Low Fat, Atkins, Low GI, Gluten Free programs just to name a few. We are always happy to work these requests. We are good at it because we know what is in our product. In the end, it is your responsibility of what you put in your mouth and no one elses. We are one of the places that loves to help with that. 

Double Down from Kentucky Fried Chicken


Increasingly now you see the government involved.

In Illinois, our congress is voting on a Trans Fat ban in restaurants, the second in the country. One can argue the merits of this. It is very interesting that somehow it does not include any packaged foods, probably the biggest offenders. They must have a better lobby downstate than I have. Smoking that was expressly forbidden in public places is now somehow alright if you are gambling. Many places ignore it all together. Just like the smoking ban, the menu labeling requirements and the trans fat ban, who is going to police it? Is someone really going to come into my kitchen at 9pm on a Saturday night and watch how much butter I am starting your shrimp and spring pea pasta with? Please let's be real here. The only ones that will get ahead with all these laws and regulations are the ones who cheat.

Things are upside down now. You can use food stamps at KFC, but if I want to use lard in a pie crust I can't. My job is to make it taste good. That doesn't mean it can't be good for you. In the end it has to be about trust.

 

Industry Trends

We are Not Following Suit 

By Ryan

inflationWe always like to report industry trends to our customers. Unless you have hours to read through newspapers, if you are not in this business, where else are you going to find out what's going on? One of the most recent trends in our industry, along with most other industry's at this time, are rising prices. Gas is now over $4 per gallon and many other commodities are increasing at a rapid rate. I found it interesting to read some facts from the NRA about menu price increases.

2010 saw many restaurants gear their menus towards $5 deals or 2 for 1 specials. We don't particularly like to do things like that here. We don't feel it is what we are about. Most of these deals have also gone by the wayside. We learned that many businesses that have tried those deals are now having a hard time getting customers in the door because those customers they had last summer now expect those same deals in order to go out to eat.

Across the board, restaurant menu prices are up about 1%. But, in the next year, that percentage is expected to increase to 3% or 4%. Another way in which restaurants will try to save costs is by reducing portion sizes. They won't raise prices, but they will decrease the amount of food they give. In essence, a price increase. Most of the price increases date back to March 2010 and are led by several different categories such as: beef which is up 12.2%, pork which is up 11.2%, poultry 2.2%, bread and pasta up 23% and potatoes 21%.

Through it all, it would be naive of me to say that we have not increased any prices, but the increases are few and far between. Those that we do make, are minimal at best. We have never visited the idea of decreasing portion sizes nor is that in the cards. It's a tough time for consumers and everyone in business right now. We hope to be creative and original in our efforts to counteract this inflation period and would hope to only seriously visit major price increases during the most drastic of times. 

 

Restaurant Inflation is Edging Up 

 

In the News

End of World - This Saturday 5:00 P.M. - Free Meals! If it's Really the End 

By Nikki

judgement dayThere has been many times people have predicted the end of the world, also known as "Judgement Day". Nostradamus was a French apothecary from the 1500's who wrote many philosophies throughout his entire life. He eventually began to have many followers after reading his books, because of an odd amount of coincidences, or right predictions? Ever since then, there has been numerous writings of the world supposedly ending for as many years as humans have been around. Predictions have been made from the Bible, from the Mayans, from old philosophers, and from numerical happenings. Whatever the reason thought up, people certainly believe and spread the word about preparing for the end of the world.

 

Tom Evans is a Christian group spokesman from Oklahoma City. They believe that God put a times table of events into The Bible. He said he has been studying this since the 1970's, and the events added up to being on this upcoming Saturday May 21, 2011. He even has put up billboards and has put signs up everywhere to make it known that Judgement Day is coming.

 

Harold Camping is another Christian man who is a radio broadcaster. He has made predictions like this all of this life, and has come to the conclusion of this. Judgement Day will be on May 21, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Many of the ideas of this happening came from numerical proofs from The Bible. If you are interested in those proofs, click here

 

Now, whether anybody believes in concepts like this or the Big Guy up there is up to them. I talked to the Big Boss at Uptown though, and if the world does really end this Saturday night at 5:00, if you are eating here at the time, all your dinners are free!  

 

Radio Interview with Tom Evans 

 

CBS News Video on May 21st, 2011 

 

Employee Updates

 May Birthdays and Anniversaries    

 

Birthdays

Jenny Heagy

 

 

Anniversaries

Sarah Miklavcic - 1 year

Andy Eiten - 3 years

Dan Konczak - 3 years  

 

Behind the Bar
things to try

Here are three things picked by our staff, the people who know our menus the best, that they think stand out from the more than 500 items you will find on our food and drink menu. 

 

peppered ny stripFrom Nikki - Peppered New York Strip - This steak is not just any steak. Actually, every steak we have on our menu is the best I have ever tried. You can't buy the steak we have at any store. You have to appreciate the flavor and preparation work we put into all of our steaks. They are absolutely delicious. Our peppered new york strip is one of my personal favorites. This steak has a juicy and flavorful taste. It's studded with black peppercorns and served with a marsala mushroom sauce. It fills you up and is so tasty if you haven't already, you must try it the next time you're in.

 


cherry iced tea

 

 

From Brett - Cherry Iced Tea - At Uptown, we have many specialty teas. We always feature our mint tea, which is our house tea, and another special tea. Every few weeks and for different seasons and holidays, we change our special tea. This week I am suggesting that you try our special cherry tea. All of the iced teas we serve at the uptown are house made and brewed daily. Personally the cherry tea is one of my favorite of our teas, its flavor is mouth watering. The cherry tea is a perfect refreshing drink to have on a warm sunny day. The cherry flavor isn't too strong, and you still get that refreshing tea flavor. It's definitely reccommended you try this tea before it is gone.

 

 


beer samplerFrom Jim - Beer Sampler - Ever go to a restaurant with an extensive draft beer selection and just look up at the tower and have to think about what you were in the mood for? Well, it is no different here because we offer 10 different beers from around the world on draft. Your decision may take a while because you will not find the likes of Miller, Budweiser or Coors on our selection. We offer microbrews on ever tap on the tower. Some of these breweries you may have never heard of before. So how do you choose just one? Well you do not have to, you can order them all. Our draft beer sampler includes 10, 10oz. samples of each beer. It is served with a little bit of information about each beer, its style and the brewery from which it is made. Although, can be done alone, it is recommended to be shared with another as a perfect conversation piece. Sit and enjoy a sample of each beer and learn something about each one.

 

Not Your "Everyday" Specials
steak dianeMonday Nights, Steak Diane

Every Monday after 4 pm, we will be serving Steak Diane for $14.75. This will be just like the Red Door Inn. With Victor's stamp of approval.



 
weinerstzleWienerschnitzel Wednesday

Every Wednesday after 4pm, we will be serving authentic German Wienerschnitzel. Served with roasted asparagus, spaetzel and veal demi glaze it is only $11.75.
 


seaefood trio
Friday Nights, Seafood Mixed Grill


4 oz broiled lobster tail with drawn butter, 4 oz cod filet
with basil cream, and 4 oz whitefish parmesan with lemon caper butter. All for only $19.75


  


Prime Rib, Friday and SaturdayPrime Rib Evening

Available after 4pm every Friday and Saturday night is our herb crusted prime rib of beef. Our prime rib is slow roasted for several hours in our 1980 alto shaam. It is served with au jus, mushrooms and your choice  of side dish. Available in 12oz $19.75 or 16oz $22.75


fajitas
Sunday, All Day, 
Sizzling Fajita and Margaritas

You get a chicken fajita with a 64 ounce pitcher of margaritas, perfect for a relaxing Sunday! Serves 2 for $20!


On Special This Week

 

sauteed soft shell crab

lightly breaded and sauteed soft shell crab served with garlic butter. 10.25

 

oysters on the half shell  

beavertail oysters from narragansett bay, rhode island. medium to large size with a sweet bold buttery flavor. served with a mignonette 10.75

 

lamb lollipops

three lamb lollipops (french trimmed lamb rib chops) served over an arugula salad with quinoa and balsamic vinaigrette 12.25

 

artisanal cheese sampler

1. Castelinhos (Portugal) 2. Pinna Brigante (Italy) 3. Soignon Buche Goat Log (France) 4. Idiazabal, sheep cheese (Navarra-Spain) 5. Life Prov Velours Bleu (France) 6. Sap Sago, Switzerland. serves 2 to 4 people 19.75

 

fried chicken salad

fried chicken breast over a bed of spinach with strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, kiwi, grapes, hard boiled egg, alfalfa sprouts, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled asparagus and cashews. served with raspberry honey vinaigrette 13.50

 

mesculyn salad & panini combo  

raisin river ham, stone ground mustard and emmentaler cheese. served with a mesculyn, walnut and gorgonzola salad. balsamic vinaigrette dressing 10.75 with cup of soup of the day 12.25

 

fried oyster po'boy  

deep fried oysters, shredded lettuce, tomato and remoulade sauce on a french roll 11.75

 

broiled walleye with lemon walnut crust

broiled walleye filet with a lemon walnut crust. served with sauteed broccolini 19.50

 

sauteed soft shell crabs

2 lightly breaded and sauteed soft shell crabs served with garlic butter. served with fried shoestring potatoes 23.75

 

shrimp and asparagus pappardelle  

sauteed shrimp, asparagus, shallot and grape tomatoes served over pappardelle and watercress in a light lemon mascarpone white wine sauce 16.75

 

chargrilled flat iron steak

10 oz. center cut, garlic and herb marinated flat iron steak served with broccolini and sauteed shiitake, oyster and portobello mushrooms 21.50

 

infused chicken  

two six ounce butter garlic chicken breasts served with white wine cream sauce and our seasoned rice blend 13.75

 

sauteed broccolini  

fresh broccolini sauteed with white wine and plugra butter with a touch of cracked red pepper 5.75

 

chocolate mousse torte

chocolate layered mousse torte served with raspberry chambord sauce 6.75

 

 

Win A Free Lunch
Foodie Fight Contest 

 

foodie fight
Each week in the newsletter we will ask three questions from the foodie fight cards. The first person to email us (see link below) the correct answers to all three questions will receive a complimentary lunch. The winner has to have the exact answer for all three questions, no exceptions! The following week we will publish the correct answers and the winner of the previous week. So come in and have a drink, study the cards, test each other and have fun. Good Luck!



1. In what country is barbecued meat called churrasco [shoo-RAS-koo]?

2. What is the term for the white membrane that runs along tenderloin cuts of meat and causes curling and an unpleasant chew if not removed?

3. Where is the Coca-Cola company headquarters?


Email your answers to [email protected]

Fine Print...
You must be the first person to respond with all three correct answers.
The response must go to the email address in the above link.
You must reply within 24 hours from the time the newsletter is published.
Participants are eligible to win a limit of 3 times a year.

Last weeks questions and answers...

1. What is the name of a dish, and a cheese, that would be an alternative to fondue?  Raclette

2. What fruit if set among properly stored potatoes, will actually retard potato sprouts?  Apple

3. Who was taken to court in 1998 by Texas cattle ranchers for allegedly violating a "food disparagement" law? Oprah Winfrey


Last weeks winner of the free lunch ....... Jennifer Marini
Email Policy
Uptown respects your privacy and will not sell or distribute your personal information.

Uptown Grill
601 First St.
La Salle, Il 61301
815-224-4545
Mon - Thur 11 am to 10pm  - Fri & Sat 11 am to 11 pm
Sun Noon to 10 pm
 
Uptowngrill.com
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