Marjorie's newly hired chef, Kylen McCarthy looks on as Cheeseman, Olivier Boye tastes the crew on a very unique selection of cheese.

Today we got to have some fun!  The paint brushes were put away (okay, we still have touch up!), the ladders put to rest, if only for a moment, and we got to taste some cheese.  Not just any cheese I might add, but cheese from Olivier Boye, a Corsican who found Seattle to have a love for high quality cheeses, and took the initiative to begin importing little known, small company cheeses from Europe.  I am delighted he decided to take this on, because what we tasted was absolutely amazing.  I can’t wait to have the cheese plate at the new Marjorie.  With red wine, reisling, port, madeira, etc.  I can see that I will be trying it often.

When a cooperative of french goat and sheep herders get together and produce cheese... the results are amazing!

Olivier Boye displays a Tomme, made by a small fromagiere who used to sell only at local farmer's markets in France.

A big bag of itchy insulation...

I for one am not a big fan of insulation!  It is itchy and dusty.  When the insulation installers show up, all the other subcontractors vanish.  But today, I was so happy to see that big truck pull up in front of the building with a load of insulation.  You want to know why?  Because when the insulation goes up, the walls get covered.  When the walls go up, they get painted.  Then, it’s all about making pretty.  What an appreciated step in the process.

I always bring a little extra cash to bid on one of the delicious cakes at the dessert auction!

The CDForum’s annual gala, Food as Art will take place in two days.  It is always great fun, with tasty food, and lots of different people dressing up and mingling.  It is probably one of the most diverse gatherings of folks in Seattle.  I can’t wait to go.  Of course I am excited that Marjorie will be participating again (after taking a year off last year for the first time since FAA began), especially since we are hosting the VIP cocktail hour with David Nelson of Tavern Law.  I am not telling what we are making until after the event!  FAA features the city’s many black chefs and restauranteurs and their food.  It is an amazing event with lots of tables full of delicious food, the city’s movers and shakers and ever-flowing wine.

Selfishly, I am looking forward to the opportunity to scrub the paint from under my fingernails, get polished and get out of my drab work clothes…even if only for a day!

To find out more about this amazing organization go to CDForum.org.

Marjorie's new Capitol Hill Location at Dusk

There are many times when the work is challenging, or just  plain hard.  It is often tiring.  And I am left wondering why someone who loves food, and wine has been reduced to ordering pizza and skipping the wine, so that I can get by with less sleep.  My son, Max has been very supportive.  Although he is quick to let me know he prefers homemade pizza, he seems to understand that I can’t take the time to prepare food from scratch right now.  When stuck at the restaurant after school, he seems to delight in trips to “Old School” for an ice cream, or passing the time with homework or games on my iphone.  For me, a simple photo like this assures me that I am working on a gem.  It is dusty and dirty and demanding, but when the sun sets, and the sky fills with the light of dusk, I stand back and remark on what a beautiful space the new Marjorie will be in!

the license has been applied for...

I often wonder what separates an entrepreneur from those who choose to work for others.  Sometimes I think it is passion, for I am most certainly passionate about hosting people in the restaurants that I have owned.  I love food, I love good wine and drink, and I love a creative environment that feels like you have been wrapped in a blanket of warmth.  In the recent months as I have been building out the restaurant that will be home to Marjorie, I wonder if it perseverance that makes the entrepreneur.  My passion hasn’t faded, but my patience is surely being tested.  First, there is the permit to build.  Let’s hope that gets approved.  Then there is the health permit (which can often hold up the  building permit, presuming it’s been properly routed).  Think your only worry is your liquor license at this point?  It’s not!  If you build a  bathroom in your space, your need sprinklers put in (personally, I think you could put the fire out with water from the sink).  That requires a permit and an inspection.  Oh, and there’s the fire alarm in the bathroom (is that in case the sprinkler doesn’t work, or the water in the sink —that I think is old school reliable— gets shut off?), which also requires a permit and an inspection.  And of course, did you know that much of the building code is up for interpretation?  Can we frame in wood, or does it have to be steel?  Do we need insulation with or without mylar plastic protection?  But I just want to be creative!!! I’m all set to paint and make pretty.   That is why perseverance and patience are my bffs for the next few weeks.  When it is time to paint, I will surely need friends!

"If you move that over 4 inches, will I still meet code?"

Of course I am excited to have garage doors at Marjorie.  I can already envision the open, airy feeling that the space will have, with the garage doors opening right onto our courtyard with potted plants, and new furniture (yes! you old Marjorie fans will be delighted to hear that the old furniture is not coming with the name, the plantains and the bread pudding!).  But, really?  Did they have to get installed to hang in the middle of the dining room?  My heart sank when I first saw them.  Our tiny little dining room would be even tinier and more little, as a result of the door hardware hanging right in the middle of the dining room.  Of course, I wanted to get new, fabulous, fancy doors…maybe even the ones that open sideways (they are so cute, oh, and they are ten thousand dollars…each), but they weren’t in the budget.  Maybe, I could have someone come out, and just change the hardware?  This is the life of a restauranteur, masquerading as a General Contractor… Who does that?  And why were the doors put in like that in the first place.  Could it have anything to do with CODE?  And would it be building code or fire code?  It certainly wasn’t the aesthetic code, the only one I used to follow, until I started masquerading as a General Contractor.

Well, it turns out that the doors were installed so low, so that the spring wasn’t visible from the outside window (even though it is difficult to imagine why anyone would want to look at a spring in the middle of the dining room).  And those goofy sprinklers that hang down below the garage door, are there for a fire code.   So I don’t just have to change the door hardware, I have to change the sprinkler (which is okay, because I have to have a sprinkler put in the bathroom that we built, and we might as well have him change the sprinkler by the garage door when he comes out to drain the entire sprinkler system to put one in the bathroom!)

Finally, after getting a few bids, I decide on this company that seems reasonably priced and thorough in their approach to do the work (highly sought after and rare in the world of contracting).  They come out to do the work on Monday, but they only bring the hardware to change one door!  But, they were on it!  They special ordered the other hardware and rescheduled the rest of the job for Saturday (believe me, those guys do not usually work on Saturday…I feel special!).  Even with only one door adjusted, I can see the importance of the work…the dining room looks great, it feels more open, and I actually like having the unrepaired door as a point of reference.  It reminds me that I made a good decision.

A strategic look at the doors before they are changed.

Brian Hill, owner of Brasa getting a little extra stretch from the "Master"

It’s become a little trendy lately, but Pilates is a tried and true form of exercise, and this restauranteur is on board!

Of course before you become a restauranteur, you have to have one, and Marjorie is a work in progress.  With the lease signed, permits approved and construction underway, one of the best gifts I can give myself is a twice weekly trip to Metropolitan Pilates Studio.  Longtime friend, Dorothee Van der Walle owns this University Village Pilates Studio, with Business Partner, Silvia Furia.  Dorothee is one of those Pilates instructors that trained with Romana, who was an apprentice of Joe Pilates (in restaurant lingo, that is like training with Julia Child and James Beard).  Her studio is always full of apprentices, teachers and students (an unsurprising percentage of people in the restaurant business).  Although it is great to have Dorothee push and pull on your body, and it is encouraging to hear her tell you to “crack the walnut” or get your “navel to spine” with her adorable Belgian accent, all of the instructors are top notch.  They have to be to work under her eagle eye!

Pilates was invented by Joe Pilates in the early 20th Century.   Troubled by watching inactive, ill, interned soldiers, he developed a system of exercise, combining yoga, boxing, tai chi and traditional calesthetics, inventing machines with springs that create resistance to encourage your body to build strength and straighten your spine.

For me, it has become a way to maintain health with a busy, and often back-breaking schedule.  No matter how demanding the build-out is, I take an hour on Tuesday and Thursday and head over to the University Village, and give myself the gift of health.  Don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind that my opening night dress will fit just a little better with my continued commitment!

Give it a try!

before the construction work begins...

Nancy Leson writes about the new Marjorie Restaurant over on All You Can Eat. Read the article.

This year Marjorie got off to a great start. We signed a lease on an adorable little building on east Union (at 14th). I have been making jokes that I am am glad not to have disposed of my Carhartts, as I will be wearing them daily!