Where's Lisa?

OK, Lisa's last day was Tuesday. She's on her way back to University of San Francisco. Sad. We're going to really miss her, but she will be back for our busy Holiday season.

So what's next for the Sizzle - The Internship? Welcome Justin.

Here's our fearless leader, Darrell, planning out Justin's day, in the background, Justin studies his inventory lesson.

More to come...

Today is a very exciting day! We just launched our next seasonal menu so it was also a very busy day. First, Gracie and I sat down and completely organized and set-up our calendar thus far through the end of October. August is shaping up to be a pretty busy month and we had a lot of banquets as well as catering events to account for. Once everything was completely caught up, I helped Ron switch all of the old menus out. Now Marco and I are going to present all of the new dishes to the staff and prep them for the upcoming season. They look soooo delicious!

As for the end of last week, we were also pretty busy. On Thursday Gracie and I found our final venue for our catering venue list: Covington Cellars. They are located in Woodinville and have a beautiful and versitile tasting room, as well as a large barrel room. We also scoped out the Bellevue Farmers' Market where they do Chef demonstrations. Then we came back in time to set-up for the parties we hosted that night. Finally we attended the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce Networking event. It was at the new Metro 112 apartment complex and catered by SEastar Restaurant. We met a lot of interesting people. The wine was provided by a new winery, Mistica Wines, who were very interested in letting Scott sample and potentially serve their wines. We also met Beth Hinkson from Ezulwini Game Lodges, who represents a company that hosts safaries in South Africa. We were super excited because she was willing to donate some sort of package for auctions! Finally we met John Webb from DeVry University. He is the employer liason and was interested to know about our internship opportunities... Perhaps Gracie will be able to find a new me!! All in all, it was a very successful and fun party.

On Friday I worked with Marco in the morning. Then Gracie and I ventured out to the outskirts of downtown Bellevue to inform the hotels (especially the extended stay ones) about our concierge program, in which guests that have their hotel make the reservation for them receive a complimentary appetizer on their first visit.

~Lisa

I arrived a little early today for our lunch with Robbie Wright from Chat with Women. It was very fun and she was so enthusiastic and entertaining. She wants us to help out with her event for the opening of the movie Eat, Pray, Love. Then I made a bunch of our private dining packets that we can pass out to potential clients. And, of course, I filled out my daily Banquet Information Sheets. Then I helped Erich get ready for happy hour behind the bar. Finally Gracie and I headed to Seattle to apply for our membership with the Seattle Convention Bureau and to talk to Arie, the Sales Manager at the Seattle store, about her upcoming vacation and what we will be doing in order to cover for her. All in all, a very productive day!

Today I helped out with my first satellite dinner. I came in a little later in the day than usual and Gracie and I brainstormed and shopped around for new August gift ideas. Then we met with the satellite dinner hosts who came 2 hours early to set up and make sure everything was in order. I also helped Ron with the cold side line check. We tried all of the dressings and sauces and made sure they were up to our flavor standards. We also checked all of the temperatures to ensure that they were safe to eat. Then we looked at all of the food products, including the desserts, to ensure that there was enough and that they were all aesthetically pleasing enough. It took longer than I thought it would, but Ron explained the importance of making sure everything is to a Ruth's Chris standard every single day. Then Gracie and I welcomed the guests to our satellite dinner and another party and made sure that everything ran smoothly. There was one minor blip with a menu that was printed incorrectly and slipped past all of us, but Neil, the server, was able to keep the guests happy and I don't even think anyone noticed our mistake. Finally Gracie and I scoped the neighborhood competition's balconies to see what we were up against in the hot weather. Luckily, we weren't overly impressed with anyone!

Sorry Lisa, you missed out on the mini cheesecakes, berries & sweet cream, and the chocolate sin cake...YUM!

Mistica Wines Launch Party introducing their Argentinian Wines at the Pampas Room. Whoops, Scott blinked.

Monday, No intern...see you tomorrow!

Today is the start of the famous Bellevue Arts Fair! So Alicia and I hit the streets and passed out our lunch menu to the visitors and happy hour menus for the vendors who are finished around 10. We definately got some customers that we saw in our restaurant later! I also filled out Banquet Information Sheet for all of our upcoming events. Now Jeff is going to train me in the bar!

I haven't blogged in a couple days because we have been very busy! But last Tuesday was a crazy day where we had 4 events going on at lunch and Gracie and I had to make a presentation at Expedia to promote our private dining and catering to major neighborhood businesses. We offered them signature appetizers, like sweet potato in a pecan crust and slow-cooked chicken salad canapes, to sample. The day ended up going alright even though it was one of those when we couldn't think of anything else that could go wrong. All the events were pulled off flawlessly for the client! I helped Matt completely reset our ST. Charles room for our evening big event. Then Gracie, Adam, and I with the AV set-up for our dinner party as well. Yesterday I arrived early to help with another large lunch event. I simply was available to help the guests with any requests they might have. Then Gracie and I checked out J. Bookwalter venue for catering. We loved it!! the women who just took over are extremely nice and excited about a partnership of some sort and the wine and space are wonderful!! Finally today I helped Marco with meat consolidation again. Then Gracie and I went to the Parlor to meet Kayce and Crystal and see their venue. It was really cool! And it offers us with a good after-dinner outing to offer our guests and out-of-town business parties. Then it was back to help Marco with desserts, hamburgers, and employee meals. It's always good to work with Marco because he's sooo good at his job and really helpful at teaching me the ropes of the kitchen. Plus he's an excellent singer!