Yesterday evening at Hannah's

Last night I had a leisurely conversation with Chef Sheena Croft at Hannah's Off-the-Square. It was unusual to have her undivided attention as she is typically tied up in the kitchen. But last night she had some free time, so she came out to the table to chat with me and my husband.

Let me insert that we had a wonderful meal. I had the melt-in-your-mouth buttery sea scallops with the risotto, my favorite kind of comfort food. SS had the vegetarian special--mostly to please me, I think, since I considered that too. Both dishes were out of this world. The vegetarian plate came with mashed potatoes, spinach, and asparagus. I particularly liked the tomato au gratin, and SS was generous to share his with me. (Although I did trade him a scallop.)

Back to the conversation. One of the most important parts of running a fine-dining restaurant, as opposed to a repeatery, is getting fresh, seasonal produce and consistently high-quality meat and seafood. The problem with a set menu is that diners come to expect their favorite menu items. But what if the sea scallops are too gritty? Sheena has to send them back. She can't serve them if they aren't up to snuff and maintain the integrity of the dish. She told us that when she can't provide a menu item because of a bad food source, she'll get calls and comment card complaints from irate customers. But how can she serve less-than-quality food and keep up the restaurant's reputation?

Corporate-run repeateries buy their produce seasonally in huge quantities and freeze the ingredients for later use. They hire other companies to build the menu items based on the specifications of that restaurant chain's chief culinary chefs. Those menu items come to each restaurant's back door frozen. The individual repeatery then reheats the food and adds sauces or whatever before it comes to your table. So when you go to Applebee's or Chili's or any other those kinds of restaurants, the food is always the same. This mass-production is also why repeateries can afford to keep costs lower. Not so with a small, privately-run restaurant, that build everything from fresh and from scratch.

But the problem is, many customers aren't that discriminating, nor do they know to appreciate the differences between the two types of dining experiences. They want value for the buck, they want their expectations surpassed. Most don't want to gamble on their dining experience. It's a tough audience to play to, and the small restaurant business is tough to be in, when every meal is based on variables, especially if you are a true culinary artist as Sheena Croft is.

Good news. Hannah's new dinner menu is coming soon--maybe as early as next week. I've been informed: the sea scallops made the cut. (Whew!) And Sheena is considering offering the vegetarian plate that SS ordered as a permanent fixture on the menu. I vote yes.

BTW, the new lunch, brunch and bar menus are already out. I ordered Hermalinda's Chicken Tamale Plate--two chicken tamales with corn masa, made with scrambled eggs, cotija cheese, diced tomatoes and two small red and green salsa sides. That's the menu description, although mine also had black beans and a half of an avocado. I have no idea who Hermalinda is, but her chicken tamales rock! I could've used a lot more salsa, however, because tamales have a tendency to be a little dry. That's not a complaint, mind you. That's just my preference.

I must tell you something funny, though. Hannah's basic napkin is cream-colored to match their tablecloths, but they leave a cream film on my black pants. I've filled out many-a-comment card with a  request that they reconsider the use of these particular napkins, to no avail. Hannah's does have black napkins, and so unbeknownst to me until my conversation with Sheena last night, the servers have been informed to make sure I always have a black napkin. Sure enough, when SS and I arrived, one of the waiters ran over to our table, just as I was about to put that awful cream-colored napkin on my lap. I wasn't paying attention, but he certainly was! I think it's hilarious that I get this special treatment, but more to the point: shouldn't Hannah's just replace the napkins? I can't possibly be the only diner who wears black pants. (Maybe I'm just the only one willing to speak up.)

I'm currently waiting for FedEx to deliver my new MacBook Pro. I'm already drooling thinking of all the possibilities once I get it in my hot little hands...!

Here's a photo of Hermalinda's Chicken Tamale plate so you have something to drool over too....