Zebra Green my new venture

Cold it was in Ireland.

It has been so long since I have sat down to think about where I am now and think about my journey again.

Thanks to Skee, my designer, pusher of all things go and chief T-Shirt supplier (all round cooler guy than most) I am writing again and setting up sites , tweets to tell everyone to buy my new sauces.

I have always had great taste (my wife will attest to this!).
I know flavour.
Why would you make food and throw on any old sauce over it smothering it without purpose.

I wanted to make sauces that I am proud to have on the table. That look so good in a bottle you don't have time to shake and shove it. My sauces are great. Yip I am saying it, great.

In coming back to Sydney and leaving Ireland, I had a renewed sense of what I wanted. A good life for my family, more time with them and less in a hot kitchen and to keep being creative. I also love being in business, its in the blood.

Here I am 2 years on with a new range of sauces.
A hot sauce; it tingles.
A ketchup, the real deal.
A BBQ that's sweet, sour and zingy.

Business side of food

A customer was having a party at us, they wanted to suplement all their friends bills so the people who couldnt afford to come could do so and not know the full charge, dont write the prices on our menu she said and I'll tell them we have a special deal for 15 euros.......

Recession means business needs to respond to its customers needs how to do this and stay in business is the dilemma.
Reduce prices seems sensible but how do you offer the same standard of product and charge less?
What will people think?
Will they feel ripped off if they ate last week for 24e and this week for 16e?
How will your competitors see you?
What about our pride, our ego, doesn't cost equate to quality?

All of the above is relevant but can any business afford to question itself this way, the only reality surely is the first, 'business needs to respond to its customers needs' & means.

http://t.co/EwiZ7dgC
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth
I read this article today, is this a better approach? I am not convinced. Why hide I don't believe customers are superficial and I also think that people are ok talking about costs.

Eight Bar and Restaurant is truly delighted to offer our customers a simple cost effective way to eat @8. 
New menu new prices.

We have worked on our prices without compromising our standards, our ingredients or our suppliers. Vegetables from Beechlawn Organic Farm or Lough Boora Farm, lettuce from Stephen Gould on Headford Rd, meat from McGeoughs Oughterard, cheese from Bluebell falls or Killeen Farm gouda, the list goes on.
Be assured it is about value to customers.
Buying local, eliminating waste & focus on daily menu changes, profit reduction & improvement in productivity means we can do this.
 
There are no catches, no shared starters, no gimmicks, no specials, no early birds. No set menus at a fee only our ever changing menu at great new recession beating prices.
 

New menu. Lower prices. Same high standards. Buying local, less waste, daily changes.

Our customers tell us they love it at Bar 8 but times are tougher, if not for them for friends, so...
Eight Bar and Restaurant is truly delighted to offer our customers a simple cost effective way to eat @8. 
Shane has completely revised our menu pricing to respond to the turbulent times we live in his

We have worked on our prices without compromising our standards, our ingredients or our suppliers.
Be assured it is about value to you our customers.
Buying local, eliminating waste & focus on daily menu changes means we can do this.
We are a multi award winning restaurant who will prove that with our inventive approach we can provide quality food at a price that works within your budget.
As Bar 8 was one of the first Galway Restaurants to offer tapas , use locally sourced ingredients  and promote and use wild and organic produce we are sticking to our principles!!!

There are no catches, no shared starters, no gimmicks, no specials, no early birds. No set menus at a fee only our ever changing menu at great new recession beating prices.

Now you can eat from my menu, from 6 pm Tuesday to Sunday. Our LIGHT BITE starters are around €4, our BIGGER BITES mains at €16 or less, excluding the 10 oz sirloin from McGeoughs in Oughterard which is reduced to €20.50 and with our AFTER EIGHT desserts at around a fiver.

Come on in and eat your way into the good times here at Eight Bar and Restaurant on the Docks in Galway, look forward to meeting you ph 091 565111 or http://www.eight.ie/ 

Chicken Goujons

I started this months blog with a tale about chicken goujons and the pain and anguish they caused me but then our baby son was born and our 5 yr old started back at school and Eight got busier again and well I have had to resort to hoping its true that a picture tells a thousand words ...as thats all I have this month... photos of the month past.

 

 

 

I've arrived and its cold.

I have worked in Ireland before for Shaun Smith-Roberts, at McCloskeys in Bunratty. I am married to an Irish woman and I have been here on holiday. Somehow I have managed all that and not realised how bad the weather is and how much it impacts on your lifestyle. Born in Jo'burg and having lived in Sydney for 17 years I'm kinda used to shorts, swimming & suntans. My wife wanted to come back to her family and after giving so many years to me away I agreed.
Well I've arrived, it is cold and wet but I like it. After a great start working for Hilde & Mark at Lisloughrey Lodge in Cong I was sold on Irish produce and my creative juices flowing. To start work here in Ireland with such passionate professional people was great. However the financial climate, also wet and cold, hit hard and the bank swooped in and downgraded to suit low budge American tourists.
I moved on as did Mark & Hilde.
I have had my own restaurant, Blue Orange Bondi Beach, for many years but this Galway place is a whole different ball game!
I found Tom at Eight and we started to work through his vision and mine.

Mr Tom Sheridan of Eight, bar & restaurant, 8 The Docks, Galway well, he wanted a head chef who would take what he had build to date and push it further. I wanted to run a kitchen that was complimented by vision for good food at reasonable prices and in a casual environment, no barriers to get to the food.
Here I am now, new menus up and running at Eight.ie and we are exploring all this produce and Irish taste buds as we go.

I have found so far there are Irish people, people who live in Ireland and hoards of tourists, all competing for their expectations to be met, in budget and in the case of my mother in law; the food to be served as quickly as possible from moment of sitting down and not least of all pipping hot!