L'Espressing my impressions...

[Possible RANT Alert!]

I have to admit that being in the catering industry for a while tends to make you a food snob and a especially a service sob. I think we often discount real service and what a good waiter is. But I'm digressing.

Variety is the spice of life and I recently went for an Americano with J at a local place down the street. After a day of grinding out proposals and quotes I really was chomping at the bit to get out of the home office and surround myself with fellow hunams and grab a cup o joe somewhere with good company. So, J recommended we go to L'Espresso. We ended up shelling out $45.00 for a chicken panini, salad, Earl Gray tea, Americano and a chocolate pear tart. OUCH.

I wouldn't have minded swallowing the $45.00 for experience. But then the treat pretty much went down hill from there.

The ambiance was indeed nice, its a VERY pretty place. Yet the Americano was quite frankly pathetic and lukewarm. I'm quite sure this is not representative of Italian cuisine. (To put it in comparison, I had a stronger, more full bodied Americano at Aroma later that night just to erase that first Americano from my pallet. - a Franchise-made Americano!)

The chicken breast in the panini was decently juicy if plain. In my humble opinion there are plenty of things you can do to three slices of chicken breast, even while grilling them. Such juicy breasts were dying for some tender culinary love. Ahem. Pesto? Pepper? Anything? Even a light rub of herbs would be lovely. ESPECIALLY for $10.00! It was spicy. That's it. No hint of Italian basil to compliment the tomato bits, and one maybe two sheafs of lettuce just to say they were actually present and accounted for. Not even something to compliment the juiciness of the chicken or detract from the dryness of the toasted panini bread.

What really got me was that I feel we really got profiled by the waitstaff. We didn't even have the waitstaff visit to check up on us, refill my water, or refresh J's tea. Perhaps it was the fact that J was knitting or I was dressed down from my daily biz ware. Service was pathetic. I almost felt like tipping myself for the last bit I am about to mention.

First, I think the sad that this fine dining/ cafe establishment completely forgot the dessert. After nearly bussing the ho-hum waitress came by and stacked dishes our fine china like it was Denny's and was off. (I guess we're just not worth revisiting because we laid down a measily $45.00 bones)

So I went up to get J's dessert. The head waiter ends up realizing that he forgot and simply hands it to me from the fridge, completely cold.  (I guess we're doing self-serve now!)

(For those that don't know, today it was -9, -16 with the windchill. Why the HECK would I want to have a cold dessert with my lukewarm, weak and defence-less Americano?) The end result? A hard tart with equally hard chocolate filling, and clammy slivers of pear in it. Room temperature or even a slight warmth would have really brought out the butter (if any) in the tart crust or even made the chocolate and pear pairing enjoyable.

The saddest part was that I had to get my dessert myself!   The head waiter even unceremoniously handed the cold plate to me direct from the fridge (hint of pre-prepared earlier that morning, since the whip cream that was suppose to accent it was a shapeless white blob.

Above: Bleh.  Its almost like home-style dessert.  Self serve, direct from the fridge and cold

Perhaps if you want a nice place to sit and watch the world go by, go here.  I simply don't think I'd come back here for the food nor the service.   Perhaps it would be a nice venue, I'd just have to ensure that the there was a taste test before spending a dollar and having outside staff for service.  The service at L'Espresso simply was shameful. The food was nothing to write home about and the price was certainly not representative of the experience.

(Sigh.  I guess that's a - YES. I am a food/service snob!)

200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes

Well, math has always been my arch-nemisis. But Hans Rosling's real time illustration really does show how far we have come in the last 200 years, and, how far we will go.
It gives me hope for the future (Watching some of the CBC Doc Zone Documentaries was getting me rather down) and above all I'm glad I and Simplicity are trying to do our part.

We can never rest on our laurels, as there is still much to do. Anyhow. On with the show!

200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes

Oh noes. Getting sick. Again.

There is nothing worse than that "froggy" feeling in the back of your throat. I absolutely hate getting sick, mainly because of the down time and that fact that it takes me close to 4-6 weeks to get rid of the resulting cough that comes along with whatever I've caught.

The number one way to get sick? Stress. Or rather the release of stress. Don't get me wrong, stress can actually be good. But after the completion of an event or surviving a blitz you're more likely to get sick. Exam time? Definitely a good time to get sick right after you finish.

Thankfully J was completely inspired by Julia Child and made French Onion soup. (Swoon) Melted Gruyere is so yum with the soup.

Anyhoo, here are pictures of the "gang" in action. I will admit I do sometimes refer to them as my "kids". It's a terrible habit sometimes. It's especially ironic as I often seem to forget the age difference when I speak to some of them. "You're how old?!"

Anyhow, here are the photos: Simplicity staff in ACTION! (Merge to form DevasCater?!)

Above: Did I mention we do private house parties?

J, Bridget and Rick help a client take the stress out of having guests at a house warming

Left & Below: Bridget sets up the spread for the Trudeau book signing reception

Above: Here's the staff during a bit of down time before the start of an event

I think the Construction God is happy

Construction was going on DIRECTLY OUTSIDE our bedroom window in the park across the street. Nothing sings the praises of the Construction God Backhoeus than a jackhammer breaking old cold concrete at 8am.

Julie & Julia = Rolo + Inspiration = Actually blogging again

So, I sat down and watched a bit of "Julie & Julia", the recent movie about a blogger and her connection with Julia Child. Her blogging got me thinking in that Japanese sort of healthy envy "iie-nahhh" (sp?) that begs the question "Why the heck am I NOT writing more on my blog. Its easy to say that I'm just too darn busy building a thriving triple-bottom line company. But I'd be kidding myself because the inspiration has been rather fleeting lately!

It wasn't until I looked at the movie that I revisited the question of the main reason why I write this blog. For a while I've had some "cover answers" but I guess I might as well go into them ON the blog instead of talking about it in my head and word of mouth. What really inspired me and got me thinking is the way Julie Powell wrote her blog and compared it to Simplicity. How could a blog about an entrepreneur and his company's exploits to make a difference be something intimate and enjoyable to a wider audience and not just friends family and in industry people? (Heck I don't even know what people think of this. I'm always surprised when people tell me the actually READ it.) Its a funny thing because I feel I want to be positive, not bitch and at the same time be professional. I guess the best way is to continue to be honest.

It seems to me people write blogs for various reasons and I will humbly admit that the quiet little star in me was disappointed in the traffic I receive for the blog. However the altruistic side of me steps in says "HEY thats not the point!"

I write this blog for several reasons some of which can be a bit hoaky but here they are:

1.) For myself - Its a reminder of how far Simplicity has come and is continuing to slowly but surely thrive in what it has set out to do. (soapbox enabled) This is to be a socially and environmentally responsible catering company designed from the ground up to make a difference. (soapbox disabled)

2.) For you - my reader. This includes our clients, supporters and staff. I also secretly hope somewhere out there there IS a fellow entrepreneur who is reading this and thinking. "Crap, its fricking hard to start your own business. I don't know how I'm suppose to pull this shit off and stay sane."

3.) Because its organic. Unlike a website, websites are polished advertising driven, sites that can be a glossy cover. I feel its nice to strip it down and show what makes this growing organization great. It's people. Doing really cool things. I do believe its easier to change and adapt this blog than a fixed website.

Meh. Anyhow, its a Monday and things are off to a good start. Several of our old clients are booking us for Christmas parties and we're actually booking well into June. It's a wonderful thing to see. We also have a new mega-client. I just hope that we can actually settle the vendor pay issue.

(Mental note to self - mega corporations are really hard to adapt and be flexible.)

I also finally managed to extract all the photos from John and Emily's wedding our staff volunteer photographer took. Sadly, huge files are so hard to edit and work with! It took me 3 previous attempts before Picasa nearly had an aneurysm trying to digest the 15 to 17 meg photos. In the end I had to finally copy them group by group.

Also thinking about having a 4 course dinner party at the house soon. Its a tiny place but it sure is cozy. If I'm lucky I'll even update you all on the other events that Simplicity has been doing. (Crosses fingers enabled)

Entrepreneur Tip: Practice Safe USB'ing

Curse you FedEx Kinkos and your sloppy Anti-Malware procedures.  My biz USB key with my portable work now has key-logging malware and other crap that I don't want on it.

So folks, if you happen to use a USB key and plugged it into a public computer, and your PC starts acting funny, check your little baby for malware by clicking on

1.) TOOLS drop down menu
2.) Select FOLDER OPTIONS
3.) Click on VIEW tab
4.) (Scroll down to "Show Hidden Files and Folders" Make sure that is checked off!
5.) Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)"

Then root around in your User Folder in "Documents and Settings" You may find some random and unfamiliar *.scr and *.exe files that are sucking up system resources.

These are nasty little things that I picked up from my forays to Kinkos to print material. I only noticed them after I get back home and noticed the office comp starting to act weird.

Oh and if you don't know what to look for, ask someone you trust who knows what their doing and can spot malware.

THANKS Kinkos! (At this point I'm considering putting a condom on my USB key.)

Thankfully Google allows me to mail stuff to myself. God knows what key logger software is on their Kinkos comps...

Social Responsibility by Community Involvement: The BICYCLE Program

In my humble opinion it is quite easy to say that you are a triple-bottom line company and not be able to show proof that you practice what you preach. Well here is proof!

Here is a fitting example of how building a company that is socially responsible and being directly involved in the community really works seemlessly. But first a bit of back story!

Recently I have had the fantastic opportunity to be involved in a program called BICYCLE (Bicycle Initiative for Cabbagetown Youth Centre. Learn. Engage) and have been filling in the role of Volunteer Administrator and Event Organizer. In part of this Simplicity has been involved by helping organize a community Bike Clinic, co-ordinating with several other organizations. (More on this later!)

Last Saturday it seems I ended up being on camera during the Toronto Sun's visit to the BICYCLE shop. Article Link (HERE).  Either way I am quite happy to be part of BICYCLE and happen to be in the newspapers, and quite content to be in the background I have to say though the quotes they chose makes me feel like I sound like some sort of Bike Engineer.

Oh well, keep an eye out for our upcoming post which will show the photos of the recent Bike Clinic!