Wintery delights

Dear Friends,

This was the week we were set to get a slew of new winter menu dishes rolling on the dinner menu - so as luck would have it, it’s also the week the weather would decide to remember the season and turn genuinely cold and wintery. That said, for now the sun has broken through, the wind has calmed, and we’ll definitely be open with the space heaters turned up high in the garden tonight and tomorrow. Sunday is looking a bit dicey with rain in the forecast and highs in the 40s, but we’ll be open for curbside pickup regardless.

Anyway, I wanted to invite you all to come by tonight for a hearty bowl of Pot au feu. Pot au feu is one of the original dishes around which brother Ben and I built the TFB dinner program and one of my all-time favorite things to eat – French grandmother food at its finest.

An old friend, Walter, sent me a note back in 2013 wherein he located our version of the dish within the context of the tradition rather colorfully:

"Pot-au-feu, more idiomatically rendered as "pot on the fire or pot by the fire," refers to the tradition of a continuous source of nourishment that steeped on the winter hearth -- a family pot that was replenished with any and all sorts of bits and pieces, most not-so-glorious, often remnants or scraps from other meals. All commingled to provide enticing flavors and tenderize otherwise gnarly chunks of animal and vegetable (and the occasional vermin and crunchy varmints) that fell into the pot-au-feu. Yours is a very upscale, refined, and delectable version, fit for a nobleman but priced for today's working serfs."

To be clear, ours uses beef short rib, carrots, turnip, potatoes and other fresh farm vegetables - sorry, no vermin - and is garnished with cornichon pickles, dijon mustard, and sea salt. It’s divine.

Tonight’s menu will also feature Derek’s gorgeous vegetarian lasagna, a new cauliflower and crispy leek soup, and a couple of new salads including one I really like that uses Texas winter grapefruit, Boggy Creek spinach, and red onion. Please join us if you can.

Or, if the weather is keeping you snuggled up at home - let us cook for you. Call us or place an order online for curbside pick up.

bon appétit,
murph