off to Florida

One of the team has made a move -- off to Florida in another week or so. She will be missed; by customers, staff and mostly by friends made during the last year.

A key learning over the last year is that the selection, growth and good keeping of staff are vital to our success. This hits home when one of the core, the ones who stuck with us throughout the first yr + of growth & development need to move on.

In this case, a professional & a vital spirit in the BR during the last year is moving on with her family to a new location & new challenges!

This move leaves a hole. New staff will, if we choose well, spend time in training & development, and keep moving in a strong positive direction fill the needs of the business. And if we are fortunate, they too will grow into team members with a key role to play with customers, staff & they will make friends here.

However this happens, the person, personality, and spirit of the one leaving are not replaced, they are cherished for having spent time with us.

Very fortunately, we have a number of folks who fall in this category. No names here, just a tip of the hat to those who know they are part of the BR.

Oh, this is a bit reflective and on the soft side of biz, it is what it is and I think we are lucky to have people who matter as a key component in the BRBC.

ps -- pics were taken &

may be coming -the going away (& surprise(!)) tea -- who has those pics anyway?

Will it or won't it?

NJ and this part of NJ can be the devil when it comes to snow storms. Growing up, I remember drifts as high as the border hedge (4-5 feet, I think) --

If tonight & tomorrow are what is called for, we will open with skeleton crew for all locals who want to venture out.

For tonight, if you want a great takeout meal - think about stopping in for cassoulet or our great newly formulated mac & cheese in a pint or quart. We have it ready to go, right now and will through the afternoon & evening.

Soups to go will be vegetable & corn chowder for sure - we have a great lentil that may be gone with the lunch crowd.

A double capp by the fireside to share snow stories, now that's how I'd like to spend the afternoon....

this week's dinner menu

We encourage you to select just exactly what you want from any part of this menu. Perhaps a few small plates to share along with your bottle of wine, maybe a more substantial dinner – it is our intent to offer you a range of choices in both the fresh foods we offer and in how you like to eat in the evening – a light repast or more - both are available to you here

Serving evening meals: Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 5pm – 9pm

Call for a reservation: 609 235 7539

Small Plates & Tapas As a meal, as an addition to a dinner, to be shared at the table – you choose Tomato Orange Bisque 5. Vegetable Tower 12. Grilled Portobello mushrooms & assorted vegetables in balsamic reduction, topped with brie cheese Poached Pear & artisan cheeses 14. French Nibbles 18. · Pates · Cheeses · Baguette Gnocchi * 12. Fig, walnut & mascarpone ravioli 12. Served in a rustic fig & olive sauce Mushroom Julienne 9. Fresh cremini mushrooms sautéed to perfection then baked in light cream sauce, topped with assorted artisanal cheese Salmon Brushetta 14. Smoked salmon with onion & caper, served with grilled baguette * can be served dinner sized as well / this is the dish where 50% of menu price goes to Haitian relief

Dinners All served with Blue Rooster Greens, Matching starch & fresh green vegetable Osso Buco 26. Finely seasoned, slow cooked & served with winter vegetables & rice Baby New Zealand Lamb Chops 26. Encrusted with rosemary & other fresh herbs, served over roasted red potatoes Filet Mignon 26. Blue Cheese & Walnut-encrusted, served over whipped potatoes and fresh asparagus Salmon Rollatini 23. Served with risotto and baked mini eggplant Seafood Risotto 24. Rich, creamy risotto filled with lobster & sautéed vegetables Beef Stroganoff 22. Served over egg noodles Pan seared duck breast 26. Served with winter fruit demi glace with fresh asparagus and rice pilaf

new play lists

We have great jazz & blues playing in The BR, most of it courtesy of Brian O'Mahoney of Co Cork. He is a good friend and a great aficionado of American blues & jazz. Now it's time to branch out and find other friends with jazz & blues libraries.

I'm thinking of those I know & love to hear that I'm not hearing enough of - :

Thelonious Monk

Art Blakey

Max Roach

Dave Brubeck

Herbie Hancock

Chet Baker

Hoagie Carmichel

Stan Kenton

I also thinking, there are loads more great musicians in both genre that I know nothing of and would like to explore with a playlist @ the BR.

If you have music and would like to share it for playing @ BR, I hope to hear from you!

If you have additional musical ideas for BR, again - would love to hear from you.

3 loaves of brown bread, pls

Today I was the lead retail & drinks person for the day. It is not easy to keep all the customers happy all the time. And I'm not sure what we might do differently - As a retail bakery & gourmet shop +coffee bar for drink in or take out + high end service (we seat all patrons) cafe --- there is lots to do in the retail / drinks space since each person walking in the door either knows what she / he wants or is new to the place and may be "checking it out" & need a bit of guidance over "how it works".

So, we had a day, not too busy & I got a chance to see up close where the tough parts are & how we might make it work better for all involved - workers & patrons.

The phone is also in the responsibility set of the retail drinks person & we don't always get that right -- reservations, information, requests & handling problems. Just taking a message while 5-6 people are waiting for your attention - that can be difficult. So, that's an area to explore, looking for alternative approaches.

If manpower were not an issue, the highest cost to most small businesses including ours, then we would have a clear solution. More people!

Instead, we are doing a good bit of cross-training, we are very lucky to have some seriously good customer service oriented folks working for BR who make a huge difference in how the customer experience works, usually very well.

And when someone calls in the midst of the second wave on a Sunday, wanting to know if we have 3 loaves of brown bread, - "Yes?" - great -- will you put them aside for me? _ Yes? thnxs - I'll be there in about 30 mins. And he arrived and he loved that the bread was set aside and he is a repeat buyer of our fab brown bread.

It is part of the flow of the BRBC that I did not expect. People really like what we do and like that we can be counted on for a good product & a good experience.

Rainy Sunday

149 people had meals @ Br today & the feel from both front & back of house was that it went smoothly and customers were well served. Thanks definitely growth.

and last night we did 40 dinners with all but one party exceedingly happy with our top 3: food, ambience & service. I'm afraid one party found our non-huge portions not to their liking & felt they were under served in the food category - how to make known to a new party that we are not serving huge plates of food, I don't know.

This week some decisions will be made re: Valentine's Day menu & how we will execute on that day & most likely the Sat night (2/13) as well; another weekend of fund-raising for Haiti & probably 1--+ other really small things that are necessary for keeping the Br working day in & day out.

Thinking about hiring -- we continue to learn what the key traits are for workers at BR. Right now we are in fab space -- everyone on board wants to work following BR vision & they all see the value to them from what I see. The next big need, is waitstaff to support our volume growth. Know anyone who might be a fit? Reply here. So far the responses to a print & online local press advert are bringing out non-experienced candidates more than experienced. It's abit like the Marines: ' we need a few good ___(have they changed it to men & women?)

Pizza for dinner here, yeah Cranbury Pizza!

we keep going

So, life at the BR is not the same each day and there is just something about January. I love setting goals for the year, thinking about what else might be possible in the new year, how to grow, how to improve, how to do more and so I enjoy the thrill of setting balls in motion and making a start on changes.

Not everyone has this POV and I know this from years of working with people who like to keep at the status quo or just don't like change -- period.

I get excited about changes and the prospects of doing more, better, more, efficiently, more effectively and on and on. This is how it goes for me, whether it be the BR or back in biz school, consultancy or corp life.

Tamping it down to keep all around here @ The BR from going crazy with the thoughts of what might change is a challenge.

Last year we were about keeping the doors open, doing the basics and getting up each day to do it again and again.

This year we have hope & prospects and so the goal setting and changes part of me is in gear. Watch this space. Much is afoot...

For now, I am pleased to say I've found a way to post each week's dinner menu live and in timely fashion & you can subscribe to it if you are on facebook. The notes portion of facebook will hold the menu and I'll put it up by 12 noon on Thursdays (not as early as I'd like, but what I can commit to today).

New hours sign is finally up outside!

Petit Fours are the hottest seller in the bakery dessert case - who knew?!? Watch for the great looking Valentine's Petit fours we'll have in around that time in Feb.

The wheat bread today is spectacular - favor, color, texture -- there may be a loaf left in the morning.

And the cupcakes are back on the upswing -- we are seriously committed to selling FRESH only - if you have gotten a less than fresh cupcake or other item - I want to know. You are helping us when you give feedback about problems. Believe me, I'd rather hear about it and be able to make a correction than not hear about it and see you leave us or see sales of an item drop off.

Everyone who works in the shop wants to do the right job and sell only the best product, I know that, however sometimes the crossover in people or the changes in process make it tough to do right 100% of the time -- always our goal with customers.