For a refresher on the Johnny Depp storyline,
go to the Special Reserve Archives page
Today Paco hung a sign on the "Specials" board. It states that: "January is Manuary at Chez BBQ" When I asked him what it meant he said something unintelligible, nodded his head vigorously and winked at me. (I am getting a little tired of buying new furniture for the dining room.) Grace Cooper - Maitre d' Hotel Antoine announced today that he wants all the staff, including the DeVilles and H. Dorian Striaght, to attend an important strategic planning meeting next week. He has hired a consultant to come and speak with us. The announcment made Hari jump up and down with impatience. I must find time to talk to her. Grace Cooper - Maitre d' Hotel Thursday, January 1st, 2009 HAPPY NEW YEAR We are closed today while we clean up the broken furniture. Please visit us tomorrow. New Year's Eve. Antoine's menu is superb and attractive. His idea of continuing to run Chez BBQ as an underground fight club with food as the prize is not. Grace Cooper - Maitre d' Hotel Hari confided in me today that she thinks she may have identified the secretive owner of the Fork 'n' Quiche. Unfortunately my time is taken up trying to make sense of Antoine's plans for New Year's Eve, so I haven't had a moment to sit and talk with her. Grace Cooper - Maitre d' Hotel We're closed Mondays. Please come back tomorrow. Apparently Antoine's idea worked: we now have our regular customer base back. When I looked out the window to the Fork 'n' Quiche across the street, I saw empty tables, and one man, pacing back and forth, pulling his hair and occasionally pausing to shake a fist at Chez BBQ. We had way too many customers to watch for very long, so I got back to work. - Hari It is a great miracle to me that yesterday turned out as successfully as it did. We had a number of family groups who felt the spirit of the holidays and were only too happy to pit themselves against our so-called champion for a free meal. Antoine designated Paco as our fighter but after watching him get K.O.'ed successively by Aunts, Uncles, 12 year olds and several Grandparents, he decided to switch tactics and called in Jenni, our sometime Pastry Chef and lightweight champion kick-boxer. She held the ring against all comers for the rest of the afternoon, but the entertainment value of the event drew record crowds. I believe we even regained some of our old customers from across the street. Grace Cooper - Maitre d' Hotel I arrived at work this morning to find that Andre and Paco had cleared all the tables and chairs from the dining room and built a boxing ring. Written in chalk on the Special of the Day board was: 2 rounds in the ring gets you free diner. I tried to explain to them about Boxing Day. I tried to talk them out of it. I tried in vain. The most I could do was add a letter "n" to the Special of the Day board before anyone demanded their free diner. - Hari
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009Friday, January 2nd, 2009Wednesday, December 31st, 2008Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Monday, December 29th, 2008Sunday, December 28th, 2008Saturday, December 27th, 2008Friday, December 26th, 2008Thursday, December 25th, 2008 
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We are closed for Christmas Day. Please come back tomorrow for a Boxing Day celebration. Happy Christmas Eve! This evening Andre offered a free traditional Christmas dinner to the first 100 diners through the door, so we were busy. We served over 200 covers, so we had 100 paying customers. I learned tonight that folks who partake of a free meal in a restaurant during the holiday season are inclined to tip well. I'm donatin' my share to the local soup kitchen, and Paco has been inspired to do the same. - Hari It was a cold day today, and as a result we had a big lunch crowd. Quite a few people asked for quiche, and were disappointed when they found it had been struck from the menu. Jenni and I went out in the late afternoon and delivered the last of the Brain Pies to the local soup kitchen. I'm not sure the expression on the coordinator's face was entirely one of gratitude. - Hari We're closed Mondays. PLEASE come back tomorrow. Officially, the restaurant was closed this weekend due to severe weather. Unofficially, it's just too darned depressin' bein' here all day, watchin' the customers flood into the Fork 'n' Quiche across the street. Antoine and Paco have been drinkin' like fish, throwin' their empties into the fireplace. Jenni and I have been deliverin' Brain Pies to shut-ins before they expire - the Brain Pies, that is, not the shut-ins. One nice aspect of bein' closed is that our Mystery Diner can't come in to eat, which means that he also can't hang around inside the restaurant, actin' all creepy. This does not preclude him from hangin' around outside the restaurant, but at least we can draw the blinds when we get tired of lookin' at him. We are in need of some Holiday Spirit, I'll tell you. - Hari The restaurant was closed today, due to a Snow Emergency. But all the staff came in, anyhow. We spent the day by the fire, melting some leftover raclette scraps and drinking wine from the basement. Late in the day, we went out and made snow angels. - Hari Between you and me, I think it might be time to start lookin' for a second job. We had 6 diners today, two of them came in for coffee and dessert. One was our mystery diner, and he brought 3 guests. I still can't place my finger on where I've seen him before, and I'm thinkin' on hirin' a sketch artist. MaybeWednesday, December 24th, 2008Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008Monday, December 22nd, 2008Saturday & Sunday, December 20th & 21st, 2008Friday December 19, 2008Thursday December 18, 2008