new "breakfast station" - Who knows 'bout eggs & stuff??

Hey all,

Just a request for one of ya'll experienced folks who have a few extra minutes/hour to spare...

I'm in the final stages of adding a "breakfast station" to our place (Ray's Monkey House Coffeeshop), and just looking for someone to critique/advise me (through PM's or maybe just stopping by for a quick visit). We're going to be serving eggs/potatoes/tofu scramble etc for our weekend mornings using chafing dishes and one person serving across from our coffee bar area. We're debating omelettes also. We'll be cooking on a small butane grill. Basically just looking for someone with some experience to talk to..

Let me know if you have a tiny bit of time, and I can spell out more details...I've never done exactly what we're planning, so basically just trying to avoid learning "the hard way."

Thanks!!!

Well, I don't have any consulting advice, Nimbus, but I can say hooray for monkey eggs! That sounds lovely and I can't wait to line up. I think everything you do there is well crafted. I hope the throngs beat down the door for you! Some of the tastiest soup I've ever had was out of your crockpot. Your a true gem.

From many years of working the breakfast bar at Shoney's, I can tell you that you don't want to put scrambled eggs in a metal pan on a steam table; it makes the eggs turn green. A screen under bacon and sausage is advisable also, to keep them from sitting in grease. Sorry, I don't know a lot about running an omelette station, but it seems like with a cold table with your filling choices (diced onions, green peppers, etc.) and your burner and you should be good to go. I guess it also depends on how you are gong to do the eggs also. Breaking eggs by the order for omelettes and scrambled eggs for a buffett can be pretty tedious. Back in the day, I know Shoney's got scrambled eggs in a gallon cardboard container, sort of like a squat milk carton.

From many years of working the breakfast bar at Shoney's, I can tell you that you don't want to put scrambled eggs in a metal pan on a steam table; it makes the eggs turn green. A screen under bacon and sausage is advisable also, to keep them from sitting in grease. Sorry, I don't know a lot about running an omelette station, but it seems like with a cold table with your filling choices (diced onions, green peppers, etc.) and your burner and you should be good to go. I guess it also depends on how you are gong to do the eggs also. Breaking eggs by the order for omelettes and scrambled eggs for a buffett can be pretty tedious. Back in the day, I know Shoney's got scrambled eggs in a gallon cardboard container, sort of like a squat milk carton.

Hmmmmm....shoneys......eggs by the gallon....hmmmm....we were thinking more along the lines of community farm eggs. I don't think they box them up. We're not so big to need that.

Also we're veg, so no worries on the bacon and sausage (though we may try veggie sausage - kinda greasy, but quite tasty). As for scrambled eggs on a steam table...don't know. We can keep them fresh, but are there serious issues there? I mean I feel like I've had them that way a million times while growing up.

Cheers! Gotta check my PM's....thanks everyone!

Nimbus

Also we're veg, so no worries on the bacon and sausage
Nimbus

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

on a table with hot water under it eggs have to be kept in a plastic pan, in my buffet experience , but back then we didnt have the internet to find things like this

http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/professi ... -blue.html

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

There are plenty of vegetarians in the Highlands, silly.

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

There are plenty of vegetarians in the Highlands, silly.

I agree, but in these hard economic times I find it interesting that a restaurant will limit its potential customer base by having solely vegetarian items (or no vegetarian items). I would think you'd want to appeal to the biggest customer base possible! I don't feel personal dietary preferences should influence a business decision.

On the other hand, it's possible to do vegetarian well enough that a lot of people don't notice. Srsly. We had guests return to stay with us for the same event for about 9 years before they noticed we don't serve meat. And they keep coming back. A lot of our guests never seem to notice. And yes, we get repeat business.

Hey Nimbus, I've done a thousand breakfast buffets when I worked for a caterer. If you whisk a little bit of lemon juice in with your raw eggs (not enough to taste), it really helps keep them from turning green as soon as they normally do. They'll still turn green if you leave them in there 4 hours, but it'll help with the first hour or so.

You should try french toast or waffles, too - since you don't have to worry about the meat.

Ramsi's serves some sorta vegetarian breakfast sausage that's pretty good. Why am I telling you, though? I'll bet you've already had some there!

Also we're veg, so no worries on the bacon and sausage
Nimbus

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

Well, I'm planning on veggie sausage and veggie bacon. You'd be surprised how many vegetarians are out there...and some of the modern fake meat products are very tasty. but this forum isn't the place for ethical debates. I know vegetarian restaurants have been discussed here recently. To be honest, there are very few veggie choices in Louisville. But I've lived in meccas like Tucson and Portland, and spent time in SF and DC. Louisville has a wide open market in this area, waiting to be tapped..

P.S. We currently sell a TON of veggie burgers, grilled cheese sammies, etc, so yeah there IS business to be had.

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

There are plenty of vegetarians in the Highlands, silly.

I agree, but in these hard economic times I find it interesting that a restaurant will limit its potential customer base by having solely vegetarian items (or no vegetarian items). I would think you'd want to appeal to the biggest customer base possible! I don't feel personal dietary preferences should influence a business decision.

Yeah, I absolutely understand what you're saying. But where does one draw the line? I mean, I could make money selling guns, but I don't, primarily for ethical reasons. Etc, etc. We all make these decisions, even if we don't think about it. A tough one for me, has been to sell or not to sell bottled water. We currently DO NOT.

It really is a serious question for me. When I had my brewpub, I sold cigarettes and meat sandwiches/pizza. Economically, it made sense. Morally, as a vegetarian and non-smoker, it didn't make sense. Now, we're selling beer and wine. I have customers (very infrequently) ask for Michelob Ultra, or light beer. We don't carry it. Sure I may lose a customer or two by not carrying swill, but other people see our great beer list and say WOW! We are (like Roger over the river) a light free zone. I also won't carry Anheuser Busch products (longer story I've mentioned here before). I rationalized selling meat and cigs by saying "well, they'll just buy it somewhere else anyway." Rationalizations are easy. Heck, I'm a milk pusher right now. I don't think I've consumed milk for 20 years.

In short, one's morals invariably enter into something as personal as the store/restaurant/coffeeshop you run. For me it is a very personal beast. Ray's is all about quality and customer service, but we incorporate a heavy environmentally conscious and progressive activist philosophy into everything we do. Selling something like cigarettes or meat would be extremely hypocritical. Heck, our cups, straws, even dome lids are compostable - we're the first biz in louisville to compost on premises! (according to the health dept.)

Ok...rant mode off....very interesting topic....hope it makes some sense...I'm in business to make money, but I want to do it with integrity and without compromising my values, and to have a business that at the end of the day I can be proud of. Some compromises are always necessary, but I feel we all try to minimize them.

P.S. I'm vegetarian (usually vegan) for multiple reasons: 1. Health 2. Ethical, 3. Environmental. I went veggie originally to maximize my athletic skills.

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

There are plenty of vegetarians in the Highlands, silly.

I agree, but in these hard economic times I find it interesting that a restaurant will limit its potential customer base by having solely vegetarian items (or no vegetarian items). I would think you'd want to appeal to the biggest customer base possible! I don't feel personal dietary preferences should influence a business decision.

There are plenty of vegetarians outside of the Highlands as well. And since so few places STILL cater to vegetarians around here doing a solely vegetarian menu will still do very well here. There's still a million and one places to get your internet meme bacon fix.

Also, I always kind of think of vegetarian food as the lowest common denominator, in the sense that everyone can eat it and it doesn't exclude anyone. So if you think of it in that sense, it could be a very smart business move. But I'm not trying to fuel a debate, just giving kudos to Nimbus.

Hmmm...no bacon or sausage = no business...LOL

There are plenty of vegetarians in the Highlands, silly.

I agree, but in these hard economic times I find it interesting that a restaurant will limit its potential customer base by having solely vegetarian items (or no vegetarian items). I would think you'd want to appeal to the biggest customer base possible! I don't feel personal dietary preferences should influence a business decision.

I was shocked to wake up and see that Milton Friedman has risen from the dead and joined our fair forum. This is quite a monumental day.

http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/l ... iness.html