Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Hoof Cafe

So, its been a while. Infact its been 3 weeks from my last post. I'm not a writer, so if im not in the mood it doesn't happen. But with all the sun and new veg arriving in the markets expect lots of activity this summer. Now back to the posts title. Jen and myself are pleased to announce that we have acquired the place directly across the street (formerly the Chelsea Room) from the Black Hoof. We have big plans for The Hoof Cafe and although its a little earlier then we would have liked, the space came available and we had to swoop it up. We're not restauranteurs. We dont have dreams of owning 10 restaurants. People who own 10 restaurants rarely excel at any(unless were talking about Mario Batali. He kicks ass and all his restaurants are great). We're looking at this new venture as an extention to the Black Hoof and a place to do everything we would have liked to do with that space that we couldn't. If you've been to the hoof, you've seen the kitchen. Theres nothing downstairs, no prep kitchen, very little storage and ceilings that feel about 4 feet tall. The cooks and i come in a 10 am and leave at 2-3 in the morning, not because we do double the prep, but because everythings a hassle, and hassles=time. 

The Hoof Cafe will hopefully solve this problem. 

So ill keep this short as i have a lot of catching up to do but the Hoof Cafe plans to do Brunch. Cocktails. and Retail 

Brunch. Im not talking about your typical eggs beny. I'm talking hoof inspired brunch. Expect blood sausage crepes, suckling pig beny, rabbit pancakes, and a ton of other tasty things. One thing i should let u know is that i have never been more psyched to cook breakfast. (Brunch on mondays too!)

Cocktails. Jen makes amazing cocktails, without all the bullshit and pricy price tags. She makes everything she can in house, including bitters, alcohol infusions, and a bunch of other crazy stuff (i dont drink much, but it looks crazy). So expect this to be a venue at night to truly showcase what she loves to do. So if by chance you do have to wait for a table, you wont have to do it at a grungy bar. We will be serving a bit of small tapas plates as well to tide you over. 

Third Retail. I'm not talking T-shirts, cookbooks and cold pasta salads. I'm talking charcuterie. Selling charcuterie retail is a bitch, but im on it, and i wont stop till i make it happen. 

So thats the Hoof Cafe in a nutshell. Just as we are recovering from the Black hoof reno's and start up here we go throwing ourselves into another place that needs alot of work. Im exhausted, Jen's exhausted, but were excited, and our staff who are the most passionate people ive ever worked with are excited, and together, with some pizza and some cheap beer, will demolish this building and rebuild it from the basement up. 

Summer? What summer? :)



10 comments:

pofu said...

people usually say shit like 'best of luck to you', but most of the time, what you need is not luck but hard work and good product what people want. you have both.

Hurka said...

Is this instead of or as well as your original location? Either way good luck, and I'm looking forward to brunch!

mr.sharp-photo said...

sounds exciting...
except please please choose a different name than "Hoof Cafe".

please?

Barry said...

Awesome.
Please keep us in the loop even if it's just a sentence here or there.

Very much looking forward to it, and congrats,
Barry

Anonymous said...

love the name the Hoof Cafe! keep it... and I never go out for brunch but will definitely come by. sounds like it'll be different and promises to be delicious.

Grant van Gameren said...

Thanks everyone!
This will be an extention, we are not moving the hoof.

rigley said...

I am stoked! I have been pining for good saucisson in toronto. I would be happy to volunteer some demo/reno time, if you are interested. This is a worthy cause.

dsaur said...

I just read your post and had a happy "awesome!" cheer! We live around the corner and were thinking that you need a little bar. We called it "The Waiting Room". Congrats on everything. We really appreciate what you are doing and how wonderful the Hoof is.

dsaur said...

Have you been to Jamon in NYC? A wine bar connected with a Batalli restaurant. The Hoof reminded us of it.

BTW, if you want any free architecture advice we can help out. Will work for charcuterie. inglisbaron@yahoo.ca

Grant van Gameren said...

I havn't been to bar jamon, but i have been to casa mono right beside it. And thanks for the offer re: architecture. It might just come in handy one day.