To Yelp or Not to Yelp

I had the best experience recently on Yelp. As you all know, I will be starting up breakfasts at Moon River Inn on September 25th. It occurred to me that if I want to be successful, I had better offer menu items that people actually want to eat. As Michael Franks once said (sang): "What good is your song, if it ain't in my key?" So, I reached out on Yelp asking everyone what it is they want (or don't want) to see on a breakfast menu. The responses were overwhelming and very helpful. I went back to the drawing board and tweaked the menu a bit more. I wasn't so far off base, but I was headed in the "no pork" breakfast meats direction. 'No pork' offerings are good options, but there is a large part of the population who wouldn't hear of breakfast without bacon -- some even requested SPAM... Yes, SPAM. Bacon remains and will sit alongside Apple Chicken Sausage and Turkey Sausage (good, flavorful ones), not those bland, bad textured patties. I'm excited; I hope you are too! Looking forward to seeing you Sunday, September 25th at Moon River Inn. If not then, make a point of checking me out in the near future. I could use your support. Kiss! Chef Vira

MalikSpeaks "For Her"

Recently, I served as the in-house caterer for MalikSpeaks. The event, titled “For Her” was a day-long event of speakers, spa services, jewelry and clothing vendors, and wonderful music all meant to pamper and educate women from all walks of life. The event was held at the Moon River Inn, in Freeport, CA (Sacramento). The feedback I received for my service was overwhelmingly amazing. I was proud.
What’s to come? I will be doing breakfast at the Moon River Inn beginning late September. Please stay tuned! I will be offering discounts and incentives to get you to take that drive. It will be well worth it and hopefully will become a frequent breakfast destination location for you and your family.

Banana Fest Follow Up

So what I have I been doing? Well, since my last blog, I have had a showing at the Sacramento 2nd Annual Banana Festival. That went extremely well. Help came in the most unusual places.

I reached at to my fellow classmates at the Arts Institute [cricket..cricket...] – no help, not even a spark of support or interest. Here I thought we were all working as a team to help and promote each other reach our goals. Silly girl, huh? I discovered it is a dog-eat-dog, and every-man-for-himself world!

Help came from friends and family, although a few old friends showed me that my cross wasn’t theirs to bear, a few stepped up to the plate. It was a learning and growing experience to say the least. My husband and daughters, where with me every step of the way, and of course, my dear friends Travis and Kim who are actually more like family at this point, were right by my side. They were up with me til very, very late hours of the night, chopping, slicing, dicing, grating and packing; loading and unloading. There is absolutely no way I could have done it without them and I give them my everlasting love and devotion.

My Mom ran the fryer on the first day. It was a joy seeing her in my “kitchen” doing her thing. My cousins and sister surprised me from the San Francisco Peninsula and that made my day! Thank you Carol, Julie, Joey, Alonzo, Diane and Ron. You’re the best!

The turnout was nice and I obtained a few catering leads from the event. Didn’t make a lot of money, but the exposure was well worth it. I also got a little coverage from foodblog.com.