A new restaurant and bar opened near our community connected with a Midwest winery (yikes!). the pickings for more than decent, more than chain food, are slim where we live (I know, I should move to where the food is!), so we try these things out.

They seem to be doing really well, and probably beyond their own expectations.  Who knew there was such demand for decent food near us – I thought it was just my wife and I – ?

So, on our third or fourth visit, I was looking for something healthy (and I always seem to retreat to a fish entree when the mood overcomes me) and I ordered the Grouper.  

Those of you that know Grouper, know that it can be a little bit think and dense, offering a “taller than normal” fillet profile.  When my dish got delivered, it was the same preparation as the menu described, but with SNAPPER.  Now, I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE and, while I like snapper, I did not order Snapper, nor did anyone tell me that they had just run out of Grouper and had to sub Snapper. They just served it and, as they do, ran away.

When I finally got the server’s attention again, I mentioned to her that this wasn’t Grouper and was, in fact, Snapper.  She replied with: “Oh, I didn’t realize…” and ran away again.

A little later on, we received our check with no mention of the Grouper/Snapper guffaw and no changes made to our check.  What does this make you wonder about this restaurant?


It seems that, with the proliferation of food TV (a good thing!)and social media, almost anyone with a recipe- or an idea for a recipe-  has license and can jump into our business and become “famous”. BUT, there are certain tenets to being in our amazing industry that must be followed or a significant lack of consumer confidence will follow.  Continue reading →


After a surprise election after months of uncertainty following Brexit, there are now even more questions than answers for the UK hospitality industry. With negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU only having just kicked off last week, the UK hotel industry is bracing for significant effects on how they do business. Additionally, with a potential second Scottish independence reformation looming over the next few years, the future is all but clear. Continue reading →