ok.

the day started - i was well rested- but, man, it was cold as i walked my way down the block to kismet on barre st.. a walk i have done nearly every morning for the last 4+ years... i opened the restaurant with robert as i usually do on sunday mornings- this time aware that it would be a long time until i will feel as comfortable.. this space has become an extension of me, and is my home in any ways.. my children have been growing up here- i have grown up here.. but alas; the space is just too small, and it is time to move on.. am i sad? not really.. am i excited? sort of... but very much nostalgic and IN IT..
for the next three weeks, this space will undergo a transformation for SALT and i will be in my new space organizing and taking great measures to ready it for another series of years of BRUNCH..

deep breaths... remembering this space.. all that has happened here. the times alone, the times full, the times i just watched..
the beginning days of cleaning and building and painting- i was so lucky, esme jumping in whenever she could before VENUS and lindsay painting the name on the door, and damian's craft put to use, all of the folks who scrubbed and scoured and helped with joy and excitement.. alexis & raina were our first waitresses, and they have both since moved on- raina still watching and encouraging me, alexis also cheering kismet on, but also kismet cheers her on in her college studies.. they were both so young and it was all so different then. Alanna too has moved on, and i am thinking of her now too. thinking of us in this space in the first few years. we laughed and cried, and pained with each other. this space has been a place of growing and of working- to be and get to the places we all want to go.

thank you to all of you who have fill this space and my heart with joy- with encouragement- with pride- and with love. I have loved sharing this space and hope that our new space will be as loved as this has been.

i will walk around one more time, and say goodbye for now.. xxoo

oh wow...

FIrst we have to tear it all apart- THEN we can re-do it!
Work Party Today - and tonight too- 5-9!
bring a paint brush if you have one, gloves, and a scrub brush of your choice...
we'll provide the beer and some snacks- you provide the elbow grease!
xxoo

getting it done

kitchen walls-- step 2-


well, we pulled all the plastic stuff off of the kitchen walls and are plastering to make them smooth so we can have a nice washable surface...

there is LOTS to do still.. new ceiling, new floor, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.. then we will be ready!
for this week-
WE WILL BE CLOSED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ... but OPEN friday & saturday 8-2:30, and sunday 9-2.
our next WORK party is October 28th, xxoo

ouef

huff & puff…
that's what the winter winds threaten to do= blow your house down..
& at the same time, it is what we do when we are working hard to keep hour homes up right… huff and puff…
it's what i did as a child when i was scolded… all the way to my room, or the woods beyond my house… huff & puff..
it's what we do when we try to get a fire going.. when we pace our driveway to cary & stack wood…
it is often how we relate to our children-- they huff & puff when they are on the edge of conflict and surrender… it is a term we use with both lightness and sarcasm as well as a primitive descriptive term…

it is midnight, & im making oeuf et bouffée.. (huff & puffy)
for you.


well- for all of us really.

chicken & duck liver pate with garden herbs in puff pastry with wild mushroom duxelles and poached egg.
served with salad..
xxoo

october 1st... moving

last night I left kismet at midnight, after a long day of drowsy darkness and entered into the warmth of hurricane weather- 85 & windy… i felt that air- felt the energy in it- and all of a sudden realized that it was the last heat of summer blowing around and through me.. i left- sweaty from the kitchen oven- and drove out to the sandpit in east montpelier for an end of summer swim… i was shaking with cold when i got there- but also maybe shaking too from the anxiety of these last few weeks- and i dove in- ooh so cold at first- but then magnificently perfect and gentle and familiar all at once== exactly what i was needing… then it was raining, and 12:30 am- and i knew i had to get home to sleep for the day that was awaiting me.. summer is over, & sure enough- this day arrived at 6:30 am- and i woke to a room full of autumn; all cozy and warm and safe- and faced the obligatory duty of extracting myself from that cacoon so that i could be on time and present with all awaiting me.
this day brought croissants at birch grove bakery before 8 am..
this day brought the job of carrying my laptop from place to place, meeting to meeting..
this day brought 2 dozen phone calls i could not answer..
this day brought renovation plans, meetings, lawyers, chiropractics, rainy jaunts, paint samples, furniture moving, window covering, box collecting, box filling, box moving, and then= ended in the kitchen, cooking lasagna..
and tomorrow?
brunch on barre street, again, but for one of the last times…..

time to move

today is the beginning of our new lease... if you are interested in stoping in and lending a hand to clean or paint or move stuff around, send an email and let us know! kismetkitchen@yahoo.com

xxoo

time to turn in..

for the last month I have been sincerely focused and concentrated on an illusion. As the season changed, the heat floated away, and the air filled with the breath of transformation, I have been breathing this breath and attempting to harness it to the fantasies i yearn and strive to manifest.
This season, 4 years ago, Alanna and I moved into the space currently known as kismet. We worked long hours into the winter to clean and paint and prepare the space for an unknown future. Would our wee kismet make it? would we be able to satisfy our business's needs as well as the needs f our individual families? how would we be received? how long would it take to stabilize the business? Last year, this time, i discovered the answers to some of those questions. Alanna was ready to leave kismet, the space between us and the profit the business collected was too small for the both of us and our children. Knowing that if i wanted to see kismet stabilize and be able to to meet the demand of our now regular customers, I would have to move kismet into a larger space, closer to downtown, and extend our hours and services. Again, I found myself preparing bank applications and business plans, meeting with advisors and landlords, and pushing to find a home and resources for kismet to move downtown. When we were approved for our loan, I knew we could do it- i just still needed to find the perfect place.
2010 may just be the fastest year of my life- Winter sped by, and summer rushed in like a sun drenched over zealous backpacker fresh from morocco ready to take vermont by storm. I worked while realizing that the days and weeks were like drops of dew evaporating off of the pavement- like sugar dissolving on my tongue- just sweet and moist and there for a minute- then gone. And then- suddenly- I see that I am entering the transcendence of autumn-& with many of the same desires i had this time last year- only now with an even clearer vision and closer view.
I decided to focus in and get even a little closer- and challenge my own anxiety to become the fuel with which to power this machine that is here to transform and empower the being that is kismet.

At the same time, everything seems so ironic.

* years ago, I returned from new zealand. Wanting to work along side a chef in montpelier, I applied to connoscenti's italian restaurant (later to become restaurant phoebe). Dale wouldn't hire me, but did treat me to many fine meals that still influence my palate. Over the years, I have thought of his restaurant as being my ideal restaurant space, and have fantasized about creating a space like it. Now, 8 years later, I am holding the keys and the lease to that exact place…
guess it's time to get to work... xxoo