re Food vs. fixed expenses - I'm suspecting that
real estate and utilities are a greater proportion
of restaurant costs up here.

They do indeed. But the places here are successful with both
increased prices and high volume. The KFC that served burgers was
always one or two in volume in Canada every year and the Pizza Hut
we had a beer at was in the top ten in Canada volume wise (before
the new guy took over and messed up).

I'm sure there was a tried and true formula. Plus
nobody had to put an envelope of cash under the counter
for Vito to pick up every week.

Chef Marc Miron

is now retired [...] and running a little low key, take home
food business and cooking school in Orleans, a small city

Bob Pastorio who was a major contributor to the venerable FoodWine
mail list also scaled back successfully from running high end hotel
and golf club restaurants in and around Washington D.C. to making
homemade jams at home and selling them at a farmer's market booth
somewhere in small town Virginia.

And know when to fold 'em.

Would that Chef Lepage had learned to do similarly.

He ended up OK. As long as he cooks at one place as an employee
instead of trying to manage 10 businesses all at once he is fine. He
recently moved from Quebec City to St. Johns where he is the head
chef at the Delta Marriott and Conference Centre there.

Good for him. It's always sad when a talented person
falls victim to an unrelated weakness.

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/pierre-lepage-135b9446

I don't do linkedin any more.

... Peruvians grew corn; their silly hipster kids invented quinoa.

And potatoes and lima beans as well, so I hear.

I wonder if Peruvians have evolved to have a
particularly stable carbohydrate metabolism.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.01

Title: Bean and Cashew Nut Salad
Categories: Salads, Vegetarian, Beans
Yield: 6 servings

1 c Dried lima beans 2 tb Roasted cashew nuts
-- soaked overnight OR... -- (Or more to taste)
30 oz -canned lima beans 2 Green onions; chopped
1 c Blackeye peas 1 tb Tomato sauce (ketchup)
-- freshly cooked or canned 1 Garlic clove; crushed
2 Celery sticks Salt and pepper; to
taste
-- finely chopped 1/4 ts Cumin or jeera, ground
1 sm Red sweet pepper 3 tb Balsamic or wine
vinegar
-- seeded and finely chopped 6 tb Olive oil

In a large bowl, mix the drained beans with the celery and sweet pepper.
Roast the cashew nuts, in a dry frying pan, until browned. Put on paper
towels and allow to cool. When cool, toss into the beans with the green
onions. Mix the tomato sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, vinegar and
olive oil together well. Pour over the beans and mix well. Allow to
stand
for about an hour, before serving.

Source: Caribbean and African Cooking, by Rosamund Grant Typed for you by
Karen Mintzias

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