Me again.

Hello, friends.

Hi there, subscribers new and old.

You may have noted I’ve been a bit silent over here. Back in March I paused the billing for A Small and Simple Thing while my “day job” got a bit crazy.

Being in the restaurant business is never a walk in the park, but the last several months have been particularly ass-kicking. The price of ingredients is surging, very few folks are looking for jobs, and the salary requirements from managers are reaching unsustainable levels.

Seeing as these missives are based around good food and travel, I opted to press pause as I was not getting out of town, and the food in our house was more “survival mode” than “let’s shop the markets and make a beautiful dinner tonight.”

Fortunately, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. We are bringing on some new team members, I’ve promoted a longtime General Manager to be my Director of Operations, and spring ingredients are starting to put a pep in my culinary step.

In addition to that, I’ve just returned from a week long trip to California - and there is little that works quite as powerfully as travel to shake me out of my doldrums.

I’ll be resuming my posts next week. For the time being, I’m going to keep billing paused while I resume regular posting.

I’ve got a number of fun things to share, and I appreciate you hopping along for the ride. In the meantime, here’s a picture of me (admittedly, hungover) going to town on what we’ve deemed to be the best almond croissant in the land, from Tartine in San Francisco: