NOTEBOOK
Ideas that work.
Ideas that don't.
Recipes, design, travel, hospitality, mistakes, and everything it takes to build G&C before the doors ever open.
What you'll find here:
- Assumptions challenged
- Decisions made — and remade
- Details that matter
- Design and architecture
- Hospitality and operations
- Travel and field notes
- Mistakes and lessons learned
- Ideas worth pursuing
THE TIPPING DEBATE:
THREE PERSPECTIVES.
customer.
server.
owner.
Tipping has gotten out of hand. Exceptional service still deserves exceptional rewards.
I've seen the argument from three different seats. That makes it harder—not easier—to pretend there's one simple answer.
READ NOTE →
NEWEST FIRST.
New notes land here.
Everything else moves down. ↓
THE TOMATO MARTINI I NEVER SAW COMING
Frozen tomatoes produced a pale-gold brine—and possibly the best martini Doug has ever made.
NOTE 10
THE GREAT SILVER SKIN DEBATE
Beef ribs, pork ribs and the membrane question that may not have one universal answer.
NOTE 09
SHOULD G&C SANDWICH COMPANY SELL HOT DOGS?
A simple menu question becomes a study in cost, speed, identity and why two dogs make more sense than one.
NOTE 08
SOMETIMES THE SECRET ISN'T THE INGREDIENTS
A handful of ordinary spices—and the small technique that changed what they could do.
NOTE 07
BUILDING OWNERSHIP: IT'S NEVER JUST THE ROOF.
A roof, some brick, a paint job—and the realization that owning a building is really a chain of decisions.
NOTE 06
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE CURTAIN.
The website looks finished. The work behind it never really is.