SPLATH!

OK. Here you are. And here I go. Forgive me if I am out of line. But...

In my (notso) humble opinion...We are great. Perfect? Hell no! And ask the poor managers if I act like we are great?!! But when I tell you that we KNOW “great”, it’s no joke. This is a lifetime passion and we do an awful lot of research! (Let me show you the trophy!) I’ll tell you who is better, and I’ll tell you who can’t seem to get it right. (Actually, no I won’t. That would be rude. I am too vocal. But I try not to be rude.)

Hint #1 I am, however, amazed at how many people in this business ask "Is your food OK?" Let me tell you this with emphasis; Both of our Chef's know that "ok" is unacceptable.

At both of our restaurants, we hear accolade after compliment, and constantly the words we strive for always. “Awesome”. “Excellent”. “Amazing!”. This past Saturday night I almost wept. Guest after guest raving about our Chef, their food, their service, the teamwork, the cocktails even. It was one of those nights that keeps you going full steam ahead!

For COBBLESTONES, the food is center stage. Or is it the consistency? It took maybe a decade, but now, finally, dish after dish is fantastic. So much so, that we are scared to change the menu. People LOVE what they love. At COBBLESTONES, we constantly fight to provide all service that matches the food. Our Superstars are just that! I won't name them because inevitably someone will be offended that their name wasn't mentioned. But we have a full house of Superstars! However, keeping a fully staffed, bright, happy, well studied team in this neighborhood, with so few quality restaurants to draw from is not easy. We do guaranty the “happy” though. We hire only nice people!! That’s a promise. Then we do what we can! (Nice people usually listen, learn, give effort...and smile!!)

So, as I watched a family member sample COBBLESTONES dishes last week, while kicking his feet like a little kid, squirming in his seat, and having tiny little “food orgasms” it hit home how happy our food makes people. (And how uncomfortable I was watching him! I felt like a peeping Tom)

The food stars? The Chicken Marsala, The Jalapeno Shrimp, The Fried Scallops, The Sirloin Steak with bleu cheese, The chowder, The burgers, The Reuben (that was talked about in NYC's Carnegie Deli!) The best Buffalo Tenders in the World (no, seriously) the BBQ’d Ribs (MUCH better than the Rib joints!), the Spinach Dip (seriously again!), The freakin’ Hummus is even amazing (just go ahead and ask a vegetarian!)(or me), the Haddock gets RAVE reviews, and the Fish Stew is WAY under ordered and under appreciated. It’s almost magic. The list is longer than that by the way. Item after item. Every time, the same. Every time delicious.

HINT #2: There are three items, if not more, that are not even ON the menu anymore, but regulars still ask for them regularly; i.e. The Black Bean Nachos, The Old Fries, The Blackened Salmon salad (OMG!)

At moonstones, we are killing ourselves to get to where COBBLESTONES is. The service, btw, is actually there. In a beautiful combination of reputation, dumb luck, timing, personnel selection, management training and staff retention, moonstones service ramped up from day one and is now on par with any restaurant around, and much better than most. The staff is incredibly attentive, knowledgeable, professional (of course some yelp jackasses are inclined to interpret that as arrogant)(oops, was that rude?) and team oriented. Never a dirty plate, never half a water glass.

When the food is on point, it is amazing. The Chef is truly food network star material. The food that comes out of his brain and through his hands is like no other Chef's that I have ever worked with. At moonstones however, we will continue to eliminate kitchen staff members if me must, those that would prefer to text message than properly prepare their station, until we have the right team in place. One of theses days!!! One of theses days, all that amazing food will be prepared correctly, as intended, each and every time...just like COBBLESTONES.

The BEST of the best? The (melt away)Short ribs, the Wasabi cured salmon, the Pad Thai noodles, the Spring rolls, the Coconut shrimp, the Chicken Scallopine, the Kalbi ribeye, the freakishly amazing Fried chicken (NO BONES!!), the Tandoori Salmon is ridiculous “best ever” constantly, the Butterfish with fried vegetable sushi, the incredibly under ordered and under appreciated pork belly. This guy even makes fava beans taste good!

If you don’t believe us, join me for a tasting. We will play “restaurant owner” together, and sample our way around the “10 best" items on either menu! Then, you will have to promise to tell 100 people how good it was. Deal?

Email me your desire to join this tasting and we will create a new panel. The "How amazing is this food" panel. Who's in?

We want you all to know how great we are. We want everyone to know. I don’t care if they think I am arrogant. “Hallelujah! The truth will set you free”!

**And, for the record, we know full and well we are great because of the people that make us that way. Our managers, our hardworking and dedicated staff's, our friends who help every step of the way and our guests who continually support us with both compliments AND suggestions on how we could be better!

My email address is; splath@moonstones110.com or splath@cobblestonesoflowell.com

We look forward to hearing from you!