“Absolutely. We have a little time before the madness starts. I just took a batch of lobster pot pies out of the oven. Those have been a hit.”
Emma pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and followed Paul behind the line, where the ovens were. A huge tray of gorgeous pot pies sat on the counter, cooling. They were in individual blue ceramic casserole dishes, with golden brown puff pastry on top in a lattice pattern with bubbling creamy filling peeking out. Bits of lobster, carrots and celery were visible for a colorful contrast against the nautical blue. Emma snapped a few pics and asked Paul for a good description of what was in the pot pies so she could add that to the Facebook post, along with the price.
“When I get an order for the tater tots with the short ribs I’ll let you know, and you can get a picture of that, too. Same with the baked stuffed lobster. It’s a two pounder, stuffed with a Ritz and Royal lunch cracker combination, lots of butter, parsley, shrimp, scallops, knuckle and claw meat. It’s chock full of good stuff.”
Emma’s stomach grumbled. She usually grabbed a snack before heading in but didn’t have time today. Her face must have given away her hunger because Paul immediately asked, “Have you tried the pot pie yet? We’ve run it as a special for a few days now and it will probably go onto the new menu as a permanent item.”
“No, not yet.” Emma’s eyes grew wide as she watched Paul take a plate and scoop most of one of the pot pies onto it. He added some roasted potatoes and sautéed spinach on the side and handed it to her. “It’s going to be a busy night. Eat up and let me know what you think.”
“Thank you!” Emma took the plate to her station and happily did as instructed. The pot pie was delicious, full of creamy sauce and veggies with big chunks of sweet lobster and flaky pastry. As soon as she finished, she uploaded the picture to Instagram and to the restaurant’s Facebook page along with her mouth-watering description, which also teased the other two specials and promised more pictures to come.
Gary wasn’t kidding when he said it was likely to be busy. Emma felt like she was running all night to keep up—making salads, plating shrimp cocktail and all the desserts. Before it got too busy, she was able to grab a few quick shots of the first orders that came in for the short ribs appetizer and the baked stuffed lobster. She posted those to the Facebook page too, along with a picture of the specials board.
When the night was over and the kitchen was shiny and spotless, Emma and Paul joined Gary at the bar for an after-work drink. Gary seemed pleased as he sipped his draft beer.
“We had a good night tonight. Business was steady.” He glanced Emma’s way. “Do you know anything about a Facebook page? I had a few calls with people wanting to make sure we still had the lobster specials.”
Emma laughed. “Oh good. It worked.” She told him about the posts she’d made and the pictures she took.
“That’s a brilliant idea. My wife said she always looks restaurants up on Facebook. I never go there, so it didn’t even occur to me that we might want to do something on Facebook.”
Emma nodded. “I put a Facebook page up earlier this week. I’m like your wife. I always look too.”
“Well, let’s keep it going. If we can get people into the habit of looking, they might make a point of coming in more often.”
“That’s the plan,” Emma agreed. “And the new specials really seem to be a hit. Either Jill or Mandy, I forget who called them luxurious comfort food. That could be something we’re known for. Who doesn’t love comfort food? Especially when it’s decadent too?”
Paul chuckled. “That works for me. I was thinking for our party, I could do mini versions of the pot pie, to give people a taste. Same with the short ribs app. And a few other things. I have a loaded mashed potato side dish I want to test out soon.”
“That sounds up my alley. What’s it loaded with?” Emma was envisioning bacon, cheese and sour cream.
“Blue cheese, sour cream and an obscene amount of butter.”
Emma thought that sounded even more delicious. “I want to try that. It’s not very diet-friendly, though.”
“No. It’s not. Comfort food generally isn’t.” Paul looked thoughtful for a moment. “But maybe I can also introduce a few items that are both. I made a mashed potato the other day that was half-cauliflower and used chicken broth instead of butter. It had great flavor but was a good deal lighter.”
“That might be popular. Lots of people are trying to cut back.”