Life’s too short not to eat well.
This is hanging in Mario Batali's NYC Food Emporium, Eataly
I just returned from a much needed sojourn to New York City with my family to celebrate my daughter’s 21st birthday and my (eeek) 52nd.
The view from our hotel, The Bowery.
New York is one of the the most vibrant cities in the world. There is so much to do…and eat! 
We ate and ate and ate. Walked a bit of it off strolling through the Alexander McQueen Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Strolling isn’t exactly the right word…we were sandwiched between hundreds of guests and maybe worked off two spoonfuls of soup, but at least we were using lots of brain muscles.)
Mario Batali’s Eataly was packed with patrons. The wait for every restaurant was 45 minutes to one hour. But we waited! There was much to see, so we didn’t mind a bit.
I love how up close and personal you are with the food preparation.
Wow.....a cheese for every day of the year.
I wish our hotel room had a kitchen! It would have been fun to shop at Eataly for a dinner party.
I actually could have just had one of these tomatoes for lunch with a piece of bread and a bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
And a slice of watermelon for dessert.
Apparently, this is where Mario Batali sits when he comes into Eataly. Which is a lot, I was told. I wish he would come into Sweet Butter! 
It is true, life’s too short not to eat well…and love well, too. I love you Emily! Happy Birthday!
Minnesota…here I come!
Minnesota collectibles abound at Sweet Butter. That is because my husband lives there. We’ve been enduring a long distance relationship (first a romance, then an engagement, and now a marriage) for 10 years. Many people say, “Now that’s the key to a happy a happy marriage! But for us, it is just plain difficult. There is so much we’ve missed these past 10 years, simple things like sharing a closet. But somehow we’ve managed. We really don’t have a choice. We’re in love.
Sweet Butter has been all consuming these past six months. So the last time I visited Minnesota was for my husbands 46th birthday in September. As a result I’ve missed two seasons, fall and winter. In Los Angeles missing seasons is like skipping breakfast, no big deal. But in the midwest each day brings change. In the fall, the leaves turn the colors of a Malibu sunset, and in the winter our house crackles when the temperature dips below zero. The lakes turn white and rigid, and snow blankets our small town like a Dickens’ novel. It is such an exquisite contrast to the frenzy of LA, and I am so lucky to be able to retreat to this beautiful part of America as often as I do.
Our house on 4th Avenue in Faribault, Minnesota. Spring is around the corner!
One advantage of a long-distance relationship is waiting at the airport for your love. I couldn’t wait to descend the escalator…it had been six months!
Can't wait to get to the bottom!
Wow….what a site for sore eyes.
Now this part of a long-distance marriage is good....looking forward to that first kiss.
Dining in MInnesota can be a challenge…..fried foods abound, they even fry cheese! But we know certain, special spots, like The Mediterranean Cruise. They buy their produce at the Farmer’s Market and have the best hummus I have ever tasted, hands down. I was starving after my flight so we stopped there for a quick bite.
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My Fatoush Salad…..yum…..the champagne was the best they had…..the vintage or winery wasn’t anything special, but it didn’t matter!
Yummy!
This gave me a headache two hours later.....
I spent the rest of my time snuggling with my husband, drinking martinis, reading stories from the stack of New Yorker’s that had piled up on our kitchen table, and antiquing.
My husband makes great drinks.....
Antiquing at the Painted Porch in Medford. More goodies for Sweet Butter!
Restaurants are greedy. They want all of you. Reading a book, playing a game, taking a jog all become extravagances.
My favorite childhood game!
But…..all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, right?
This hangs above the sink in our kitchen in Minnesota
Sometimes I have to pinch myself. My husband and I own a restaurant! And it is called Sweet Butter!
I just love how life takes you to places you never thought you’d visit.
A new toy for Sweet Butter!
Sweet Butter got a new toy today, and she is over the moon. It is called a Low Boy.
Our new Low Boy being tested for the first time!
I don’t know why it’s called that. Maybe cause it’s lower than a fridge and sassy like a boy. It’s sleek and shiny as the new bike you couldn’t wait to ride on as a kid. Okay…maybe I’m going overboard here, but I tell you, this new piece of kitchen equipment has our line cooks in an uproar. It looks good and it smells good and has all these perfect compartments to organize all our salad stuff in. Now salad making is going to be fun! Right, Evet? 
Today we debuted our Chicken and Waffles. It was a resounding success. We didn’t know if anyone would order it, but they did!
The restaurant business is certainly not for the weary, it is hard work and the day never seems to be over. But the simplest things, like getting a new Low Boy, or watching our customers eat Chicken and Waffles makes us happy. How great is that?
Happy New Year!
Sweet Butter opened in 2010…and now it’s 2011! I feel so “established!”
The past few weeks has whizzed by almost as fast as we sell out of Nan’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mia’s Bolognese & our Chicken Pot Pie Soup. I truly think we have the best staff of any restaurant, anywhere. We hit the jackpot here, believe me. We started with 12 employees, and now have 36…and they are all, each and every one of them, AMAZING. I know we have kinks to work out, like crowd control and doggie accidents, (yes, dogs are allowed almost everywhere at Sweet Butter) but I believe we’ll get there.
I think it is going to be a very exciting 2011 in Sherman Oaks. I can’t wait for Sweet Butter’s next door neighbor to move in. Tonight, my daughter Emily and I got a sneak peak at Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott’s new store, Inventori, a collection of the MOST amazing antiques and home decor one-of-a-kinds. Sweet Butter already has her eyes on the French hand-painted armoire and rustic Screen Door. I can see it now….the bride of 2011 goes to Mark’s Garden for her flowers, Sweet Butter for her Cake, Belle Gray for her Trousseau, and Inventori for her new house. Who needs Melrose?
Sweet Butter is nearly three weeks old!
If you’ve ever had a baby, then you know how joyful and difficult those first weeks can be. A blur of moments held together by a bond so strong that you are able to withstand the string of sleepless nights and colicky days that lay ahead.
Opening a restaurant isn’t much different. Your idea is fertilized when the lease is signed and then, quite suddenly, (after months of hard-work), your baby is there for the world to see. Some days are good, and some days are not so good. But I can tell you this, they are never boring.
In a single hour you can expect at least one person to tell you that you have brought life to an otherwise forlorn corner, three people to tell you that you should extend breakfast and start lunch earlier, and at least one major malfunction with either the plumbing, POS system, dishwasher, trash pick-up, linen delivery, outside heaters or bathrooms. Add it up….after twelve hours, you have put out many fires, but also encountered many generous, kind guests who remind you why you went into the hospitality business in the first place.
Sweet Butter is only three weeks old, but I am proud of her! She has a lot to learn, but I have faith that she will mature gracefully.
My son, Andrew, turns 23 this Monday. I know it sounds trite — but it feels like yesterday — all those sleepless nights and colicky days. Hemingway said it best. “Memory is hunger.”
Andrew and his girlfriend Christine at Sweet Butter
Has it really been a week?
It has been a week since Sweet Butter opened her doors, but all those minutes, hours and days have just been a blur. I have been out of contact lens cleaner for five days, and the refrigerator at my house has never looked barer.
I had a feeling I would be busy, but I never knew it would be like this. The only thing that I can compare it to is having a baby. Except a baby takes naps and doesn’t require grease drums and 20-plus employees to change his diaper.
But then something wonderful happens, like a famous chef with a perfect French accent who visits your just-opened cafe and brings his family and has lunch and eats your Chicken Paillard and likes it enough to come back and teach your wonderful chefs how to make the PERFECT croque monsieur.
Ludo's Croque Monsieur
Thank you Ludo!
We are crazy for Ludo.
So it has been a wonderful and emotional week. I never could have come this far without the help, hard work and creativity of so many people. All of us at Sweet Butter have become a family….and Sweet Butter has, in a way, become like another home for all of us.
The Sweet Butter Gingerbread House
Thank you Marla, Nan, Mia, Evet, Susie, Kaya, Irion, Roberto, Jacquie, Tamar, Paul, Georgia, Sophia, Karolyn, Taylor, Skylar, Diego, Frankie, Jose, Jeremy, Pablo, Dennis, Daniel, Nicholas, Javier and Clark.
You are Sweet Butter’s foundation.
xo
Tomorrow is the big day!
I just left Sweet Butter and blew her a kiss good night. I hope she’s ready for her big debut. Her grab and go freezer was looking a bit bare, (a woman came in while we were doing some last minute barista training and bought almost everything in it for her holiday entertaining!) so I decided to stay late tonight and make several bries with fig jam wrapped in puff pastry. They look so festive with the oak leaf cut-outs on top. I wonder whose holiday table they’ll end up on?
I don’t have any pictures to share, you’ll just have to come in and see Sweet Butter in person. I think she’s really pretty. And she smells good, too. She’s so excited to meet all of you.
xo
I love my brown-haired girls.
We are almost there!! Sweet Butter is so close to opening the neighborhood can smell the Neuskes Bacon.
All we have left to do is to stock our marketplace with scrumptious goodies, fill our walk-in with the best produce, dairy, meat and pantry goods, and test our our beautiful menu.
My chefs, Mia, Susie and Evet just so happen to have brown hair, just like me! This post pays homage to them and their amazing skills in the kitchen. I love you girls!
Here is a small sampling of what came out of the kitchen today.
Tarragon Egg Salad Sandwich with local Farm eggs.
You now have a sneak peak at Sweet Butter’s Egg Salad Sandwich with Tarragon, Cornichons, Red Onion and Arugula. I just so happen to love eggs more than chocolate. So when my brown-haired girls presented this to me I couldn’t wait to take a bite. Oh my. If it wasn’t so late, and if I wasn’t about to open a restaurant, I would describe this sandwich in detail. You must come and taste for yourself.
When my best friend Jonna turned 50, (sorry for the reveal Jonna!) I hosted a birthday party for her at my house. It was a French theme and I wanted the yummiest food ever. I created this sandwich for one of the mini passed appetizers at the party. It received rave reviews, so I decided to make it a Sweet Butter menu item. (Just changing the mini brioche bun for a big one!)
Chicken Paillard with Laura Chenel Chevre, Arugula and Dijon Aioli, served with our matchstick fries.
A new yoga studio called Core Power Yoga opened up a few months ago a couple blocks down from Sweet Butter. I wish I had time to take a class there! I have heard through the Sherman Oaks grapevine that it is simply divine…..like a spa and vacation all in one. This vegan sandwich was created for the girls (and boys!) who crave something healthy after their workout at Core Power Yoga.
Yoga Girl Sandwich with Rancho Gordo White Bean Spread, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Dressed Arugula on Rustic Millstone.
And as a close, I must say a big thank you to Marla, my assistant and beyond. You are truly amazing and tireless.
Can’t wait to serve you all!!
Sweet Butter Progress
I would say this photo makes our progress official.
One must apply for a permit with the city to hang a sign. It took several weeks before this one was approved.
This is momentous. Did you know that you can’t just hang a sign in this town? You must apply for a permit. And….the permit people must approve the size, font, color and wording of such sign.
This particular sign took about two months from start to finish. So when it finally went up, I sighed a sigh of “sign” relief.
Have you seen our patio? It turned out even better than I imagined. How often does that happen? How about NEVER! So…what do you think? And this is bare….without our precious furniture.
A wall in the patio. So French, right? So needed in Sherman Oaks, right?
Here is another view of the patio. I just can’t get enough of it. The window sashes are all from Minnesota. My sweet husband packed them all gingerly in a crate and shipped them to me. And they all arrived perfect. Not a scrape or shred of broken glass.
This sash still has the price tag written on the glass! Come see for yourself!
Another view.
Cozy, right?
So you’re probably wondering when we’re opening, right? We’re just waiting for a couple inspections…and a must needed electric panel strong enough to run our La Marzocco Espresso machine. (I’m getting sick of all the building stuff…just want to start cooking!) Hang in there! It’s any day now!
We welcome you soon!
xo
Sweet Butter
A beautiful thing.
Watermelon Radish---it's actually called that!
I wasn’t planning on blogging tonight. But I couldn’t resist sharing the most beautiful thing I have seen in days, maybe weeks. Have any of you even heard of a Watermelon Radish? I thought I knew everything about food. Nope. I would like to introduce you all to the Watermelon Radish. Here is her close-up. 
Never knew there was anything as lovely as a radish that looked like a watermelon. What a pleasant surprise so late in life.
I received a brown paper bag today from Country Fresh Herbs in Tarzana full of the most fragrant herbs, baby lettuce, edible flowers, and….are you ready…..Rainbow Carrots. The latter made me so CRAZY. I can’t wait to get a bushel and drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil,
Rainbow carrots and country fresh herbs. Simple pleasures.
Edible flowers
I must thank my dear friend Irion for the lead on Country Fresh Herbs. I love you Irion!!
Good night to all! Pray we pass all our inspections this week. I just want to be able to turn on my Wolf Range.
