Krimo's win the Hartlepool Business Awards...

Yep! We did it!

We were shortlisted in the Tourism and Leisure category with The York House Hotel and The Tavistock-Grand Hotel.

A great evening at the Borough Hall. Good food provided by our friends, Cleveland Caterers. Great company at our table among them, Deepdale Solutions.

Adam was at another table, invited by Keith Thomas and Censis Accountants.

After the meal, though he had lost his voice, John Megson of Hartlepool Forum, began announcing the nominees and winners.

Deepdale Solutions won two awards.
Then came our category, the Leisure and Tourism nominations.
Followed by the long wait for the announcement of the winner.
And finally, the realisation that we had won!
I was later told that we had got the loudest cheer of the evening. I did not hear a thing. Karen had said that she would not get up on stage with me. I just grabbed her hand and she followed. Colonel Bob Steward presented us with the award.

Formal photocall, then a couple of words with Chris Cordner of the Hartlepool Mail. And back to our table past congratulatory faces and handshakes.

We thought it was all over but later on in the evening we found out to our total surprise that we were nominated along two other firms for the Hartlepool Business of the Year.
Absolutely amazing!

Krimo's Shortlisted for Business Awards

Twenty four years after we opened at Seaton Carew!

Actually, this is the first year for the new category of Tourism and Leisure at the awards.
I am very proud, chuffed, pleased, honoured... to have been shortlisted along two other businesses.
My friend, Daniel of the York House Hotel has also been shortlisted. We met last week at a PR and Marketing seminar and joked about our respective chances of winning. We both said that we'd be happy if the other won, but added that we each would like to win the Award on its first year. "May the best man win!" while crossing our fingers behind our backs.

We will find out on Thursday evening.

Krimo's Twenty Four...

May the Fourth be with you!

Another year ticks by...

Who would've thought twenty four years after Karen and I opened our little restaurant on Seaton Carew seafront on May 4th 1985 that Krimo's would still be going strong?
And according to a survey I conducted a couple of weeks ago it still is the place for special celebrations in Hartlepool?

I tell people we did it with £250 of our own money but it was less than that. It was actually £240! One week's wages and one week's holiday pay.
But all the credit goes to Bert Bryden, our bank manager who started the ball rolling. He gave us a personal loan to put down as a 10% deposit for our 90% building society mortgage to purchase the freehold property.

Bert knew Steve Adams, the building society manager and I had already cooked for him in a small restaurant in Peterlee. Between them they provided us with a 100% mortgage. They must either have had a lot of faith in us or lots of money to dish out. Was that the start of this current credit crunch?

In the three weeks before the Grand Opening, family and friends helped us scrub clean "Davy Jones’ Locker" as the restaurant had been known prior to closing down two years earlier. They painted, decorated, plastered, shopped, sewed, stitched...

Three weeks after opening, as the Saturdays began to be booked up well in advance, we felt so confident about the future that we organised a get-together with everyone that helped out, including Bert and Steve, to thank them for giving us the chance to take our life in our hands.



And, today, we are grateful to all the customers who have kept us going over the years, and allowed us to expand with a further two restaurants.
There is a saying in the motivational business guru's handbook which tells you to "fall in love with your customers". I guess our saga was love at first sight!
The rest is history...

Adam was 3½ when we opened. Nowadays, he runs Casa del Mar. The photo below was taken outside the original Krimo's in July 86 with his Parisian cousin, Mélissa...

Krimo's Tropical Casa...

Hawaiian shirts, Latino and Salsa sounds... The last Wednesday of every month at Casa del Mar.
Tropicana North East is a group of music lovers who play around... yes, you've guessed it, the North East. They meet up at Casa one a month to rehearse, exchange ideas and prepare from their forthcoming gigs.

Last Wednesday was the first time they had their new colourful Hawaiian shirts on. The odd one out at the back, the drummer arrived late and was left with a medium shirt which was a bit too snug.
I watched them play "Oye como va!"and dreamed of playing the bongos with them, the Santana way.

Do tapas taste better when one listens to this kind of music?
Yes, they do!

Krimo's Fast Food...

...Is not bad for you!

Fast food can be anything from an omelet to a grilled steak, a salad to a pasta...
One has to be organised and prepared.
A simple omelet will take less than one minute to cook. Getting the eggs out of the fridge, cracking them, whisking them and heating the frying pan is what takes time.

The same thing goes for a steak. If you like it medium-rare, it won't take longer than five minutes as long as the pan is hot and the olive oil smoking.

Just imagine a bowl of steamed mussels! Five minutes.
A mixed salad: Ten minutes!
A pasta: Twelve minutes!
A risotto: Twelve minutes!
Cajun chicken: Six minutes!
Fast food doesn't have to be burgers, fried chicken or fish and chips but even then, there is nothing at all wrong with these, as long as they are consumed in moderation.

So, next time you fancy some fast food, check out your fridge and larder...
You might rustle up something faster than your local takeaway will.

Krimo's Easter Wishes...

A chocolate shower?
Chocolate toothpaste?
Mmmmmmmmmmmm...

What's yours?

Hartlepool Marina Shines...

Saturday afternoon, Hartlepool Marina put on its best clothes for the benefit of the Sick Children Trust and showed how businesses can come together to help.
Christine Blakey worked very hard to ensure all the restaurants and cafés participated in this, hopefully first of many events on Navigation Point.

Each restaurants provided samples of dishes for the visitors to enjoy.
There was a lot of singing and dancing throughout the afternoon.

Krimo's Visitors Books...

As you all may know, we have visitors books in all our restaurants, requesting customers views on our food and service.
The great majority of the comments left in these books tend to be complimentary "Beautiful this, Gorgeous that...". Pleasant but seldom helpful.

But on very rare occasions the comments point out, in focused and constructive ways things we may have missed. These can be very valuable as they can usually help us look at ourselves and try and sharpen our operation.

In the case of Portofino's visitors books, they are mainly used by our younger patrons and the comments tend to be very graphic in both meanings of the term.
Who am I to argue with this?

How to fillet a seabass...

Nowadays, most fish among other things, comes gutted, cleaned and neatly packaged. It does save a lot of effort but every now and then, it is nice to see professionals at work.
With most people, it is the staring eyes that put them off cooking or ordering a whole fish. Around the Med, fish comes the way I like it, whole, unfilleted and really tasty.

Krimo's Royal Visitor...

...was really delighted with the yacht!

HRH Prince Philip, HMS Trincomalee Trust Patron visited Hartlepool on Friday 6th to inaugurate the new Trincomalee Exhibition.

He surveyed the latest stage of restoration, a tremendous deal of improvement since his last visit in 2000. He signed the visitors book and shook hands with us trustees.
Then took off again in his helicopter.
One hour in total.
Great media coverage, including TV to put the Trinc on the map.

Krimo's Longest Serving Member of Staff...

Heavenly Lydia Heavens has been with us 20 years!

Solid as a rock!

Two years ago, Pat, our longest serving member of staff at the time, left us after 21 years of service. Lydia took over at the helm of the porters section, organising shifts, looking after the stocks of washing up liquid, mops, scourers and keeping the kitchen and restaurant perfectly clean.

Lydia is not keen on retiring, and even though she is the proud grandmother to beautiful twins, whom she often babysits, she has decided to stay on and keep both mind and body busy.

I and everyone at Krimo's are very glad that Lydia is still with us...

Thanks, Lyd!

Krimo's Washing Up...

My first job in catering was as a porter in a very busy Newcastle pizzeria, La Capanella in Shakespeare Street. It no longer exists. It was swallowed up in the early eighties by the Theatre Royal and now forms part of its backstage. So, come to think of it, I can claim that I have fulfilled one of my childhood ambitions: to be an actor. Backstage, washing dishes for over 300 people a day and crying over a sack of onions, wishing that I had stuck in at Sunderland Poly, drawing ships instead of slicing chips...


No, I am waffling, really...
Though it may be physically demanding, washing up is the one job in the kitchen where, while the chefs are stressed out their wits over spilt milk, over-cooked steaks, mushy vegetables or burnt toast, the porter will be the only cool person in the house.
I could be a million miles away from the scraping, scrubbing, rinsing and drying of my dishes. My apron, trouser fronts and sleeves would be wringing wet, but there I was soaking the sun on a faraway exotic beach or sailing the beautiful Indian Ocean.


Nowadays, at home I'd rather cook than wash up. So if you want me to rustle you up something for supper, promise you'll do the washing up. But be warned, I am a messy cook and I will use every single pot and pan you own. Just ask Karen.

Krimo's Yachting Pictures...

Or Krimo's Yacht in Pictures... Often in the past year, I have referred to HMS Tricomalee as My Yacht...
Krimo's Royal Yacht
Krimo Naval Gazing

Yesterday, as part of HMS Trincomalee Trust fundraising efforts to keep the ship afloat for generations to come, I launched a Flickr group, inviting photographers from all over the world to contribute with their photos of Hartlepool's Own Tall Ship.

The result has been staggering. In less than 12 hours, the group has acquired 20 members and nearly 100 photos featuring the Trinc.
Take a look


If you have or know of anyone who has photos of HMS Trincomalee, we would be delighted if you could post them at the above Flickr group.

Krimo's Connections in High Atlas...

When my cousin, Jallel sent me an email saying that Jamie Oliver was about to visit the Ryad he manages in Marrakesh, I said: "Yeah, right! Pull the other one."

A jovial Algerian with a great Scottish accent, having lived and run restaurants in Edinburgh for a large part of his life, Jallel is a hyper-joker!

He moved to Marrakesh, -an amazing city to visit if you ever manage to get yourselves to Morocco- nearly two years ago to manage a luxury boutique hotel called Maison MK, which had just been voted one of the world's 100 best hotels.

Then out of the blue, I get the photo below. So, it was true after all.

Jamie Oliver was filming a program on Moroccan food in Marrakesh.

When I asked my cousin whether he would appear in it, he coolly replied: "Of course, Couz! I don't just work in Marrakesh!"

The photo was taken in the hotel's rooftop terrace. You may see the Atlas mountains in the background.

Krimo's Winners...

Mr and Mrs Skinner enjoying the Valentine's Day meal they won in our latest draw.
All our restaurants were fully booked last night. I cannot imagine there being a free table in the entire UK.
Many returning regulars but also many new faces.
Hands knotted across tables.
Shared nibbles.
Clinking of glasses.
Smiles.
Whispers.
Chocolates and roses flooded the Marina.
Rosé wines and champagnes led to a pink overload.

I am sure that the same scenes were repeated all over the world last night but for us, Hartlepool was the Centre of the Universal Romance.

Krimo's Valentine...

The Valentine Poll (top right hand) shows that only 1/3 of the voters believe that it is a load of hype! This goes to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that romance is still alive and kicking.

For restaurants, a special day like Valentine's falling on Saturday is like a kid's birthday falling on Christmas Day. This does rile many in the catering industry. Personally, I say you win some you lose some. Over our 24 years in business, we have had our fair share out of Valentine's Day.

No matter on what day it falls, our restaurants could fill up several times over. Three years ago, Krimo's was voted one of the 50 most romantic restaurants in the UK by Remy Martin.

In September 1985, a few months after we opened, I placed a little advert in the Hartlepool Mail that said:
"Valentine's Day is only 19 weeks away. (I counted just to make sure) Do not disappoint your sweetheart.
The restaurant was booked up within two days."
I learnt two things from the experiment:
1. The power of advertising
2. The power of love

A few years ago a middle-aged couple came to Krimo's on Valentine's Day. The guy proposed, the lady accepted. They have not missed celebrating a single Valentine's Day with us since.

The winner of our Valentine's Day draw is Kath Skinner. She wins a Meal for Two (worth over £70) at Krimo's on February 14th.
She told me that when hinting to her husband that she wanted a little romance on Valentine's Day, he told to go and buy a couple of Mills and Boon books!! ;o)

Is it any wonder that 85% of all the one billion Valentine's Day cards sold each year are bought by women?

Krimo's Tasty Olives...

There was a time when it was very hard to find olives in British supermarket. Nowadays dozens of different kinds adorn the shelves of even the smallest grocer. The following is but a small selection from Asda's olive offer: Stuffed green, Kalamata, Greek Olympian, Stuffed with garlic, peppers, jalapenos, anchovies, etc... Around 30 varieties!

For my own consumption, I usually buy a couple of jars of whole green olives (around 80p each) then add the following ingredients to create my favourite taste:
Two fresh garlic clove, halved
Chilli flakes
Cumin seeds
Coriander seeds
Caraway seeds
Lemon, either fresh or pickled
Olive oil.
Method:
Place olives and brine in a large bowl.
Add all the above ingredients.
Mix well and store in plastic tub or glass jar.
Leave for a couple of days before tasting.
Enjoy!

Krimo's Pigeon Flight...

A man was arrested for an alleged breach of quarantine rules after getting off a flight to Australia with two live pigeons in his trousers. Courtesy of BBC News
How long does it take to fly down under?
What about the droppings?
What about deep-vein thrombosis?











No wonder the price of a single pigeon breast has now reached 95p if people keep pinching them to take back to Australia.
Below is our supplier's latest price list!

Krimo's T-shirt winner

Will Spoors (6) is Portofino's latest T-shirt winner.
Once a week we dig into the chef's hat and draw the name of one of our younger regulars.

The next time they have a meal at Portofino, and lately at Casa del Mar, too, we present them with one of our Tshirts. We carry various sizes to accommodate children from 5 to 13 years of age. We offer larger ones for sale as souvenirs.

Our operation is not on the same scale as that of the Hard Rock Café whose Tshirts one often comes across on the busy streets of capital cities or sometimes even in the remotest Amazon village. No, our Tshirts are a rarity, mostly worn as nighties. Size 5-6 is huge!

Will's mother said that he was not one to stand still long enough to have his photo taken. On this occasion she was pleasantly surprised that he calmly stripped off the sweater he arrived in to pose in our exclusive T-shirt.
His younger sister cannot wait to pinch it.

Don't forget to tell us what you're planning for Valentine's Day. Poll top right.

Krimo's Onion Knowledge...

Every now and then I blow my own trumpet. I only do it if I've achieved a major sporting feat or discovered the cure for an unknown disease. After all if you can't blowing your own trumpet, who's going to blow it for you?

Today, I'm blowing it to say I think I know my onions!
Anyway, let me get on my pedestal and tell you why...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, despite the dreaded Credit Crunch, January's figures are up on last year!"
Drum roll.
"Thank you, thank you!"

You may wish to refer to a post I wrote earlier called the art of surviving recessions.

Many elements have to come together in various proportions to achieve business success and survival.
Location, product, demand, value, customer trust, marketing, business acumen, etc... to enumerate but a few, not forgetting the odd ounce of good luck which can also be added to the mix.

The simple reason why we are not feeling the effects of the crunch:
If people have only a certain amount of money to buy a given product or service they always go for the tried-and-tested. As simple as that!


In the meantime, to avoid tears, please watch the following video.