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.

Krimo's Departing Joy...

She's on her way. Our Joanne, Joey, Jo... Five and a half years at Portofino.
Joey started with us at the tender age of 16, did her A-levels and then went to University. All the while, she progressed from trainee to head-waitress, from a shy teenager to a very confident young woman.
She has at last found a full-time job in her field of expertise.

Joanne is very much like many of the young employees who have helped us grow from a tiny restaurant, seating 32 people at Seaton Carew to three busy restaurants around the Marina.

These young kids start with us straight out of school and remain at least two years, while they take their A-levels. A few stay on even after they have started at one of the four local universities, Teesside, Durham, Sunderland or Newcastle. These turn out to be very valuable to the continuity of our operation. They get to coach and train new recruits fresh from school, shaping them in a very short time, into very capable members of staff.























This cycle has been going on for the last 24 years. Many of our earlier recruits often visit our restaurants with fiancés, husbands or wives, and quite often teenage children.

We have employed their younger brothers and sisters without even interviewing them. The mark left by their siblings was recommendation enough. As it happens, Joey's sister Nicole has been with us for the last two years.
(Nicole has just pointed out that she has been at Portofino for 3½ years!!!! Time flies when you're having fun, chick. I stand corrected. Sorry!)

Just like Nicola who left Krimo's a year ago to the day, Joey will be part of Portofino for a long time to come.
Thank you, babe!






















Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)

Krimo's Food Evolution...

We were tubing our way to the Natural Science Museum to see how the Darwin exhibition was evolving when Karen said: "Why don't we stop at Harrods on the way?"
The last time Karen went to Harrods, she brought back a tiny jar of pesto. It cost her £12! I was quite Pestoff!

Under duress, I let myself be dragged into Al Fayed's Egyptian bazaar. I snappily whisked Karen past various crocodile shoes and bags and into the famous Harrods Food Hall.
There was food, food and food. Raw, cooked, ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Lebanese... Foods from the whole world, in fact.
Fruit and vegetables I had never seen let alone heard of.
A sushi counter fit for a sumo wrestler's diet.
An atomic display of mushrooms.
Enough fresh dates to fill a two-year diary.

There was even a travel-agency style counter manned/womened by smartly-dressed models taking food orders from posh people who believe an Aga is just another religious icon.
We finished our visit with a swift fly-over the chocolaaaaaaate department. I shut down all five senses and raced out of Harrods. Torture?

If there ever had been a moment when I longed to return to my scouting days, it was that day. I could have gladly volunteered to camp in that Food Hall for at least a whole year.

Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)

Krimo's Royal Yacht...

The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, HRH QE2's hubby, Patron of HMS Trincomalee Trust, will visiting my yacht in March!
Well, The Trinc, as she is affectionately known is not MY yacht really, but most of the young kids who visit Portofino believe me when I tell them she is.
Very often, their pizzas get cold as they sit, spellbound by the presence of such a beautiful ship just outside Portofino's windows.

Prince Philip paid a visit to the ship in 2001, long before she was totally restored to its present glory. I think he will be pleasantly surprise with the improvements.

Eight years ago, I managed to snap him from upstairs. This time, I may be shaking his royal hand...


Hartlepool's own tall ship!!

Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)

The Dream is now a reality...

The wait is over...
Change was long overdue. Change has come.
If the world is to become a better place, Obama is the start of things to come.
The USA are often seen as arrogant, unfeeling, biased, etc...
I really feel that Obama has now the unique opportunity to change all that.
Congratulations and Good Luck!

Krimo's Holiday Reports...

Our Portofino second-chef, Chris Wilkinson was looking forward to his well-earned Dominican Republic holiday... until that is, I began thinking of putting the frighteners on him.
Last week, I reported that an earthquake had hit the place. He laughed nervously at first, unsure whether I was kidding. It did not take him long to realise that I had invented the fictitious report.
The following day, it was a hurricane that swept over the island.
Running out of ideas, I googled the online Dominican newspapers and came across a report on the Solenodon, the world's rarest mammals.
A few minutes of Copy and Paste, and I came up with my own version of the report.

Chris read the report with a smile on his face.
Tomorrow he flies off for a couple of weeks of sunshine.
I wonder what his reaction will be if he comes across one of those solenodons.
Click on the picture to enlarge it.
















The real story

Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)

From Krimo's with Love...

Our previous poll asked: Where will/did you spend New Year's Eve?
The results showed that 2/3 of us spent it with family/friends and the rest of us worked.
I did both!
Do not forget to tell us what you will do on Valentine's Day. (Poll in the top right hand corner)

Our friend Stan Laundon took this shot from his balcony window.

I have no idea who's in the helicopter and I can assure you it is not me. I have never been close to a helicopter let alone flown in one. According to Stan it landed just behind the Marina lock office, on the bottom right of the shot.

I wonder whether its owner had lunch with us at Krimo's. You may just see the sign on the other side of the lock gates.

Doesn't it look like a scene from James Bond, especially with the speedboats and yachts.

From Hartlepool with Love...

Krimo's New Year Resolution...

Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve.(Poll in the top right hand corner)

I gave up smoking on 31st January 1985. Nearly 24 years ago!
Why the end of January?
I realised it would take time to motivate myself to give up. One whole month when I told everyone I knew that I was going to stop smoking by the end of it.
It also took me a long time to chose a substitute for the cigarette. I once saw a poster at Sunderland Poly with the following headline "I gave up smoking eating prunes!". But what I remembered most was the scribbled line underneath that said "...And now I am trying to give up prunes."
My mother, though she never smoked in her life, had a habit of chewing coffee beans. Goodness only knows why.

So I decided to go for coffee beans as an alternative to cigarettes. Nicorette patches and gum had yet to be invented.
And it worked!
For years, my breath smelt of fresh coffee and my teeth were pebbledashed with ground coffee because every time I felt like a cigarette, I dug a couple of coffee beans out of my pocket.
Nearly 24 years on, I must admit that I still enjoy chewing the odd coffee bean every now and then.



















This year, my resolution is much simpler than giving up smoking.
I have resolved that all our restaurants shall give even better value while offering the same standards to which our customers have become accustomed. Check out our websites for details.
Krimo's, Portofino, Casa del Mar.

Krimo's New Year's Eve Parties...

Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve.
(Poll in the top right hand corner)

All our three restaurants were fully booked last night.
Portofino and Casa del Mar had two sittings. One early on from 5.30pm till 8pm then once the tables were vacated, they were reset for the second sitting. It was nice to see children included in the celebrations. They added to the entertainment.
Krimo's served a Gourmet menu and all our New Year's Eve regulars were delighted with the offering.
Many stayed till after midnight to bring in the New Year with a glass of bubbly.
Later we drifted along to Casa del Mar, where live Latino music echoed around the Marina. A DJ finished the evening with lots of Salsa hits. A few of us were strutting our stuff early into New Year's Day.
We wish all our customers, friends and employees the best of things for 2009.

The New Year will be bringing even better value in all our restaurants. Check out our websites and you will be pleasantly pleased.

Krimo's Christmas Colours...

Do not forget to tell us how you spent New Year's Eve.
(Poll in the top right hand corner)

According to Eat Out Magazine, it appears many diners are going to see how the festive mood takes them, with 17% saying they are just 'not sure' if it's going to be a 'cut back' Christmas or whether they will dine out more or less frequently, compared to this time last year.

In Hartlepool , everyone in the business reported a drop in customer numbers since mid-November compared to the same period last year.

Over the holidays, shops, restaurants, cafes, etc... were full to capacity. Let us hope the mood continues into the New Year.
At home we went for the usual favourites:
Family gatherings...
Friends...

Pomegranates, Duck, Tuna, Turkey...and lots of Christmas spirit.
Pools lost twice but didn't put a damper on things:
A Boxing Day trip to Scunthorpe to watch them lose 3-0.
And losing 4-1 at home against bottom of the league, Crewe Alexandra.
Let's hope we start the New Year with a better result on Saturday against Stoke City in the Cup.

Krimo's Christmas Stuffing...

Just after struggling through the last mouthful of Christmas Pudding back in December 1985, following a busy shift on our first Christmas Day at Krimo's, we decided never to open again on that day.
We felt, just as our last poll concluded, that Christmas is for families, kids, presents, lots of food and drink but no work whatsoever...
No work? Maybe for some but I've still ended up cooking dinner for a minimum of a dozen people every year since then.
But it's not real work, honest. I really love preparing and cooking the Christmas dinner. Karen is charge of the table and the desserts with an "s"... Thousands of calories!
By the time I've finished cooking, I'm as stuffed as the obligatory turkey. But I still try to make something different every year.

This time, I've plumped on three small starters.
An espresso cupful of cauliflower and cheese soup.
A piece of seared tuna in sesame seeds and wasabi dressing.
A couple of slices of pink roasted duck breast with sweet chili dressing.
For main course I've decided to serve the turkey boned and rolled with a chestnut stuffing. This will save the hassle when it comes to carving. I've often tried the same with chicken and the result is quite good.
I will also have to cook a piece of beef for those who don't like turkey.

Usually Karen insists on 1 million different vegetables but this year, I am going to resist and only serve four or five including potatoes.
I've also decided to cook a few Conference pears in red wine and cinnamon and serve them with lemon sorbet. Very refreshing dessert!
And I'll fall asleep just after that.

Please feel free to make your voice heard in our new poll.

The turkey featured below is last year's. I think we've still got some left for sarnies...

Krimo's Naval Gazing...

When Hartlepool Marina began taking shape in the early nineties, my dream was to open a casual bistro serving from pizzas to fresh fish, pasta to steaks, somewhere very close to water.
Was it my Mediterranean feet itching to dangle in the sea?
Was it my Naval Architecture past at Sunderland Poly tugging me back to the shipping lanes?
I wonder.
All I know is that our Pizzeria-Bistro, Portofino couldn't have brought me closer to my dream!

I listen with pride to our customers' wonderful comments about Portofino's location.
On the right we have HMS Trincomalee, Britain's oldest warship afloat, bobbing up and down so close to our windows that, when I tell our younger diners that she is my private yacht their eyes light up with disbelief.
Out of our front windows, Hartlepool Marina glistens invitingly in the sunlight or moonlight, transporting us back to happy Mediterranean holidays. After a few glasses of Rosé, it is often compared to Puerto Banus or St Tropez...
Right here on Hartlepool Maritime Experience!

Many a morning, I've sipped a coffee at table 9 while proudly guarding MY yacht and MY swimming pool.

Please enter our Christmas Day poll... (top right)

Krimo's and the power of crunchy carrots...

The Eating Out Poll showed that the majority of us eat out once a month followed by once a week.
I am a once-a-weeker... But I call it market research. Whenever I eat out I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.

Crunchy Carrots!!!
I feel like writing a letter to Tesco to help them save a bit of money in this current economic climate. By adding the word "crunchy" to the packaging, Tesco have unnecessarily wasted quite a few quid in extra ink.

To the best of my knowledge, carrots have, since the beginning of Time, always been crunchy. So why the emphasis?
Are there any other varieties of carrots that we haven't yet discovered?
Squeaky carrots? Silent carrots? Soft carrots?
If a carrot is soft, it's because it is defunct and is only good for the compost bin.

What next? Sweet Sugar, Salty Salt...

But, guess what? I ended up buying two bag of crunchy carrots!
I must have been subliminally enticed to buy them...
(Actually I'm joking! They were two for the price of one... They might come in handy for these dark nights.)

Please enter our Christmas Day poll... (top right)
Personally I cook our Christmas Dinner for the whole family... Grrrreat!!!

Krimo's Al Dente Offerings...

2008 has been a very hard year for business in general and catering in particular.
It began with huge increases in food prices: butter, flour, meat, fish, (cooking) oil, etc...
The finger pointed at the price of (the other) oil, last summer's floods, the ongoing wars, Indian Ocean pirates, elections, etc...
Anything and everything, really. Just take your pick.

Then came the dreaded C.C.
Do you know that in the last few months, the most Googled phrase has been Credit Crunch?
I love anything al dente but not sure about this one.

Everyone is predicting gloomy times ahead and sadly there will be many casualties.
I sympathise with anyone starting a business in this current economic climate.
Having said it before, I shall repeat myself as usual.
When people do not have much cash to play with, they will invariably stick to what they know.
At Krimo's we are lucky to have gone through many lean times over the 24 years we've been in business, not only survived them and but come out stronger.

Our Eating Out Poll is showing that more people dine out once a month. (A couple of days to go)
So, as long as they come to one of our restaurants every three months, we will survive...

Saturday Night Flavour...

Christmas is only twelve days away. The party season is reaching its last fortnight and peak. But there is no escaping the credit crunch. Up to the middle of November, Christmas party bookings were slow in coming as everyone was being very wary of making long term plans. But on the day, customers have arrived in their droves.

Next week is pretty booked up solid in all three restaurants. Last year, Noel, Portofino's head chef kept a tally of the number of customers in the last full week leading up to Christmas Day. Over 1200 customers!
I doubt whether we will beat that record this year, but we won't be far off it.

I took these photos last night while going round our restaurants to watch revellers eating, drinking and being merry.
I caught Barry Anderson with a bit of tinsel in his hair. He threatened never to grace us with his patronage again if I published the photo on the blog.
I'll just have to blackmail him. Maybe a good bottle of red wine once a week...

By the way, don't forget to vote in our "Eating out poll" (Top right)

Cooking wisdom...

The Poll on Swearing in the Kitchen showed by 80% to 20% that we do not agree with foul language in kitchens and especially TV kitchens.
Thanks to all those who entered, all 35 of you.
Rising to his own defence, Gordon Ramsay pleads: "People say I'm a monster, but I'm not a monster... I just have to maintain a high standard that people are paying a fortune for. I seem to be the only chef in the country who gets upset when things go wrong."

Chefs in their kitchen are like sea captains aboard their ship.
They have to have the last word on what goes on. You can only laugh when they laugh. If they're quiet during service, you'd be a fool to utter a word that has nothing to do with food. I know this because I was a chef!
But when they're relaxed they are very amiable beings, always willing to impart a few pearls of wisdom.
























Delia Smith, our famous TV chef once said: "Football and cookery are the two most important subjects in this country."
Obviously, she has an interest in both. Football being her second love as she is joint majority shareholder in Norwich City FC.

Woody Allen, though not a chef, but a brilliant actor and director said: "I will not eat oysters. I want my food dead. Not sick, not wounded... Dead!"

Miss Piggy, serial dieter has this piece of advice for us: "Never eat more than you can lift."

How often do you eat out?
Please vote now. (Top right hand corner)

Ballot stuffing...

I've just discovered a Blogger widget which I've placed on the top right of my blog.
See it?
Personally, I do not agree with swearing anyway.

I think Gordon Ramshead is a great chef and an even better businessman. But does he really need to swear every other word to be funny? A few years ago, when a hidden camera caught him demeaning a French waiter, I began worrying about the message this would send to young catering students on their way to real life in a hotel or a restaurant.

Bullying? What the program showed was more like verbal assassination!

We often hear moans of the fabric of society being eroded, the young don't respect anything anymore... A couple of TV presenters take this abject practice to the limit...
Come on!
Isn't about time "Role Models" like Gordon Ramsay realised that every time they appear on our screens, they have a moral duty to educate young people with the skills they have honed over the years rather than make them laugh with gratuitous foul language.

There is a time and a place for that kind of thing and I certainly don't agree that it should be on a TV cookery program!





Please make your vote count if only till the end of next week.

How to carve a turkey...

I'm quite certain that the following has happened to some of us at one time or another on Christmas Day.
We've cooked our vegetables al dente, roasted our potatoes golden and crisp, set the table beautifully and then....
HACKED OUR TURKEY TO SHREDS!!!

This useful video is the way to present a turkey on Christmas Day.
But don't wait until the last minute to watch and practice.
Try carving a chicken once a week. I know that most of us prefer boneless breasts but how much easier and more delicious can it get, sticking a whole chicken in the oven and roasting it on the bone.
Practice makes perfect!!

BON APPETIT!

Good things come in little packages...

I discovered Chopitos a few years ago, on a Spanish holiday.
"Chop yer toes?"
Well, they do look like deep-fried giant nail clippings.

They are in fact tiny Mediterranean squid, the size of a finger, tossed in seasoned flour, lightly deep-fried and served in a heap of a dozen or more depending on how relaxed the chef feels on the day. A slice of lemon and sometimes a pot of garlic mayonnaise, if that same chef happens to be on duty.

If, unlike me you are averse to seafood, you could be fooled in thinking they were some kind of fishy popcorn and maybe fall in love with them.

















By the way, do not forget to enter our £50 Meal Draw on our websites.
Sadly or thankfully, depending on your fishy tastes, the meal will not include Chopitos...