Lights Out for Valentine’s Day: 2016

Traditionally, Mike and Melissa have cooked together as their unique way to celebrate Valentine’s Day (in theory: flowers, cards and chocolate are relegated to "surprise" moments). However, owning a restaurant, the couple now finds themselves cooking for others on this ever-popular dining out holiday. For the past couple of years, the couple has featured a weekend special at The Burlington Place which features two salads, two desserts and one of two of the Valentine pizza specials all for $25.00. Reminiscent of the meals the couple prepared together, this pizzas feature a few aphrodisiac items and flavor combinations that are all together lovely. Diners choose from either the Aphrodite which features asparagus, prosciutto and feta on a lemony garlic olive oil or the Pizza Enamorado which features fresh tomatoes, Anaheim peppers, red onion, bacon and an avocado drizzle all on a garlic olive oil. Each year, Melissa also develops two dessert specials for the occasion. This year, diners could choose from a Rumchata Pudding Shooter or a Sangria Brownie Tartlet. The plotting and execution of Valentine’s specials is always a joyful, hectic, crazy experience for the Harrington's, but one they ultimately anticipate and look forward to.

 

This year, however, a bit of a freakish wind surge had other plans for Saturday afternoon and evening diners. After a full and bustling second-Saturday brunch and Bloody Mary bar, Mike and Melissa had their Valentine plans shocked when the entire electrical system of The Burlington Place clanked off. Each whispered a few obscenities and waited with bated breath for a possible quick return of electricity on what should have been February’s busiest day. A couple hours later, after forcing the remaining heat of the pizza ovens to cook one last pizza for a couple who had called minutes prior to the outage, Mike and Melissa posted notices on the door: No Power, No Pizza. The duo then headed to Abode 212 to plot the next steps. Upon entering their home, the distinct smell of natural gas filled their nostrils and led the couple to their second spewing of obscenities.

 

While plotting their next steps (for home and business), Melissa texted a friend to inquire what her and her husband were doing for the evening. Together, Mike and Melissa decided that if electricity was not on by 4:00, they would leave The Burlington Place closed (seeing how the ovens take an hour to preheat, there was a very distinct window of time for electricity to return and allow the evening dinner hour to function relatively smoothly). If they were unable to return to The Burlington Place, they would then head to Worland where their friends would be watching Worland Warriors in their last home basketball game of the season before heading out to dinner themselves.

 

As 4:00 rolled around, the plan began to look a little clearer. The Harrington duo had a representative of Wyoming gas en route to turn off the gas and they themselves were loading into their Subaru to make their way to Worland for basketball and dinner with friends. Mike and Melissa were about to experience a Saturday night akin to those experienced by all those who don’t devote their lives to the service industry.

 

The Warriors conquered the New Castle Dogies and Mike and Melissa even had a chance to catch up with Tom Harrington and give a few hearty waves to John and Donna Harrington. Following basketball, the Harrington duo packed themselves over to Rumours where they enjoyed a couple of beers, wings and burgers with their good friends Cole and Lisa Nicholas. At approximately 8:30 p.m. Melissa received a text from her neighbor informing her that the power was finally back up in running. Good riddance.

Relieved to return home to power (although, no heat or hot water since the gas had been turned off), M&M said farewell to their friends, shrugged at the luck of the day and gave thanks for a surprise night out on the town.

 

Sunday morning saw M&M enjoying a brunch of Steak and Avocado Toast together prior to heading into The Burlington Place to serve up a decent handful of Valentine specials and learn very little about the previous days power outage. By mid-day Monday, all the weekend mishaps had been cleared up as the gas was back on and the smell was attributed to high winds making a strange mess of the ventilation system.

 

Cheers to all the love, all the delicious foods and all the unpredictable things that each life holds!

 

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Strange Call(s)

Working in a small town bar offers numerous opportunities to be enlightened or stupidified by the stories and anecdotes of our fellow man. Plenty of conversations at the bar have left Mike and Melissa shaking their heads in wonder, dismay or shock. (Don't get us wrong, plenty of conversations add to the beauty of humanity as well, but those stories aren't quite as entertaining.) However, it isn't everyday that multiple phone calls end up being the primary source of confusion. Yet, Saturday, November 28th, provided a most memorable series of phone calls to The Burlington Place that left Melissa shaking her head and Mike rolling his eyes.

 

Call One.

Melissa: The Burlington Place, this is Melissa.

Female Caller: Hi Melissa, do you have spaghetti sauce?

M: Uhm...we have pizza marinara...?

F.C.: Oh...well...is this not the store?

M: Nope, this is the pizza place in town.

F.C.: Do you have the number for the store?

M: I don't know it off the top of my head, let me ask...

 

Call Two.

Melissa: The Burlington Place, this is Melissa.

Male Caller: Hi, can you tell me what's on tap tonight?

M: As in, what we have for beers on tap? (because this could also be understood as a question regarding whether or not we were hosting some kind of event on a Saturday night, right?)

M.C. Yeah.

M: Uhm, well we have Atlantic City Gold, Saddle Bronc Brown and Black Butte Porter.

M.C. Okay.

M: Are you planning on coming out for a cold one or coming with a group for dinner?

M.C.: Oh, coming with a group.

M: Well, we recommend calling ahead if you plan on dining in.

M.C.: Okay, thanks.

(Follow up; no groups came in that were particularly concerned with our tap selection)

 

Call Three.

Melissa: The Burlington Place, this is Melissa.

Male Caller: I'm calling about the crow hunt.

M: Okay (lots of ensuing conversation about the details, how to pay, how to participate, did you know the number on the poster is wrong - why yes I did, good for you for Googling, etc)

M.C.: Well, I thought maybe there was just one farmer who hosted the event in the field, you know so everyone can have the same opportunity, so it'd be more about shooting skill.

M: Well, generally people just get permission to shoot wherever, some take it pretty seriously with calls and decoys, others just want to drive around and shoot at shit every once in a while.

M.C.: Chuckles, okay, well we'll call later this week and let you know if we're in.

M: Sounds good, thanks.

(Follow-up: Melissa is relating the conversation to Mike and patrons, because she doesn't know a lot about crow hunting, but is pretty sure being in the same field would yield about 20 minutes of shooting opportunity before all the crows would wise up and leave that field for the day or season. Mike reflects on the phone conversation and concludes, if we hosted the event in that way, it'd likely be a skeet shoot...not a hunt

Note, we understand where the caller was coming from and his desire to have access to a place with plentiful crows, equal opportunity, less opportunity for cheaters to cheat, etc - Just not sure how that would play out in real life.)

 

Call Four.

Melissa: The Burlington Place, this is Melissa.

Caller (soon to be identified): Is Mike there?

Melissa: Mike Harrington?

Caller: Yes.

Melissa: He sure is, is this Tom?

Caller: Yes. (mumbles about the IRS or some such thing while Melissa hands off the phone to Mike)

Mike and Tom: Back and forth conversation of this sort

T: Blair's has Bourbon County Stout, why didn't I see Bourbon County Stout at your Place?

M: We have it too.

T: Why didn't I get some? You're a bad salesman.

M: We have it, I'll make sure you get some.

(Continued on and on with plenty of accusations, chuckles, "apologies" and promises of letting the crow counting judge have one for his services next weekend.)

Generally speaking, phone conversations at The Burlington Place are pretty straight forward:

1). Are you open/what are your hours?

2). We'd like to make a reservation for _____ people at _____ o'clock

3). I'd like to place an order for pick-up

So, having this series of phone calls, in one day is absolutely out of the norm, but good for a few chuckles nonetheless!

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Will Trade: Pizza for Donuts

 

Since thier first fall here in Burlington, Melissa has heard rumors of mythical, magical donuts prepared by a particular, deep-rooted, Burlington family. These home-made, legendary, donuts are most commonly available on All Hallows Eve. However, for the Harrington's, being well over trick-or-treating age, without any children in their care AND having to manage a bar...there have been few opportunities to seek out these highly acclaimed morsels.

This year, the third Halloween of Mike and Melissa being present in Burlington passed with only a small teaser. Melissa begged and pleaded with numerous high school students who had stopped at The Burlington Place for their fill of candy, and eventually the Harrington's were recipients to one (only ONE!) of these sweet treats.

However, the youngest son of the ever-famed donut making family, assured Melissa at school the following week, that these home-made donuts should only be eaten fresh. This particular conversation lead to Melissa striking a deal that the next event which warranted the preparation of donuts, would be the ideal time to hold some fresh donuts aside and deliver promptly to The Burlingotn Place.

So it was, on the evening of Friday, November 13th, a caller rang into The Burlington Place, asked for Mrs. Harrington and claimed to have some fresh donuts available. Payment required? A simple, one topping pizza. Could it be done? You bet your sweet tooth!

Therefore, prior to some kind of crazy, unpredictable pizza rush on Friday the 13th, Mike and Melissa each devoured 3.5 home-made donuts, just the right amount to see them another TBP Friday night. This moment in history also marks a true coming-of-location, the creation of a root, the deepening of belonging, the truth of feeling as if one is truly a member of a long-standing community.

Cheers to donuts that give you roots!

 

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The Great American Beerfest: #TBT4THT

Here we go, a Throwback Thursday for The Harrington Times.
Since re-entering the blog world, I've discovered some true #tbt moments, some drafts which are simply titles, yet speak to the stories I wish would have been recorded. As I work on getting those out of the mines, I figure I ought to work on some more recent memories, moments from the past, but not quite so long ago. I figured, since most of my undone posts are beer related and the stories I most "recently" kept at the forefront of our blog space were beer-related, I might as well take a relatively small step back in time and re-experience the Great American Beer Fest (GABF, if you will).

GABF, is as Mike explains, the World Series of Beer. It is the beer event of beer events, if you have even the smallest love of craft beer, your sudsy-fermented-beverage-loving tastebuds want you to take them there. The challenge, however, is getting your hands on a set of tickets to this highly prized event. Fortunately, for Mike and I, we entered our proprietorship of The Burlington Place well aware that relationship building would be an essential ingredient to our happiness and success. Not only did we seek to build relationships with patrons, but additionally with our distributors, sales-reps and delivery folks. One such relationship, with our Budwieser distributors (who also distribute plenty of fine craft beer) has been 100% rewarding...especially when they have a handful of GABF tickets available and know that the TBP couple would love them and take full advantage of all the perks. Therefore, four tickets in hand, Mike and I made our way to Denver, meeting up with Dave and Julianne en route and began a weekend of sipping as many 1 oz. beer pours as possible in a 5 hour period.
Some key experiences and insights from our time at GABF:

• Veterans of GABF come adorned with pretzel necklaces, smart
• You should go in with a strategy...or develop one quickly. Mike went for the try-any-sour-ale-available strategy whereas Melissa went for the if-it-was-aged-in-a-barrel-it-should-be-rolling-down-my-gullet strategy
• Brewers are a very clever bunch considering we drank beers named: Morning Wood, Beavers Milk, Hopspresso, Sodbuster, Good Juju, Helluva Caucasion Stout, Melt My Brain, Sunday Morning Stout and Biere Joi (among plenty of others)
• If you have a cousin in the beer industry - you might just run into her while attending GABF
• Alas, if you've been emailing somebody in the craft beer/brewing industy, you might just run into him while attending GABF (and since few people can promote craft beer so well in a small, Wyoming town, you just might be a bit memorable)
• You CANNOT taste nearly as many beers in a five hour time span as you think you can, however, 1 oz. pours can help you on your way to buzz-dom

The evening of GABF festivities was filled with meandering and sipping, comparing and hoping that you would not end the evening with a last call of something less than fitting of your personal style. (Note to futue attendees: beware of the drunks who grab a pitcher off a breweries table, claiming it's their pilsner yet having no true idea what it is...it could possibly be all the backwash and watered down beer that gets poured into...you've got it, random pitchers). Fortunately, if your last call is a bit off color, you happen to be in downtown Denver with plenty of great dining and snacking options. For us, that fine dining option centered on the desire for wings and a lack of desire for researching our full options, so we ended up at Chili's for an assortment of appetizers, a watermelon margarita and a recap of the best beer moments. (One conclusion: Short's Brewery was one of our all around favorites - crazy flavor combos - gin and tonic beer, key lime pie, strawberry shortcake, bloody Mary, etc. and super AWESOME tap handles!)

So, having had an eventful evening running around America's greatest beer fest, the Sunday after is best served by heading any where that has a Bloody Mary bar and allows for some good eats, fresh air and golf, obviously. Therefore, head to a Top Golf. As our good friend Dave explained, Top Golf is like bowling meets mini-golf. In essence this means, you have your own "lanes" or bay complete with clubs, golf platform and wait staff service directly to your table. It also means you don't actually have to know much about golf to have a good time (similar to mini-golf). Ultimately, you're guaranteed to have a good time sitting, lounging, chatting and boozing it up with friends (and family if you're double lucky! - Thanks Mark and Calley for coming all the way out to see us!)

With beer from the previous night finishing it's marathon through our livers and bloody Mary's to satisfy our typical Sunday morning craving we headed back toward Ft. Collins to depart from our GABF company (only after a typical, epic-proportion, liquor store stop - because, why stop at 1 oz beer pours when you can take a few cases of specialty brews that aren't available in your own market?) A few long hours on the road lead us through Douglas where we stopped for wings and pizza (since we're obviously experts in determining quality of such things) and then continued back to reality...serving our own fine pizza along a killer selection of craft beer!

Cheers friends!

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Reviving The Harrington Times

In the previous week we have:

• Hosted three groups of 20 diners; amid the usual smattering of two-tops, three-tops, four-tops, etc.
• Prepared 209 pizzas for dine-in and take-out (in a town of 288 people)
• Enjoyed steak and eggs for Sunday Brunch, prior to going to work selling pizza and beer
• Watched Dracula: Untold while devouring squash and pork enchiladas
• Received a gift of New Glarus brews from a set of hunters that literally come through once a year
• Shot a pheasant (Mike, specifically conquered this task)
• Began conducting a few flight searches in hopes of some spring travel
• Prepared a menu for Thanksgiving to be hosted at Abode 212
• Looked over numerous math tests to assist students at Burlington Schools (Melissa, specifically conquered this task)

And now, some thoughts on reviving the blog space.

Truly, there is no surprise that in opting to start a small restaurant/bar business has left us with little to no spare time. To that avail, blogging was among the first hobbies to find itself on the back burner, the back burner of our Laramie home nonetheless. So, a bit of searching and reviving, a bit of time management and adjustment has lead me to digging out a new pot. A new pot that will likely find itself on the back burner, however, it will at least be the back burner to our new home, our Burlington home, the home we affectionately call Abode 212.

In terms of managing a blog that was initiated with the purpose of chronicling big and mundane moments of a life together, it seems a bit overwhelming to jump into our story three years from the previous post. If we’d peacefully lived under a rock in those passing days, weeks and years, it’d be easy to pick up the story from there. However, we’ve been busier than we’ve ever been as The Harrington’s. We’ve learned infinitely more about running a business, tax structures, small town politics, regional success, old buildings, home-ownership, cocktail recipes, the service industry, hosting family and friends while working multiple full time jobs, etc. And personally, I want some of those stories chronicled. I want a resource, a place, where I can return and remember all those moments: big, small, mundane and heel-click worthy.

So, perhaps the next three years (and the previous three) will be presented in the least chronological of order The Harrington Times has ever known. Perhaps this “phase” will quickly die out and chronological order will be the least of any of our worries. For now, I’ll look forward to regaling any wayward readers with the latest tragedies and comedies of our little Burlington life. Fortunately, in this age of the “hashtag” I can easily take advantage of #memorymonday, #throwbackthursday/#tbt and #flashbackfridays/#fbf in order to document the moments which would otherwise get left on the back burner of our sweet Abode 212. All these moments, past and present, feeling ever crucial to the make-up of our lives, worthy of recording, of remembering and of sharing.

Cheers to revival friends! Revival of a blog, revival of stories and revival of writing habits (a personal favorite).

Bubble 2-3-cut: Bartending School

 

When deciding to purchase a business that has a strong bartending component, Mike and Melissa recognized a whole in their knowledge set. While they knew plenty about good food and were well-versed in craft beer, they were lacking in cocktail knowledge. Sure, they'd gone out for a few cocktails and had enjoyed plenty of perfect, beachy-type cocktails on previous travels to Hawaii and Vietnam, but actually knowing what to do to make a cocktail and stock a bar was well beyond their normal set of knowledge.

Fortunately, a Living Social deal popped up offering a weeklong course in bartending, hosted by Fort Collins Bartending Academy. Since the couple was living in Laramie at the time and it was late enough in the spring not to feel too threatened by weather, the duo signed up and began a week of after work travels to learn the art and skills of bartending.

The course ended up being a private endeavor for Mike and Melissa, as their timing and that of the instrutors didn't align with other students. This suited the situation perfectly, as the instructor, Gina, had tons of valuable bar/restaurant business experience and was able to offer M&M additional insight into what their future lives would hold. So, while learning how to count the perfect shot for all the classic cocktail combinations and essential differences between each type of liquor; the couple also learned how to choose glassware, the importance of inventory and a few tips on managing employees.

The class revolved around practicing speed pours, memorizing basic cocktail combinations, learning to pour accurately every time, understanding the concept of well - call - premium - super premium, and all the little tips and insights unique to the trade. Highlights included visiting Dancing Pines distillery (where Melissa whole-heartedly fell in love with a Chai liqueur and the DP Gin), being in Ft. Collins and having the opportunity to meet up with good friends in the area, being in Ft. Collins and having the opportunity to meet baby girl Cooley right after she was born (!) and touring New Belgium Brewery (we've posted about that already).

Now, a few years into owning their bar business, the couple is extremely grateful for the lessons they received during this weeklong course and have used that backbone of information to keep themselves and their business standing strong and serving up fun, well-poured cocktails...that is, when a patron doesn't have a beer-lovers pallet (since that's still the drink of choice at The Burlington Place and in the private stocks of Mike and Melissa).

 

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Spring Break 2013: A Lesson in Bourbon

 

While nearly 3 years has passed since touring the Wyoming Whiskey distillery in Kirby, Wyoming; some details remain clear: The crisp, Wyoming, spring air. The dull-glow of copper kettles. The bready-lively smell of the fermentation process. The intimacy of touring a facility as a group of four; long before the onset of tourist season. The balanced scent of oak barrels working their slow-sweet magic on Wyoming's first "legal" whiskey.

The tour and the facilities were truly an extraordinary and impressive experience. For Mike and Melissa, the tour was a perfect fit for their "Burlington-bar-purchase-focused-spring-break". Spring Break 2013 was the week in which Mike and Melissa took their finalized business plan to it's full fruition, looked over a ton of loan papers and made some kind of sense of what it would soon mean to own a small-town, Wyoming bar. Little did they know just how much Wyoming Whiskey would become an aspect of their liqour serving lives, the conversations that would rotate around this product which was so highly anticipated around the entire state.

Unfortunately, it has been painfully clear that Wyoming Whiskey has not won over the hearts of the people for whom Wyoming is home. Released before having had adequate time in a barrel, most Wyomingites first impression was that of paying too much for something too forceful and "green". Owning and more importantly, working a bar, the Harrington's have engaged in numerous conversations regarding this well labeled, poorly executed product. However, they've also had opportunites to try more recent batches and meet with members of the Wyoming Whiskey team - these have resulted in more positive experiences - a better tasting Whiskey (more time in a quality barrel is all it takes!) and down-to-earth sales reps that understand the value of ALL Wyoming beer, wine and liqour establishments.

Taking time to reflect back on this tour has provided a moment of grateful appreciation for the way the world works and the way things always come full circle, even the smallest of things.

 

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