Uncle Sal and the Prospective Proprietor (Episode 62)

Uncle Sal set his pint of Spud's on the table and sat down across from Gavin Bjarnason, who had some tall blue drink in front of him. Uncle Sal set his asparagus-colored porkpie hat next to his pint. "Hey Gav. How ya been?"

"Never better. I just got engaged and I have an idea for a restaurant that I think is really good."

"That's a tough racket," Uncle Sal said. Lots of restaurants go under in the first year or two."

Gavin rotated his pinkie ring around his finger and waved his hand. "Yeah, I know all that. I have a great idea, though. It's unique. Plus, I'm not going to kick this off until I have everything in place. A lot of restaurants fail because the owner wants to do to much. I'm taking a Clint Eastwood approach. I know my limitations."

Gavin took a sip of his blue drink and Uncle Sal leaned forward. "So, you gonna tell me your great idea?"

After dabbing his mouth with his napkin, Gavin said, "It's a Mediterranean restaurant. We're going to serve things like fegato d'oca con fichi."

"The heck is that? Sounds like something caught in your throat."

"It's a dish with goose liver and figs. No restaurant in the area makes it."

"Nobody makes it because ain't nobody can pronounce it to order it."

Gavin laughed and said, "It's really good. Rich, but delicious. Here's the kicker, though. We're not going to use any plates. I mean, you have to set yourself apart, right? We're going to set ourselves apart by making dishes no one else makes and by not using plates." He sipped his drink again.

"No plates? The heck are you gonna serve food on? Pieces of plywood?"

"No, we're going to use big palm leaves."

Uncle Sal rubbed his chin, then took a sip of his pint. "Hmmm. Well, that certainly is setting you apart: serving a fig dish in a tall frond."

This episode featured:
Omar Ostergaard as Uncle Sal
Jesper Karklins as Gavin Bjarnason
and
Jellybean Merengue as the pinkie ring.

Tune in next week when Uncle Sal says, "If you don't know where you're going, you might end up somewhere else."