I have been avoiding e-mail, phone calls and even in-person visits because I know the question I will be asked is, “When are you opening?” I have wanted to know the answer to this myself for many months, but I haven’t been able to predict it because of so many unknown variables. Things are finally starting to change, and the time has come where we feel comfortable setting a soft opening date for Monday, October 22. I’m calling it a soft opening because I’m only notifying my friends, family and Lovescool readers about the date, not the general media. We still want a couple weeks to work out the kinks before we have our “grand” opening, although any opening feels grand to me.

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We have been working 20 hours a day to get the store ready, and it’s almost done. I wanted to post more about the experience, but every time I come home I’m so tired I go straight to sleep, or I take time to talk to Andrew about something other than cookies. So many post-worthy things have happened in the past few months, like the time I electrocuted myself on the fuse box, or dropped oil based primer in my eye while painting the ceiling, or hailed a cab with a utility sink in hand, and much more, but sometimes it takes an extra spark to get me to write. That leads me to this week’s adventure - the oven fire.

We moved the equipment in two weeks ago and the electrictian came last week to pull the right plugs and make sure everything was properly powered. The oven was the last thing to hook up. This happened on Tuesday, and by Wednesday we had a problem. The window delivery man came to the store and smelled smoke in the basement, and called our contractor, who called the fire department and told Andrew to go to the store. Andrew ran from Union Square to the store, only to find fire trucks and all of our neighbors standing outside. He called me, and I had a mini heart attack. Losing the store at this point, just before we open, would have been devastating.

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Amai rents a space at the Artisan Baking Center in Long Island City to do our baking. It has been a wonderful way to get up and running quickly without having to sign a long term lease or invest in commercial equipment before we were ready. The Artisan Baking Center (also known as Mi Kitchen es Su Kitchen, a program run by organizer Kathrine Gregory) was featured in the New York Times dining section today, complete with a big picture of me in a hair net. I was at the kitchen that day working on new recipes for the store. In the picture you will see some test ingredients for Earl Grey & Currant scones (which came out delicious), and Green Tea Ganache tarts (which failed).

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One dessert bar is down for the count. It looks like Will Goldfarb’s Room 4 Dessert has been closed as a result of “ownership issues”. It seems like Goldfarb and his financial backers no longer agree, and they couldn’t come to an agreement that would keep Goldfarb as Pastry Chef at the current location. This is the general rumor, although I’m sure that’s not quite the full story.

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My friends and family always ask how the store is coming along, and I never really know how to answer. We’re in the middle of construction, and I know we’re making progress, but it feels like it is taking an eternity to see any real change. Even though we signed the lease on April 1, we didn’t start construction until June because of the time required to get permits. Since the building is designated as a landmark, we had to submit the architecture plans to the Landmark Association before we could get approval from the New York City Department of Buildings. This held us up for about 2-3 additional weeks, but we didn’t have a choice.

Now that we have our permits we are trying to get things done as quickly as possible, and our contractor tells us he thinks construction will be complete by the end of July. My goal is to open in August, so I am keeping my fingers crossed and rubbing every lucky thing I can find. It will all depend on the Department of Health approvals before we can finally open the doors.
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Trying to open a retail store while running a wholesale operation is enough to make any baker crazy, but when you combine it with my perfectionist personality it is a recipe for a melt down. I am completely overwhelmed, and all of this stress has torn my mind and body apart. I had the flu for the last 5 days of my vacation, and my body has made it clear that enough is enough. I need to relax and remember what it’s like to have fun.

After resting for a few days, I got rid of my flu and built up my desire to bake again. I wanted to do something that wouldn’t tax my brain or create a mound of dirty dishes, so I decided to make old-fashioned American cupcakes for the 4th of July. By American, I mean Betty Crocker. In the semi-homemade spirit of Sandra Lee, I bought Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix and frosting at my local supermarket and kept things as simple as humanly possible.

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My little green tea cookies took home the Golden Scoop Award for Best Bakery Recipe! The award ceremony was held on June 18, 2007 at the French Culinary Institute. The award for Best Bakery Recipe was up first, and my fellow nominees included:

Caramelized Banana Bread Pudding
Sara Molinaro, Executive Baker and Jim Lahey, Owner
Sullivan Street Bakery

The Beesting
Melissa Murphy, Owner/Pastry Chef
Sweet Melissa Patisserie

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I just got back from the World Tea Expo and have many updates to give on the store, but I have to take a moment to spread the word about a new Treats Truck I learned about. Owner and baker Kim Iwa has a big, grey, “mobile bakery” truck that she will be driving around NYC filled with treats that are “not too fancy, but always delicious.” Her offerings include classics like oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treats and brownies. I have to give this girl a lot of credit for braving the city streets in a huge truck and I can’t wait until she comes to my neighborhood so I can give it a try. Check the Treats Truck website or call 212-691-5226 for updates on where the truck will be.

This week the schedule is:

Wednesday, June 13: Upper West Side by the Natural History Museum
Thursday, June 14: Midtown TBA
Friday, June 15: Brooklyn TBA
Saturday, June 16: Bond St. and Lafeyette
Sunday, June 14 : Upper West Side by Natural History Museum

My little sister is getting married! I’m so happy for her and think it is going to be so much fun to put together a wedding. I live in New York and she lives in Los Angeles, so planning will be a challenge, but luckily we have the internet. I started looking for bridesmaid dresses online, and somehow I ended up on an article about the latest trends in wedding cakes. YumSugar.com interviewed three cake designers - Colette Peters, Susan Morgan and Edith Meyer - who said their customers want them to:

1) Keep it personal: Matching your dress or putting a picture of your dog on it (this might really happen to my sister’s cake) is ok.

2) Make it unique: Unusual shapes are interesting.

3) Use color: Hot pink, orange, spring green or anything else that matches the theme of the wedding are possible.

YumSugar’s wedding trend investigation also includes cupcakes and a new kind of cheesecake (literally made by stacking rounds of cheese.) Personally, I’m a traditionalist and like the idea of one good, old-fashioned, sweet wedding cake. The thought did cross my mind to try to make a cake for my sister, but I think it will be too difficult to transport the equipment, and I’m sure we’ll already have enough to do. I don’t know any cake designers in Los Angeles. We’d love to hear your suggestions. Let the planning begin…

Bonus Link: A great wedding cake round-up on Style Me Pretty

Congratulations Kristin and Keith!

Amai’s Green Tea Sweet recipe is a finalist in the Best Bakery Recipe category for Pastryscoop.com’s Golden Scoop Awards. The three finalists in the category will compete in a blind taste test on June 14, and the winner will be announced on June 18, 2007 in an awards ceremony at the French Culinary Institute. I am so honored to be included as a finalist, and can’t wait to see the other recipes included in the category. I submitted the recipe for fun, but didn’t seriously consider being a finalist/winner. It feels good to be recognized as a chef. In my mind I’m still a computer nerd.

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