'Tis the Season!

Here it is...the holidays! Rumfish took a long break to recooperate from the last season. We traveled, shopped, SLEPT!, enjoyed family and friends...visiting two US coasts over six weeks with our toddler in tow! A break, not so much...a fury of activity that brought us back exhausted, yet invigorated! And, low and behold, we had a new veranda sticking off the front of our little spot. Igniting the fires in us...we completed the gesture and painted, reupolstered, revamped the menu...and now, Dear Friends, we are ready to sail into 2012!
So we got a little Sh**t from our local friends for being gone this summer/fall...I hope someday they will understand that working 7 days a week for 300 days takes a toll. Especially for our little Babe! But after 6 weeks straight with Mommy and Daddy I believe I heard her say...GO BACK TO WORK MOMMY AND DADDY...YOU ARE EXHAUSTING ME!
So now we face...The Babe's 2nd Bday next week, then the Christmas Jumble "you-know-what"...then New Years...then Mommy's 40th...then hopefully smooth sailing for the rest of 2012!
Now, after all of the niceties and bull shit...the brass tacks. Owning and operating a restaurant is tough. Owning and operating a restaurant in Belize (all my local comrades will agree) is fricking crazy! Then , too boot, you have this dog-eat-dog competition. Not built of the natural progression of basic development, but created by and exascerbated by...Trip Advisor! Seems lately there have been some shinangins about town, some covert operations and accusations...that people may be attempting to sabatoge restaurants with falsified Trip Advisor reviews. Hey, you know what...play nice...play fair...it will come back to you if you keep you eye on the ball of improvement and keep growing, changing, evolving to meet the needs to each and every existing and emerging market. It's a difficult challenge down here as our resources are incredibly limited and our market is mostly seasonal and tourist based. But at the end of the day, I would hope our fellow restauranteurs are keeping a clean nose. Karma is real...enough said!
Ok, yicky stuff aside, we are so excited to get into the thick of the season. We have promising projections from our fabulous resort & local friends and a wonderful staff that has been with us for years to guide us through!
We anticipate a year of excitement, making lot's of new friends-short term or long- that will keep our spirits alive and kicking in 2012!
We want to give thanks to everyone who supports us and those to come. We work hard to create the best possible dining experience for our customers. We hope that we succeed in that effort and enhance anyones day, vacation, honeymoon, travels, or what have you...and PLEASE feel completely free to share any joys, insights, suggestions you have in your experience at Rumfish with us at anytime. It is our pleasure to serve you...we hope it is your pleasure too!

From Mommy to Maitre 'd...

We have made it through...our first 2 years! Now we face our third season head on and with vigor! Placencia is booming and Rumfish is feeling the beautiful burden of being busy! The holidays reminded us that we have only until now been in our infancy. As "grown ups" and "on the map" we will be sleeping little and serving MORE! As it goes with the restaurant business...be careful what you wish for! But alas, we love it! Our biggest hurdle...finding a good and reliable babysitter so that The Momma can be at work! Our second biggest challenge...finding good labor! Ouch! It is beyond difficult to train and expect a level of service from those who have never dined in a "first world" restaurant, especially when that is a large percentage of our client base during the "season". Currently we have an amazing staff...but you never know what tomorrow will bring (one of our waitresses is preggo!). Our Chef is outstanding and we have outdone ourselves (personal opinion and shared by many guests!) this season in terms of our menu, specials, and...'special menus'. Braised Short Ribs (Valentine's)...one of the best meals I've had in my life! Deep fried Turkey...Cajun rub...Chipotle gravy for Thanksgiving...how about that Spicy Plantain Chowder?! This weeks Chunky Lobster Bisque in a Creole Bread Bowl rounded out Lobster season brilliantly. So sad to say goodbye to Lobster until June...but sweet and succulent Jumbo Shrimp have come in to save the day! We re-fashioned the Bisque with those little buggers and WOW...I will NOT tell Lobster what a fine stand-in job our prawn friends provided!
And, yes, "Mommy" and "Maitre 'd" is an odd and complexing duality I endure, and how lucky am I for it? Mommy by day, and serving my guests by night. Chatting it up, meeting fantastic people from all over the world...opening fabulous bottles of wine...drinking some of them...I cannot complain (although I am known to anyway!!). Did I mention accountant? Yes, a large part of my day is spent adding and subtracting (whilst my 14 month old tugs at my pant leg incessantly!) But, you are talking about someone who added simple addition equations backwards in an interview for a cocktail waitressing job in NYC during college. My excuse was that I was in the Arts School which did not require any mathematics. It was indeed embarrassing, but HEY...I could've quoted a Sonnet verbatim on the spot!
And so, today we dotted the last 'i' and crossed the last 't' on our Belize residency paperwork...it took a nice road trip to Belmopan and and a prick in the arm (needed HIV tests) to do it. But now (and I say this in a quiet voice so as not to jinx) I think we are finally through with the "application" and will hopefully receive our permanent residency soon. Our child being born here in Belize is of "little use" to us in regards to our actual legitimacy here in the eyes of the Belizean Government sadly...but hey, she carries two passports and that is just cool anyway.
What else can I say except the Gods have smiled on us and we love our little joint, our baby, and our life (and all of it's many challenges) here in Belize!

The Worst Blogger Ever!

I am truly the worst ever. I mean HELLO! What's the point then?? Well, it just so happened that we were very busy this year...and had a baby. YES. Rumfish had a baby this December and her name is Libby. Quite an interesting experience having a baby in Belize. I think thankfully I have nothing to compare it to.
But she is THE best. A perfect baby really and truly...she comes to work at Rumfish about every other day. Her strengths are getting along with others, interpersonal working relationships, communication, guest relations, and very detail oriented. Her weaknesses, really only stemming from lack of experience are, table maintenance, mixology, food & wine knowledge, and occasional tardiness. But we love her anyway!

Placencia Breeze Article!

Check it out!
http://www.placenciabreeze.com/0610/0610RumFish.html

Our sign!

This is our new RUMFISH sign...

Another day in paradise!

Another Sunday morning. Just returned from a long walk on the beach with husband and dogs. Breakfast at Cozy Corner. Coffee and the Caribbean. Perfect start to the day.

The housekeeper just left, now all is quiet. Puppies are beat and resting, and I am on my way to the hammock with about six issues of Coastal Living I borrowed from Z-Touch Salon! There is something working so hard that makes even 1/2 day of rest the most rewarding. We will go back to the beach in an hour and soak up some sun and play with the dogs in the water. Swim, read...yes, another day in paradise I guess.

Last week was a doozy though! 125 cases of wine arrived in Belize City and John had the lucky fortune of having to pick it all up. He road with Norman the Baker. 4:30 am departure, clearly Norman did not have time to tame his afro. So, they hit the road and arrived back at Rumfish about 20 hours later- seeing one new battery, about 15 stops to shop for restaurant stuff, and 2 breakdowns on the Hummingbird Highway along the way. By 2 am Norman (who's fro was now about a foot in circumference and had collected some particles along the way), and John lugged all 125 cases into the house.

The next day, Friday the 13th, was John's birthday! He was given a schedule in the morning that included a hair appointment (desperately wanted by John) a massage, some nap time, little cozy time with the wife...etc. Dinner at French Connection was wonderful- pork chop and duck- and at 9 pm a DJ and bday party at Rumfish. We sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed cake among throngs of friends- it was a good one.

Saturday we had our second LARGE order for Peckish Provisioning. Scurrying around picking up last minute things- we loaded onto the boat around 5pm, just as we finished the guests arrived. Happy, and a job well done.

Got the wines loaded into the restaurant, inventoried, updated the wine list, and now we can actually take a minute to breathe today and enjoy our life in the Caribbean.

GQ Mag features Rumfish y vino March 2009 issue!!

Rumfish y vino is featured in GQ magazine this month
March 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turn to page 110 and see a picture of our ceviche (although they misspell and call it Seviche! We have 2 nice mentions, one is the photo caption, the other is in the article itself- "for a more upscale evening...try Rumfish y vino where the special is usually what was caught that morning..."