I'm just living the dream!

Friday, September 9th, 2022.

I love a rainy day. Instead of bringing me down, it lifts me up so high. It’s refreshing. Regenerating. Cleansing. Today is a rare rainy day in San Diego. As I drove to work at my restaurant with my gorgeous, kind and supportive wife Emmi and our beautiful 2 week old son Finneas I found myself in the most content place. Somehow, in spite of all the difficult times the last 2 years have brought, we are in the most content and blessed season. Somehow we made it to this moment and damn it feels good!

As we enter the 4th quarter I am excited for all the events on the horizon. We kicked it off this week with a private event where the guests were several significant political figures who were very complementary of our space and the event. I know Susan (my dear friend who inspired my food journey… miss you every day!) is watching down on me with such pride.

We have welcomed 2 wonderful additions to the Millport Family. Our baker, Alexander. And my new FOH rockstar, Mariah. They are still in the training process but I am so excited to have them. They are truly the perfect fit.

Emmi will be spending more time at home with Finn and continuing to work on the behind the scenes bits of the business. Hopefully you’ll be seeing her at some of our 4th quarter events.

Please join us for one of our events. Chef’s Suppers, Clambakes, Holiday Market, Quick Pickling Class & NEW Dinner Nights! I’m so excited to be back in the kitchen focused on suppers. That’s where I thrive.

Thanks to all who have sent love, gifts, prayers and warm wishes throughout our pregnancy, losses and our long unplanned birth. We appreciate this community so much! Love y’all!

We're heading home!

Wow. I can’t believe it’s September 2021. The last time I was home was November 2019! That trip will go down in history as the time I flatlined in Time Square. Scariest moment of my life. And the rest of the days of that trip, from Brooklyn to Syracuse and Syracuse to Millport, are all a blur. Before that I guess it was summer 2018 that I actually spent time at home. That was the summer I met Emmi.

I can’t believe what has transpired in our lives since 2018.
I bought a restaurant. LOL. What?!

When I created the brand and business model for Millport I committed to myself that I would always remember where it came from. Remember my roots. In all that planning I told myself that I would go home
1-2 weeks each year to reconnect. To get inspired. Getting derailed by a pandemic wasn’t part of my plan. But as I approach the 1 year mark I decided that it’s time to get back to Millport, NY.

Next Tuesday Emmi and I will leave for a week in New York state. No mistake on the timing, as I hear the first colors of fall are showing. This is my favorite time of year at home. The days are still warm and the nights cool. We are both dreaming of a good thunder storm, fingers crossed. More than ever I am needing some fresh air and a clear head. This last year has been the most stressful of my 41 years on this planet. Not just buying a restaurant during a pandemic but Emmi finished her first year in grad school at UCSD. Having heart surgery! Oh, did I mention we are on a fertility journey? We have tried 7 times with much disappointment, 2 miscarriages and such profound heartbreak.

Needless to say, we need a timeout. A reset. Some time with nature and family. I need to drive those country roads, hear the crickets chirping and the crick running, eat my moms poached eggs in the morning and play with my niece and nephews.

We will be closing the restaurant to give our staff a well needed break. To shut everything down and give the old red girl a minute to rest and be quiet. Our ghost tenant, Franny, will be happy to have the place to herself for a while. I’m thankful she’s there to keep things safe.

We will be back on Thursday, September 23rd. But in the meantime, follow us on Instagram as we will be trying to post little bits from our trip so y’all don’t forget about us. We can’t wait to share a little of the real Millport with you. Find us on Insta @eatmillport.

We love y’all! Thanks for supporting my dream. I couldn’t do this without every single one of you.

June? Whoa!

Can y’all believe it’s June already? I just had my 41st birthday! My birthday used to mean spring was almost over and I couldn’t stand the idea of summer coming (not fond of the heat). Suddenly I’m thrilled about it. We only have outdoor dining at Millport, even before the pandemic, so summertime means busy time and I can’t wait! We are in a mad dash to be ready for it.

Lately we have been experiencing some growing pains. We went from things being manageable for just the 2 of us to HOLY CRAP, what’re we gonna do? LOL. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled things are taking off! But, I did not anticipate how this pandemic and the state of “things” in the restaurant industry would leave us struggling to build a staff. The buzz on social is real you guys. It is so hard to find people. I won’t open that can of worms but hope it helps give context to this share time.

Our weekends have gotten so busy it is hard for Emmi and I to keep up. Our wait time for food/coffee can get up to 30 minutes or occasionally even longer. Having such a small kitchen makes this even more difficult. When there are 8-10 tickets up (both dine in and to-go/call in orders) the clock ticks so fast. I blink and it’s been half an hour. We’ve been pretty lucky with not getting bad reviews over this but there’ve been a few. All I can say is that we are really trying y’all. Trying to keep up. Trying to staff up.

We are training 2 new staff members. Heather is currently training as cashier/barista but she is so awesome I plan to quickly move her into a Manager-in-training position and CAN NOT WAIT!! You will be seeing much more of her starting July 1st. Shelly is our new cook and she will be serving up breakfast/lunch a few days a week as well as saving my ass stepping in on day prep. We are still looking for weekend help!!!

There are still many questions about what our plans are. My plan for Millport has always been the same. A little breakfast/lunch spot with great coffee and a simple menu, a market with charcuterie, grab-n-go foods, flowers, pickles, pastries, etc & our supper garden (back patio) which will be reserved for supper and special/private events. All of those things are still a work in progress. My goal this first year has been to stay in business and financially making decisions that keep us on that path. So, spending on fun projects has not been in the budget. There are far more expenses than I ever knew about. Keep in mind, I do not have restaurant experience. Neither does Emmi. But I do know a few things about running a small business and I went into this adventure with 2 goals…. First, to keep my eyes on the money at all times and make sound financial decisions no matter how hard or long I had to physically work “in” it. Second, to remember why I chased this dream in the first place.

I have made a few mistakes along the way. One of them was thinking I had to spend all my time focused on breakfast/lunch since that’s what had been here for so long before Millport. I have decided to begin the process of stepping away from that in order to refocus on my goal and vision.

We will be changing our daytime menu as we transition into the market opening. As of next week, expect to see some of the dishes come off of the menu. We will be moving into the direction of more grab-n-go and less made-to-order foods. This will also help us to keep up during our busy times. My hope is to have the market open in mid July. There are many labor hours to make that happen and not many available. (Time is the hardest thing for us right now.) When the market opens we will return to allowing guests to come inside for ordering and shopping. Our front patio will remain open during the day for self-seated dining. Our back patio will remain exclusively for supper and private events.

Our Supper Garden will become my primary focus. The moment we started welcoming guests back for supper I was reminded that is where my passion is. As the world continues healing and coming back from the pandemic I am eager to get back to what I love, bringing people together around our community table. We will still offer our regular Millport supper menu and we will feature new events monthly like grazing parties, clambakes, farm dinners, bbq nights, etc. We have been offering private events for about 2 months and that side of business is growing as well.

One last little thing…. there’ve been a lot of conversations lately about masks and the June date to drop masks. A few guests have recently commented on this when we’ve asked them to please wear a mask. If you know me/us then you know we have been one of the most Covid safe restaurants in San Diego. I do not intend to stop being one now. Regardless of what you or I believe about the future of this pandemic, one thing is a no-brainer for me… wearing mask while inside for a few minutes isn’t going to hurt anyone. So, we will continue to require masks while inside at Millport. If you are shopping, placing an order, using our restroom or just dropping in to say hi, we will ask you to wear masks until we feel it is safe to do otherwise. We will also be providing masks for those who do not have one.

Ok friends, stay tuned to our social for upcoming news and events. I could not be more excited for this next chapter of Millport. My dream of owning a restaurant is coming to life and I keep pinching myself, how can this be real?! Thanks for sticking with us through the growing pains. For coming back, for telling friends, for being patient and for showing us love and support. This has been the most challenging season of my life. Both business and personal. But every day when I wake up I still have these little butterflies in my stomach that remind me IT IS WORTH IT! Thank you Thank you Thank you! I love you guys so much and can’t wait to move forward in this journey with all of you!

We got our feet wet, and now...

Valentine’s weekend we decided to invite a few of our long time followers to join us for a private prix fixe supper. We took 2 reservations each night, the menu was fixed w/ a base ticket price and we maintained strict covid guidelines. What a blast!

I have been worried about allowing people into our space since the very beginning of this pandemic. I fear for our health and safety as well as y’all. I will admit, however, I have truly missed plating food. What a refreshing weekend! I had so much fun. Emmi and I ended Sunday night crawling home in pain and exhaustion after working 4 back to back 16hr days but well worth the gratification.

I can’t believe I bought a restaurant during a pandemic. What a maniac!
Making all of these difficult decisions everyday is not for wimps. I struggle. A lot!
Having gotten that truth out in the open, I gotta add, I’m craving more of these moments.

After much careful contemplation, I have decided to start taking limited reservations for a prix fixe supper in our back patio area. Our Supper Garden is not complete but we have made many changes to brighten and refresh the space. We think you will enjoy it. We plan to finish our redesign sometime near Easter but for now it is ready for diners.

This event will be offered Thursday-Saturday evenings.
Our prix fixe supper will include the following:
-House Popcorn
-Amuse Bouche
-Appetizer
-Entree
-Dessert

There will be a fixed ticket price of $75 per person which will include tax and gratuity.
We will offer 3 tables with a total of 6 reservations per night. Our seating times will be 5:00pm or 7:30pm. You will be allowed 1hr & 45 min seated. More information and covid guidelines will be shared upon making reservations. Reservations requests can be made by text message to 619.884.8096.

6 feet is not our idea of a safe distance. At Millport you will be much further away from other parties. You will be sharing a large space with only 2 other tables. That is our idea of safe.

In addition, we will be rolling out a Prix Fixe Brunch event as well! So exciting!

This is our next step toward reopening. We hope to soon open our front patio for breakfast/lunch as well. Stay tuned for more on that.

Emmi and I look at the Covid numbers daily. San Diego is not out of danger. The numbers are coming down but they are still high. Please, join us in continuing to prevent the spread. Wear masks. Wash hands regularly. Don’t touch your face. Keep social distancing.
We love y’all and are so excited about the future of Millport.

A Little Break

Happy New Year!

I am so excited for 2021 and all the adventures we are about to embark upon. In fact, I'm kicking it off big, starting with some self-care.

Some of you already know I have a little heart condition called SVT. Simply described, I've got a misfire in my heart that likes to cause problems at the most random and inconvenient times. It has given us a couple scares in the last year so my cardiologist decided it's time to try fixing it.

This Tuesday I'll be heading in for a minor surgery to see if we can fix the misfire and get me back in tip top shape so I can fully enjoy all this new year promises to bring.

Unfortunately, all of that means I have to take a little break. A few days pre-surgery to get me safely off the medication and about a week following just to take it easy and reduce stress... And let me tell you, the restaurant life is not without stress.

Emmi & I decided this was probably the best time for this to happen given the current restrictions & the eminent continuation of the stay-at-home order.

We decided to share this chapter of our story with you because: 1) It's an odd time to just say "hey, we're closed for 2 weeks!" Yikes!

2) We want Millport to be about community and as such we want y'all to be a part of the ups and the downs of this journey.

We will be closed January 1st-12th! Re-opening on the 13th, renewed, rested & ready to make 2021 the best year ever!

We love y'all so much! Thanks for all the well wishes and for all your support.

a pandemic won’t stop us!

What an unprecedented time to be alive. What an unusual time to buy a restaurant.

For those of you who don’t know who we are;

We have been running the pop-up supper restaurant inside Red House Kitchen since February 2019. Neat Underground was a swanky little secret spot that offered a monthly menu and unique vibe to locals in the South Bay.

Bethany (owner of Red House Kitchen) & I met a few years ago when her son Cooper and my niece Adelin became friends in Kinder. We got to know each other at the many kiddo school event and parties.

In December 2018 at my sisters annual holiday party, Bethany and I chatted about Neat Underground, which at the time was in a transition period. Neat Underground began as a secret traveling dinner party in San Diego and had become too big for its britches. I had just returned from a 4 month spring/summer in New York state where I had worked at my sister Erin’s dessert and wine bar to learn more about running a restaurant. (That is where I met Emmi!!!) When Bethany offered me the opportunity to use the RHK space in their closed hours I jumped at the chance. It seemed like the next stepping stone.

As Covid-19 tore through the industry relentlessly, RHK struggled to survive. When Bethany came to me with the announcement of their eminent closure I had to make a decision fast.

Emmi and I decided to jump! We made Bethany an offer for all the contents of RHK and to our humbled surprise, she accepted. We knew that changes needed to be made to the business in order to make it successful. It had been many years since the space had been updated. It was time for a fresh new look and IB needed something unique.

Millport will be many things.

It will offer a breakfast/lunch cafe on our front patio where we will serve breakfast sandwiches with real NY bagels from Big City Bagel Co., scrambles, pastries, seafood dishes, lunch sandwiches and more. We proudly serve James Coffee Co., from Little Italy with a house made cold brew, signature espresso drinks and our favorite Organic Heirloom Ethiopian coffee.

It will offer a market with daily grab-n-go options, breads, house made lemondes & teas, cold pressed juices, pickled veggies, preserves, fresh produce, flower cart, seasonal & novelty items and more.

It will offer a beautiful new Supper Garden featuring a Western New York themed menu (seasonal) with dishes like Venison Tenderloin, Trout & Game Bird. Special events like our Chef’s Supper’s, VIP Menu Tastings, Pickling Classes, Charcuterie Parties and more.

Above all else Millport will be a place like none other in San Diego. Millport will be a place to feel at home. Where you can count on a friendly face. A smile. A genuine, “How are you doing today?” Emmi & I share a deep love for connection and family. Not just our relatives but you! Our biggest wish for Millport is for it to be our little Village. Your village. A down-home place to gather, to fill your bellies and to know that all are welcome at our table.