Welcome, dear reader, to the first edition of me, Ned, telling you about things that happened this week at the Smokehaus. You are in for a treat!
Let's get to it.
Upgrading our facilities. The breadth of our business is expanding quickly and our workspace is bursting at the seams. To maximize our ability to produce and supply you with our food, we are in the process of remodeling our third-floor office with Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic walls, which will make the space food safe. That means food prep and production will begin happening on every level of the Smokehaus.
2. A successful new promotion. The first Great Cajun Finn Scavenger Hunt wraps up this week! What initially began as a collaborative project between several of us finally fell solely into my very capable hands. After chatting with several very happy winners/scavengers, I am pleased to call this promotion a great success. It tapped into the inherent sense of adventure that many of our customers share, and hiding the magnets/writing the clues was a blast for me. Every magnet* has been found, the quickest of which in a measly twelve minutes, and the slowest of which several days after the fact. Do you think we should make this an annual event? I’m already brainstorming ways to increase the challenge level and make the hunt more adventure-intensive for next season.
*Okay, I'm writing this on Thursday, so that might not be strictly true at the time of publishing. I'm doing my best.
3. An exciting pop-up and new booze. Vikre Distillery is releasing their brand-new Bent Paddle Black Malt Whiskey today, and we are taking part in the celebration with a pop-up in their space. This is the first time a NW Smokehaus pop-up will have taken place in Vikre’s awesome location, and we’re capitalizing on this momentous step in our ongoing relationship by serving sandwiches with gravlax cured in the new whiskey, in addition to tasty pork loin sandwiches. This party will also feature music by Emily Haavik & the 35s. You won’t want to miss this epic event two years in the making.
4.Hats! We finally have hats! Our design team went H.A.M. on comfortable and stylish camp caps featuring our Yin-Yang fish logo. They’re available for $20 in our shop and you’ll be sure to see them on the heads of many members of our staff. For those of you trying to stay warm, don’t fret: Smokehaus beanies are coming this Fall!
5. Umbrellas (-ellas, -ellas). We have been working doggedly this Summer to beautify and improve our patio space, and some of you have definitely experienced the woes of our first attempt at setting up sun umbrellas. Basically, it was absolute chaos. The first umbrellas we ordered were quite counter-intuitive and loved to catch wind, which led to epic struggles and slapstick-caliber hijinks for our staff and customers alike. Fortunately, the heroes at San Pellegrino came to our rescue and hooked us up with some awesome umbrellas to mount on our tables. Not only do they look slick, but they are also highly functional. As something of a nod to them, as well as to our numerous customers who thirst for unflavored soda water and San Pellegrino options beyond our standard Blood Orange, we’re going to be adding classy glass San Pellegrino bottles to our lineup in the near future. Stay tuned.
So, there you have it. Wasn't that fun? Tune in next week, same-ish time for more updates on life at Northern Waters Smokehaus, as interpreted by your old pal, Ned.