Pulp Fiction

"If you want me to stay, I'll be around today, to be available for you to see. But I have to go, so then you'll know, for me to be here, I got to be me. Never be in doubt of what I'm all about, you can't take me for granted and smile, because when I'm gone, can't be reached by the phone, cause I promise I'll be gone for awhile..."

Sly and the Family Stone "If you want me to stay"













Well, here we go again! Let me start by saying that I apologize to all of those customers that were excited about my return to the Mpls/St. Paul culinary circle, only to be met with immediate controversy - yet again. I greatly appreciate your following and support. Those of you that came to visit me at Bourbon Street Steak House and saw the magnificence of the place - it's architecture and style, knew that it was a project that I was truly proud of. As I came out to greet each table, you all seemed pleased, satisfied and sincerely gratified by the cuisine that I took great care in developing and presenting to you.
Bourbon Street Steak House was to be my tribute to the great cuisine of New Orleans, and pay homage to the type of Southern hospitality and bon temps (good times) the namesake is known for. So what happened!!!???
Once upon a time, in a land kinda far away, - So. Saint Paul, there was a huge castle with no one to rule in it. I was called upon to create a restaurant suitable enough for such a grand setting. For two months, day and night, I toiled and created such a place - Bourbon Street Steak House. The towns people and people from other lands across the river said it was good, and they began to come. The newspapers and the ever feared critics all said - Big E is back! (In a good way!)

Jeremy Iggers Review - The Rake

Rachel Hutton Review - CityPages

And people ate and drank - steaks, gumbo, jambalaya and smoking hurricanes - and cheered,"all praises! all praises!"

When the owner saw that all was good, and the cake had been baked, how much better would the cake be, if it didn't have to be shared? Have it and eat it too...good plan if you can get it to work. Not an original plan by any means - many have tried. But what the hey - let's give it a shot.
So, he let me know that he would be taking over from this point on, and that I should have no trouble getting picked up elsewhere. "Come back," he asked, "every two weeks or so, to give us a once over to see if we are getting the sauce right. You'll be given some sort of compensation of course, I don't know what yet - I'll think of something fair."

Shakespeare once asked, "what's in a name?" My answer, integrity, branding, association, trust and last but certainly not least - "$$$$$$$" that's what. Just ask the place with the golden arches. I didn't even have to say their name and you Mcknew who I was Mctalking about. So I'll use your name and cuisine while you stand proud on the unemployment line and boast to others how [I thought of that] - now, how long does my benefits run?
Well that's enough crying over spilled Gumbo, evacuation was in order, because when it hurricanes, it pours!!!

My grandfather's name was Solomon Austin. Named so after the wise biblical King, and wore the name with what I believe the same wisdom given the King. He told me once, "If you dig a ditch for someone, make sure it's big enough to fit you in case you fall in."