Mäni’s Blog Café

Our New Web Site!

As of today, Monday February 6, 2006 at noon our new website is up!  We're pleased to present our site at: Mäni’s Bakery Cafe Website.

All our posts from this blog and all Newsletters, menus, stories, information, etc. is all now in one place.

Thank you for your support!  Please visit us at our new home on the web manisbakery.com.

Website Launch Update

If you want to be the first to know about the launch of Mäni’s new website, please subscribe to our mailing list.  You'll be first on your block to see the new site!  We're counting down to noon on Monday!...

manisbakery.com

News of the website front

We’re getting close to going live. Roughly one week ago, we’d asked for your participation in helping to test the new site prior to launch. We were incredibly delighted to find over 60 people reply to our request (I’m still excited)! The test was performed this week & your feedback was well received. The new website will be live before Valentine’s Day & we hope to hear about all of our fabulous customers (that’s you) making good use of the information being offered. Share your experiences on our blog, check out our menu, share us with your friends, ask us questions, and much more!

Hollywood & My Job at Mäni’s

This story is one reason why blogging for us at Mäni’s on Fairfax is cool.  Yesterday we got a call from MTV to see if they could shoot a segment of their new series (launching in April) called The Hills.  It's a show starring the leads from Laguna Beach, LC & Jason. Of course they want to shoot right at lunch time.  But it's Hollywood calling, so I work out the details for them to film without impacting our lunch guests....hummmm, that part's not so easy, but we make it happen.

But what I didn't realize would happen, was that so many customers were intrigued by the filming, and some knew the old show, the stars and we're telling me 'what's going on' with this whole Laguna Beach morphed into The Hills story line, about the characters, etc. Others just got to see something different today at Mäni’s.  So a regular Thursday lunch scene was really a scene and added entertainment at Mäni’s today.  The show's debut is April and many of our willing guests can call their friends and family around the country to tell them they'll be on an episode of 'The Hills', providing they signed a release!

Since I was born and raised in L.A., I'm not ususally big into the whole Hollywood scene, but hey afterall I work with aspiring actors and even an opera singer! (Let's see if you can figure out who that is??)

So which ones of you reading this were here having lunch on Thursday February 2, 2006 and can fill us in on more of this show, LC & Jason and what you thought of the filming?  We'd love to hear from you!!

Potato Month

February is Potato Month!  Bet you didn't know the humble potato had a month all of its own.  Check out The Healthy Potato for nutrition info and potato recipes. 

Better yet, stop by Mäni’s on Fairfax and order a side of our fabulous organic roasted Yukon Gold potatoes with your breakfast, lunch or dinner.

A Favorite Holiday of Mine

As we prepare to have a really fun Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share my thoughts. Perhaps you may identify with my thoughts on the Red Heart holiday just a couple weeks away. Some of the reasons why I enjoy it so much is because it's fun, romantic, red, chocolatety & breaks up the winter days with something special to celebrate.

With warm thoughts of this day on the mind, we've dressed up the restaurant with splashes of red. If you stop by you'll notice just how excited we are about celebrating RED with you! Healthy food, good people & most of all, scrumptious desserts to share with your love, or keep to yourself. However you choose to participate - breakfast, lunch, dinner, a heart-shaped dessert - come to Mäni's and check us out.

News & Soups at Mäni’s on Fairfax

We’re excited to introduce our new and improved website, scheduled to launch before Valentine’s Day. The site will feature our Blog Café, Morsel Newsletter, Menu, FAQ, and much more. Stay tuned!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s never too soon to start thinking about sharing a dessert from Mäni’s with someone special - Truffle Heart Cookies & Cakes, Mandle Heart Cakes & Raspberry Cakes. YUM!

Our Soup Menu is scheduled to change next week. From January 30th until February 12th, 
the restaurant will be serving the following soups (made fresh daily):

Monday CHICKEN NOODLE
Ingredients: Chicken broth, Chicken Breast, Onions, Carrots, Celery, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Chives, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Egg Noodles.

Tuesday LAST WINTER MARBLE SOUP
Ingredients: Vegetable Stock, Butternut Squash, Onions, Celery, Sweet Potatoes, Sea Salt, Black pepper, Yams, Fruit Reduction, Balsamic Vinegar, Red Beets.

Wednesday TOMATO LENTIL DELUX
Ingredients: Vegetable stock, Green lentils, Cilantro, Celery, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Onions, Tomatoes, garlic, Canola Oil, Sea salt, Black Pepper, Baby Spinach.

Thursday POTATO LEEK
Ingredients: Vegetable stock, Potatoes, Leeks, Canola Oil, Onions, Oregano, Thyme, Garlic, Sea Salt, Black pepper, Roll Oats.

Friday THREE BEAN SOUP
Ingredients: Vegetable Sock, Canola Oil, Small Navy, Green Split Pea, Black Eyed, Carrots, Celery, Butternut Squash, Parsley, Basil, Garlic, Dill, Sea Salt, Black pepper.

Saturday JULIO’S ENCHILADA SOUP
Ingredients: Vegetable Sock, Canola Oil, Garlic, Pinto Beans, Onions, Kalamata Olives, Peeled Tomatoes, Organic Yellow Corn Tortillas, Enchilada Sauce, Cilantro, Sea Salt Black pepper, Organic Tofu.

Sunday BLACK BEAN SOUP
Ingredients: Vegetable Sock, Canola Oil, Tomatoes, Black Beans, Carrots, Celery, Onions, Garlic, Cumin, Cilantro, Cayenne Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Chili  Pepper, Chili Powder.

All of our soups with the exception of Chicken Noodle are Vegan.

Improving Convenience & Service

You may have read the recent article Carl posted regarding the re-programming of our telephone system.  When you call Mäni's on Fairfax at: 323 938-8800  you will now hear more precise options.  You'll be able to get to a team member faster.  Please let us know if you like these changes.

Are there other areas where you'd like to see a change?  Let us know.  We hope you appreciate our new livlier color scheme and new lighting fixtures in the restaurant.  By the time you read this we'll have changed the color again on the south wall where we had and will re-hang our historical photos. We decided to do this because of your feedback.  The new color is deeper and warmer.  We'd like to know how you like this improvement.

Remember there are many ways to contact us as you read our blog.  You can click on the author's name which is hyper-linked.  That will send you email directly to the author here at Mäni's.  You can call us, or of course you can write a comment on the article posted.  Thanks for blogging with us!

Larry

Is Mäni's Santa Monica a real Mäni's or Not?

Recently a customer asked us, what's the difference between the Mäni's on Fairfax and the one on Main Street.  So here's the answer:

In 2000 Mäni's on Fairfax, the original Mäni's, owned and operated by its co-founder, sold the Main Street business to a gentleman who wanted to operate that location as a Mäni's licensee.  He was a qualified food service operator.  However since that time the business was sold two more times.  The current owners are contractually bound to purchase our bakery goods and not sell any other bakery's products in order to use our trade name, Mäni's.  All the food they prepare in their kitchen for their restuarant is un-guided by us.

Besides the above the owners of Mäni's on Fairfax are passionate about delivering food that's good and good for you.  We take the time to work with our Chef and team of bakers to design food that's healthier and then take the time to manage our menus, display cases, run this blog site, re-design our website, etc.  We've been doing so since 1989.

Yes, the biggest single difference is definately the passion.

Can you take the heat?

In a recent tip on RealAge.com there's information about Capsaicin, the stuff in chili peppers that gives them heat.  Here's what RealAge.com has to say:

Capsaicin, the compound in chili peppers that gives them their heat, may help protect against liver cancer, according to a recent study in which capsaicin helped kill cancerous liver cells. Use hot salsa made with chili peppers to flavor your favorite foods, such as omelets, mixed vegetable dishes, and burritos.

It's the white flesh around the seeds where the heat resides.  Read more about capsaicin here.