Page 36 of Long Shot

I return to my office and sit down at my desk, continuing to contemplate. We’re all meeting in the morning to talk about the new menu. I’m looking forward to that.

“So that drunken salsa was a hit last night,” I say when we’re all seated at a table in the empty bar the next morning. “Another winner, Sid.”

“Thanks.” Sid doesn’t meet my eyes.

Yeah, something is going on here.

“We’d love to hear more ideas from you,” I continue. “We want to redo the entire menu. That’s why Carrie’s here. We’re going to update the website, as well. I’m thinking we should try to get some of the top food critics in the city to come and try things. That would really get the word out and bring in more customers.”

“Jesus,” Sid mutters, running a finger beneath his collar.

“Like Betsy Harrington from theSan Diego Press,” Beck suggests.

“And that big food blogger,” Carrie says. “Joy Dizon. She has tons of followers.”

“So do you,” Marco points out, and he and Carrie share a smile.

“Yeah, you do,” I say. “We already talked about you posting some stuff on Instagram.”

“I’d be happy to.”

I set down our existing menu on the table. “This is what we have now. I’m not saying we have to scrap everything, but guests do seem to like things more when they’re freshly made.”

“You know, we’re gonna need more staff,” Sid says. “If we’re gonna make the chips fresh every day . . . plus the salsas . . . I don’t have time to do all that. And if we’re going to be making more stuff from scratch, that takes time.” He swallows.

“Hmmm. Good point. It does take more time. Frozen burgers and chicken fingers are pretty quick.” I look at Danny. “What do you think?”

Danny gives a grim smile. “I think we need to know if this is actually going to increase our revenues before we start hiring more cooks.”

I tilt my head. “Okay, like I said, we don’t have to start over completely. Everyone likes nachos. We have to have nachos on the menu. We just need to kick them up a notch. What do you think, Sid?” I eye the man expectantly.

Sid blinks rapidly. “Yeah, sure. I can do that.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.” He swallows again. “Let me think about it.”

“Okay, sure. What about tacos? Another staple, but let’s figure out how to make them special.”

“The fresh salsa and guacamole helps,” Sid says quickly.

“Sure, yeah. But what if we made our own tortillas for the tacos? That would be special.”

“Jesus, I don’t have time for that!”

I cock my head.

“Also I’d have to learn how to make them,” Sid mutters.

“I think Paul and Jenn could help. And leave you to do the more creative stuff.”

Sid wipes a hand across his brow. “Yeah. Right.”

“What else could we do with tacos?” I persist. “Beef, chicken, pork . . . oh, fish. We don’t have a fish taco.”

Sid nods. “Sure. Fish tacos. That’s easy.”

“I like shrimp tacos,” Marco says.

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