Fresh from the grill

Fresh from the grill

Al Stover / Reporting

Britney Locati /Photography

published in issue 41.8 of the SFCC Communicator

Shadra Beesley sits down at a table just as the waitress places a form in front of her which lists different cuisines, and illustrations of animals that represent types of meat.

A half an hour after filling out the form, the waitress returns with a plate of yellow fin tuna marinated in a spicy sauce.

The Globe Bar and Grill located on North Division Street, lets their customers customize their dinner order, every Thursday night from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Howard Bateman, a chef at The Globe created the custom cuisine menu.  Bateman said he began making customized meals three years ago.

"I had friends coming in who were picky and after 20 questions I would make them something," Bateman said. "Then I thought, 'what if I had a form to give to them to fill out?'

"I starting giving the form to other people and it took off pretty quick."

The customer begins by selecting whether they want an appetizer, an entree, a salad, a sandwich, or a pasta.

The customer then selects what meat they want and what type of cuisine they want. Choices of cuisines include Greek, Japanese, Moroccan and Indian. A customer can also combine two different cuisines. Bateman said many customers have come with all sorts of elaborate orders.

"Some people will check the 'Other' slot and write German," Bateman said. "Some try to be funny and order Indian food with cow."

Other options on the form allow the customer to take off any ingredients from their food, whether or not they want their food to be spicy or creamy, and choose what kind of side dishes they want to go with their meal.

According to Bateman, the prices for the custom cuisine are compatible with the items on the Globe's menu.

"If someone orders something similar to a chicken sandwich, we look at the price of a chicken sandwich and compare the price," Bateman said. "If they add or subtract ingredients, we adjust the price and add it."

Theresa Kiehn, who has been working at The Globe for the last two years, said the restaurant does a lot of business from the custom cuisines.

"We definitely have our regulars every Thursday, and sometimes people will come from out of town," Kiehn said. "If it's a group of six to eight people, I warn them that their food will take some time to make and everyone is totally fine with it."

Kiehn adds if customers can also call in orders and different requests ahead of time.

"If they want something like a rack of lamb, they can call and Howard will go shopping for the food so that way we have it that Thursday night."

Bateman added customers from as far as Switzerland have come to The Globe to experience the custom cuisine.

"They asked to take a form to see if they could do it back home," Bateman said.

Although Bateman is the mainly the person who makes the custom orders, he said other chefs will sometimes come to as he puts it, play in the kitchen on Thursdays.

"Occasionally one of my boys will feel brave and try it," Bateman said.

Beesley, one of the Globe's regular customers said she loves the surprise of the of the custom cuisine.

"You don't know what you're getting until it arrives," Beesley said. "It's always delicious and always one-of-a-kind."