The Turquoise Room Newsletter: Easter | Book Signing

Late Winter & Early Spring at the Turquoise Room

New Fred Harvey Book Signing with Author Stephen Fried

Snow in winslow and expanded dining room I can hardly say that spring is around the corner with snow on the ground and early morning temperatures dipping into the low teens, however Easter is only 5 weeks away so I am sure it will be here by then. This has been quite the winter for us with lots of rain and a little snow here and there. The city of Flagstaff is at 118 inches and counting with more storms ahead. All this will have a profound effect on the wild mushrooms that Craig gathers for me in the summer months. I hope he will need a helper to carry out the Lobster mushrooms, chanterelles and our local version of the Porcini.

On the inside we have been busy with some remodeling. You will see lots of changes during your next visit. We have taken out the display cases that separated the corridor leading to the Turquoise room opposite the bar. Tina’s Stained glass panels and the booths have been removed from the end of the dining room. The booths have been put where the display cases were and Tina’s panels will be installed on the north wall of the dining room, resplendent with backlighting. The south wall opposite the bar now has three lovely windows looking out over the tracks, (the ocean being in the far distance). This expands our dining room while at the same time allowing us to still use this space for private events as we have done for the past two years. We are adding drapes, new lighting and the whole area has already been repainted. It looks really nice. I have taken a few photos for you to see the progress.

The Route 66 Soda Fountain at La Posada. Adjacent to this space is what was once the original “Front Desk, kiosk”. As you may recall at one time the hotel was using this as its front desk. It has been sitting empty now for the past year or more and we have been giving its future a lot of thought. Well it is decided and settled so here goes. It will become “The Route 66 Soda Fountain”. We will soon be adding a new web site under that domain complete with photos and its menu offerings. This area will be open every day and will provide all of our visitors with a whole new choice of food and beverage services. I will be adding fresh baked pies to the kitchens daily production. Pies were a staple offering at all Fred Harvey Hotels. We will serve shakes, floats, sundaes, and ice creams to enjoy while sitting at the counter or to take outside where you can watch the trains. There will be an espresso machine in this area also for all kinds of hot and cold espresso beverages. The counter will be vintage 1920s marble that we are having cut from the old “Barbers Shop” that was in the basement. The goal is to make this fountain look like one that you would have found in the 1930s drug store on old route 66. We are hoping to have this open by the end of April. I will announce its official opening in my next newsletter that will go out in early April to announce Mother’s Day Weekend.

Starting Easter weekend, we will be open during the afternoons. We will continue to serve our full lunch menu every day till 2.00 pm and dinner starts at 5.pm. in the mid afternoon we will serve a Travelers Menu. This will still include the Signature Soup, a couple of salads, a sandwich and all of our desserts from the soda fountain. So you can stop by and get something to eat from 7.00am till 9.00pm every day of the week.

Allan has been restoring the east wing of the building by adding some new rooms. We now have a total of 43, 6 more than at this time last year. All of the new ones are large with beautiful bathrooms completed with air jet soaking tubs. Individual heating and cooling in every new unit. They are still only $149 per night, from my recent travels this is a great value.

We will serve a three course sit down brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday
$27 per person | $10 for children under 12
Price does not include tax and gratuity.
Brunch is served from 11.30 to 2.45pm

A special Easter dinner menu is served all three nights.
This is an a la carte menu similar to our regular menu but with some new dishes for the Easter Holiday.

Dinner is served on Friday and Saturday 5.00 to 9.00 and on Easter Sunday from 4.00 to 8.30. Please make your reservations early to avoid disappointment as seating is limited.

New Book Signing – a book about Fred Harvey
We are pleased to announce a very special event that will take place Sunday afternoon April 18th. There will be a talk and book signing by renowned author Stephen Fried. This is his new book.

APPETITE FOR AMERICA: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West
By Stephen Fried (Bantam April 2010)
544 pages, with more than 75 photos and 50 Harvey recipes, most never-before-published.

Books will be available to buy and Stephen will be on hand to sign your own special copy. The event will take place in the ballroom at 3.30pm.

I will be featuring a very special selection of dishes for that entire weekend that will be inspired by the recipes in Stephen’s book. Ironically many of these dishes were on the menu at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate England where I served my apprenticeship in the early 1960s. So for me this will be both exciting and nostalgic to recreate some early American, Continental Cuisine.

Here are a few dishes for you to drool over:

Breakfast
Finnan Haddie Dearborn – smoked haddock over scalloped potatoes topped with baked eggs French Pancakes with Apricot Marmalade and cottage cheese.

Lunch
Viennaise Chicken Noodle Soup (also for dinner)
Beef Rissoles with mashed potatoes and peas
Boneless Fried Chicken Castenada (also for dinner)

Dinner
Angels on Horseback - Fresh oysters wrapped in jalapeno bacon, crispy fried and served on toast!
Flounder Filet Gloria – roulade of flounder stuffed with spinach, mushroom and shrimp, served with Duchesse potatoes and Lobster Newberg sauce
Deviled Maine Lobster- taken out of the shell and cooked with English and French mustards, chopped tomato, chutney, butter, paprika and parsley. Surrounded by Duchess Potatoes
Beef Filet Stroganoff – strips of filet seasoned with paprika, sautéed with onions, mushrooms, meat glaze, sour cream and wine served with buttered egg noodles

Desserts
French Apple Pie with nutmeg sauce and vanilla gelato
Warm Almond Soufflé Pudding with vanilla bean sauce

These dishes will be served on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday at the appropriate mealtimes as a la carte dishes along with most of my regular menu. So there are at least three good reasons for you to keep us in mind over the next couple of months.

I am as always most grateful for your letters that seem to pour in after every newsletter. You make this job here for all of us such a joy. Knowing that so many of you have been such loyal supporters for so many years gives us renewed energy to continue to work at making this stop along the lonely highway one to remember.

May you all travel safely, sleep soundly and return home rested and restored.

Kind regards,

John
John, Patricia & all of the staff

www.theturquoiseroom.net Phone: 928.289.2888 Email: dine@theturquoiseroom.net