Some very belated congratulations

Good grief! Talk about late out of the gate … We’ve been so busy lately in the restaurant and with catering, we’ve fallen way behind on our site. That would be fine, such things happen when you’re a relatively small operation and there loads of things needing your attention, but we’ve neglected some people that should have been given a tip of the hat and a, “Well done!”

We’re referring to this year’s The Saltys, Saint John’s first ever social media awards. It was thrilling for us because we found ourselves nominated in one of the categories. It was completely unexpected and we we’re thrilled. We didn’t grab the top honour but, as they say at the Oscars, we got a real charge out of the nomination and felt privileged to me in the running.

We want to send a big congratulations out to this year’s winners:

Mel won in the category we found ourselves in and we think it was well-deserved. The big night was held at SJAH, just down the street from us. Fran made it to the big night but Bill was stuck up in Frederiction. (They’re the two helping out with our social media efforts.)

Once again, “Bravo!” to all the winners and nominees. This is meant to be an annual event, so we’re looking forward to next year’s awards and hope this thing just grows and grows (kind of like social media itself).

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Over the moon with our social media nomination

Saint John has its first ever social media awards, The Saltys – a celebration of the Saint John Social Media Community. It’s set for February 17 just down the road from us at the Saint John Ale House. And guess what? Urban Deli is a nominee! We’re over the moon!

We’re nominated in the category “Best Use of Social Media in a Campaign” for customer engagement. Actually, it’s really our customers who should be getting the tip of the hat. You guys have been fabulous on our blog, Facebook page and on Twitter. And you’ve kept us on our toes!

We’re not always as on top of things as we would like. Being a small operation, our main focus is the kitchen and the restaurant, so we can’t always be engaging people online to the extent we would like to. So for the record, we would like to say a big “Thank you!” to everyone for the RTs and wonderful comments we’ve seen in our feeds.

Huge congratulations as well to all the nominees in all the categories. Looking at the list is a bit like looking at a list of friends. We’re pretty sure we know everyone there.

Urban Deli has been using social media for some time now. We started on Twitter in March of 2009 – that’s almost two years ago – and started our Facebook page not long after. It was lot of figuring out how to use this social media thing (we bumbled a lot with the Facebook part initially) but it became very clear, very soon that social media was about one thing: people.

So it really is a lot like being in the restaurant where we get to interact with our customers face to face. With social media, we do the same thing, just not face to face.

Once again, we’re very excited that Saint John now has its own social media awards — The Saltys — and even more excited to see we’ve been nominated.

By the way, the online voting is now on. Cast your vote while you can and we hope to see all of you February 17 for the big party!

Thank you again Saint John!

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A titan versus a tyrant – a caesar battle

The Caesar - photo by Chinena Smith.

Saint John Alehouse (SJAH) recently held a staff Caesar making competition between co-owner Pete Stoddart and manager Shawn Horgan. The Caesar, when done well, is a divine cocktail that crosses the line between refreshing and savoury.

After seeing a twitter update about the contest made by @SJAH_NB I quickly asked if I could help judge the event. So, by 10 PM I had made my way Uptown to take part in this fun event.

Pete’s Caesar was up first and was quite true to the traditional Caesar with some modifications. First, Pete infused celery stalks in lime rind and juice. He seasoned the drink with lemon pepper rather than regular pepper and served the drink in a hollowed out orange pepper that lent some of its fresh sweetness to the drink.

Shawn’s Caesar was basically its own cocktail inspired by a Caesar and was flavoured with soy sauce, ginger, basil, and was made with a homemade tomato and clam juice. Pete squeaked by with a win at 4 votes to 3.

Find out about the next competition by following @SJAH_NB on twitter.

(The Caesar – photo by Chinena Smith.)

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Bio: Dan Jones is a food, drink, and travel writer from Saint John. Follow him on twitter: @danjjj

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Board of Trade and Haiti

In case you aren’t already aware of this …

“The Saint John Board of Trade has dedicated a page on its website to help members raise awareness of what their businesses are doing to raise funds for aid relief in Haiti. Activities being undertaken by members of all sizes from small businesses to large companies are listed on this webpage.”

There is a lot of good information to be found there, including a Government of Canada link for businesses wanting to help in the relief efforts. You’ll also find a list of some of the Saint John businesses, large and small, who are already involved in some way. If you’re business is engaging in activities to help raise funds for Haiti relief, you can be added to the list.

Just pay a visit to the Members Helping Haiti page on the Saint John Board of Trade site. (You can also follow the SJ Board of Trade on Twitter: @i_gilman)

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