When I build a restaurant I build alone. Yaaaaa, with nobody else. Blog #23

Hello everyone. Hope you are well on this wintry evening. I am blogging to you tonight in better spirits than last week.  So last week after the posting I went to work Wed. and all the furniture came in. Thursday, Louise came in and we started setting up the Resto. I was in the back with Paul and Jacques sorting out where to put my dishwasher. When I came out of the back there was a Resto in front of my eyes!! Dan was there too, putting finishing touches on the bar. By 17:00 everyone was gone and the dining room had taken shape. I was working away in the kitchen till late in the evening. I took a break for some dinner and came back and sat in my dining room. I B.B.M.’d Jake and Mitch and joked how I was in this beautiful Resto and was the only one there. They missed the joke and wanted to know where I was. Yes, I have to admit, the first meal in LBM was Pizza and Diet Coke.

Speaking of Jake, let’s chat about him for a sec shall we?  Jake is my friend and helps me out with things.  We are not in business together. We are very good friends and he does chat about me because he’s happy for his friend and he helps me deal with the public since my social skills aren’t the greatest. A General Manager I use to work for once said of me. “Glenn will never be the Prime Minister, but he’s a good guy”  

Sat and Sun I attempted for the first time to put up tile and do some grouting. I think I did a pretty good job. You can be the judge when you come in. everyone can see the tiles on the bar. And the ladies can check out more tile work in the ladies washroom.

The hood problem has been solved.  It was a long battle but I signed the paper work and K.R.B. started the work today.  Hopefully I’ll get this thing installed before the N.Y. and then get my inspections done early January. Then it will be business licence and liquor licence and then we’re open. Not a minute too soon either. I was really hoping to get some of the Christmas crowd, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Remember way back I told you about Anna? She was helping me get that grant. Well today I fully applied for it. Hopefully I’ll hear back before the New Year whether I’m to get it or not.  So what’s up for the rest of the week? I’ll be reupholstering the bar stools. I asked Michelle’s sister, Annie, from Homestead Stitches to cut the vinyl and I will upholster the bar stools. This help isn’t for free though…. She wants a poutine in return!  (ha ha ha).  I will also be making appointments for the Fire inspector, Building Inspector and Health Inspector to come in the N.Y. to sign off. I have a small function on Fri., a private chef dinner for two, in their home for an anniversary. Then next week is Christmas week already. My mother made me promise I’d be home for Christmas. Since I’m usually working and probably will be in the future, I’ll take this opportunity go home and spend Christmas with my family for only the 3^rd or 4^th time since I left home at 19.  But I’ll be back to do some work in the Resto and hire up some staff and then spend (for the 4^th year in a row) N.Y.’s Eve with Jake and Michelle. This has become a custom. I hope it continues into the future.  Although they may have to come to L.B.M. starting next year.

Stay warm my friends,

Le Commis Glenn

What Brian Boitano would do if he were here right now . Blog #22

Hello everyone. Hope you are all doing well. I’m a bit frustrated today. Jake says I shouldn’t write if I’ve had a bad day. But, at the beginning of these blogs, I did say it was the trials as well as the tribulations of building a restaurant. So let’s get started. This past week was a little slow. Jacques finished up on Tues and I got started on the floors. It took a few coats but I finally got there. The Bar was not done last week, supposed to be completed tomorrow.  I took the weekend off to do a function and let me tell ya it was amazing. One of the best I’ve ever done. They were very happy and so was I for a change (ha ha ha).

Yesterday I started painting the kitchen with the help of my good friend Eric. It is completely empty so to put the first two coats on is easy. I’ll wait till the hood is up and running and then I’ll put the final coat on.

This brings me to the hood. I royally got kicked in the teeth today but in true George Chuvalo style, I was NOT knocked off my feet!  But man, did it leave me in a daze. It is going to cost me 2.16 times more than I had originally planned on and budgeted for.  So why am I telling you all this? Three reasons. 1) This Blog is like a personal diary and it is good to keep records for next time. 2) There maybe someone reading this that may want to know what it takes to open a restaurant and need to know the surprises. 3) and the most controversial of them all. People need to know that building a Resto is hugely expensive. So when someone asks for a three course meal for $15 inclusive and I say no they need to understand why we can’t do that.

So on the bright side, all my furniture came in today. And if the bar gets completed tomorrow, the front of the house will be all done by Fri. I have the Hood in the building. But not the fan (it’s coming the 20^th).  I need the fan before the HVAC guy can install. So that gives me a couple of weeks to figure out how I’m going to pay for this thing. 

This is not a discouraged blog.  Again, I feel the need to tell you all the good and the bad things. I will figure this out and work on getting LBM up and running. Although, it won’t be till January. It will open and when it does, it will blow your socks off.

Have a good couple of days. We’ll blog at you soon.

Le Commis Glenn

Hello Lilith, come here often? Blog #21

Hello everyone. So Thursday was fun. The contractor took the day off and I was there alone. But I finished up all the painting in the front of the house.  Dan showed up and started the bar. My Banker showed up on Thursday as well and told me we were good to go with my money and that I would get it Fri. whew!! After work, I went shopping for the ingredients for my Absinthe cookies and hot chocolate to be served during the downtown Christmas walk. Got home and started baking and I only finished up at 2 in the morning. Grabbed a quick sleep and then back up in the morning to make menus and attach them to business cards and make the hot chocolate. Loaded up the car and off I went to LBM. It was a miserable day. Cold, snowy and very, very windy. At 16:30 Nancy showed up to hang the art work. Last week when she came in, it was just to get a feel. She took them back and touched them up and finished them off. There are 3 paintings in total with 4 fairies. I love them all but there is one that stands out to me and I’ve named her already.   Lilith!!  I’ve yet to name the other three. I will name them as they come to me.  By 18:00, the walk was under way and the wind had calmed down a bit but it was still freezing. But the wonderful ppl of North Bay embraced the cold and came out anyway and after the lighting of the tree they came in and, boy did they come in. 18ltrs of hot chocolate gone in 55min., 300 cookies gone in 90 mins., 100 menus with cards gone in 120 min. We had to get more copies printed! So needless to say, I was very happy. Ppl seem to be excited about LBM and they can’t wait till it opens. That makes two of us ha ha ha.

Saturday I had a private catering. Dan was supposed to finish the Bar on Sat and Louise was to let him in as I was working on my function. Today (Sunday) I took the day off. I needed a break. Tomorrow I’m meeting with my alcohol rep to decide on wines and booze for the Resto. They don’t do absinthe so I’m on my own there. Jacques (the contractor) will finish up on Tuesday as planned. I’ll be on my own for the rest. I’m still waiting on the hood to come. I’ll do the floor myself and Don told me he’d come to help me paint the kitchen this week. I put the word out for staff as well. Just on facebook and word of month. Not working as well as I hoped. So I’ll have to try other avenues this week. Tues night off to a meeting in T.O. and back Wed. Woo Hoo another road trip.

Have a good week everyone and we’ll blog at you soon.

Le Commis, Glenn

Money only means something, when you don’t have it. Blog #20

Wow what a week. I last left you with the hope I’d get my money in a couple of days. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Dan called me up Tuesday and said we have big problems. Apparently the BDC wanted me to buy all my equipment first. Then the second wave of cash would be the lease hold improvements. Of course I did this backwards. They weren’t exactly pleased. I asked how things could be done that way. I mean buy your stoves then grind the floor so there is 10cm of dust everywhere. But Dan was great! He did some work and made an amendment and we were good to go. Almost. I had to collect all the cheques I had written and send them to the BDC so they could match them up with the invoices.  On top of that, a few of the invoices had no HST numbers. So that was crazy and, as it stands now, I’m still waiting the get the remainder of the money. Last week was painting the base boards. Wow what a tough job. Plus doing touch ups. Jake and Richard did the bathrooms as they were a mess. But they looked great after they were done. I spent last weekend painting the bathrooms. Kate popped in for a few hours on Sat. but other than that, it was me and the radio.

Also during this time I was having quite the time with AGCO. They were asking for papers that I had completed months ago. And when they realized this, they said ok you just need to send us a cheque to put the ad in the paper. Good thing I had a copy of the cheque due to the BDC thing. I emailed them back saying here’s the cheque you want which was sent over a month ago and cashed a month ago. The problem with these emails is they were two and three days apart.   So it wasn’t all finalized till Today.

My bar was supposed to come Tues but that has been pushed off till tomorrow (I think).  I hope so though, because Fri is the Christmas walk. And although I’m not open, I’m going to serve hot chocolate and hand out menus and business cards. Speaking of which My Web site and business cards came in on Sunday. And I have to say the Site is phenomenal and the business cards are very nice. You can check out the web site if you wish at www.lebonmarche.ca 

I almost forgot. My art work came in on Fri and, oh my, it is WICKED!!! 4 fairies. 3 girls and one male! So that’s where we are this week at LBM. Sorry it’s been so long. Working like crazy and too tired at night to write.  I hope to write this weekend and tell you all about the Christmas walk.

Cheers Le Commis Glenn

Excuse me sir but may I borrow some Grey Poupon or $50,000. Blog #19

So when I last left you, I was off to do the Liona Boyd function in Orillia. That was a blast.  Monday I got to go pick up the engineering plans for the exhaust fan and hood. I took them straight away to City hall for a look over and then hopefully a building permit. Tuesday I started at the Resto with sanding the walls. Jacques’ partner Richard was mudding and Jacques said I wasn’t allowed. So I sanded and they mudded and I sanded and they mudded and I sanded again. Jacques was in the back making holes for the exhaust fan and return air. Friday I took the day off of the Resto and took a trip to Sudbury to go to Costco. Jacques cleaned up the Resto and got it ready for painting. Bell popped in to install the phone lines.  I picked up a cash register and a kitchen aid. I also saw some sensor light switches so I picked those up to put into the bathrooms.  That way the lights never stay on as ppl exit.  My Dad and other Bro. came up from down south to see me and that was awesome. They looked at the Resto and were impressed (I Think ha ha ha ).

Saturday was the painting party. Remember I couldn’t afford the painter to do everything? So Shawn finished up the ceiling and did a wonderful job. I have recently befriended a guy called Don, whom is a professional painter. On Saturday, my buddy Jake, Steve, Don, Derick, Katie and myself,  them with there Coffees and me with my Tea, set about painting the inside of Le Bon Marché. Ferret brown, light green, dark green, grey and tan!!!!   We cracked it off in one day.  By the end of the day, I was pretty tired and I needed to go back Sunday and fix up my mistakes. A heart felt thank-you goes out the ppl mentioned above.

So today I walked in to see the restaurant starting to take shape. Louise popped in with the lights and sconces which will be installed tomorrow or Wed. Also my mural is almost complete. The artist wants to come in and hang it to see it with the lighting so she can go back and make the appropriate changes before the big reveal.

After all that, it was off to see my good friend Dan at the BDC. Remember him? The BDC only gave me part of the money I needed up front. I had to spend it all before I got the remainder. I had to keep all the bills and bank statements to show the BDC to make sure I didn’t spend the money on a trip to the islands or something.  Of course I thought I’d just hand in the bills and get my money and be on my way. Ha ha ha ya right! Had to sit down and go through each purchase one by one and match the receipts to the cheques. It was a gruelling 2.5 hrs meeting. Now Dan has to do his bit and hopefully get the rest of my money by weeks end.

I’m now in panic mode. The next chunk of money is it. What I’ve got is what I’ve got. The front of the house is not completely paid for and I still got to buy stoves, ovens, prep tables, sandwich units and a dishwasher plus dishes and inventory.  I’m still waiting to hear about the liquor licence.  I’m not sure what’s going on there. Web site and business cards are also in limbo. I need to put an add in the paper to hire staff. I’m starting get really nervous now; I mean were just a few weeks away from opening! I’ll be in charge of all staff, food.  liquor, bills and dealing with the whole rigmarole of what is the hospitality industry.  On the plus side my clothes are fitting better and my face is looking thinner. Who needs diets? Just open a restaurant!!! 

Cheers,

Le Commis Glenn

Let’s paint the town……………… Ferret Brown!! Blog # 18

 What’s been going on in your world? It sure is chaotic in mine.

Thursday’s road trip was just what the doctor ordered. I headed down to Newmarket and had a great meeting with Gary. Then he whipped up a fantastic lunch which Marni, Gary and I enjoyed and got caught up on things. The last time I saw them, they were my entertainment duo for Sheridan Catering’s Robbie Burns night. My Brother Ken was in Markham attending a course and so I was able to meet up with him as well, for dinner. As said before, he is a Fire Prevention Officer. So we got to talking about restaurant exhaust systems and fire in the Resto in general.  What I can and can’t do. Then back home.

Friday I went into the Resto to see my ceiling painted only to find it wasn’t done. And my shoulders sunk about 2”.  Then I was told it would be done over the weekend. Sat I popped in to the Resto to find Shawn mudding the walls AWWWWW what the heck is going on? I wanted him to do just the ceiling. I was going to do the walls to save $$$. There was a miscommunication between Louise, Shawn and myself.

Monday I met up with Dan. Dan is building my Bar, back bar and table tops. We were measuring and finding where everything is to go, again what a great meeting. As it turns out, the bar as it was, was not very functional. So after a bit of chopping, changing and massaging we got it to where I think it will both look good and be functional. Plus I have an old style awesome looking fridge that holds two Kegs and has two taps on the front. We wiggled that into the mix as well. I ask Jacques when I could paint the walls and he told me not till the 13^th. I guess I was a little too aggressive with the painting. You have to learn to walk before you can run I guess. So I told Jacques “I have nothing to do all week so put me to work.” Which he did, starting Tuesday.  Monday afternoon I went back home and poured over my finances. Man this money goes quick!!!. 

So Tuesday comes and Jacques gives me the glorious job of lying down on the concrete and taking a screwdriver and scraping out all the concrete dust between the walls and floor that was left over from the grinding. Louise popped in on Tuesday and I decided to throw in a quick staff meeting. Monday night I told my friend Jake what I did with the bar. To which he replied “what’s the point of having a designer if you’re not going to listen to her”. So another intense conversation issued. (Don’t you just love passionate ppl?) Jake and I hashed out a few things. Some things he said were valid and some were not. But let me tell you it is so nice to have a friend that cares. Rather then the ones who don’t say anything and then after you’re done the Resto, they have the balls to say why didn’t you do this or that? Or my personal favourite “I would have done it differently.” So I held the meeting with my Designer and Contractor. Basically just to say “we’re starting to get off track here let’s get back on the straight and narrow. I took this opportunity to apologise to Louise for changing her design. I mean it wasn’t drastic but Jake’s words haunted me. She said no problem you’re the boss. I said no, I hired you to do a job and I should have consulted you before I made the changes. I told Louise she’s “the boss” that’s what I hired her to do. I’m just Jacques’ minion at the moment. At Around 16:00 Shawn came in and started to paint the ceiling. I was so happy. The ceiling is being sprayed so that was it for my work for the day.

I came in Wed Morning and looked at the ceiling and was overcome with the presence of L.B.M. It was just half of the ceiling that was done and as I stood there alone, gazing up, I could hear the patrons of the restaurant with that hum of 40-50 ppl talking over dinner, soft music playing in the background, the occasional scream from the kitchen because the chef is mad at someone or something, clinking of glasses and just the whole restaurant buzz. Ok maybe I’m a little Coucou but the feeling was so intense. Like seeing a band for the first time where you’re standing there in awe. This was just from looking at the ceiling. What am I going to do when the Resto is complete?  But Jacques quickly brought me back to earth when he told me to wash the walls. I felt like Cinderella and NOT at the end of the book ha ha ha.

Now the walls are ready for painting and so are the washrooms. Tomorrow I’m in meetings all day and night.  Friday I’ll paint the Staff washroom and the storeroom/office. Saturday I have a break from the Resto and do a catering for a Liona Boyd concert in Orillia.

 Have a great rest of the week and weekend.  Happy Guy Fox day to all my British friends.   Blog at you soon,

Le Commis Glenn

Starting to get excited. Or is that nervous? Blog 17

I’m starting to think of myself as the lucky one. We needed a warm day to finish the painting outside and in late October, that’s a tall order. But we got one today albeit a little windy. Shawn got it done. The electrical in the front of the house will be done today and then tomorrow Shawn is coming back to paint the ceiling. No one can be around for that as it will be sprayed on so he’s planning on doing it at night after Jacques is done his thing in the day.  Tomorrow I get to go on a road trip!!  Woo Hoo, I love road trips! My cousin is a professional waiter and I’m going to have a meeting with him to go over a few “front of the house” things.  Friday, I’ll be back at it.

 Now the budget is still too high. So as a result, I’m going to tackle the painting of the walls. Once Shawn is done with the ceiling.  It’s too bad as I’d like to have a professional painter do everything but sadly I’m in cost cutting mode now.

Monday we start building the bar. I’m so excited!   I’m very much a visual man and lately I’ve been spending all this money but not seeing the restaurant take shape. It’s all stuff that is a necessity but not superficial.  Did I just say I was superficial?? Lol. Oh well I am a Gemini… Ladies be forewarned!

Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you all about my web site soon. It is in the works but you can’t rush perfection I guess. Business cards to follow and Gift certificates and the Signage for the front. These are the things I’ll be tackling while waiting for the hood to be installed. Wow I do sound like a business man.

There is a new discussion on Le Bon Marché’s fan page Click here . Become a fan and get involved in the discussion. When Le Bon Marché gets up and running we’ll be doing some Fan only promotions

Till next time, cheers

Le Commis Glenn

Wow this job really sucks!!!! Blog #16

Now, that I’ve got your attention, let me explain. Wed. wasn’t so busy for me. I walked into the Resto a couple of times just to see how things were going and to make sure the contractor and his staff was working. Things are looking good!  We’re fighting the weather now and getting the front façade finished is taking some time. Thurs was meeting day. I had one at 9am and then nothing till 13:00. 9 am meeting went well. It was looking at used kitchen equipment. The budget is starting to extend its boundaries so I need to start cutting elsewhere. I feel so bad starting to knock off kitchen stuff. As a Chef, I’ve been victim many times of the front of the house getting everything and the kitchen getting sloppy seconds. So being a Chef and owning my own Resto, I was going to make sure the Chefs were looked after. But this is where I need to separate the Chef from the business man. I’ll come back to money in a bit.

My meeting was done and I was standing around at the Resto thinking, I could be doing something. I asked the contractor what I could do to help and he gave me the glorious job of vacuuming up all the concrete dust from the floor and corners of the wall. Seems easy enough I though. Wow what a hard job! (Hence the title) But I did it and it took me from 9:30 till 13:00. At said 13:00, I met with the Pepsi rep to discuss changing the lines and moving them as the bar will be in a different place. Then the 14:00 meeting…. duhn Duhn DUHN…..

So at 14:00 the engineer showed up with a partner. I had also arranged for my contractor to be there, the hood installation guy as well as the guy I’ll be buying the hood from.  We talked and discussed and chatted and surmised as well as himmed and hawed. Now I have had some big meetings in the past. I’ve even had an interview panel where 7 ppl interviewed me at once. But this meeting was intense. Don’t get me wrong it was great but my brain was fried when it was all over. The up shot of it was, we’re in really good shape. We don’t have to move a lot around. We can use an existing window for the air return and we get to put the hood were I wanted to in the first place. I am very happy and proud of myself for getting all these guys together at the same time. I mean what do I know? So watching these guys feed off each other and such, we saved a lot of time and money. Now with that was done, the engineers left and Paul (the kitchen appliance guy) and I, got to organize the kitchen. It is so much easier when we know where the hood and thus the hot side will be.

Now back to the money situation. This hood is going to cost upwards of $25,000.00. This is not a surprise as I’m very lucky if the fact that I have a brother who is a Fire Prevention Officer down south. So months ago, he told me what I needed to have and what they inspect and what it would cost approximately. I built this into my budget. I think this is where a lot of restaurateurs run into trouble.  Plan for the worst and hope for the best. That’s my motto. Jake says I’m pessimistic. I say I’m a realist.

Today I popped in. I had a meeting at noon. Met with Louise for a budget summery and we’re still a little high. But the outside is done, save a paint job. Hopefully we get at least one warm day next week. Otherwise, I’ll have to wait till spring to put the final coat of paint on the outside.

Next week we paint the ceiling and then we glaze the floors. Jacques did a small test patch today and I got to say I’m in love with it. I’ll put the pics on my FB page tonight. click here so you can get a sneak preview. Tomorrow I’m picking up some equipment I got second hand and then Sunday off. Have a good weekend everyone,

Le Commis Glenn

when the dust settles Blog 15

So the floor is all done and the deconstruction team is all cleaned up, paid and gone. The second contractor is in and the painters came in to paint and finish the front façade. While they were busy doing that, I started the clean up. Although no work has been done in the kitchen and the back third of the restaurant, the dust from the concrete grinding is everywhere. So I took out my brand new mop bucket (I’m so proud I own a mop bucket hee hee hee) and cleaning supplies and started at it. When I was done, it was time to do it again. It’s almost like the fire suppression system went off. So we got that all cleaned up and then cleaned up the bathrooms. We will be doing work in there but I need to have them clean for the workers. Look after your staff and they’ll look after you. Ok these ppl aren’t my staff but they are contracted by me so in a sense they are. Then it was off to the bank. The first part of my mortgage came in and we’re good to go financially. Tomorrow Louise will be paid her first instalment as well as the contractor for the façade work. I had my first person walk in today to offer a résumé. I was in shock for a second. I mean I have done that, but I’ve never been on the other end of it. I go back and forth between feelings about 500 times a day. Sometimes I’m cool and feel confident and then there are times were I just stop in my tracks and say to myself. “What are you doing? You can’t do this” but like I said a few blogs ago I’m now committed.

Tomorrow is meeting day and then Thursday back to the Resto to meet with the engineer and Pepsi rep.  

Cheers Le Commis

Glenn

Like a streak of light he arrives just in time! Blog #14

Hello everyone,

It is Monday the 18^th at 14:00 eastern standard time. Things in my life always seem to come right at the last minute.  Not so good for the heart but lucky enough I guess. So the Floor took a tad longer than planned. The guys worked all day Saturday and well into the night and were going to finish up Sunday. But the grinder broke and they needed to replace it this morning. So they will be all done today and invoice me. This is good for me as I just got LBM Cheques today. Also Louise’s first invoice came today as well as the bill for the façade. Like I said, good thing the cheques came in today eh? Now I just need to get my money from the BDC. I had to fill in more papers today. The money is coming but I just need to fill out forms that, I guess, were over looked. So I’m living and signing cheques from the down payment I had. Hopefully the money comes in soon as I’d hate to have to stop construction because I don’t have the funds.

I had my meeting with the City Solicitor. He was a really nice man. So we got the go ahead to do everything to the front of the building with the exception of the signs, which we will need to get a different permit form. Funny enough called a sign permit ha ha ha.

So with the floor guys out tomorrow, I can bring in the painter for the inside and the other contractor and we’ll start building up. The tables are being made as we speak and the bar has been measured and will be constructed soon. I’m meeting the Pepsi Company Thursday to discuss the pop guns and such for the bar. As well, on Thursday, the engineer will do a site inspection for the hood. In the mean time I bought a bunch of cleaning equipment today and I’ll start cleaning the kitchen tomorrow. The dust left from the grinding is 2.5cm thick and it’s everywhere!! When I get the majority cleaned up, I’ll invite the Health inspector in to do a walk around before I start building the kitchen.

So that’s it for now. We’ll blog again in a couple of days.

Cheers

Le Commis

Glenn

The Green Flag waves and the race is underway!!! Blog #13

So we entered the building at 8:00am Tuesday with the deconstruction team. Louise was sick and at 8:05 I had two contractors asking me for advice and what to do. Ummm I don’t know? ha ha ha. So I got them underway and I went about my business of starting to get the Hood (exhaust fan hood range) installed. This is probably going to be the most frustrating thing I do in the whole LBM journey. I have to get a Mechanical engineer with HVAC. Easier said then done. These guys are hard to find. But I found one. But I have to do drawings and measurements. 20 years later that grade 9 drafting class is coming in handy. I’ll take it to him tomorrow. I had fears that the landlord was going to tell me that I couldn’t drill a big hole in the roof, but I got the go ahead yesterday to go for it.

Also to do the façade I need a permit and, funny thing is, is that the lights, which are outside, were put up years ago without a permit. And through my own negligence and big mouth I mention the lights at the Permit office and got nailed. So I have to get a permit for lights which are all ready there. Also I want to put two signs up. One of the signs will be flush with the front of the store and one will be perpendicular so people can see the sign walking down the side walk. $100.00 permits for each sign. Aye Madam com’on!!! Oh well that’s the cost of doing business I guess.

So the Resto is gutted and the deconstruction team took today off. This works out nicely as it give the painters a space to paint everything that goes on the façade so on Monday if the City gives me the go ahead we’ll be able to put it up within a day. We need to get the front done before the snow flies and it gets too cold. I also contacted Patrick today to make a poster with our logo and “coming soon” on it so I can put that up in the window. I’ve heard so many people walk by in the last couple of days and ask what’s going on here?  Friday, the deconstruction team will grind the floor. This will get all the glue off from the carpet. We are going to keep the floor concrete and make it nice looking again. I love going to the distillery district in Toronto and the Resto’s attire have just a concrete floor. I find it very contemporary.

 Today I had to run some errands and size up the bar fridges as we’re building the bar from scratch. So I need to get the proper measurements.  Then Monday we should be ready to construct LBM.

I said in my last Blog that I would tell you more of business and less personal stuff. I got a couple of comments about not leaving out to much personal stuff. So that said, I have to admit I don’t think I’ve been this happy in years!! Of course there are headaches and I’m sure many bad days are ahead. But living out your dream has got to be the best high you can get. It reminds me of one time (in band camp lol) I was living in Scotland and I had a horrible day and I was at home staring out the window and I thought to myself. “This may have been a really bad day but at least I got to have it in Scotland”. AWESOME!!!

I see there are 7 followers on this blog but I also know lots of people read it. So please give me some feedback as to what you want to hear about. You can comment on here or let me know on FB Le Bon Marché page. click here

Le Commis

Glenn

Joyeuse Action de Grâces a chacun Blog 12

Hello everyone. Just sitting here on a Saturday night of the Thanksgiving weekend. We enter the building on Tues. The deconstruction team is set to start at 8:00am and after letting them in I'll make my way to City hall to get a building permit. After two days of tear down it will be build up time. I also need to get my hands on a mechanical engineer. I need a Engineer drawing for the exhaust system. so that will be next week. once all the debris is cleaned up and Louise and her team start building. I'll get into the Kitchen for a cleaning and a coat of paint. Someone has already asked to make a reservation for Dec 17th. So we'd better get moving. hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. and we'll blog at you next week.
Cheers
 Le Commis Glenn

“Looks like he’s going to go……… and he will go” Blog #11

If I were Evel Knievel this is where I’d be passed the point of no return. “Am I in 4^th gear or 5^th”? Let’s hope we’re in 5^th cause if not we’re going to crash!!!

I’m very excited today. I got the lease signed. First and last month’s rent paid and even a Prorated cheque because I take over the building Tues Oct the 12^th. That was a lot of money spent in ten minutes let me tell you! Stopped off for Rotary lunch with a friend (he paid!) and then home to change over the Gas and Hydro accounts.  I didn’t realize that with commercial businesses the deposit was quite a bit larger then private accounts. Last week when I got all this money I thought wow that’s a lot of cash. Turns out it leaves you way quicker than it came to you…..ha ha ha.

So I can divulge a bit more now. The Resto with be at 130-132 Main St. W North Bay. It will have a bay garage door in the front for those awesome Northern Ontario Summer days and romantic nights. And next summer we’ll put a patio out as well. I really want the patrons of Le Bon Marché to feel as closely as possible to sitting on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. A street where I once had a glorious 3 days back in 2003. I’ll be taking lots of pics. I will be posting them on my Le Bon Marché Facebook fan page. So please go and become a member here (Fan……I still hate that) and you can follow the process.

 So while the contractor and designer get things up and running. I’ll be hitting the streets. Meeting all the merchants and telling them about L.B.M.  Then it will be hiring staff, purchasing Inventory and planning a grand opening. The G.O. won’t be until January. I want to open silently. As I don’t want to say hey we’re open and get SLAMMED and not be able to accommodate everyone. So we will open sometime before Jan work out the kinks and then do the Grand Opening. In the spring when the snow is melting I’ll take stock of where LBM is sitting and then I’m calling AAA. I believe I’m capable of 5 diamonds. I’ve tried before but they only rate you without telling you where you went wrong or how to fix it. They rate you and then you’re stuck there for another year. Then all the blame happens. The Chef sucks or my food is great and the Dinning room manager is the problem. Been there done that. Now I’ll be the owner. Only one person to blame; me!!! Why do I torture myself like this. Answer… I have no idea.

The web site should be up and running soon. And the menu will change with the seasons.  The food will be mostly Classical French. I’ve never had to stick to one genre of food before. Even when I was with Lacosta (a Mediterranean restaurant) they had 7 or 8 countries to flip back and forth between. But France is a big country and it goes from the cold windy shores of Normandy down the sunny cost of Cannes.

So here we go and happy Landings Evel!!!

Le Commis

Glenn

All good things come to those who wait. Blog #10

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven’t had time to write. I was planning on writing last night but a little celebration got in the way. So lets back up a bit shall we?  Dan from the BDC calls me on Wed to tell the letter of offer is in and I need to come in and go over it with him. My meeting is Thursday at 10:30am. I met with Dan and went through the contract. Good News! There seemed to be a miscommunication and I don’t have to write the cheque to the Lawyer. Because of it being a sole proprietorship. So I can spend the money I have. This is good because, in order to get the money from the BDC I need to give them a copy of the signed lease. I can’t get a signed copy until I give first and last months rent. So all in all it worked out. Even though it maybe a tad later then expected.

So of coarse nothing goes to plan. Today being the first |I could have got everything going but, alas had a function today and of course its Friday so I have to wait till Monday…………..ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr lol.

Also yesterday I got some more info on the NHOFC so it was off to see my old friend Anna. I actually got this info last week but Anna was to busy to see me, as she had to go to Québec and get a Young Professionals award. North Bay Chamber of Commerce got second place in all of Canada!!! She squeezed me in for a half an hour meeting to help me with some legal mumbo jumbo. And we got that sent away.

I called Louise today and got to say the words I’ve want to say to Louise since hiring her. I’m ready to go!!! I should be in the building by the 15^th of this month and we should be building a restaurant. I can’t believe it. I’m building a restaurant. So now I get to start planning stuff. Staff, grand opening and all those things. So blog’s should become more frequent and more business like in the future.

Until then. Cheers

Le Commis Glenn

“I think the clock is slow….. I don’t feel tardy” Blog #9

Hello everybody,

So since my last blog I’ve had to go on a bit of a quest. I was a few $$$ short on my down payment and needed to fine some mullah. My journey led me down south. After a brief meeting I had what I needed and spent a few days with the family as I’m sure visiting will not be an option when the Resto gets up and running. Now as some home and business owners will know when you have a down payment you need to write a cheque of the said down payment to the lawyer. They hold it for 48 hours and then write you a cheque back for the same amount less their fee. So I got all my money and was ready to go hoping to get into the building by Oct 1^st.  Alas the paper work needs to go to head office in Sudbury so I have to wait 7 days then and only then can I write the cheque to the lawyer and wait 48 hours and receive the money back. Then I can get the loan…………..HOPEFULLY. So as it stands I’m sitting idle for another week to 10 days.

It is giving me the time to research Absinthe, wine and liquor suppliers fill out more forms for a liquor licence. And sadly while I wait to get everything approve I can not spend the down payment so I’m broke.  Kind of funny as you have all this money in the bank yet can’t touch it. It’s like a scene out of the Hellraiser movies. The contractor I had has backed out as well. So Louise is on the hunt for a new one. Once again, there is not much to report. I hope to have lots to blog about soon!!!!

Cheers all

Le Commis

Glenn

All Quiet on the LBM Front #8

Hello Everyone, Sorry for the Abyss in the LBM blog. It has been a quiet week.  I’m just waiting for some financial things to come through. But due to unforeseen circumstances I had to wait for a bit. No Biggie. Just need to wait a little longer. I’m tired of saying next week so I’ll just leave it at that and when it comes it comes.

So as I left you last time, we met at the Resto and the designer was going to come up with a quote. That quote was given to me on Fri. the 10^th.  And it came in quite high. So I mulled a few things over, over the weekend and we met Mon. 13^th. She seemed to know it was high (As she said when we met “are you still in shock?”).   We had a good laugh and then got down to business. To be fair I never gave Louise a budget. I wanted to see what she could come up with. And let me tell ya it was AWESOME!!! But I only have a bit of money and I need to build the kitchen as well and have enough money left over for inventory and to pay the staff in the first couple of months. So at this point I told her what I was willing to spend. It was 42% less then her original quote. I didn’t sleep a wink Sunday night as I thought she would be offended and tell me to go pound salt!! But as soon as I told her my budget she said no problem I’ll do my best with the money provided. So we discussed what we could do, and to be honest, I like what we came up with better. But I’m a Medieval / Renaissance time period kind of guy.   I don’t want to give too much away but there will be a lot of wood. But it doesn’t matter what I like. It has to be pleasing to the customer. This is why I went with a designer in the first place. As I said before, I’m a Chef nothing more.

So onto the Logo for the Resto. As I’ve mentioned before. I’ve hired Patrick Gilbert to do the Logo, Menu design and Marketing. He sent me three Logos yesterday. And they were so good that I simply couldn’t decide.  It was posted on my work FB page that I was deciding on my favourite Logo and one of my FB friends suggested that they do a vote. At first I was lukewarm to the idea. I had a meeting to go to last night and when I got back to the house all these ppl were saying what a great Idea it was.

 Which brings me to Jake. Ahhhhhhhh Jake. As mentioned, the last week was slow, as I felt I could do no more until I got all the finances sorted. So I’ve been hanging out and been in a bit of a sombre mood. And feeling maybe I may be intruding on Jake’s family (I live with them). I’ve been spending a lot of time down stairs playing video games and just trying to stay out of the way. I’m also a silent sufferer. I don’t like to tell ppl when I’m upset or down. This is really dumb!! As anyone who knows me, knows I wear my heart on my sleeve and can’t hide my emotions at all. So last night Jake dragged some stuff out of me. And it ended up in a heated discussion. To which he told me more or less that I keep in too much and I should tell him more of what’s going on. Funny, here I am trying not to overwhelm the guy with my stuff as he has a life and his own problems and all he cares about is me. JERK!!! Ha ha ha.

                                                                                     

So Jake heads off to bed and I’m left alone with my thoughts and a ton of inspiration from our conversation. I get on the computer and start a fan page for Le Bon Marché.

Now I hate the fact it’s a fan page. I mean who am I, Gordon Ramsay? But the fan page allows anyone to join without me having to accept. So please don’t think I’m a pretentious Chef. I’m not. If I’m pretentious at all, I blame it on my roots being Scottish, Irish and English  (hee hee hee)

So, back to the FB fan page. I created this page at 2 in the morning I have a few pics of the Resto as it is now. So I start this page with nothing. (I mean who has a Fan Page of a Resto without having a Resto…. Maybe I am pretentious!!!)

I put the 3 Logos on the wall and sent a message to vote on what the ppl think is the best. I also added that the Logo that wins, all the ppl whom voted for that one, I’d put their names into a pot and draw a name and the winner would receive a free lifetime membership to LBM’s Absinthe Club in La Fée Verte. I put on my FB personal page and work page that the fan page was up and running and that there was a contest for the Logo. I woke up this morning at 9:00am to find that I’d already had 32 ppl on the page and voting. Amazing! So I had to make a spread sheet to keep track of the ppl in the right categories. So please go to Le Bon Marché Facebook page and cast your vote.

Cheers all,

Le Commis Glenn

Gentlemen start your engines. Post #7

Hello everybody. Hope you’re having great Long weekend. Friday was a big day for me. I’m already starting to double book myself in meetings ha ha ha. Friday I had a meeting with the designer at 10:30. Forgetting, that I booked a bank appointment for 10am (silly me.) I haven’t even started this Resto yet and already I need a P.A.!

So I get to the bank. And get my new account set up with no problems. She was very nice to me this time so. Don’t know if she read my blog or was just happy I was doing my banking with her company. Anyway in and out no worries now just got to fill it now.

So after that, off to the restaurant to meet with the designer, Floor guy, Electrician and Marketing designer to measuring up things and such. We won’t be able to do what we wanted with the floor as the Resto is in the place of to separate stores and the floors are uneven. To fix it up right would cost a lot of money and seriously eat into my budget. So we can’t have that. I have to be careful here. It is taken every fibre in my being to come up with the money I have. I can’t be wasting it. I mean of course I’d love to dump a million dollars into the place but sadly reality has to be so rude and step in.  Resto’s are about the food. A nice décor and comfortable chairs. My chairs are a bit price but last thing I want is someone’s back to be sore have way though the main coarse and they can’t wait to get outta there. I want ppl to come to my Resto to enjoy everything. The ambiance, the food, the service.

We were at the Resto for 2 hours. I won’t bore you with the details but let me tell I’m completely drained at night now. All these meetings and designing and bank accounts are mentally draining. Of coarse I’m outta my league here as well. I mean I’ve be behind the stoves for 25 years. So this is all new and exciting and SCARY!!!  But it is starting to sink in now. (That I’m a restaurateur.) Jake had text me while I was at the Resto and he asked where I was, I replied LBM (Le Bon Marché) with out even thinking about it. Of coarse, he new exactly what I was talking about.

So not much exciting news to tell you at this point But things are in full swing. Have a good rest of the weekend and happy first week of school to the youngsters out there.

Le Commis Glenn

The Bank is the Heavy Weight Champion of the World!!!!

So with bated breath I waited the whole weekend and hit the street Monday morning and hit every bank I could. Denied, Denied, Denied!!! No one would touch me. So a quick stop for lunch with a friend and he says Credit Union. So I hit the other one in town and I was denied there too. So I figured I’d go open an account and not bother with a loan. I’ll do the unthinkable. Cash advance on my credit card. I’ll pay it back when I get the money. Ya right famous last words. This is where so many ppl get into trouble. I’ve always been good with money and I can stretch a buck along way. What can I say? It’s the Scottish in me. So I hope I’ll be ok.

 Now I know in my last Blog that I would go to another bank. But if I stay with the same bank I can switch over my merchant stuff and upgrade to an electronic system with out paying a penalty. And on Sat I was watching a financial program and the other banks don’t hold a candle to my bank. So better to be with the Devil you know than the one you don’t. So I put my tail between my legs and called up my bank and asked to have a meeting to open an account. The meeting was arranged for tomorrow. But there was a death and I have to go to a funeral tomorrow so I called to change the appointment today at 11:00 and got a voice mail. Hearing nothing by 15:00 I called again and left a message but there was no return call. Maybe they read my last Blog and don’t want to talk to me hee hee hee.

In the mean time I had a meeting with my designer today. She showed me the first draft of what she saw for the restaurant. I loved every bit of it except for the pattern of the lounge chairs. So it’s back to the drawing board there but, everything else looks great. In order to get an approximant Quote she needs to go back into the restaurant with the Contractor and Electrician to do hard core measuring and stuff (what ever that may be.) So we are going in Fri the 3^rd. This afternoon Patrick e-mailed me and asked if he could speak with the designer as he is looking after all the marketing, menu design and logo design and wants to work with her so everything matches up. I told him we were all meeting at the restaurant on Fri and if he could join us that would be great. He obliged, so it will be a big happy meeting on Fri. I hope to Blog on Fri night to let you all know how it went.

Now about the Funeral. I know I told you all that I would try to keep this Blog professional and not personal but I need to tell you about Gary. As a young lad I took a job washing dishes at the Oshawa Golf Club. It was 1986. After a few months there we got a new Chef (Gerhard Beck) an old school, hard German Chef. I was terrified. I think it took about 10mins before he yelled at me.  I was going through the typical teenage stuff that boys do. And Mom was losing control of me fast. "In Steps Gary". On the surface he was mean! Yelling and controlling and you said yes sir, no sir to him. Mostly yes sir!  Gary hated being called Chef. It was Gary he wanted to be called. Gary took me under his wing. I was going to high school and working 30-40 hours a week. But truth be told Sometimes I went to work and punched in got into my whites and he’d make me do my homework!!! I hated him for it. I never wore socks, I’d cut through the golf coarse in the winter time and when I got to the kitchen I couldn’t feel me feet. I’d it sit in his office with my feet in buckets of water to warm up. Then there was the time I quit and walked out on him (one of three if memory serves). Only to find him the next morning at my door, telling me to come to work. I said Gary I quit. He said I know, now get your shoes on and come to work. There are so many stories like that. I was with Gary for 4 yrs I think? I kept in touch with him for the passed 20. He was a hard man but had a heart of gold. I love him for it and model myself after him. I’m a hard Chef. I know it. But I believe in my staff and all of my apprentices have gone onto great careers. Nothing wrong with being hard as long as you’re fair!

Sadly Gary was very ill the last few years of his life and succumbed to kidney failure August 30^th 2010. He is the reason I became a Chef. And lets be honest here he’s also the reason I never got mixed up with the bad crowed in those impressionable years.

Chef Gerhard’s Commis for ever!!!  Glenn

Ahhh the Bank!!! Post # 5

So here’s the funny thing.  Even though I’ve been approved for a mortgage from the B.D.C. which will take a couple of weeks to get. I’ve got  a pending grant from the government I will be running short of Cash over the next couple months until Le Bon Marché starts bringing in cash. I thought the tough part was over. Ha ha ha not so. I go to my bank to ask for a credit limit hike on my P.L.C. and silly me I’m thinking I’ve been with this bank for almost 20 years, I’ve borrowed money from them 3 times and paid the loan back prior to dead line. I have an awesome credit rating including a R1. So I go in to start a business account and to ask for a L. of C. (enough to consolidate my loans and get everything into a business format as I use personal funds for bills and stuff. And the lady I dealt with was rude to say the least! Anyway after a 45min meeting we decided to go the root of applying for a credit limit raise on my existing personal one. Of coarse that’s another department. No problem, I go see this woman and she is ruder to me that the first one was. I mean are this ppl selling a service or what!!!

So she takes my info down and says I’ll call you at 10am the next morning. 10 o’clock comes and no phone call. I have a meeting at 11:30. I get out of the meeting at 13:00 and still no phone call. So I call the bank and the lady is gone for the day. I’ll have to call back on Mon.  I told the assistant this was an urgent and I needed an answer. So I’m transferred to and another women and got her call answer. She called me back at 16:00 I must admit this woman was nice. But she had told me I was declined and that was it. Not declined for the amount but we could offer you X.Y.Z. but just that I was declined and that was it. So now what to do. Believe it or not I was hurt.  I mean 20 years great credit rating and was turned down for a few thousand dollars. Loyalty means nothing I guess. So I think, lets go to another bank. But really all of the institutions are the same. But I think to myself a Credit Bureau!! they will be different. And they were. The lady I met there was albeit nice told me that it was Fri at 16:30 and kindly handed me back my business card. Awesome!!!!

These are the same ppl that will walk into my restaurant 5min before closing and expect to be treated like gods and spent $30 and hang around drinking diet pop. This where I really like Gordon and Marco. These guys have made it and tell ppl off and kick them out of there restaurants. Of coarse ppl who watch the shows say they’re ass holes and why do they have to be like that. Answer? read above.  Any way I do have a back up plan to make it through the next couple of months but sadly I need to have a bank account. But I must tell you it certainly will not be with the one I’ve had for the passed umpteen years! I know what you’re thinking. “Glenn you said yourself there all the same”.  That’s true but, the others ones treated me the same not knowing who I am. I expect more for a company I’ve had a long relationship with. I guess it’s just the satisfaction of getting them back in some way no matter how small.

 So all in all not a good day in the Le Bon Marché camp but, we will over come it. I’m to close to let it slip away. So I’ll take the weekend off have a camp fire and maybe a hot tub and come at the world Monday morning with all my might. 

P.S. I wrote this yesterday in a less than happy mood. But rather than putting something up here that I'll regret later, I saved it had a good Chat with Jake last night and feel better about it this morning. I made a few changes but, feel the blog is a good one. (I'm Sure Jake will not approve but...) I can't show only the good things about opening a restaurant. I mean if it was easy to do everyone would do it. I'm still upset at the bank. Not shocked  but upset. I guess my best revenge will be to build the best restaurant N.B. has ever seen and make a go of it. Have a good weekend everybody and we'll blog ya next week. 

Cheers

Le Commis Glenn

what a great couple of days. Post number 4

Well yesterday was a road trip. I pick-up my designer at 9am and we hit the road for a cute little store in Bracebridge. I wanted to show here the floor of this store which was concrete but made to look like a stone floor. and there was a table made out of antique barn board. It was a family table. but i wanted to show her the style i want to put into the restaurant.
So we saw what we wanted and then it was off to a restaurant where i wanted to show her the style of booths I wanted to put into the restaurant.(not a knock off but just the style. Round. I like the round booths I find them more cozy) It was time well spent. I don't think we were on the same page before that but we are now. what is it they say "communication is the key". After a beautiful lunch we were off back to the Bay. Spending all day getting to know each other and bouncing ideas off each other was a fantastic idea. I hire ppl to do a job and I'm not going to get in the way. I've always hated being micro managed and I don't do that with my staff. So the designer has free range. After all shes a designer I'm a Chef. At the end of the day I'm the boss and if I don't like it I'll have it changed. But I want to give her the freedom to work her magic. Next Wednesday will be the first I see of the design of the restaurant. I'm looking forward to seeing the first draft.

Today I had a meeting at the B.D.C. with Dan. It was a great meeting. I had all the papers I needed and we tide up a few loose ends and we're good to go. So as it stands now I got the go ahead to go. I just need to open a bank account and show the B.D.C. my equity and then the mortgage will be applied. of coarse I got to get lawyers to sign off on some documents. Tonight went to a Chamber after 5 meeting and meet a lot of ppl who were asking when the restaurant will be open. For the first time I could confidently say it was in the works and was going to happen. Of coarse I wouldn't give a date of opening. we don't need a repeat of "Chinese Democracy" But I will say Grand opening will be in January for reasons to be discussed later.

Tomorrow I have a Lunch date with Patrick. Patrick is designing my new web site and took photos of a sample of  Le Bon Marché's menu. You can check out the photos on his blog www.partickgilbert.blogspot.com  the meeting tomorrow will be to look at doing marketing for Le Bon Marché. 
Au revoir 
Le Commis Glenn
 

Y.P. dinner. Post number 3

What a day today. Remember those government documents I talked about in the previous post. Well on a completely different level i'm doing a catering for an afternoon Tea for a client in Sept. The Client works for our M.P. So I dropped into her office today on her lunch break to finalize some details. After business we were talking about Le bon Marché as the building I want  is right across the street. I told her I was just waiting for the documents and it would take sometime to get them. She said what do you think the MP's office is for. "thats what we do, help ppl" So with one phone call and brief Frenglish convo with our MPP. the assessments came over the fax machine about 3 mins later.
 I have a meeting on Thurs with the B.D.C. and I'll have all my documents (that i know of) and should get the go ahead to go. I'll get back you all on Thurs for a synopsis .
Tonight I got invited to the Bimonthly Y.P. (Young Professionals) dinner and social hour.  I meet so many wonderful ppl at the dinner. Let me tell you the buzz is out for the restaurant. Not like theres not already enough pressure. So all in all it was a very good day on on the L.B.M.L.F.V. front. and a surprising one at that. Tomorrow road trip to a restaurant and a home store for ideas with my designer. I'll let you know how that goes.
Cheers, Le Commis Glenn.

P.S.

Another thing you need to know about me is, I have bizarre sleeping habits. I crashed for about 20min after my last post and now I'm wide wake. So I'll go into detail a little more. The Business Plan. I've been in the kitchen for 25 years now. Started in Sept of of 1986 as a pot washer. I've had the pleasure of working all over Canada and Britain and have worked under some great Chef's. Gerhard Beck, John Sweeney, James Murphy and Anton Edleman. to name a few. Worked under a lot of Dicks too. But I digress. My point is I pretty much I know my way around an industrial kitchen. But front of the house???????????? now their's another story. and dealing with the public? Thats not me. Jake says I'm socially retarded and for the most part hes right. theres no gray in the kitchen its black or white. But dealing with ppl you need to compromise. I don't do that well.
So when it came to a business plan I was lost. Luckily they have a program to help Business start up. And I lucked into a great girl called Anna at the "The Business Centre". She helped me a great deal. ( when I first started my business I was trying to do everything. G.S.T / P.S.T. the Books everything! and it was quite difficult. Then my brother-in-law said to me. What do you do best? I said cook! then Kevin said to me then y are you trying to do all the other stuff?? And he was right! when running a business do what you do best. Hire ppl to do the rest. Lee Iaccoca said once when asked how to run a car company? " I have no idea, but I know how to hire ppl who do!!!!" ) So Anna showed me a template and I went home a filled it out and slowly the business plan came together. I planned on it taking me 10 drafts to get it right. With Anna's and Jakes help and the finalization of all the spelling and grammar done by Mitch, Jakes Wife we got a really good plan done in 6 attempts.  the N.O.H.F.C. was difficult to. But Anna was and still continues to be a dream. and even in T.O. Trever was a massive help. It is amazing how ppl want to help and want you to succeed. at 38 I'm learning to let ppl help me as nothing is done on your own.
So with a good business plan, Dan at the B.D.C. was able to help out  with a mortgage. So now I needed a venue. That was easy. I found a place and have been in talks with the landlords. I thought everything was good to go but the B.D.C. had to do a site inspection, and we had to fill out a Eco form. to make sure there was no environment issues. Now all I needed was to got to the bank and start up an account. show the B.D.C. my down payment, and the eco form and we should be good to go. but Dan is on vacation. so I have to wait a bit. Oh and I need those Government documents I talked about in the first blog. They're notice of assessments for 2008-09. Just to make sure I don't owe anything to the government. Ok I thinks thats all for tonight. Cheers
Le Commis Glenn

The Beginning

 Hello everyone. My friend Jake (whom you'll be hearing a lot of)set this up for me as kind of a diary of sorts to discuss my day to day operations of me building a restaurant.
So this process started back in January so I'll start there and do a bit of back dating as theres not much to tell at the moment. I can't go any further until I get some documents from the Government. and that may take several days.
I had started my Catering Company back in Sept of 07 in Orillia ON. and was doing ok. Not great but ok. I was making rent by doing sub contracting at a small restaurant in Orillia. But I wasn't happy and things were not progressing as I thought they would have. So as one of my mentors told me.'if your not happy leave" So I handed in my one months notice and prepared to leave. Go back to London (my home town) and were most of my family resides and be closer to them and my eldest brothers racing career. I went there in February and things just didn't work out. I shalt get personal but everything came crashing down. I was lost not knowing what to do.  It had been ten years since I was in London and everyone had got on with there lives. and I just didn't fit in anymore. Now important to note My best friend Lets call him Jake........ha ha ha. had been pressing to get me to come back to North Bay since I left in June of 2006. so with nothing to lose and feeling that London was a mistake I got in the car on the 23rd of March and headed North.
I had planned to just do my catering in the Bay. but then I had learned about the N.O.H.F.C. a grant the the government was allowing to people of Northern ON. Now Jake is a social butterfly and sits on a lot of boards in and around the N.B. area. He hooked me up with the ppl that I needed to talk too and before you know it I was filling out an application for this grant. Then mortgages through financial institutions.
Ok so this brings you up to a few weeks ago. I will be blogging every couple of days. and if you wish you can follow my progress as I get my once impossible dream of opening a restaurant up and running.
So As it stands tonight I'm still waiting to hear if I've been approved for the grant. my Mortgage with the B.D.C. is conditioned on this grant. I'm also filling out a liquor license.  even though I don't have the building yet and the mortgage is not finalized.  I am a 'T' type personality and I go for ridiculous goals and I love a big challenge. I go big or go home. I am a huge fan of Evel Knievel......... I give you a second to stop laughing.
Ok better? I'm a fan of this man because of what he did with his life. He wasn't just crazy. he attempted things that no one else would. He challenged ppl and he meant what he said. In my mind a real hero. Not these sugar coated yuppies kids are suppose to look up to today. Seriously speaking if it wasn't for Evel I never would have had the courage to got to Europe and live and work for 3 years, or ask out the hot women even thought I know they'd say no and the most important lesson I learned for him and we all should cherish this is getting back up when you've been knocked down!!!
Don't worry I won't be so personal from here on in. I just wanted to give the readers a sense of who I am. and the trials and tribulations of opening a restaurant and me realizing my dream!!
So tomorrow day off. as I'm getting major work done on my car. Wed I'll take my Designer on a road trip to show her what I'm looking for and the vision I have. I'll report then. Cheers Le Commis Glenn.