“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