The Vent (Radio Version) Blog # 41

Hello readers. I know I said in the beginning that I would try to keep this professional and not personal, but today I’m breaking that rule. #1 reason is the blog wouldn’t be exciting and secondly, I need to vent… So Monday was a bit of a loss since Sunday night, Jake, Mitch and I got into the sauce. Well truth be told, they tasted the sauce and I licked the bow! hon hon hon. So Monday, needless to say, I was moving a little slow. But I got my food order done and then went home and drank tea all night. Tuesday, I was up and at‘em  and I was thankful for Monday’s rest because we got destroyed in the Resto.  The staffing consisted of only Kyla and me cooking and my server Tran for the front all day by herself. We were busy!! Not sure why we were so busy and I didn’t care.  It just felt great to be busy, and on a Tuesday to boot. It sets the pace for the week. If you make a good profit on day one, it helps you ride the wave rather than praying to make extra every other day of the week to catch up.

I awoke Wednesday morning to 21cm (8”) of snow!!! Not impressed for the 20^th of April but we had a good lunch crowd anyway.  Then the meeting came… Dun dun dunnnnnnnn…

The meeting was to discuss my grand opening. It was with my good friends Anna and Amy. I asked them to come and help me out with details on the opening, dignitaries to invite and also just to get some female ideas.  Everything was going good until a guy I know, Craig, showed up and started putting in his two cents. (Craig is a business man and has done a few openings in his time).  The Grand Opening was to be held on a Saturday, May 14^th. I wanted it this way as my family and a few friends live 5+ hours away. I wanted them to come up and spend the night as I wouldn’t have time to visit with them Sat.  They could of stayed over night at Jake’s hotel and we could have had brunch on Sunday and visit. Now, Jake had told me a long time ago that a Saturday G.O. was not a good idea. Craig reiterated that and both Anna and Amy agreed. So a big argument issued and I fell. But I went down kicking and screaming. I am to host the Local Chamber of Commerce night on May 26^th and Craig, Amy and Anna thought it would make “business sense” to run them both at the same time.  It does make business sense, but what about me? Isn’t this my Resto? I don’t think I’ve gotten to do anything I wanted since we opened. I mean I hired a designer, a marketer, a contractor, and staff who fight me at every turn.  In order to keep them all happy, I’m suffering. WTF! Who’s money was used? Who works 7 days a week, 15 – 18 hrs a day? Who hasn’t been laid since the roaring 20’s? When do I get what I want? I also belong to a Chef agency and I want to do Iron Chef, but am I? The president of the Chef’s Network told me I had to own my own Resto. Now that I do, she’s still fluffing me off, after I pulled her out of a jam at the CNE in 2009. The boss promised me I was going to Mexico but nope. I haven’t worked for them since. Maybe Denis Leary was right. If you haven’t made it by 30, it’s not going to happen. (That was my “woe is me” Oscar cam.)

Anyway, we changed the Grand Opening to the 26^th of May.  Yes I think it’s a smart move business wise, but I’m not happy. I fact, I’m down right angry and depressed. None of my friends and family from back home will be able to come on a Thursday. Not only that, but will the people come to my Resto for my Grand opening or will they be coming for the Chamber of Commerce’s night out on the town. I’ll never know. Jake thinks I’m off my rocker. He’s in sales and marketing and he has quite a business attitude. I have pride. Maybe that’s the down fall of so many Chef / Owners. Am I slipping into that category? And what about the Mayor? I booked him 3 months in advance to cut the ribbon. He’s a busy man. Can he change his schedule for me?  

 I had a guy call me an A**hole because I think you shouldn’t need a steak knife to cut a AAA tenderloin, I’ve had a self-proclaimed foodie tell me my red pepper soup wasn’t red peppery enough and it had oil on top of it. I explained to him that there were only 5 ingredients in the soup, 97% of which was red peppers.  The oil on top was Basil oil (which consists of Blanching basil refreshing it in ice water, squeezing out the excess water, putting it into a blender and adding extra virgin olive oil. Then, this is strained through muslin and you are left with beautiful green oil that tastes like fresh basil designed to cut the sharpness of the peppers and act as a garnish). When I explain things like this to ppl they look at me like I’m from Mars. I’m trying to bring big city food to North Bay and ppl don’t seem to respect that. I’ve worked in some high prestige places and I’ve rub shoulders with Ramsay and Rhodes and trained under Edelmann for god sakes! I’ve cooked for the Stars and Royalty. But it all goes to waste. I guess I need to wake up.  Ppl want pre-packaged food with ingredients that no one can pronounce and that give you cancer. Take Ritchie Blackmore for instance.  He’s one of the greatest guitarists of all time and what is he known for…DHUN, DHUN, DHUN,…….. DHUN, DHUN, DA, DHUN…the simplest song ever.

But I digress.  Look at another one of my mentors.  Lee Iacocca said “you get people who are smarter than you and put them to work”. So that’s what I’ve done. Amy, Anna and Jake are smarter than me and Craig was right. This is all coupled with me fighting with Paul, the guy I bought the dishes off of. We’re fighting over payment, things he didn’t do for me and blah blah blah…… Plus I’m still waiting for my HST cheque from January to come in, the bills are getting higher and just for fun, this weekend was a four day weekend where nobody works except the hospitality people.

Now, Anna did call me to let me know that the mayor may indeed be able to attend my Grand Opening to cut the ribbon. But is it too late? I’m down now and actually thinking of cancelling the whole thing. But I can’t.  I’m part Scottish and we never give up. It’s not in my genes. It takes me back to my dear old Grammy. She had cancer and was told to go to the hospital.  She replied with “if God wants me, He can come to my house and get me!”  I loved that woman. So I’ll go ahead with it and it will be the best Grand Opening North Bay has ever seen! Unfortunately, I’ll have that feeling in the pit of my stomach that has me questioning if they will come for me or something else.

Wednesday lunch was ok and dinner was a wash.  However, Friday is Good Friday. I don’t usually do specials (if its so special way isn’t it on the menu?).  But I do know that Good Friday is a big day for Catholics and North Bay is in majority, Catholics. So we’re throwing on a Feature. Oven roasted Black Cod on Lentils with Rondelles of Vegetables and Fondant Potato. We’ll see how that flies. We’ll either be busier than a one armed paper hanger or we’ll all be playing scrabble for 14 hours.

Well, Friday is over and we played scrabble……… hon hon hon.  Actually, we had a good day and we fared ok. Saturday was a quiet, but a good day.  I really didn’t know what to expect since this was my first long weekend since being open. I had a couple of new servers on as well. They did well.  Sunday was a relaxing day. I got up early and went into work early and was back by noon. Jake and Mitch took the kids to a family function so I got to clean my car, grab a hot tub and even enjoyed a 30 min nap on the couch.

Tomorrow I’m in for a cleaning, receive an order and get some prep done.  Then we’re off to the races for another week.  I realize the last couple of blogs have been downers but you’re getting the honest truth here. I look forward to writing positive ones in the future. Thanks for reading and we’ll blog at you next week.

Le Commis

Rusty Chemise

It is said the true measure of a man’s character is not how he acts in prosperous times. But how he acts in disadvantageous ones Blog #40

Hello fellow readers. Hope you are well this day. I’m ok. In fact I’m better than ok I am alright.  It’s been a tough week for me professionally. I’m at a loss as to what to do. I can’t afford to advertise but I need to get bums in the seats. We’re very quiet. I don’t know why. A month ago, we were rocking out 20 and 30 covers for lunch and dinner now we are doing maybe 8 and 12. I’ve had to cut staff like crazy and of course they are not happy with that.   With the help from friends and Jeff Serran (DIA), we’re running a promotion for the Downtown businesses. We also got a sandwich board witch we put out on the side walk. I sure will be happy when that HST return comes in but until then, I’ve had to borrow more money off of ppl. I’m sooooo sick of owing ppl money. But I got to do what I got to do. Speaking of HST, we got all that sorted and moving forward. Jordan has my year end and is working on that.  

On the positive side, we did get a small blurb in the Food Service magazine just saying who we are and that we are opened. I also did a promotion for a charity which was filmed and we posted that on you tube. (Bon Marche.wmv) I also got things moving on my awning.  My requisition for the patio has been ok’d by the City Solicitor and is going to Council on May 2.

But it’s funny how you can have such a bad week and on the very last day of the week, something good happens to pick you up and make you feel alright again! Sat night was a good night with 40 covers. The wine and Absinthe were flowing but what made me feel doubly special was that my one apprentice entered the Skills Canada competition for Northern ON.  He won by a land slide!!! So Solomon will be heading to the Provincials in May down in Guelph and if he wins there, he goes to the Nationals. I’m very proud of Solomon for winning. Congratulations Sol. And good luck in May!

So rather than go on about my week, I feel it’s best to cut it short and tackle this next week head on. I hope to have more to discuss next week.

Have a great week and remember, on Good Friday, we’ll be running a fish special. I’ll see tomorrow what’s available for fresh fish. Tune into Le Bon Marché facebook page as I’ll post the special there as well as on my new sandwich board.

Until next time,

Glenn Chemise.

You can keep your tons of friends. Blog 39

As for me I take the good ones. Scratch that, GREAT ones. More about them later,

So the week was an up and down week, wow it was crazy!!! So let’s start with Monday shall we. Monday was usual for me with going into work, doing the paper work, receiving orders, cleaning and getting sorted for the week. Luckily for me, Jake and I did not have to attend any meetings on Monday night so I got to go home early and have a family meal and Veg on the couch like a normal person. I also spent Monday dealing with my bookkeeper, trying to get my year end sorted so I could meet up with Jordan on Friday to do my Taxes. Tuesday, I was in at 9am getting ready. Tuesdays it’s just Kyla and I and with me not taking a pay cheque, it’s a good labour day. With Labour being high in March I also took over the schedule for the front of the house and cut like crazy. I was a little nervous that maybe I cut too much though and would later get smoked. But it proved to be the right decision as we were dead all week. In fact, the week was horrible. My only saving grace was that all the other Restos in the area were dead as well. I guess it’s just that time of year. So Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were a wash. This did come at a really bad time for me as I needed to make some money to cover a few things. But it wasn’t meant to be. Wednesday night was also a sad night for me as Grace and I decided it was best for both parties to go our separate ways. Grace is a good girl and I think the world of her. But we weren’t a good match.  It’s kinda like a good race car driver and a good crew chief. Sometimes the pairing just isn’t right and they split up and move to different teams and excel. Grace does a lot with horses and that is where her heart is.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Grace for all her hard work. I’m not an easy person to work for and she did a splendid job. I wish her all the success in the future.

Thursday I woke to a new day. I don’t believe in living in the past and whatever happened yesterday happened yesterday. Let’s move on.  Thursday was a dead day as well and, of course, I really wanted a good day. But it didn’t happen. As a result, I couldn’t pick up my liquor order as I didn’t have enough cash to do so. Thursday was pay day as well and I needed the cash to pay the staff off first. Friday was good finally!!!! We had a good lunch and a great dinner. I received my Taboo Absinthe this week as well which made me a tad nervous. It cost a lot of money and I can’t afford to have high inventory. After all, inventory is also called DEAD MONEY. Why is it called that? Because it’s money sitting on the shelf when it could be in the bank making interest. But I’m glad to say the taboo has taken off like a rocket! We’re selling it on its own and in mixed drinks. Friday did come with a little disappointment however.  I was scheduled to meet Jordan for income taxes and he texted me the night before saying he hadn’t received anything from the bookkeeper yet. Well I called them and let them have it “Jimmy style”!!! It turns out the person doing my bookkeeping was not doing it right and had been fired. So his boss had to investigate all my stuff. It turns out that this guy hadn’t filed HST in 3 quarters and year end is not done.  Payroll debts which are due on the 15^th, aren’t even started.  Man it’s just like algebra. One thing gets screwed up at the beginning and by the time you get down the line, the problem is HUGE!!!. So she is working on my file all this weekend. I’m to go see her Monday morning and we should be good to see Jordan this week. HST should be caught up and we should be back on track. Should!!!.

So Saturday rolls around, and I can’t lie, I’m bloody tired. Kyla and I even joked that being tired is just as good as being drunk (and a lot cheaper). Amy was free Saturday to do a couple of errands for me such as picking up wine and Vodka for the night. We had a good lunch and we had 50 reservations for dinner. The first seating was completely booked! It felt kind of good telling people that the first seating was full.  But as luck would have it, I did not have enough staff to cover our busiest night.  My usual servers were either off or away. And with Grace gone, I had no choice but to ask friends for help. I started off by asking if they knew any servers that were available. But really, a server off on a Saturday evening is a tall order. So turning to friends it was. I asked my friends Katie and Amy for help. Neither had served before (well Kate use to help me in caterings) but these two ladies rocked it out for me as well as my server Blake.  I mean, two friends (one being an ex- girl friend) giving up their Sat. night to help me. Man, I tell you, I was very humbled. Blake has really stepped up to the plate as of late and is being very responsible. Thank-you Blake.

So, still not being a champion on the till and just being damn exhausted, I did make a few mistakes last night on the read. Since Sundays we are closed, I just packed up everything and brought it home to Jake to go through today. Turns out it wasn’t as bad as I thought and it only took him a few minutes to see where I went wrong and balance it out.

Now for the rest of the day, I’m taking it easy. Playing with the kids gives me a much needed chance to forget about work. Tomorrow morning, I go to the book keeper then into work to do my orders and payroll. Also, if time permits, I need to get my drawings over to city hall solicitor in order to get my permit for the patio. I also will need to make of my Brioche for Tuesday.  Tomorrow evening I have another meeting with Jake and then we tackle the week all over again.

Until we meet again!

This is Glenn Chemise signing off.

Le Bon Marché goes international Blog #38

Hello fellow readers. I’m on time today. Woo hoo!!!

So the sun is out and the days are warmer. Lunches are picking up and we are slowly getting busier everyday. There are still ppl who don’t know we’re open but the ones that I’m noticing are repeat customers. Some ppl are even coming in for lunch and dinner in the same day. I even had a couple on Sat who said they loved my floors. Bless their hearts.

So back to this past week. The last blog took us to Wednesday so there has been less for me to remember this time.  Hon hon hon. Thursday was a good day and Friday lunch was amazing. Friday night was also very good.  Unfortunately, Sat was a sort of a let down. Not sure why, maybe it was because there was nothing happening at the capital centre? Not sure. But it did give us time to do a thorough cleaning.

There’s a radio show held every year on a local soft rock station call “Keven and Joel’s Longest Morning”. It supports Rotary for kids and the Rotary Club of North Bay. They are on the air for 53 straight hours to help raise money. It would be even cooler if it was 52 hours (hon hon hon but I digress).  They look for pledges so I pledged $100 dollars and they put the challenge out there for another Resto to match it. I didn’t hear if it was matched as I turn the radio off for service. But I did hear them say our name though and they called it “Le Bon March”. Boooo. It is pronounced (Le Bon Marsh-eh) Oh well, there’s no such thing as bad advertising they say. Sat during the day, we entered the International Food Festival, a fund raiser for the student refugee program. Grace headed this one up from beginning to end. She went to hand out samples of our chocolate pate. We had 500 samples and we were out in an hour. She had menus as well. This is the only advertising I can afford at the moment. She did a great job.  We got lots of compliments and I see that the number of “likes” on the Le Bon Marché’s Facebook page has grown exponentially.

Unfortunately, my Absinthe didn’t come in this week L.   Apparently my order (the bottles) got broken in the courier truck. But……………… My crystal head vodka did come in!!!  It’s vodka for a discerning taste and comes in a bottle in the shape of a skull. Very Hawt!! We got a stand, as well, that has a light in it so when you set the bottle on top the stand, the bottle lights up. Very Cool. I no sooner had received it and was pulling it out of the box when a customer asked “what is that?” I explained to him what it was and he responded with  “I’ll take one right now”.

Patrick it sorting out the wine and liquor menu’s and we should have those this coming week.

So that’s where we stand for this week. I’m still working on getting approval from the city for the patio and getting my awning reupholstered. We are going into our second month now and I’m looking forward to that. Also, we’ll start planning the Grand Opening (coming May 14^th) as well.  Everyone is welcome. We’ll also be hosting the Chamber meeting in May. So we just need to make enough of a profit in April to help us pay for these coming events.  With exposure like that we should be off to the races. Then in June it will be time for a new menu. It never stops in the Resto business.

So today, other than inventory imputing and closing off March and opening up April, I’m determined to take the day off. I was so excited to turn my alarm off for this morning only to still wake up at 8:30AM. Booooooo!  But I feel good, refreshed and relaxed. I hope you have a great week and we’ll blog at you next time.

Le Commis

Rusty Chemise

(more on the meaning of that name later.)

The Lord Giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blog #37

Or in this case, Horus took away and then gave back. What does all this craziness mean? I found my Licence plates!!!!!! I had given up hope when on Tuesday, I was looking for a Cd in my car. I looked in-between the seat and the consul and there were the plates.... wedged right in there. I couldn’t believe it. I texted Jake straight away and he seemed to like me again! Hon hon hon.

Last week was horrible. Not sure why, but no one came to the Resto. Until Sat that is. It was the week after March Break and it was bitterly cold out. I mean the days were beautiful and all, but it was chilly and the north wind was rocking it out hard core. None the less, we take the good and the bad and move on. Sat we rocked it out big time. High numbers and good Revenues and the staff seem to work really well together. Sunday I was back in for a big clean and catch up on paper work. Back home for visiting with the Lacourse’s and Bennett’s. Monday back in again to finish the cleaning, receive the food order, pay bills and meet Jake and Amy for dinner. Then off to a meeting with Jake. (Did I mention I was chronically tired?) Tuesday up and at’em for work. Tuesday was slow but we were behind in our prep so it was a good day. I gave the Sous-chef a day off Tuesday to go home for a visit with family and told Grace to take some time off as well. She came in late then she went shopping for some supplies. I took on the till all by myself. You laugh, but this is all new to me. I’m glad to say it balanced. Wednesday was a bit different. We held a breakfast for a business meeting. So I was up at 6:30am in into work. Then we got killed for lunch. I mean it was fantastic. 32 covers from nowhere. They came in droves. Tonight was a bit of a let down after the lunch we had, but again, I took on the till. The till won tonight. So I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get some help to see where I went wrong.

Now, there’s an old saying in the cheffing world. “You can tell a chef by his/ her Brioche”. We’ve been working on ours for a couple of weeks and we got it down. And it is fantastic!!!

Grace has been working diligently on a lot of stuff too. The last week or so, she’s been more of my marketer and office manager then the dinning room manager. She’s very good at it and let's face it, she’s better to look at than my ugly mug. So with her working the phones and going out and doing cold calls to let ppl know we’re open, I’ve been slugging it out in the Resto. I try to get out every chance I get to talk with the customers and when I do, Grace, and everyone else for that matter, bugs me about smiling. I’m trying really hard. I put on a game face at work and I’m pretty intense. But I’m working on it. So that’s it for me tonight. Sorry it is short and sweet……….. and late again. I’m just struggling to find enough time lately. I’ll try and get another one up for Sunday. After all, it is inventory week and this will be the first full month of being open. So we’ll know exactly if we’re making a profit or not and where we need to make changes. Have a good week everyone.

Glenn Chemise. Le Commis of Le Bon Marché.