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 20th 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 14th. 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 26th 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
Anyway, we changed the Grand Opening to the 26th 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
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
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
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