The second coming Blog #44

Hello everyone. I’mmmmmmmmmmmmm baaaaaack!!!! If you follow Le Bon Marché’s Facebook page, you’ll know I’ve been debating coming back to blogging. I actually have missed it a lot. I was afraid of hurting people but, I am who I am, and I refuse to change for anybody. However, in the interest of compromising, I’ll have Jake & Michelle proof read and be my filters. So without further ado, let’s get started, shall we?

The Grand Opening was phenomenal!!!! Everybody came out for it. We amalgamated it with the “Business after Hours” meeting and it was one of the Chamber’s biggest events. I didn’t want to do the typical ribbon cutting, so I had  a local pastry shop make for me a 4ft French stick which the mayor and I broke.  The public though it was great.  So many double entendres there. Scott Clark from Clark Marketing Communications was kind enough to MC the night and he did a splendid job. All of my family came up save my brother Ken. But the night was so great. I was truly happy at the way the evening had unfolded.   But Friday came all too fast and it was back to work as usual. The show was over. Now forgive me for cramming 5 months into this one blog.  I’m going by memory here. June was not a great month. Not sure why as we haven’t been opened a year yet and every day is new.  I have no previous June to look back on.  July came with a bang and we stayed busy right up until Sept 1^st.  It has been more or less quiet ever since. I have had lots of ups and downs over the summer but I really don’t believe they were important enough to mention. Money is ALWAYS a big concern. I tell ya, I have a whole new respect for business owners and how they make it work. Richard Branson is a biggie for me. He, being a self made billionaire, also had to borrow money from everyone and their brother in order to get his dream up and running. I’m in that boat now. I’m sure it will be great to look back one day, and laugh at my hardships but right now, it is a bloody nightmare. Just when you think you’re winning, something comes up.  Like recently, I got a $3000.00 hydro bill. Apparently, they were just going by guess work since they couldn’t even get in to read my meter!  We don’t open till 11am and the meter person comes by early in the morning. When they caught that, I was slapped with a $3k bill!  So according to hydro, their mistake is my problem... My brand new hood quit on me as well.  Of course, the company will not take blame for this default.  I had to spend another whack of money to fix that. I’m trying to get the retailer to pay for it, but its proving to be difficult.  Due to timing and money, my spring menu ran over the summer.  When trying to run the show solo, other things just get in the way of the one task you just want to finish.  Finally, we got a new autumn menu completed and it has started Sept 21. It is a fantastic menu and one that I’m exceedingly proud of. One reason that makes me so proud of it, is because I got my staff involved and there is a bit of Kyla, Steve and Solomon on the menu. Also, a lot of the items bring me back to my SaVoy days.  To reproduce the things I’ve learned and adding my own twist on them is so gratifying. We are getting great reviews on the menu even though business is slower than expected.  Is this a sign of the times?  a recession?,  price point?, or are people just not understanding the menu? Who knows… but the menu is fantastic and for people in Northern Ontario to get langoustines, foie gras and sea bass is a real treasure. I just hope people catch on to “a good thing” and go back to dining out as part of their evening.  I did settle a personal goal of mine of getting Dom Perignon in the Resto. Now, I need somebody to buy it up Hahaha.

A great book I’ve read in the past “Rich Dad Poor Dad” (I think I’ve mentioned it in previous blogs), teaches you to give even when you don’t have. I took this to heart and realized there is always somebody else in greater need. I wanted to give back to the community, help the people of North Bay. I looked around at the typical charities but being Glenn Sheridan, I couldn’t do typical. So I decide to do my charitable contribution to the MRI fund at our new hospital. I figured if we all live long enough, we’ll all need it at some point. This machine is phenomenal!! It’s the new type and apparently the best in the world. I know when I heard that, I though yeah sure, propaganda at its finest. But I investigated it and it’s true. At this time, there are only 4 in the world of this type and ours is serial number 0001. LOL.  But these things are very expensive to buy and even more costly to operate. I got in contact with a woman named Vicky and told her about an idea I had to hold a 5 diamond, 6 course dinner for $200 a head and donate the proceeds to the MRI fund. She loved the idea and we got to work on it straight a way. We held the dinner on Sept 25^th.  Chefs from all over the City donated their time to cook while my server Brandon, and ex server Tran, volunteered as well. The dinner sold out in two weeks and we managed to raise $7200.00 for the Machine. I was almost brought to tears by North Bay’s generosity and the people who came out to this inaugural event.

We also got a couple of more Absinthes since May and I’m working on purchasing more. The red tape is sooooo thick and long but I’m tenacious. I won’t give up. Even when I seem to be beaten and I want to give up, my body just seems to push forward anyway. So we’ll keep trying. Jake and I are closer than ever, Amy and I are mended and Anna is still on my team as well. We’ve lost a few staff members over the past few months but gained a few as well. We lost Tran but picked up Brandon. This guy is great. He has worked at the Rim Rock and his experience is definitely an asset to our team. Jann is still with us and working her magic as always.  Cindy, a new hire, will be starting this week.  Finally, I found a French speaking server!!! I’m so excited! Kyla is still with us and is the back bone of LBM. Steve left us to go to Calgary and Solomon is with us until April 2012.  He will be leaving us to go work with the amazing Charlie Trotter. Jacob will be with us until January when he will leave us to go to school in Niagara.

So that’s where we stand for this day, Oct 9/ 2011. We’ll be starting a newsletter as well and I’ve got some exciting new things planned out for the next year. I look forward to more blogs and seeing you all at Le Bon Marché. Tell them Lilith sent ya!!

Cheers everyone.

Rusty Chemise.