The truck brings the doors; the bar "cubby"; the sanding of the DR floor and the view. It's so hard to convey how much better things are looking in the DR through these pictures, but trust me, things are coming along nicely. Finally we can say that.
The next few weeks are bound to be pretty hectic and the stress level will rise. I am in the midst of my second on-line webpage class and my brain is full of Tables Tables Tables, both the Web kind and the Dining Room kind. Kevin is up to his knees in cut-sheets and equipment specs and both of us are trying to arrange all sorts of meetings and make all sorts of deadlines. I don't like to make this Blog too personal - it is a business after all! and eventually will involve a lot more people than just the two of us (we Hope!!) - but for now we're all we've got and we can only hope we're enough. Of course the fact that we've been through this before helps. While I can only remember bits and pieces of the Ironstone Cafe creation - meeting with the High Powered Landlord in the High Powered Attorney's Office, doing verbal battle with George Dean (the owner of the Imperial at the time) over the competition factor our little cafe would add to Chestertown's dining scene back in 1986 - I do know that the fellow who bought the already successful Ironstone made a smart purchase and saved himself a lot of pain and suffering by doing so. We tried to take what we'd learned from that restaurant to the KVI, where of course we made mistakes (we've got lots of hindsight!) but not quite as many, and eventually were able to turn that baby over to the two guys who continue to run it so well today. This third time may not be the charm - and I most likely will not be sharing all the mistakes we make along this trail - but I can't say we don't know what we are getting ourselves into. We know perfectly well. I feel sorry for anyone who goes into this business who doesn't know what to expect - if the ice machine is going to break down, it is going to be on the hottest Saturday night in July. That is just what you expect. Just ask Vickie, who's pipes froze the first weekend she was open, or Glen about the Death of a Freezer. Employees are going to call in sick at the least opportune moment; customers are going to complain about the noisy/hot/cold/loud/bare/crowded/quiet/dark/bright/full/empty dining room; equipment is going to malfunction with alarming regularity; feelings are going to get hurt; orders are going to get screwed up; and huge stockpots of important veal stock are going to tumble over in the walk-in. All of this will happen and more. However, other things are going to happen too - my mother is going to walk around like she owns the place and act like she knows every single person in there (and most likely she will know them!); the food is going to be fresh and delicious and consistently well made and attractively presented; the staff will be professional and well-trained and happy to be there; the atmosphere in the DR will be one of comfort and welcome and high spirits, despite what might be going on behind the scenes; the customers will be abundant and pleasantly surprised and delighted (well, I can't guarantee this last one but I hope it's true!) After all, isn't that what life is all about - balance? I'm all for it.
On with the Show!
The next few weeks are bound to be pretty hectic and the stress level will rise. I am in the midst of my second on-line webpage class and my brain is full of Tables Tables Tables, both the Web kind and the Dining Room kind. Kevin is up to his knees in cut-sheets and equipment specs and both of us are trying to arrange all sorts of meetings and make all sorts of deadlines. I don't like to make this Blog too personal - it is a business after all! and eventually will involve a lot more people than just the two of us (we Hope!!) - but for now we're all we've got and we can only hope we're enough. Of course the fact that we've been through this before helps. While I can only remember bits and pieces of the Ironstone Cafe creation - meeting with the High Powered Landlord in the High Powered Attorney's Office, doing verbal battle with George Dean (the owner of the Imperial at the time) over the competition factor our little cafe would add to Chestertown's dining scene back in 1986 - I do know that the fellow who bought the already successful Ironstone made a smart purchase and saved himself a lot of pain and suffering by doing so. We tried to take what we'd learned from that restaurant to the KVI, where of course we made mistakes (we've got lots of hindsight!) but not quite as many, and eventually were able to turn that baby over to the two guys who continue to run it so well today. This third time may not be the charm - and I most likely will not be sharing all the mistakes we make along this trail - but I can't say we don't know what we are getting ourselves into. We know perfectly well. I feel sorry for anyone who goes into this business who doesn't know what to expect - if the ice machine is going to break down, it is going to be on the hottest Saturday night in July. That is just what you expect. Just ask Vickie, who's pipes froze the first weekend she was open, or Glen about the Death of a Freezer. Employees are going to call in sick at the least opportune moment; customers are going to complain about the noisy/hot/cold/loud/bare/crowded/quiet/dark/bright/full/empty dining room; equipment is going to malfunction with alarming regularity; feelings are going to get hurt; orders are going to get screwed up; and huge stockpots of important veal stock are going to tumble over in the walk-in. All of this will happen and more. However, other things are going to happen too - my mother is going to walk around like she owns the place and act like she knows every single person in there (and most likely she will know them!); the food is going to be fresh and delicious and consistently well made and attractively presented; the staff will be professional and well-trained and happy to be there; the atmosphere in the DR will be one of comfort and welcome and high spirits, despite what might be going on behind the scenes; the customers will be abundant and pleasantly surprised and delighted (well, I can't guarantee this last one but I hope it's true!) After all, isn't that what life is all about - balance? I'm all for it.
On with the Show!
