To everyone who has been following us either through twitter or facebook I would like to say thanks. For all the folks who have come to our tastings and been part of La Bocca so far, your input has been beyond value.
If you have seen our twitter from a few days ago you will realize I am leaving my present position and taking a job as a sous chef for Terrance Brennan. He owns several restaurants in NYC and is opening an outpost in Bellevue. To some this may seem to be a step backwards but it is an opportunity to help open a huge fine dining restaurant and continue to hone my skills.
With the recent engagement to Lydia I found myself thinking of the future and my responsibilities as a husband and one day as a father. I have lived the majority of my life being only concerned for my own well being. Now that has changed. I will have responsibilities to my family. This position offers benefits, health care, vacation time and sick leave. Most restaurants can't afford these but for a few key employees.
We are not giving up the dream of La Bocca, in fact this delay will give us a better chance to save for a down payment and perfect our business plan and the format. I would be content to open La Bocca on a shoestring but the likelihood of failure is greater than I can accept for my soon to be family. Restaurants will always be a risky business but with proper preparation we will have a better chance of success.
We will continue to blog, tweet and experiment with menu ideas but our opening will be delayed for a bit. Unless we hit the lottery and don't have to work for other people we will be patient and get things as ready as possible. We will continue to search for a location and investors as time allows, but we won't be rushing the opening.
Again we thank all those who have followed us and given support. Have no fear La Bocca is coming, it is just at a slightly slower place.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Why open a restaurant?
Why open a restaurant is one of the first questions you get when you start to. travel down this road. The question comes mostly from industry insiders, restaurant owners and people in the financial/lending industry. Restaurant owners ask why would you want to give up the paycheck and security for the workload and headaches of ownership. The financial folks will tell you that the restaurant industry has a fairly high failure rate and getting funding will be difficult and making a realistic profit will be a challenge. These are the realists the people who know what it takes and in all reality are the ones who truly don't want to see you fail.
And yet people with little or no experience still take on all the risks everyday.
What outsiders don't understand are all the things that go into a successful restaurant. I'm going to put this out there not to be cruel or nasty. Just because a family member or friend tells you that, "you are a great cook you should open your own restaurant, I'd come every day!"
This business is not for the faint of heart. You need the physical stamina of an athlete and the mental/ emotional fortitude of a death row inmate still contemplating escape. You also must have the commitment and devotion to preach the virtues of you restaurant to anyone who will listen, in a way like a missionary making dinning converts where ever you go.
I know anyone reading this who isn't in the business will think I am full of s**t, but spend one week in a busy kitchen and you will begin to understand at least part of what it takes to make a restaurant work. Since I have spent the majority of my life in a kitchen I will give you a sample of an average work day, something you will have to deal with day in and day out.
If your restaurant serves lunch you will have to be up shortly after the sun, if you do breakfast well before it is up. Upon entering the kitchen you will have to light all the fires, turn on the hoods, check all the coolers and make sure they are at temp. Check the line, refill anything that is low and do prep to get ready for basic service. Now if you are lucky and the restaurant is large enough and does enough business you may get a prep or a line cook to help out. If not you will probably be by yourself and may or may not be able to afford to have a dishwasher to do dishes for you.
So you have to have your soups up to temp and your starches ready. Also your are going to have salesmen coming today or your order is going to arrive and you must be ready for either. Either it is placing the order or putting it away you will have to make time because it will happen when you are cooking for a customer. If your rep is any good he/she will stand at the end of your line and do your order asking as few questions as possible. If your driver is behind he/she will come in the middle of the lunch rush have 2,000 questions and pile all you purchases in front of the cooler door with the most perishable on the bottom of the stack.
If you have a not so great rep they will be in your apron pocket and never shut up. Placing an order is always time sensitive. the rep has to have everything from all his accounts in by a certain time and fresh meats and seafood have a very early cut off, usually before noon so you must be ready.
Now your lunch service is over. Your big push is done. Now you can clean up, do some dishes and get ready for dinner. Now as the owner/ chef you will be answering question from customers, getting phone calls, fielding questions from staff and countless other non cooking jobs during the day.
Hopefully you are busy enough to have a cook and a dishwasher during dinner service. During the afternoon lull you have made some calls, set up the dinner specials and reset the line. Now you may or may not get time to do banking or other managerial duties, so if you have a FOH manager or a partner hopefully they can help you with these tasks. Otherwise you will have to make a midnight bank drop.
So now you have a few minutes, sit down, gobble down a sandwich and get mentally ready for a few more hours of dinner service. You are not going to get to many random phone calls once dinner start, telemarketers don't cold call businesses after 5pm usually. However yo will have a few more people on staff to be concerned with. A couple of servers, a dishwasher and a cook. Now the only true way to control costs is through payroll. So if it isn't to busy start cutting staff. People will be pissed but it's your money so don't back down.
Now you have gotten through service and the kitchen is clean. All the employees have gone home and you are ready to leave. You make a quick run through the kitchen, bar and wait station to make sure everything is shut off. You collect the days recites and bank, and head for the door. You have been in the restaurant since before 9am and it is just past midnight. It was a relatively smooth day, a victory in most respects, if you are lucky all your planning and experience might earn you two more of these this week but that isn't a guarantee.
In 8 short hours you will be back at the stoves cooking, answering phones, problem solving and putting out proverbial fires.
SO YOU WANT TO OPEN A RESTAURANT?
I have 25 years in the restaurant business and a true passion for food and customer service, I am terrified of doing this but it is a passion and what I have worked the majority of my life to achieve.
And yet people with little or no experience still take on all the risks everyday.
What outsiders don't understand are all the things that go into a successful restaurant. I'm going to put this out there not to be cruel or nasty. Just because a family member or friend tells you that, "you are a great cook you should open your own restaurant, I'd come every day!"
This business is not for the faint of heart. You need the physical stamina of an athlete and the mental/ emotional fortitude of a death row inmate still contemplating escape. You also must have the commitment and devotion to preach the virtues of you restaurant to anyone who will listen, in a way like a missionary making dinning converts where ever you go.
I know anyone reading this who isn't in the business will think I am full of s**t, but spend one week in a busy kitchen and you will begin to understand at least part of what it takes to make a restaurant work. Since I have spent the majority of my life in a kitchen I will give you a sample of an average work day, something you will have to deal with day in and day out.
If your restaurant serves lunch you will have to be up shortly after the sun, if you do breakfast well before it is up. Upon entering the kitchen you will have to light all the fires, turn on the hoods, check all the coolers and make sure they are at temp. Check the line, refill anything that is low and do prep to get ready for basic service. Now if you are lucky and the restaurant is large enough and does enough business you may get a prep or a line cook to help out. If not you will probably be by yourself and may or may not be able to afford to have a dishwasher to do dishes for you.
So you have to have your soups up to temp and your starches ready. Also your are going to have salesmen coming today or your order is going to arrive and you must be ready for either. Either it is placing the order or putting it away you will have to make time because it will happen when you are cooking for a customer. If your rep is any good he/she will stand at the end of your line and do your order asking as few questions as possible. If your driver is behind he/she will come in the middle of the lunch rush have 2,000 questions and pile all you purchases in front of the cooler door with the most perishable on the bottom of the stack.
If you have a not so great rep they will be in your apron pocket and never shut up. Placing an order is always time sensitive. the rep has to have everything from all his accounts in by a certain time and fresh meats and seafood have a very early cut off, usually before noon so you must be ready.
Now your lunch service is over. Your big push is done. Now you can clean up, do some dishes and get ready for dinner. Now as the owner/ chef you will be answering question from customers, getting phone calls, fielding questions from staff and countless other non cooking jobs during the day.
Hopefully you are busy enough to have a cook and a dishwasher during dinner service. During the afternoon lull you have made some calls, set up the dinner specials and reset the line. Now you may or may not get time to do banking or other managerial duties, so if you have a FOH manager or a partner hopefully they can help you with these tasks. Otherwise you will have to make a midnight bank drop.
So now you have a few minutes, sit down, gobble down a sandwich and get mentally ready for a few more hours of dinner service. You are not going to get to many random phone calls once dinner start, telemarketers don't cold call businesses after 5pm usually. However yo will have a few more people on staff to be concerned with. A couple of servers, a dishwasher and a cook. Now the only true way to control costs is through payroll. So if it isn't to busy start cutting staff. People will be pissed but it's your money so don't back down.
Now you have gotten through service and the kitchen is clean. All the employees have gone home and you are ready to leave. You make a quick run through the kitchen, bar and wait station to make sure everything is shut off. You collect the days recites and bank, and head for the door. You have been in the restaurant since before 9am and it is just past midnight. It was a relatively smooth day, a victory in most respects, if you are lucky all your planning and experience might earn you two more of these this week but that isn't a guarantee.
In 8 short hours you will be back at the stoves cooking, answering phones, problem solving and putting out proverbial fires.
SO YOU WANT TO OPEN A RESTAURANT?
I have 25 years in the restaurant business and a true passion for food and customer service, I am terrified of doing this but it is a passion and what I have worked the majority of my life to achieve.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Here in dwells the dilemma
As of late we have been looking a little bit more for a space to open La Bocca. This in and of itself is a bit of a daunting task, not to mention working 60 or so hours a week myself and Lydia's 40, plus the occasional work at home. We aren't able to get out to as many possible spots as I would like.
In addition to this, we both have a responsibility to our employers. I was reading the July/August issue of Food Arts (on news stands now!) And I came across a quote that struck a bit of a nerve. "Dining out is a dynamic, interactive, and holistic experience, hinging on three principles: the environment, the interaction, and the food. Ultimately how you handle your food has everything to do with success or failure."
Now, I work pretty hard and my days are long for the most part, but I'm not putting forth my best effort -- trying to be creative within the framework of the menu I am working with. I am letting down my employer, myself, and my cooks. My employer isn't at fault for my aspirations to open our restaurant. Nor is the blame to be placed on the shoulders of my young line cooks, whom I have offered to teach.
The fault is mine. I have looked past my current opportunity to the dream of my own kitchen. I owe more to my employer and co-workers. They deserve my best effort. The dream Lydia and I have for a restaurant needs to be at the pace we can accomplish without our work or private life suffering.
So all of this being said, I will be redoubling my efforts to make my current employer's restaurant a success, give my cooks the best education I can, maintain the best loving relationship with Lydia and when time allows, finish the business plan, find some investors, blog and tweet whenever possible and make our dream a reality.
In addition to this, we both have a responsibility to our employers. I was reading the July/August issue of Food Arts (on news stands now!) And I came across a quote that struck a bit of a nerve. "Dining out is a dynamic, interactive, and holistic experience, hinging on three principles: the environment, the interaction, and the food. Ultimately how you handle your food has everything to do with success or failure."
Now, I work pretty hard and my days are long for the most part, but I'm not putting forth my best effort -- trying to be creative within the framework of the menu I am working with. I am letting down my employer, myself, and my cooks. My employer isn't at fault for my aspirations to open our restaurant. Nor is the blame to be placed on the shoulders of my young line cooks, whom I have offered to teach.
The fault is mine. I have looked past my current opportunity to the dream of my own kitchen. I owe more to my employer and co-workers. They deserve my best effort. The dream Lydia and I have for a restaurant needs to be at the pace we can accomplish without our work or private life suffering.
So all of this being said, I will be redoubling my efforts to make my current employer's restaurant a success, give my cooks the best education I can, maintain the best loving relationship with Lydia and when time allows, finish the business plan, find some investors, blog and tweet whenever possible and make our dream a reality.
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