OCCOM FOOLISHNESS Strikes again! New Restaurant opening soon

That's a very nice bar! I like how you gave it just the right amount of folksiness and homeliness, without overdoing it. I liked that about your current place do. (Do you make your cakes too, by the way? I just loved the one I had, though I missed out on your tiramisu.)

I met Bill at the Chicago gathering so I was curious about this thread. (I have never posted anything in the food and drink forum.)

Anyway, Bill is a hard-working guy and I wish him luck.

Bill, I'm very glad you made it to Chicago.. {{{hugs}}}.

So, tell us about that cake, Thomas.....

Congratulations on getting thru the soft opening Bill!

Thank you, my friends. The bar isn't finished quite yet, but it's close, and I'm very happy with it too. A couple of answers before I bable…

Actually, about 5 minutes further, but don't let that deter you darlin. :wink:

All right, Francis, I'm sweetening the offer. Alexander Valley Vineyards has a top tier label known as Cyrus. I've got a bottle waiting for you. I'll put it up against any French wine within $20 of the price (here). Eh? :wink:

I don't recall what you had for dessert. Some we make, some we buy. You couldn't have had the Tiramisu in Cedarburg, as my new Sou is in Port Washington and hadn't started yet.

The man is truly amazing. I think I may have mentioned him much earlier in this thread after our first Mother's Day Buffet in Cedarburg, last year. He happened to have the day off then, so we put him and a dishwasher he brought with him up at the Washington house to help us run the Buffet. He took command like he'd worked there for years… seemingly knowing where everything was and where it should be. His work went a long way towards making us look better, and more competent than we really were at the time. Now he's permanent, and every bit as efficient. This is the second time he's worked for my partner, and he's worth every nickel and then some. High quality, super efficient production and my girls are already loving the little man from Equator.

My new girls are coming along splendidly and despite some girlish jealousy at first; it's starting to look less like a second staff than a sudden expansion of our happy family. Our new customers are responding in kind. Thursday was another expansion on business, and already some familiar faces are making this their second home. The bar stools were full till after midnight; and the late folks stayed till bar-time. I hadn't thought about the music until someone pointed out they liked the 80's music (Sirius Satellite's "Big 80's). I had been listening to it prior to opening, just because I like it, but it seems to be a hit with the 30-40-something crowd we're developing. Tonight (or last night if you're normal) rocked! I had some doubts when we were actually slower at 6:00 pm than the night before… but by 7:30 the restaurant was completely full for the first time. Virtually everyone seemed more than satisfied with our buffet (yes!), and our bar emptied only once at about 10:30… but then repopulated by 11:00 and stayed pretty steady until after 2:00 am. This surprised me, since we haven't even advertised yet (perhaps we won't even need to!)(fingers, way crossed).

Small towns rule! Not one, but two of our competitors came in for some drinks and to wish us the best of luck… the second bringing a half a dozen+ of his crew plus some of his own regulars to check us out. There were lots of warm welcomes and positive comments by folks that are like instant friends, not foe. I grew up in Wisconsin, and know well how cool people here are, but I was nonetheless taken aback by the friendliness of people who have to know we'll soon be sharing some of their revenues. Already, I'm re-thinking the envy I felt about the BIG CITY demographics I revisited a couple of weeks ago. You can't buy the friendliness I experienced tonight.

My best bartender (Brittany) from Cedarburg has signed on to be my Port Washington girl on Friday and Saturday nights. Half dozen men have already fallen in love with her; and made my case with their excessive tipping. :wink: Early indications suggest we'll do well with the Port Washington locals… and if my new friends are to be believed; we may very well become the after-work spot for the "white table cloth" restaurants' staffs. This would rock; as people "in the biz" generally behave, spend freely and always take good care of the staff.

My other target bartender was a waitress last summer in Cedarburg (and weekends in the off-season) seems to be progressing nicely. I nick-named her "Sass" almost day one and I always thought she'd be a natural bartender, because of her "Sassy demeanor". She's tough as nails, so she won't be bothered by the bombardment of guys hitting on her. Think pretty Tom-boy, with a constant natural smile (most important attribute, if you want to work for me). She too has already got a fan club.

Most surprisingly, more women have populated my bar than men thus far. If you've been in the biz; you know that's Gold in this business. I'm hoping the spotless bathrooms, and excess-testosterone-free environment will keep them coming back. 2 male patrons thus far have been put on the watch list for bad behavior that will first get them a warning invitation to leave, followed by a permanent ban. I intend to maintain a near zero tolerance for male idiocy.

The power-drinkers and testosterone-driven can spend their money someplace else. Rather than pricing the scum out in the normal fashion; I've opted to match the lower prices in town and will sort the good from the bad manually until we've developed a crowd (at least).

While my partner's food is still the bomb, IMO, since I don't cook; I'll be focusing on the bar-end of things. My Cedarburg staff is teaching the new staff the ins and outs of fine dining, despite our casual atmosphere… so I'm guessing between the top-notch food and above average service... the dining room will do well. Thus far; we're running about 40% of our receipts in drinks, which thrills me to no end. Think one girl doing 2/3rds of the revenue of a highly qualified 4 man kitchen staff and you'll understand why. If we can keep that up; I think we've found the new model for number 3.

They said we couldn't sell wine in Port Washington; but thus far we've grossed more on wine than either beer or liquor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed; but so far it would appear that charging a little more and delivering a much higher quality wine than folks are accustomed to is resulting in 2nd and 3rd glasses that just wouldn't be selling with inferior, higher profit substitutions. Here too, we offer everything from a cheap White Zin to a pricy Opus One meritage.

Yeeks, it's late. Time to go dream about Brooklyn popping in. Thanks again for you kind comment's, predictions and well-wishing.

OBill, Congrats on how things are working out at your restaurants. Looks like you've got a winner. I'm curious, how's your Cab doing? T.

It's hard to get an honest read on it, really. So far I'm still using about 50 percent "Pros" from our Cedarburg store, where the entire staff has been taught to understand and like wine. Again tonight, the bottles stayed fresh on the Alexander Valley vineyards cab, but I can't know how much of that is through the "hand selling" of girls who have already experienced the positive reviews of selling it. We did again gross more on Wine than either Beer or Booze (so many people said trying to do so was a waste of time and money here in Port :wink:), and I heard a few people tell me the wine selection is why they came. In the grand scheme of things, it's really not that expensive to offer a good wine list... and I hope my rivals don't figure that out.

On the other hand; perhaps we'll choose to educate all of the area restaurants on wine, because it is a small tourist town, so if the word gets out that we know what the hell we're doing there; it only benefits us all. I really don't think my partner's food is likely to be equaled in this town, so that may prove to be the greater good. For now, however, if you like wine; you'd best come here.

Tonight, the "bar" was slow. I let the kids go a couple hours ago, since they obviously have more fun things to do, if they're not making money to stay. Bummed me out a little that it wasn't a carbon copy of last night… but I'd be a fool to expect to become a "destination" overnight. I do believe this will take care of itself. We'll see.

Food-wise; oohs and ahhs a plenty, so I've little doubt that the Fri-Sat strategy will prove a winner, food-wise. One fella made an excellent case that the dinner-time music should be different than the after-hours bar… so I'll be taking a consensus to see what our customers really want. Plenty of "fires" (things that were wrong and needed to be fixed), but nothing interesting enough to report… or perhaps it's just becoming old hat.

Aside: Girls are funny. A pretty one started tonight, and proved to be good enough tonight to take tables tomorrow. She's the brilliant sort; who will graduate college at 20. My two prettiest girls have reported they hate her, for no particular reason, but admit she'll be good for the business. How does that make any sense? I just laughed, and reminded them how much those two hated each other, before deciding to become roommates some 6 months after hating each other. Why is it such a competition with women? I know scarce few men that judge a man's looks at all, let alone feel a need to compete. Girls are funny.

Anyway, we serve out first Brunch tomorrow... so I'd better try to get some sleep. Good night.

It's hard to get an honest read on it, really. So far I'm still using about 50 percent "Pros" from our Cedarburg store, where the entire staff has been taught to understand and like wine. Again tonight, the bottles stayed fresh on the Alexander Valley vineyards cab, but I can't know how much of that is through the "hand selling" of girls who have already experienced the positive reviews of selling it. We did again gross more on Wine than either Beer or Booze (so many people said trying to do so was a waste of time and money here in Port :wink:), and I heard a few people tell me the wine selection is why they came. In the grand scheme of things, it's really not that expensive to offer a good wine list... and I hope my rivals don't figure that out.

On the other hand; perhaps we'll choose to educate all of the area restaurants on wine, because it is a small tourist town, so if the word gets out that we know what the hell we're doing there; it only benefits us all. I really don't think my partner's food is likely to be equaled in this town, so that may prove to be the greater good. For now, however, if you like wine; you'd best come here.

Tonight, the "bar" was slow. I let the kids go a couple hours ago, since they obviously have more fun things to do, if they're not making money to stay. Bummed me out a little that it wasn't a carbon copy of last night… but I'd be a fool to expect to become a "destination" overnight. I do believe this will take care of itself. We'll see.

Food-wise; oohs and ahhs a plenty, so I've little doubt that the Fri-Sat strategy will prove a winner, food-wise. One fella made an excellent case that the dinner-time music should be different than the after-hours bar… so I'll be taking a consensus to see what our customers really want. Plenty of "fires" (things that were wrong and needed to be fixed), but nothing interesting enough to report… or perhaps it's just becoming old hat.

Aside: Girls are funny. A pretty one started tonight, and proved to be good enough tonight to take tables tomorrow. She's the brilliant sort; who will graduate college at 20. My two prettiest girls have reported they hate her, for no particular reason, but admit she'll be good for the business. How does that make any sense? I just laughed, and reminded them how much those two hated each other, before deciding to become roommates some 6 months after hating each other. Why is it such a competition with women? I know scarce few men that judge a man's looks at all, let alone feel a need to compete. Girls are funny.

Anyway, we serve out first Brunch tomorrow... so I'd better try to get some sleep. Good night.

You know what you need for Sunday brunch? Plenty of good bloody marys. This is the mix I used at the gathering, Zing Zang I wasn't sure if you were asking about it or if it was someone else.

Good to hear everything is going good at the Port restaurant, and wanted to let you know that I finally tried one of the bottles that you left. I'm not much of a wine drinker but that was excellent. Thanks again.

Thanks dude! I was going to call you and ask what that was again. Beats my mix to death.

boy have I missed out on some important stuff. geez. I am glad it's going well for you Bill. Very glad.

Well, it's been far to long since I updated this thread. Where to start…
The summer receipts in Cedarburg were down about 40% across the board, so it was clear we weren't going to recoup the money we lost last winter. There was no way around the fact that we were going to get hammered by the following off-season so we were forced to close the store. :sad: We closed a full month before season was over, when the kids went back to school, because it didn't seem right to hire people for a month or so knowing full well they'd soon be losing their jobs.

At about this same time; Dennis Ghetto (the make or break you food critic who had given Cedarburg 3 stars) reviewed our Port Washington location and gave it a thorough thrashing. 1 and a half stars and ranted about how inconsistent and frankly, terrible our food was… though he was kind enough to plug our now doomed Cedarburg location. You can read the bashing HERE. This meant the tremendous surge in business we saw in Cedarburg from Milwaukee diner's wasn't going to happen here. Ouch. Since the vast majority of the criticism was food related, my partner was crushed… and thoroughly defeated. It didn't make him feel any better to that he had largely been focused on Cedarburg during Ghetto's visits or that the our regulars were incredulous at the hideous review. Most seemed to think there was something personal going on in that the review seemed over the top vindictive. There is a decent possibility that local politics (since Ghetto lives in Cedarburg) had something to do with it; but I'll not reach for any such excuse. I do think it's possible that I may have kicked Ghetto (I don't know who he is) out of my bar for being out of line with one of my girls (pure speculation).

At any rate, the who, why or when is a mute point. It is what it is. By summer's end and going into fall; a careful comparison between Port and Cedarburg revealed that Port was likely to siphon more money than it made over the off season, exactly as Cedarburg had done the year before. Apples to apples, it wasn't even keeping up with the failed Cedarburg property. We made some adjustments but we eventually had to concede that the business was doomed to failure.

By the time we finally closed the doors to the Harbor City Bistro, my bar was providing roughly 50% of the gross revenues while being a much smaller percentage of the expense so I negotiated to keep the Bar as a business of it's own. Obviously, without the restaurant to draw in business, the Bar too took a considerable hit when the restaurant closed. This I remedied by bringing in a Pool Table and Touch Tunes Jukebox, and went to work establishing a more conventional bar business… but this too, wasn't to be.

In an attempt to improve the City's reputation, the City had passed an ordinance that any new Liquor License goes first to a business that does, or is expected to do, more than 50% of their business in food, before others would be considered. They don't want any more "Corner Bars". By this point, I was already unhappy with my new lot in life; having to baby-sit drunks and play bouncer every night of my life, and was entertaining the idea of selling the bar… for whatever I could get. Upon learning that the Liquor License would not be approved, this too became a mute point.

At about this same point in time; wow, this is embarrassing to admit… but I was foolish enough to get drunk and get in a fight. My reputation took a nosedive as I was charged with Disorderly Conduct and Battery… and got a black eye to boot.

Pity I can't edit this thread, or I'd change the name to "OCCOM Foolishness strikes again, and again, and again".

Today I'm sitting on a ridiculous quantity of booze, as the Land Lord has yet to circumvent the city's restriction on the Liquor License (looks like the new restaurant tenant is going to have to take the bar after all… which is good… because then I can at least recoup some of my dough for the booze).

So ends the Chapter titled "Restaurants" in Bill's life. There is an old adage: If you want to make a small fortune in the restaurant business; start with a large one.
It's true… but unfortunately, I didn't start with a large one so now I'm basically starting over.

Not sure what the next Chapter is going to be yet. I'm currently working from home as a Marketing consultant for an International Company, headquartered in Costa Rica. If things go well, it could lead to a management position in San Jose, where you'll remember, I fell in love with that whole damned country. First, though, I have to wait and see how this Battery thing is going to turn out before I can make any plans to relocate. Who was it that cursed me to live in interesting times?

Anyway, I was getting tired of avoiding the Restaurant subject so as not to hijack other threads so I figured I'd better get that out of the way with. I've still got plenty of booze; if anyone would like a drink. :wink:

Damn.



I've always wanted to have someone to visit in C.R.




Damn.

Craven is in Escazu now. :wink: Quite possibly, where I'll end up since my new boss maintains a house there, despite living in Panama.

Well Bill,



On the bright side, when you read the life stories of so
many great men, most "failed" many many times
before succeeding beyond their wildest dreams.

The young, brave, and ambitious have much to look
forward in these "interesting times" in which there
are really no boundaries.

So you feel bad for awhile, dust yourself off, and go
on which it appears you are already doing.

So kudos and best wishes for much brighter
things ahead.

(Oh, and quit smoking. )

Thanks Foxy!

Wow, Bill! You are a very honest and open person. You have a good attitude, things should go well in the next chapter in your life.

Bill
It appears interesting people live in interesting times.

The restaurant business is one of the most risky endeavers one can undertake, so don't let it get you down. I know you won't because of your strong spirit (even if you restarted on the cig thingy.)

BBB

Thanks Wandel... it's easier to be honest than to remember lies. :wink:
BBB, the cig thing is related as I couldn't resist joining the "cool people" who were smoking out back. One day I made the mistake of thinking I could have just one... which led to smoking only after work. After a couple of weeks, my girls sat me down and told me I'd been behaving like an A-Hole lately and upon consideration I realized they were right. I figured out that by feeding the beast at night, his hunger during the day was aggravating the sh!t out of me... so I had to choose between Zero smoking or full time smoking. I reasoned (for lack of a better, more accurate word :wink:); that since re-quitting was going to be hell, and I was still in the honeymoon period of re-starting (where you actually enjoy it, instead of doing it to feel normal), I'd wait until I stopped enjoying it to re-quit. Ah, the best laid plans...
Hopefully, I'll re-quit again soon, because the honeymoon is long since over.
Thank you, too, for the kind words.

Aw, I'm sorry, Bill.

I certainly hope that this whole adventure ends up being what propels you towards doing what you REALLY want to do, in CR.

Best of luck.