Knife's Edge - Restaurant Rants & Raves

Broken Gas Line

My former whelmer stopped by the other day. I had been preparing for this as I knew he wasn't having such a great time at his new job. Well, he might have been having a great time, but his paychecks were bouncing.

He's working on a beautiful piece of property. It should be the crown jewel of our area. Thirty seven acres of ocean frontage, great views from the dining room and bar, lots of guest cottages. The newish owners had hired an out of the area property management company with properties all over Southeast Asia, who promised them great things. They had a transfer policy that was the tipping point for the whelmer. He was hoping to work in or at least visit Vietnam or Thailand after a year or so.

They were targeting high end guests, trying to get $600 a night for the rooms. The problem is, they hadn't finished upgrading the rooms, they didn't put money into the spa, and the staff...The staff, at least in the restaurant, was every whelmer in the county. Every alcoholic bar manager, every lazy cook, every barely functional waiter wound up there. The management company pulled out. Another one took its place and lasted only a few days, maybe a week. Then the paychecks started bouncing.

Saturday afternoon the whelmer stopped by, wanting know if I knew of anyone who was looking for help because here it was Saturday night and he was off. They had closed the restaurant and canceled the reservations due to a "broken gas line", i.e. they hadn't paid their propane bill and their 4000 gallon tank ran dry at breakfast that morning. Ouch.

The place is for sale for $50 million. Any takers?

Worth It

We just got new tablecloths at the restaurant. They're red, totally different from what we had. At first the GM could only see red, white, and blue and wasn't sure if she could take it. Yesterday she could only see red and blue.

I think they look great. While our place will never look small, they make the space feel more intimate. They also make the place look finished, or real. At other restaurants, I'm always comparing, and I often feel like our place is somehow not a "real" restaurant. Perhaps because I know how little I spent on the place (last month paying off the last of our loans). Perhaps because I own it and thus it is tied directly to my own feelings of self-worth. So I guess I'm feeling worthy.

Connections

Connecting over food is probably the oldest way to network. How quickly you learn what another person is about by eating with them. The GM says as restaurateurs we get to see what their mamas saw in the high chair and this is pretty true. As a dining companion people are usually more guarded, but you can still tell how people treat others, how they handle disappointment, how they express joy, whether they're patient, and how generous they are all within the course of one lunch.

As I figure out my changing role at the restaurant I realize my job is to be connecting people to our restaurant. And having them connect it others. What connects you to your favorite places?