Has it really been a week???

So I guess it has been a week since my last blog. Sorry for the delays. It's been crazy busy getting things ready for opening.

What has happened during these past seven days (in no particular order)....

The bar is fully tiled and grouted. It looks awesome! We glad that we took the time to make it right. The dark tiles add a rich touch and complements the slate nicely.

Wine tasting are under way to finalize the list. We had a number of tasting this week. Mostly good stuff with a few duds. The list will have a nice selection of varieties and flavors. We're still looking to have about 20 wines by the glass. They will cover all the flavor profiles with some exciting (and interesting) wines.

Plates and glassware arrived on Wednesday. They will look great! Unfortunately, the silverware is being delayed. We're still looking for something to cover our a** until the inventory arrives.

The grout in the slate baseboards is done. One more thing to check off the list.

Todd has been busy scrubbing more of the kitchen equipment. He's done a great job getting it ready.

The health inspector did his preliminary inspection. We had a few small issues to address but for the most part, we're feeling good about the status. We're hoping for a final sign-off on Tuesday. Then we can get some food in the coolers.

Tons of people have been stopping in to see the progress. While it distracts me from the task at hand, it great to see the support from the area. They seem to love the menu and can't believe the changes to the restaurant. It's exciting to share our passion!

We also had a lot of vendor visits this week. I guess that's what happens when you get to crunch time.

Lisa & I spent a day shopping for decor. We had the back of my Rover filled with decor for the walls, tables and whatnot.

The floors are just in need of a few coats of polyurethane. Then it will only be getting the last of the trim installed. Once that's done, we can but the floor behind us (finally!!!).

I'm sure there about 100 more things that happened this week. But the days are starting to blur together.

And for the big question....when are we finally going to open the doors for business?

If the planets align and everybody cooperates, we should be open at this time next week. Keep an eye on our blog and/or facebook for the skinny.

Enough already....

Just when we think that the finish line is getting closer, we add another project to our already long list. This time it was refinishing the "bar"

But before I get to that....I promised a few menu teasers last time.

Beet Caviar – Roasted Red and Golden Beets, hardboiled eggs, feta cheese, and avocado crème served with a selection of blini

Crabcake Salad – our signature cakes served atop a fresh green salad with champagne vinaigrette

Bacon Seared Scallops – Scallops seared in bacon, drizzled with Balsamic-Guinness Glaze, and garnished with candied bacon

And for the wine drinkers:

Hahn GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre)

Let's not forget the beer drinkers:

Lagunitas Whiskey Tangy Foxtrott


Back to our progress report...

As I mentioned earlier, we decided that the "bar" just didn't look right with the blue-green tiles. It got a facelift using the same tiles that we used on the tables.

Here's a time-lapse of the progression...

After grinding the exisiting tiles and stripping the plastic trim, it was time to start putting down some tiles.

The foot rest area is complete. It only took about 4 hours to complete this section. Lots of cutting and leveling the tiles. They say you can't build a good house without a solid foundation. The same goes for a good bar :)

Sunday morning starts with the facing of the bar. This progressed much better than the foot rest. It's amazing how easy it is to install tile if you can't have to cut anything ;-)

Almost there....just a few more tiles to go...

And the finished product! But don't forget to notice the walls behind the bar. It's a very cool cloth "wallpaper" design that was done by Lisa and my mom. The pictures don't even do it justice. It's beautiful!!!

Another long weekend and we're all exhausted. Time for some food and a brief moment of relaxation. Tomorrow will be another long day.

Until then....cheers!

Tables, tiles and dishwashers

It's been a few days (okay...a week) since my last blog. We've been busy getting more work done for the restaurant.

We first have to give a HUGE thank you to my mom and Roger. They've been a great asset (and real troopers). Roger has been helping me build the tables and mom has been helping Lisa with some wall coverings.

We spent last Thursday-Sunday working on the tables. And yes, they're still not completed. The heat and humidity have been a virtual killer. Roger & I spent the better part of four days working in the driveway and garage to get the tables done. While they've been a tons of work, you couldn't buy anything this cool for a restaurant table. These are the touches that will help set us a step above the competition.

On to some pictures....

We set up the workstation to cut the plywood. Each table has a double layer of 3/4" plywood that is glued and screwed. Nothing like starting with a good solid foundation.

These are a few of the "cores". The smaller ones on the left will be 2 tops. The larger are rectangular 4 top tables.

To make sure we were working hard enough, the management team took a seat (and a glass of wine) to watch the progress.

Stage 2 of the process is to lay the tile. We picked an Italian procelin that slightly resembles slate.

And the tables are finished off with some beautifully cut red oak. The pictures don't do these tables justice. They are just plain sexy!!

In all, there are only 4 of 14 tables completed in 4 days. But we are ready to bear down and finish the remaining tables on Thursday.

Monday was spent installing the slate baseboard in the dining room. We've had a few challenges along the way but the plan is in motion. The baseboards should be finished on Saturday. That will give me a few days to get the floor sealed before the chairs arrive next week.



In addition to the flooring, there were contractors: 1) installing gas lines in the kitchen; 2) installing cleaning chemicals in the "dishpit"; 3) measuring for can lights behind the bar. There were 4 contractors and a vendor in the place at one time!

I should also mention that we tasted and selected some great wines on Monday afternoon. It was a great way to end the day.

The rest of the week has been spent doing some clean-up and tying up loose ends.

I almost forget to mention the dish machine. The guys from Ecolab were out today to install the dishwasher. And as luck would have it, it was broken. Oh well....they'll have it fixed tomorrow.

A few menu and wine teasers will be coming before the weekend :)

Until then, stay cool!!!

T-minus ??days?? and counting

While there are still tons of small (and medium) details left, we're trying to nail down an opening date. Hopefully we can get something rolling before the end of July. The checklist isn't getting any smaller but most items have at least been arranged.

Tuesday was an exciting day (queue the sarcasm). I had the pleasure of waking up at 4:30am to drive to Milwaukee. Then I got to spend the next 8 hours in the SafeServ certification class. Snooze... But it's good to get a refresher on all the dos & don'ts of food prep.

Big news for Wednesday!!!!

We have a sign! Really....our roadside pillion sign is done.

This is the view I was greeted with when rounding the corner..

Josh from TLC (Tims Lighting) was up on in the bucket with the first panel.

And now for the final product....

Other news from the day (in no particular order):

The world's largest walk-in freezer is now a great walk-in cooler.
Interviews went very well. Especially considering my past results.
Picked out china and glassware. But we're still questioning the flatware. Why did the Wedgewood need to be sooooo expensive???
John came out to talk about some tile work. It looks like that will be done on Monday or Tuesday.
Al stopped to look at extending the gas lines and adding another sink.
Todd & I discussed some additional menu ideas. It's starting to flow nicely!

Time to get some sleep and start all over again tomorrow.

Where's that big "DONE" stamp?!?!?!?!

But before we get to that....lets rewind to Saturday & Sunday....

Saturday was prep and more cleaning. And I was able to break out some more power tools :) This time it was the arm hammer with a chicel.

When the carpet was installed when the restaurant was built, they laid a filler to make the carpet align with the tile. That was 38 square feet of filler!!!!

Three long hours on my knees and the work was finally done...

Swept and vaccumed and the floor is ready for stage 2...the "upper deck"

So much for Saturday....now on to Sunday.

I needed to run to Fleet Farm in the morning to get some cut-off wheels and jigsaw blades. A quick little trip turned into something a larger. That's right folks.....75% off all plants and flowers :)

Somehow I managed to spend almost $40 on flowers even at that rock bottom discount price. And that meant that Lisa had her job task for Sunday (and she did a great job!!!)

The daunting task of finishing the flooring was taking a mental toll on both of us (especially me!). We decided to crack up the wallet and spend a few buck to get some help. But were do you find somebody on short notice....why, Craigslist, of course!

A few phone calls later and I had a guy lined up to stop by on Monday morning to look at the project. After a little number crunching, we agreed on a price. And he agreed to come back in a few hours to get started. Thanks to Mike's hard work and expertise, the floor is 99% complete!!!

The next step is to tile the baseboards and install the transistion strips., But for the most part, mark this bad boy DONE!!!

Progress?

Its been a long (and at times painful) week. But there is progress. And at least that's something positive.

Tuesday brought the delivery of the new kitchen equipment. We now have a charbroiler and 6 burner range. I still can't imagine that they ran a restaurant without a range. I'm still looking for a convection oven. So if you know of anybody that has one, I'm interested!

Other progress this week....the lower section of the dining room now has flooring!!! My first mistake was not hiring somebody to do the job. When I say that this restaurant is being built with blood, sweat and tears, it's not just a saying. See the picture of my finger for proof :)

I'm back up this weekend to get the upper level of the dining room prepped for flooring. I've tried to find somebody to help with the installation. But it seems that people just aren't that interested in working :(

Have a great weekend everybody and I'll post more pictures and progress on Sunday night (if I'm still able to move).

Long time, no see

Sorry about the long lapse in the blog. It has slipped away the past few days.

Things are slowly but surely starting to fall into place. We are definitely in the "spending" mode.

New kitchen equipment...check
Flooring...check (more on that fiasco shortly)
Chairs....check
Tile for tables....sort of a check (finally found the right tiles!)
ServSafe class....registered and paid
Nick-nack decor....check, check and check

What does all that mean:
Ordered the range and charbroiler for the kitchen. It still baffles my mind that you could have a kitchen without a range. How did they saute, make soups, bake, etc, etc, etc????

New dining room chairs are in the queue. I was hoping to get them next week but it may not be until the 21st. Any shipping delays to the warehouse could affect the opening.

We found some nice "nero" slate-like porcelain tiles. Mom and Roger are coming up next week to help build the tabletops.

Getting your restaurant manager certification from the state requires completing a food safety class. As much as I hate taking the day away from our much needed construction time, it's a necessary evil.

And then there's the "nick-nacks". Not all if it is what I'd consider "nick-nacks". Just a few splashes of color. But found Lisa's much sought after bench for the foyer area. And of course, a foyer wouldn't be complete without a mirror and a picture. We also bought some artwork for the restrooms. That's one area that Lisa had stamped as "DONE".

Remember the flooring that I mentioned....to make a very long (and hot, it was about 90 that day) story short, the banding straps on the pallet are not very strong. You would think that if they put it into a semi truck and ship it half-way across the country with those straps, I should at least be able to make it 25 miles home. Well....you'd be wrong. Not only didn't I make it all the way home, I didn't make it 2 miles. Boxes of flooring all over the round-about in west DePere. In all, 20 boxes fell out of the trailer. And 11 of them had some form of damage to the tiles. They are replacing the damaged boxes!

We took a day off for the 4th of July. It was a much needed step away from the restaurant (except for the 45 minutes that I ran up there to sell the soft serve ice cream machine!!)

Breaking eggs...

There is an old saying that to make a good omelet, you need to break a few eggs. That saying comes to mind when I walk into the restaurant.

With the carpet removed and the ceiling tiles pulled out behind the bar, it looks like a disaster. I'm calling this the "broken egg" period.

But the replacement ceiling tiles are on schedule for delivery on Thursday.

And the cork flooring will be here next week.

Then we can begin the omelet stage. It should be a perfectly cooked and well seasoned dish when complete.

Today's tip of "things to remember" when starting a business...

Don't forget that in addition to the federal tax ID number, you also need a state sellers permit. I didn't even think of that stage until Monday. But with the modern marvel of today's internet, it only took a few hours to get our assigned numbers from the state. Doing it the old fashion (aka paper) route takes about 15 days.

Building the tiled tabletops will take up a good portion of the rest of the week.

I can't wait to see this omelet completed :-)

Hi-ho, hi-ho....

its off to work we go!

This weekend was another "manual labor" marathon.

Saturday was an endurance test for both of us. I had already hauled about 30 cubic yards of wood chips from the town yard waste site. Well, we knew that wouldn't be enough to cover the ground behind the restaurant. So we started our day getting another 10 cubic yards. After spreading that, we were still short. So off to get yet another trailer load of chips.

While I was busy getting the second load of chips for the day, Lisa buckled down and pulled out the paint brushes yet again. It was more touch-up work in the dining room and restrooms. Plus a second coat in the service area. In total, we used just about 8 gallons of paint!!! That's a lot of brush/roller strokes :-)

And if that wasn't enough for one day....we trimmed the bushes in front of the restaurant. And pulled the overgrown weeds from around the parking lot.

Sunday was a little more relaxed. While the mutt wouldn't let us catch a few extra hours of sleep, it did get a little rest in the morning. And my famous buttermilk biscuits with spicy sausage gravy made a nice start to the day.

We spent most of the day on the search for decor. A few nice pieces were found for the restrooms and entrance area. But we're still looking for a bench to fit the foyer.

The herbs got planted and place behind the restaurant. We'll have tons of fresh herbs to use in the kitchen. The list contains: basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, sage, lavender and chives.

And last, but not least, Lisa was able to get our Quickbooks set up and rolling. Now it will be easier to see how much money we don't have in our account ;-)

Time to relax with a glass of Chardonnay for Lisa and a Bitter Woman IPA for me....

It's been a few days since I've blogged. Sorry about delay. But not to fret....we have been busy!

With more rain on Thursday, the day was spent finding even more 3+ year old grease on kitchen equipment. I can't believe that somebody could let things get that back. There was grease in places that I didn't even knew existing. Especially under shelves and equipment. But it's finally looking like a proper kitchen.

Did I mention how much I dislike AT&T? They finally came out to hook up the phone on Friday. It only took two weeks to get service. Seriously! How can it take that long?!?!? I guess it can take longer. It will be 3 weeks before we get internet service.

My sister and nephew stopped by the restaurant. Kathy is going to make some curtains and valances to separate the "bar area" from the kitchen. Thanks for stepping up to help!!!

Lisa was done with work around 3pm on Friday. We did some touch-up on the paint and sanded down the main drips from the original painting. Now we'll need to touch-up the sanded spots on Saturday. Grrrr.....more painting!

After a quick dinner, it was back up the restaurant to meet with Todd. We discussed some equipment needs. Also talked further about the menu philosophy. It's starting to come together with some great food!!!

I'll get to Saturday's events tomorrow. We're tired and the dog is driving us nuts!!!

Baby steps....

No...we're not expecting a baby ;-)

The process of opening a restaurant is a series of little steps. One at a time. And you need to take these steps before you can learn to run.

The progress this week has been slow and steady. And we're looking at 5 weeks before we'd like to open the doors. Yikes!!!

So far this week, we've managed to make some important decisions and get the ball rolling on a number of areas. And that means out comes the pocketbook!

Flooring ordered (check). We decided to go with cork for a number of reasons. 1) Fits the theme; 2) Enviromentally friendly; 3) Absorbs sound; 4) Looks cool

Additional equipment ordered (check). Getting a charbroiler and 6 burner range. Still looking for a used convection oven.

Ceiling tiles ordered (check). Bye, bye to the nasty "foam" tiles over the bar area.

Approved the estimate for the pillon and building signage (check).

We also made the decision to do tiled table tops. The contrasting color should look great with the flooring and paint colors.

Now is the time to kick things into high gear. I'm sure we'll stumble a few times as we learn to run. But as long has we only scrab a knee instead of break a leg, we should be great.

Just another manic Monday....

Yep...it's Monday!

The day started with a plan to finish painting the restrooms. And any good manager knows that you plan your work and work your plan. That's great advice for any supervisor, manager or business owner.

Well, so much for plans....

Because I had an able body (thanks Roger) and a trailer (thanks Dave), I decided to bring our broken sofa in for repairs. It's a 23 minute drive each direction to the furniture store. Plus I needed to spot at the bank to make a deposit. So that eats a good 1.5 hours from my morning.

I get to the restaurant and start painting with mom and Roger. After about 30 minutes, we realize that we're out of paint. That brings the painting to a grinding halt.

Mom and Roger need to get back to Beloit, so they pack up the mutts and hit the road. I decide to grab some lunch before picking up more paint.

After a 20 minute (each direction) drive to Home Depot for more paint and a few other supplies, I'm back at the restaurant. But more delays....

The weather forecast is calling for heavy rains the next few days. When we were painting on Sunday, there was some good rain coming down. I noticed that the downspounts weren't putting out much water. Okay....they weren't putting out ANY water. The gutters must be clogged. Out comes the ladder. And up I go. The gutters actually had weeds and whatnot growing in them!!! That took about an hour out of my day.

While I was on the ladder, I recieved a phone call from somebody interested in purchasing our old china. She stops by the restaurant and inspects the product. While that should probably be a quick transaction, it's not. We "talked shop" while she looked around the restaurant. But she was cool and recently started a family diner in Chilton. It was nice to get another prospective on the state of the business.

During the time that Cindy was there, my friend Tim popped in because he saw my truck outside. We chatted about Land Rovers and whatnot for awhile. Tim had his tractor and mower on the trailer. Off comes the mower and down goes the overgrown weeds.

And then....while Tim was there, a wine rep dropped by while on his way home. They are a new player to the market and have some good products. We talked about some potential and exciting vinos.

It was almost 6:00pm by the time all that was done.

Remember those restrooms that were supposed to get painted today....they are still less than half done.

So much for working my plan :-)

A picture is worth a thousand words....

I'll let the pictures tell the story for today:

Notice all the little white spots....spackle from all the nail holes.

The wall with the view and over the bar get a nice warm shade of tan.

The side walls required two coats of the green (Lisa's choice!)

And the finished product....

We also painted the front foyer and prepped the restrooms. They'll get painted tomorrow.

Then I get to rip out the carpeting. That should be fun!!

Family Day at Syrah

If anybody that has never started a business, you wouldn't know about the stupid charges that get sent your way. This morning was one of those moments.

We didn't have time yesterday to get through the mail. One of the envelopes was from WPS (the local gas and electric company). Guess what they wanted.....money. And lots of it!!! They are requiring a $4200 security deposit (that they will hold for 24 months). Luckily, I was able to get some additional information on ways to eleviate the financial impact. You can get a surety bond from your insurance company. It will cost you around $200 per year. But that's better than forking out $4200 of much needed start-up capital.

Now that we've done our "lesson plan" for the day, we can move forward.

Scaffold rented....check
Interview with potential server....check (and Jill, I hope your cough is better. sorry for laughing)
Familiy arrives to help paint....check
Remove cabinets from wall....check
Clean walls....check
Mask for painting....check
Weed wack....check
Drink beer/wine....check
Make Mexican food for dinner....check
Blog....check

Done for today. Off to get some sleep.....check

Thursday updates....sorry for the delay

Spent the morning cleaning again. Except this time it was the house. Yes....I can scrub toilets, vacuum and dust with the best of them :-)

After heading out of the house around 10:30am, it was off to go shopping for restaurant flooring. I think I spent about an hour at the tile store thinking about all the possible options. Also visited hardwood floor store and a local "big player" flooring store. I can home with about 8 samples.

Lisa and I had a meeting last night at Fetaz that went very well. Some exciting news to come out of that meeting in the next few days.

I'd give you a sneek peak of Friday but that blog is right behind.

Ho-hum day at in the restaurant world

I may have spoken too soon when I poked fun of the Carpenters song "Rainy Days and Mondays". Today was a rainy day and Wednesday. And for some reason, I had a hard time with the motivation today. But things needed to be done....

First task of the day was to pick up a borrowed trailer from our neighbor. Sounds easy, right? It would be if you knew where to look on his farm. After a call to his son, the trailer was located. And I was off to my next task.....

Wood chips! Lots and lots and lots of wood chips for behind the restaurant. The first load wasn't too bad. Because the guy with the front-end loader was there to dump a bucket full into the trailer. Unloading was more time consuming but not too difficult. But I counted my blessings too soon :-( On the second trip, the same guy drove right past me (in the same front-end loader) and waved as he went past. Out with the pitch fork to fill up the trailer. Did I mention that is was a nice steady drizzle at this time?!?!?!

The rain also put a damper on our plans to visit the farmers' market today. Lisa put on a brave face as we trudged down to Broadway. But alas, it was a washout. By the time we arrived, all the vendors were packing it in for the day. We'll see about trying to catch some of them on Saturday morning (if we don't sleep too long). I really want to experiment with the goat cheese curds :-)

And the debate continues about the right flooring for the restaurant. Cork or porcelain? Cork or porcelain?

Well that was easy....

Spent some time meeting with vendors today. Excited about the way the wine and beer list will be coming together. I've already selected some great and adventurous "liquids" for the restaurant.

And did you know there was such a creature as a Master Cicerone?  Me neither. That's basically a beer sommelier (or expert on all aspects of beer). Very cool!!!

But don't expect me to spend another day without mentioning cleaning. Still working on getting the kitchen up to speed. I'm guessing that we're at about 80%. Just a few more pieces of equipment to scrub and then rearrange to make the  layout work.

If you're still wondering about the title for today's blog.....we got our liquor license approved!!! And no kidding, it was silly easy. A quick vote and we were done. But we didn't get out without at least one question about breakfast. That seems to be everybody's hot button. Gotta love it :)

My mom and Roger are coming to help this weekend. Painting and landscaping are on the agenda.

Tune in to the same wine channel and the same wine time for the next exciting installment of "Birth of a Restaurant".

I don't like Mondays...Tell me why....I don't like, I don't like, I don't like Mondays

Okay....just a little homage to my 80's roots with some Boomtown Rats (at least I don't start with "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down").

In typical Monday fashion, it wasn't the most exciting of days at Syrah. I spent the better part of the day scrubbing 3+ year old mold from a cooler. There aren't too many things in this world that make me gag, but I found out today that very old mold will. Even the surprise under the broster wasn't as gross as the mold. Did I mention that the mold was nasty, freaky and just plain disgusting?!?!?! But fret not my culinary friends, the kitchen is starting to sparkle and shine just as it should.

Because it was such a beautiful day, I decided to squeeze in a little gardening (okay, weeding) in also. What a difference removing the overgrown weeds has done to the appearance of the building.

My last task of the day was another interview for the chef position. It was a good interview and we can now start narrowing the search to the final candidates. We should be able to make an offer to somebody by the end of the week.

Tomorrow is filled with server interviews and vendor meetings. My sore arms and back will welcome the break from scrubbing, bending, lifting, climbing, pulling, etc, etc, etc.

And let the fun begin....

It was great being able to get into the restuarant and do some real work! The plethera of flags came off the walls. But that was just the start of a long weekend.

Remember those flags I mentioned....well they were put up on the walls with HUNDREDS of tiny nails. Seriously!! All those nail holes needed to be filled and then sanded. No need for a stairmaster workout when you can climb a ladder all day long.

Lisa spent her time priming the walls, the cabinet and running away from spiders :) That can be expected for a business that's been vacant for a few years. I hit the interior and exterior with some Home Defense. That stuff will scary away any unwanted bugs.

And speaking of killing things....we sprayed all the overgrown weeds with heafty dose of Round Up. We're still trying to figure out how to add a nice touch to the landscaping.

Lastly....I'm almost done with cleaning and polishing the kitchen. It will finally start to look like a real kitchen in another day!!

Tomorrow brings more cleaning and another interview for a chef.

See ya tomorrow!!!

Wooohoooo!!!! Closing day.

Sorry for a short blog.

Today was closing day! I think Lisa was going to puke :) It wasn't too bad. Except that our lawyer made a mistake on the LLC paperwork. Lisa wasn't named as a member of the organization. And I've talked to them at least 3x to make sure we were both on the articles of incorporation.

Except for that small snafu, all went well.

Tomorrow we'll start cleaning and priming the walls for fresh paint. I'd love to have at least one wall done before the end of the weekend.

Days 15 & 16

Sorry about not keeping up on a daily basis. It's not as easy as I thought it keep a diary. At least Lisa "nags" reminds me to keep the blog up to date.

Tuesday was a another "open interview" day. I think I found another good server. But there is still a long way to go before I feel comfortable and fully staffed in the front of house area.

Also had another chef interview. He has the qualifications to bring some good food to the table. There is one more person that I'm waiting to see next week. Then I'll narrow the field down to two candidates. Their final interview will be to prepare an original meal. Maybe I'll make it a "mystery box". What do you think??

Wednesday morning was spent "in the office". I paid some bills and started some new spreadsheets. While we're going to be over expectations on opening expenses,  it will be key to keep a close eye on the small stuff. It can nickel and dime you to death!!!

I also finished contacting all my potential beverage vendors. We should have a wine and beer menu completed within the next few weeks. The goal on opening day is to have 15-20 wines available by the glass and another 20-30 by the bottle. And no wines on the list over $60. There are TONS of great wines on the market to fit that range.

And as usual, the rest of the was spent cleaning. I hope to have the kitchen sparkling by the end of the weekend!

Look for more pictures of the progress starting on Monday. We can finally start to "renovate" on Saturday!!! Then it will start to feel like some progress in being made toward opening.

Day ??? - I'm starting to lose track of the days.

Today started in typical Syrah style....my first interview called at 7:45am to reschedule for later in the week. But yeah, at least he called! My second interview (this time for a chef) was another no-show!!! It's really starting to get old!

I spend the rest of the morning on the phone. More potential servers, the health department, the bank, the sign guy and a vendor. It feels like I spend more time talking on the phone and getting very little progress. But I'm sure it will start to fall into place sooner or later.

After doing some household chores (grocery shopping and bill paying), it was back to the restaurant for some cleaning.

Yeah...I'm still trying to get through the grease in the fryers. What a serious mess!!! Its starting to become a routine....degresser, scrape, scrup, degress, scrape, scrup, repeat, repeat, repeat.

I was hesitant to post pictures of how the dirty the fryers actually were. But then I thought it would be good to see what can (and should) be done in a kitchen.

Before:

After:



That was the finale to the day. As I posting this today, Lisa and I are enjoying a bottle of Bogle Phantom on the deck. And the neighbors are sending up cool paper lanterns.

Good night!!

Days 11-13 Last days of relaxation?

Let me start by saying this entry has nothing to do with opening a restaurant. So please excuse me while I tell you about the past few days....

It's been an annual rite of summer for the past 12 years. We hop on the motorcycles and spend a few days exploring the backroads of America. This year was a few days getting to know more about the western region of Wisconsin.

After a brief mechanical issue (bad clutch cable), I finally left Green Bay around noon a Friday. My first stop was a rondezous with Mark in Madison. From there, we worked our way west by zig zagging north and south. The twisting county roads through the gently rolling hills were the perfect setting for a great start to the weekend.

We made our way to the cabin and relaxed with an ice cool beer. Then hopped back on the bikes for a ride into Potosi. Dinner was at the Potosi Brewery. And let me say, the Double IPA was killer good. As was the Oatmeal Stout and ESP. I had to stop at that point for fear of being too buzzed to ride back to the cabin.

The next day started with some nasty weather just south of our cabin. We waited out the storm front and then headed north along the Great River Road. The roads along the Iowa side of the Might Miss were clean and free of traffic. It was a nice way to clear the head(ache). We crossed over in Lancaster and decided to work our way south. This time is was zig zagging east and west via the backroads again.

A not-so-tasty dinner at a local bar was our food for the evening. Then back to the cabin to "talk shop" and drink some beers.

Sunday was a beautiful day to hit the "super slab" and get back home to Green Bay (and to get ready for the push to opening!!!)

Day 10 - More no shows, a good one and menu planning

Please help me to understand this....the unemployment rate is over 9%. There are people out there in need of jobs. So why, why WHY can't they show up for their scheduled interviews?!?!? I've started keeping a tally of the number of "no shows" for servers. I'm up to five in the first 3 days of interviews.

On a positive note, the candidates that have actually shown up for their interviews have been decent. I've found two that are on my positive list. Another would be a decent lunch servers. A few more duds but that's to be expected.

I rounded out the day with meetings with beverage vendors. Putting together a good wine and beer selection is part of the fun with running a restaurant. It should be even more exciting as we get closer and start pairing the beverages with the foods.

I'm going to try to "unplug" and get away on the motorcycle for a long weekend. More updates on Monday.

Is it really Day 9?

Not too much excitement today. The guy came out to test the well at the restaurant. Then it was off to see yet another insurance agent. This time regarding the business and worker's comp insurance. Fun stuff there (not really).

Lisa & I had lunch at one of the downtown restaurants. Note to self....make sure to get food out in less than 25 minutes during lunch. Especially when there were only about 15 people in the restaurant.

Then it was off to interview another chef candidate. Finding the right guy will be the key to my success! I'm hoping to narrow the search to about 3 people by the end of next week. The next step after that will be to have them create a original dinner.

I spent the rest of the day researching equipment and tweeking my budgets.

More interviews and vendor meetings tomorrow. Then a relaxing weekend with the boys before getting buried in the restaurant.

Day 8 - Interviews, insurance, beer and more interviews

Day 8 started like your usual Monday (except it's really Tuesday). The alarm didn't go off this morning and Lisa and I were off to a late start today.

A quick breakfast...off to meet with my first interview for servers. Now you'd think that people would remember that they have an appointment. Especially for a job interview. But the first person was a "no show". Cross that name off my list. The second appointment was much better. A very nice lady with potential. At least the neighbors didn't scare her away. More on that at some point. Just not today.

After my morning appointments, it was off to get some more paperwork signed by Lisa. It seems like I spend more time signing papers. More of that to come also.

Now part of the fun in buying is business is making sure you have enough life insurance. So I spend some time meeting with the agent to get quotes on getting additional insurance coverage. Oh yeah...if I mysteriously die in the near future....look for Lisa to be retiring to an island somewhere ;-)

The next appointment was more fun. It was off to see one of the local beer distributors. And they are also buying out a wine distributor. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what cool wines that they'll be carrying.

Finished the day with some more interviews for servers. The day ended better than it started. My appointments arrived ON TIME.

While it seems like I spend most of my time spinning my wheels, I know that there is some forward progress. It's all about learning to crawl, then walk and finally run. But this crawling part is HARD!!!

Time to check out for the night and finish my Hinderland Luna Stout. It goes great with Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies. I see a future menu pairing :-)

Day 7 - Rest and relaxation

Even God rested on the 7th day.

My buddy Mark made a trip up from Milwaukee on his motorcycle to see the restaurant. It was great seeing him again!!!

Thanks to Lisa for making her fabulous yogurt pancakes for breakfast! It was a great hangover cure ;-)

Spent the rest of the day sitting on the deck and reading a book.

I'll be back at it hard this week. Interviews, inspections and more cleaning!!!

Day 6 - chefs, chefs?, and menu testings

Today started with an interview with a potential chef. He's definately talented and has the culinary chops for the position. In addition the standard interview BS, we talked about kitchen layout changes, staffing needs and menus.

It was a good start and we think he would be a good fit. But we'll see what happens in the next week or so.

And speaking of chefs.....crazy story. We were showing the restaurant to some friends on Sunday afternoon. As we were leaving the restaurant, a car with MN plates comes flying into the parking lot and beeping his car. Okay...I get out of the truck and walk over to the car. The guy introduces himself as a BBQ chef from Memphis. He starts all this crazy talk about we need to hire him to be our chef. All this time, I'm thinking that there's something that smells a little funky about the inside of this guy's car. That's when I see the joint in the ashtray. Yep....this guy is not only a little crazy, but probably a little stoned also!!!

The rest of the day was spent drinking wine and cooking food for our friends.

Homemade Garlic Truffled Fries
Portobello Crab Cake Salad
Grilled Ribeye Steak with herbed truffle butter
Pan Seared Scallops with wild rice and a bacon cream sauce

And the finishing touch....Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches (Yummmm!!!!!!)

That's just a sneek peek into the food for Syrah :)

Day 5

I have to admit that today wasn't too productive. We spent most of the day cleaning.....the house this time.

At least I had a few more calls from interested servers. And we have an interview with a potential chef tomorrow.

Interest in the logo has so far been split 50/50. We should have our facebook page for the restaurant started next week.

Day 4

Today was fairly uneventful but still full of new twists and turns.

I spent the better part of the morning on the phone.
Calls to verify my funds.
Calls to insurance peeps. Both business and personal. I need to bump up my life insurance amount (hopefully Lisa won't decide to off me for the cash :)
Calls to vendors

I finally got up to start doing some more cleaning on the restuarant later in the day. My next task is to tackle the fryers. If I thought that griddle cleaning was neglected, the fyers brought a whole new meaning to dirty! After a solid 3 hours of scrubbing, scrapping and swearing, I've only managed to get one of the two fryers paritially clean. Does anybody have ideas on how to removed 3 year old grease from a fryer?!?!?

Other things from today...
Broke the drain on one of the sinks.
Got the urinal working (now I can pee inside).
Maybe sold the broaster.

Oh yeah....we have a few options for the logo.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Let us know your thoughts!

Thanks!!

Dennis & Lisa Fenrick

Day 3

We're off to a good start. Day three was only slightly less crazy but fun none-the-less.

My "to-do" list for the day was short and sweet.

1) Get the water running
2) File for EIN (Employer ID Number) numbers
3) File the paperwork for our liquor license
4) Clean!

The EIN and liquor license were easy. We used an online service to file the paperwork for the EIN with the IRS. We had the numbers assigned by the end of the day.

One thing to keep in mind if your applying for a liquor license....if you're an LLC, make sure that you have all of your members sign the application. And you'll also need to have another form (I forget the actual name) that allows the LLC to assign an agent to represent them. It doesn't matter if the agent for the license is a member of the LLC. That was one form that the state failed to inform me about.

Getting the water running wasn't as easy as originally planned. We thought we could just flip on the power to the well and have running water. Well....I guess we did have running water. It was just running EVERYWHERE!!! When the building was winterized a few years ago, they disconnected any junction in the water system that was not "hard plumbed". Not to mention, they left every valve open also.

So when I say we had running water....it was running out from every sink, the hot water heater, toilets and urinals. What a mess!!! We were able to get all the connects refitted but there was a leak caused by a bad gasket by the hot water heater. After call almost every plumber in Green Bay to find a gasket, the nice folks at Beano Plumping gave me some advice. They told me to stop at the local hardware store and get some red gasket material. I was able to cut me own gaskets in just a few minutes. Leak gone!!!

The remainder of my day was spent cleaning the kitchen. Or should I say STARTING to clean the kitchen. What a disaster!!! I started on the broaster but the grease was so thick that I decided to try something more simple....clean the griddles.

While it wasn't fun (nor easy), they turned out nicely.

Before:

After:

That was about the extent of Day 3.  What's in store for Day 4....logos, decor, vendors and more cleaning!!!