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!!!