Restaurants and Institutions

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Prologue, Part II: The History and the Concept
July 17, 2006

Stu Stein

July 17, 2006
Let me give you a little history. The genesis for Terroir was Vintage, a project I worked on with the patriarch of a 100-acre, family-owned vineyard in Oregon who also was the founder of a local brewery. Way back in 1998, I tried to raise enough money and convince enough people to back me in Vintage-A Restaurant & Wine Bar, which was going to be part of a small retail complex in the middle of Oregon wine country.

I won’t go into too much detail, but needless to say, my restaurant that never was currently is a restaurant owned by that same vineyard patriarch. The bad news was, my business partner and I paid a nice chunk of money regarding the start-up that never got started (prospectus, business plans, deposits, etc.) The good news was, I got to write off the expenses on my taxes and earned valuable life and business experience.

Fast forward to January 2005. I left my position as executive chef and minority partner of the Peerless Restaurant and Peerless Hotel in southern Oregon. There were myriad reasons I left, but one was the nagging need to do something less in the fine-dining style; something more accessible, more sustainable and all mine. I was looking for the right location, but staying in southern Oregon wasn’t feeling right. I did, however, start to document everything I thought I wanted to do. In actuality, I’ve been jotting notes, saving clippings and researching for years.

Now fast forward to November 2005. While working as executive chef of the Avalon Hotel & Spa and Rivers Restaurant in Portland, I started to lay out and assemble the pieces for what I christened Terroir. I had the Great Idea, or at least, the delusions of grandeur. With Step 1 of the 11 stages completed (see It's Time to Open a Restaurant, So Where to Begin?), I started to write the business plan (see the table of contents). I also spoke with my lawyer, looked for the right architect, started to speak with banks, contacted real-estate people and let the buzz spread.

Cheers!

Stu

Posted by Stu Stein on July 17, 2006 | Comments (0)