Restaurants and Institutions

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Time Is on Your Side, Yes It Is
February 9, 2007

February 9, 2007
The P.R. elves must have been working overtime, because Terroir has had five separate mentions in four local newspapers within the last three weeks. The reason I bring this up is that suddenly purveyors have come scurrying out of the woodwork; it’s like I’m the only new restaurant within the tri-state area. My email inbox, phone and even the restaurant site itself have been inundated with people wanting to meet with me, sell me something, consult for me or build me something. This not necessarily a bad thing.

My warning to you is this: Remember that your time is precious, and it will become even more so. The way I’ve handled the onslaught is to know what I want and to control others’ access to me. You decide who, what, when, where and most importantly, why. I’m juggling a full-time job (sometimes it turns into two full-time jobs) while still working on Terroir. My life currently revolves around manila folders, legal pads with to-do lists and a disorganized day organizer. I thrive in that environment, but I’m sure it will get to a point where my yellow Lab will have to check my schedule and make an appointment to play fetch.

Houston, We Have Liftoff

There are certain moments in life when you feel separated from an event, yet its image is burned into your long-term visual memory. I had one of these experiences the other day.

After teaching all morning, I zipped over to the restaurant site. The day before, the developer received his Certificate of Occupancy (see Note at bottom), thus allowing me to finally take possession, get keys and most importantly, begin the build-out. I met two of the three partners involved in the building development and received my very own set of keys. It was a little anticlimactic--no marching bands, no dancing girls and no sparkling wine. I’m hoping all three come later.

Practically simultaneously, the bamboo furniture maker who is making my tabletops and host stand, the project manager from the sign company making my external signage, the rep from the point-of-sale (POS) installation company, my general contractor and--just by chance--one of my sous chefs from my previous executive chef job all stopped by.

Here is that out-of-body/is-this-really-happening-to-me experience. I’m answering questions about design from the furniture maker, verifying the placement and final sign specs with the sign guy and writing a deposit check for the POS system, all while watching my general contractor and his subcontractors snap caulk lines and spray paint lines (red for a cut, yellow for a wall) for the concrete-slab cutting and interior-wall placement. It was all a bit surreal, overwhelming (in a good way) and to tell the truth, actually would have been very cool if it weren’t also extremely frightening. I have to admit I actually felt like a full-blown entrepreneur.

So gang, we have lift off, and my clock is running.

And the journey continues.

Cheers!
Stu

Note: During the construction phase of a project, inspectors from the building department will inspect it at various critical stages. Before a new building or addition can be occupied, the owner needs to be issued a Certificate of Occupancy. However, before a Certificate of Occupancy can be issued, two things must first occur: A building inspection must perform a final inspection to ensure a project's conformance with approved plans and all applicable code requirements, and other departments such as Engineering, City Planning, and the Fire Department must certify that they have approved any work falling under their jurisdiction.

Posted by Stu Stein on February 9, 2007 | Comments (0)