Toward Opening Day with a Bullet

A very tired Maureen, who has neither the time nor the inclination to proofread this before she posts it, says:

Now I know why, when we first moved back and spoke of our intentions to open a restaurant, our friend and fellow restaurateur collapsed in the shoulders and said said, "Why would you ever want to do that?" She were mostly joking, of course, but people? I soooooo get what she were saying. This is why they make those 18-hour bras, isn't it? Since we got our liquor license three and half days ago, we have seriously considered sleeping in the space.

And getting that liquor license wasn't without its drama. The second Tom had the signatures in hand to obtain the actual license, he got in the car and headed for Concord. It was mid-afternoon and the state offices were open until 4:30p, so we had plenty of time. Except when he arrived there, a little before 3:30p, he was told that the trade name was printed incorrectly on our permits. I got a frantic call from him asking for the phone numbers for the Health and Fire Departments, which I pulled off the Internet. While he raced back to Manchester, he called both agencies and the amazing staff there pulled together new permits and had them waiting for Tom when got back into town. Then it was back in the car and a race against the clock to get back to Concord before the state offices closed. It was 4:26p when he presented the corrected permits and got the license.

Then, there's the usual drama. The kind that's definitely more than a pain in the ass, but isn't what you'd call catastrophic: vendors lacking pride in craftsmanship who have no choice but to re-do their work because we didn't give them another choice; delays in signage production owing to back-ordered paint and the time the paint will take to cure; other, smaller parts of the interior vision not translating as well as we'd hoped when they were put into place.

But we had our first staff meeting and Tom and I are confident that we attracted an aces team who believes in and reflects our overall vision; out of the kitchen we're getting good energy, good noise and good smells; we've got our linens on site, our liquor orders placed and the stereo speakers wired and placed.

We're almost there, but not quite. There are easily a hundred things for every member of the staff, including Tom and me, to do and do just this morning. And then there are the phone calls. Vendors. Ad sales. Curious folks about town. There are the faxes. Deliveries. Questions. Endless proofreading. And let's not forget feeding the parking meters (that's a full-time job in itself).

It's early yet today, but already I'm behind. Still, the thought it takes to write a post here forces me to slow down the adrenaline rush and remember that it won't be very long at all before someone I love sees a dream he's been making for the last 20 years come true. I have never wanted one, single thing for 20 years; I can't imagine what that must feel like. But it does me a little misty when I try to.

Y'all keep an eye on this space for the opening announcement, you hear?

We Got It!

Tom arrived back in Manchester about an hour ago with

the liquor license in hand

!!!

The First of Several Announcements

Tom and Maureen say:
The last week or so it's been nothing but noses to the grindstone getting the work done that would allow us to begin the not-very-long, but still somewhat winding road known as obtaining the permits required for Z to open its doors.

The permitting process in Manchester is far from onerous, but it must be followed in a very specific order, each step dependent upon the one before it.

That journey came to an end at 3:30p yesterday when we obtained the last permit needed to go before the State Liquor Commission today and get our liquor license. What does this mean? Well, once we have our liquor license, we can open the doors any time we're ready.

And being ready means that we took about five minutes to celebrate and then it was back to work. Recipes tweaks. Getting the liquor order finalized so the second we have the license, we can fax it off. Programming the POS system. Printing the menus. Assembling materials for staff training. It's at the point now where prioritizing is impossible because everything's of equal importance. And details that seem like they'd no take time, are eating up hours.

But we're close. Close enough that the light at the end of the tunnel is a beacon instead of a pinprick.

Another Milestone

Tom says:
We're on our way: the health department signed off on our plans today! I went to their offices this afternoon, picked up the approved plans and drove them to the Buildings Department for the next set of eyes to look them over.

This head cold's knocked for me a loop. Trouble is, Z has little sympathy. Fortunately, Maureen does and although I was hesitant, at first, to sip on the honey loquat and hot water she suggested, I have to admit after drinking it that I sounded more like myself and less like Marlon Brando with a throat full of gravel. If only it could lessen the pressure behind my eyes, maybe I could concentrate on important things. You know, like opening a restaurant.

Despite my inability to fully concentrate, I soldiered on and, because I'd actually used one of the organizational tools Maureen set up for me, I didn't miss a beat. Call sheets. Where you write down, in advance, who you need to phone the next day. Who knew? The payback is that tomorrow I have roughly six hours of meetings, starting at 10a.

Every day and every meeting brings the budget into clearer focus. So far so good: areas where costs have proven higher than anticipated have been balanced by others that came in less than my estimates.

Today there was only one meeting and it was with the representative from the state liquor commission licensing division. First step in the licensing process is completion of the mini application. This sets the wheels in motion for things like background checks, etc. Then, there's the longer, formal application ($100 fee). Straightforward, but you don't actually receive your license until after you've received your permit for assembly. And you don't receive your permit for assembly until renovations are complete and you've passed your inspections (health/safety, fire department, etc.). Do the math on a calendar and you'll see that straightforward or not, it's kind of nervewracking to realize this is one of those things that doesn't resolve until what amounts to the last minute.