No Turning Back

Maureen says:
Did I need a lot of coaxing? You bet I did. I’m what you’d call selectively risk averse. Ask me to risk my heart and leave behind an entire established life to move to the other side of country and I’m your girl (this is exactly what Tom asked me to do after dating for a mere three months; we lived for two years in Carmel, California and returned to New England in August ’06, in large part, because we liked what we saw happening in downtown Manchester). Ask me to risk my finances and an entire established life to pursue a business venture with a success rate a coin flip could determine and I no longer know your name. I’m exaggerating, of course. I didn’t turn my back on Tom, but I did make him go through the painful exercises of answering the hard ‘what if’ questions, outlining worst-case scenarios, and detailing exit strategies that can be put into play if the coin toss isn’t in our favor.

But, like Tom, once the papers were signed, the monies distributed, and the keys in our hands, I experienced a sense of relief. There would be no more point/counterpoint discussion about whether or not to move forward with the venture. The deal was done and I was done creating anxiety around it.

Or was I? There was, after all, that restaurateur couple in Milford this summer, who, it was discovered, had been squatting inside their restaurant before they skipped town (they were flushing the toilets with water dredged from the river). A restaurant, I’d heard, that had been going for and getting $30 a plate. Maybe it was the price point that contributed to their demise. Who knows? It’s not my place either to speculate or pass judgment, but the end to their story is the sort, that if I don’t keep up with yoga practice, will surely keep me up nights even I agree with Tom when he says the key to any business, but especially restaurants, is what you do with the money that comes through your doors.

Fear, anxiety and tales of others’ woe aside, it’s something exactly like a gift having your life partner be so obviously fulfilled. After 20 years of increasingly supportive roles in the restaurant business, Tom’s not only taking center stage to star in his life, he’s producing and directing. Me? I’m the writer.

We've Only Just Begun

Tom says:
We bought a restaurant. We bought a restaurant in downtown Manchester, NH and we bought with it with every cent we have plus the belief we have that when you’re brave enough to leap, the universe conspires to make the net appear. And we need the net: whatever turn-of-phrase you’ve heard describe the process of opening a restaurant, it applies here—no exceptions. Lighting the stove with $100 bills is one we’re particularly fond of, but once the papers were exchanged and the keys were in our hand, I was actually relieved that we’d leveraged our future. I think that qualifies as some form of insanity, but I’ve been in this business twenty years and know that I’m in good company (Hi Pam! Hi Tim!). Each and every day of the last twenty years has been leading up to this one and there are moments when I can’t quite believe it’s here.

I/we own a restaurant?!

Still, the relief of having closed the deal is waning fast. In fact, it’s turning into something that hints of dread. To quote the Carpenters, “We’ve only just begun.” If this is my Everest, I’m only three-quarters of the way to the summit. The hardest part is yet to come: getting the doors open. Then, as any climber will tell you, once you reach the summit you’re still only half done. You have to get back down the mountain (alive) so you can tell about it. In this case, that means keeping the doors open. Restaurants are risky businesses--just ask the banks. The success rate is on par with marriage: only one, they say, out of every two will make it and the definition of making it is vague at best.

This venture will prove either to be a dream realized or a nightmare (on Elm Street) we—my business and life partner, Maureen—can’t wake from. But no matter the outcome the experience will be worth it because we were brave enough to take the chance (even if Maureen needed a little coaxing. Okay, a lot of coaxing, but that just means she’ll work even harder than she already does at anything she puts her mind to).

We’ve started this blog for two reasons: we want to document this phase in our lives and, with time already being tight, to create a place where family and friends can come for the answer to the question everyone’s already asking—How Are Things at the Restaurant?

I almost forgot: the restaurant’s called Z. More details to follow. For now, just the facts: We’ll be located at 860 Elm Street in the space that was formerly Little Saigon, next to The Chair Gallery (where, incidentally, we purchased our own dining set earlier this year). We don't yet have anything like a hard opening date, but mid-to-late Q1 ’07 is our target.