While I waited for the lawyers to do their thing(s), we took a trip to the North Woods of Wisconsin to visit some relatives up in Lac du Flambeau.

Wisconsin has its own thing with burgers. The crispy griddled kind are most common, with buns that have been slathered with butter and plenty of cheese, usually American. I'm not generally a fan of American cheese, but with the thinner burgers, stacked up as doubles or triples, American is the best choice because of the great melting qualities it offers.

On the way up, we ventured a bit out of our way to check out Fred's in Burlington, WI, due to its reputation as having the best burgers in the world. Not the best, but solid. Could've used more seasoning, I thought, and I wasn't overly impressed with the flavor of the beef. Fred's offers an unconventional 8oz. griddled burger, which results in a lot of juice when served around medium, which is how ours came.

We ordered Fred's hand-cut curly fries and chips (they're the really thin kind that are all still connected like you get at the county fair) to go with our burgers, but, strangely, the potatoes all came out 5-10 minutes before the burgers were ready, so we were faced with the choice of either letting them get cold, asking the guy to hold them for us, or eat them first. Kind of annoying, but we nibbled, tried to wait as best we could, and both were good, freshly fried, not greasy, and seasoned nicely. It's rare to find curly fries without that stupid batter that's usually on the outside, so Fred's version, which is just natural potatoes spiral-sliced, is welcome and unique.

Posts are being written, but I'm holding off on posting until ink is on paper. Out of superstition, suspicion, and fear of jinx.

So, in the meantime, here's some inspiration.

The lawyers appear to be doing their thing at a decent pace, and we haven't reached any bumps in the road as of yet, but we're not out of the woods.

Pete, the seller called to ask me if I'd be interested in meeting a few of his employees and considering hiring them for Automatic, so I went over there yesterday morning to do that, along with a walk-through to talk about all the smallwares, incidentals, office stuff, things in the basement and what the expectation is on whether he's taking it or it's staying.

He seems like a really genuinely nice person, giving me all kinds of tips about how I should run the place, who I should get in with in the neighborhood, and then giving me the rundown on the employees. There are three.

Rudolfo is an older guy that does clean-up and some prep, who's worked at Pita Pete's for a couple years, Carlos is Pete's main cook and opener, and Ryan only wants part-time and is best suited for customer service. Pete swears by the dependability of all three, and there is something to be said for keeping people in a work-routine that they've already gotten used to and have managed to get to on a regular basis for a couple years. With restaurant employees, by far the biggest factor is that they SHOW UP. Dependable people are worth hanging on to.

I told all three of them that I'd call them in late August and maybe sooner if they're willing to help with clean-up, painting, setting up, etc. We're currently planning for a July 31st close and I'd take possession then. I'd like to use August to work on the place, and then get open (assuming the City has mercy on me) in early September.

The place is really in very good shape. I gave some extra attention to corners, floor drains, areas around sinks-the kind of spots that get the most wear and attract all the grime in restaurants-and everything looked to be very well-maintained. Pete and I also worked out a griddle switch. He has a larger griddle in his DeKalb restaurant, but the hood there is small and he wants to create space for something else, so he asked if he could swap the Evanston one out for a larger unit. Which is great, for me, and the hood we're going to get is enormous, big enough for two or three additional pieces of equipment.

What we're getting, as far as hot-line cooking equipment is a large (maybe 48-60") griddle, a 36" char-grill, a six-burner range with an oven below and a salamander above, and a few soup-kettle type warming units. I'm going to have to add a deep-fryer, and the more I plan, the more I think I'll need a multiple-well unit.

The other major thing we'll need is a meat grinder. A big, powerful one. I was hoping to inherit a stand mixer, not so much for the savings (although they are expensive) but to save the hassle of moving one. I'm not planning on making any dough, so it's not essential, and there are quite a few options for grinding beef. We'll figure it out.

I am starting to get very excited about this, although I'm consciously working to bring myself back down to earth so as not to get ahead of the deal. Fingers still crossed, blog posts still only drafted, not posted. I'll post everything once signatures are on contracts.

Pete (the seller) called me late last week and asked about whether I'd be interested in meeting two of his current employees, who he highly recommends.

I'm certainly open to this--when you find people that consistently show up and are good workers, you try and hang onto them--but I'm also being peppered with lawyerly contract language about not assuming any prior liability. If I mentioned this meeting to my attorney, who scares me shitless every time I talk to him worrying about every possible contingency, he would flip.

So I won't.

I booked a visit to PP's (the current restaurant--it's still open) for Wednesday at 9:30 to meet the employees and do a walk-thru of the place to point out some of the small stuff that he wants to keep.

Good sign. Pete also indicated that he'd be willing to close as early as July 15th, but I'm thinking that it'll take longer than that to get our stuff with the city squared away, so I asked to push it back to July 31st.

Also, incredibly, the insurance company I ranted about in the last post called me back. But it was a new lady, who seemed infinitely more competant and managed to ask me all the pertinent questions and go along her merry way in less than five minutes. Imagine!

I was so pleased that I complemented her on her ability to ask questions, take the answers, and move forward, explained that it seemed like Gail and I often had communication breakdowns, and asked if she would be taking on my account permanently, which she happily informed me she was! So we're all happy in insurance-land today.

I've also seen a draft of the purchase agreement from my lawyer, who says maybe early next week it'll be done, and I heard from Dave (agent) that landlord is looking at about the same timeline.

Still sitting with fingers crossed as lawyers on both sides construct the documents that I hope will eventually be signed, but I'm also moving forward dealing with the City of Evanston, since the various special variances, permits, and licenses we'll need will likely be the longest-developing piece of the puzzle.

I've been to Evanston's civic building four times in the past week. The first and most important thing to deal with is through the zoning office. Evanston has two "types" of restaurants; type one is the typical table service with waiters and tips type establishment, and type two is quick-serve, fast food, and anything else that doesn't use servers. ALL type two restaurants are required to attain a special use ordinance.

Now, the current occupant's restaurant already went through the process, which involves the planning and zoning committee meeting and discussing the proposed restaurant and how it might impact the area, allowing a period for public comment, and giving a recommendation to the city council who can either vote aye or nay, or kick it back up to planning and zoning. Fun!

The process for me is somewhat easier. I apply for what they're calling a "substitution" which allows me to simply change the name of the restaurant on the existing ordinance. I filled out a few forms, paid $385, and now I wait for my request to wind its way through the process.

I've also paid a few visits to the Dept. of Public Health, which handles all (or most) restaurant-related paperwork. Thankfully, since we aren't planning on doing any construction in the new space, we got to skip the incredibly detailed 17-page building permit application, so I just filed forms detailing the info about our newly-formed corporation, and that's it. For now.

Then, today, after I went back and handed in some forms, checked on the status of others, I paid a visit to the folks that deal with signage. They informed me that, per Evanston appearance standards, I am obliged to leave 85% of my awning as blank space. And if I want to put words like "burgers", "fries", or "shakes" along the bottom of the awning, that's a special variance that I'll need to apply for. I asked about a hanging sign that sits perpendicular to the building, so that people approaching the restaurant on the same side of the street can see the signage, and was informed that the maximum size they allow is 2x3 feet, "so you probably don't even want to bother. Plus, that's a special variance--need to apply for that."

Another thing Evanston offers is the opportunity to do a walk-thru with the health inspector that will eventually become MY health inspector. This seems like a great opportunity. I haven't asked the seller if he'd agree to allowing this, but if he does, I'll at least be able to find out about any big and/or costly changes that this guy is going to require once he inspects for real.

Logic would indicate that there wouldn't BE any issues, since this very guy just inspected the currently-operating restaurant within the last six months, but that's not always how it works. Often, when the city knows that a change of ownership/concept is happening, they view it as an opportunity to get the building up to code. They're more likely to let a longstanding owner slide on pre-existing code violations than they are if you just bought the place. That's just a fact of life.

It may sound like I'm complaining, and I am, to some extent, I suppose, but I realize that if this were the City of Chicago that I was dealing with, the whole thing would've been ten times more time-consuming and frustrating, and I wouldn't be halfway as far through the process as I currently am. I'm also finding the city employees in Evanston to be so incredibly pleasant. They're nice and appear calm. When I walk in, they put down whatever they're doing and almost immediately give me their attention. And they don't send me running around on wild goose chases throughout the building, playing civil-servant hot potato with me.

It's quite refreshing.

On a somewhat more ridiculously annoying note, I got back into contact with the stupidly incompetent insurance company that I ranted about previously so I could get the ball rolling on getting a whole new set of quotes to insure the new space.

And, of course, they did not disappoint. I had already informed them that our last deal was dead, and then when I called and left a voicemail, I informed the woman that I wanted her to start getting quotes for the new space.

When she called me back, I was watching Henry bounce around the Kohl Children's Museum, so it seemed like an ok time to talk.

The first five minutes or so of the conversation was spent reiterating the stuff I already told her in my voicemail. I hate people that do this. Isn't' that the whole point of voicemail? Do you really have to go through the whole thing sentence-by-sentence and confirm what I just said?

"So you want me to get quotes for your restaurant in a new space?"

"Yes"

"And this space is located in Evanston?"

"Yes"

GIVE ME A BREAK, LADY!

Then she launches into this surreal "who's on first" type thing that I'm still trying to make sense of. She asked me about the last space (Lincoln Square) that we got quotes on and again confirmed that we weren't opening a restaurant in that space.

"Yep. That's correct," I said.

"But now you're buying a different restaurant?"

"Yep. In Evanston."

"But is it the same restaurant?" she asked.

"Uh....well, we're opening the same restaurant we were planning to open in Lincoln Square, but we're buying a different restaurant from a different restaurant owner and leasing the space from a different landlord. Does that answer your question?"

"Oh. Well, but, it's the same restaurant, right?"

"No. Same as what? I don't understand what you're asking me."

"The equipment, the square footage, the type of building...all that is the same?"

I'm somewhat incredulous now. Plus, Henry is using a grease pencil to paint cat whiskers on an unsteady toddler. "Of course not," I said.

"How could it be all the same?"--I'm trying to keep my voice low at this point-- "It's a different restaurant. In a different city. The building is different, the square footage is different, the location is different, the equipment is different. Everything's different. Do you understand?"

"Oh," she says. "So you're buying a different restaurant from a different seller?"

"Yes". (Do we not understand the meaning of the fucking word "different"??)

"And you want to get quotes on this new, different space?"

"Yes".

"Well, we'll need to get all new information from you--details on the building, the address, the fire suppression system...everything."

"Yep. I know. That's why I called. To begin that process."

"Oh, ok, well I'll need to get back to you another time when I'm prepared to take all that information from you."


Arrrrrgh. It's seriously time to get a different insurance company. Why do I even bother with these people?