It's great to have you folks here reading, but I feel I should explain a few things; I wasn't quite ready for all you all, so the links at the top of the page don't work. I'm not crazy about the font either, and the whole layout still kind of bugs me. Basically, this site is still kind of "in development", much like the restaurant itself. This blog was kind of a secret for the past few months and I liked it that way. Now that the cat's out of the bag I feel a bit....exposed.
But, whatever. It is what it is, and it's great publicity, so I can't complain.
Lots going on today. Opened a bank account near the restaurant, started getting ready to do some painting, I've got a line on a deep fryer that I'll hopefully purchase tomorrow, and, of course, all this media attention, which is the big news of the day.
Not without setbacks, of course....never. I've got an issue with the griddle I'm wrestling with. As part of the arrangements of our purchase, the previous owner (PP) arranged a swap of griddles between the Evanston location and his other store. They have a smaller hood over there and wanted a smaller griddle so they could fit another piece of equipment under it, so he asked if it would be ok to swap the one that was there for a newer, larger one. The griddle is the centerpiece of classic burger cookery, often working buns, burgers, and grilled onions all on the one large surface, so I was fine with it. He brought over a huge old Vulcan 48" unit, thermostatically controlled, which looked to be in excellent condition, so I was psyched.
However, I neglected to notice until a couple days ago that it requires a 220 electrical line. Which I don't have. And running a new electrical line behind where the griddle's going to go is no small feat. It requires running metal conduit through the wall, which is tile. Plus, it requires pulling permits from the city, which I wasn't planning on doing.
The whole thing could end up costing me weeks and thousands of dollars. I called PP to ask him about swapping back and he was really reluctant to do that, so I asked him if he'd split the cost of running a 220 line and he said he would. But I'm still not sure that's the answer.
I'm mulling it over, but I'm not liking any of the options I'm coming up with.
Mistakes I made today; drinking six shots of espresso before 2pm, telling the guy setting up my bank account that I wasn't sure if I was going to take credit cards, and trying to lift a Berkel deli slicer by myself. I think I tore my right biceps.
Small victories of the day; my hundred-dollar ice cream freezer is running like a champ! And of course, my total media domination.
Thanks for stopping by...
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You know, I hate to see you fail right off the bat...
1. You HAVE to get 220 service. But you shouldn't be cooking your burgers on a griddle in the first place. That's why God gave us broilers.
2. You're going to lose 75% of your customers without credit cards.
3. The restaurant itself shouldn't be "in development". With all the time you've had to plan....
Lots of luck but you'll need more than luck.
Paul
Maybe a stupid question since I have no idea what your space looks like, but if you have a basement full of sombreros, can't you drop a 220 line down there and run it wherever you have to go instead of inside a tiled wall?
The place sounds great. If only I lived about 800 miles closer...