Marla's Blog

"A Perfect Storm"

Kind of a stressful week.  We had a lot of no-shows for the wine tasting, and this from regulars.  Even though we kept their money because the spots are presold, it's a disappointment that I have to do it.  Very frustrating.

Saturday night our early reservations came late.  Our late reservations came early.  I should have held the early tables at the bar and did not.  Very rough.

Sunday Brunch.  One employee out sick, another had a family member go to the emergency room and had to leave.  Very smooth.

Nothing a few glasses of wine and some regrouping can't cure.

Weekend update: Easter

Gardening chores at the restaurant took up my days off.  My mom comes to help me and has been doing most of the planting and fertilizing and weeding for many years.   My husband does the heavy lifting and hauling, but he's out of town for business for the next two weeks and the mess was driving me crazy.

We changed the menu this week.  Changing appetizers on Wednesday and entrees on Friday.  It's just easier that way.  We also had a sold out wine tasting on Wednesday.  We ended up with too much Salmon coming in from Boston, so I sent an email blast out featuring a well loved Salmon Dish.    We ended up being quite busy because of it. 

Easter Sunday went very well again.  But the only reason it does is because we limit the number of large parties to five groups of 5 to 8 people each.  I have two rounds that seat up to 8 people.  I booked one of them for three "turns" and the other for two "turns". 

This makes many people very, very unhappy.  We are booked for these larger tables at least a month in advance.  People cannot understand how we cannot accommodate a party of 6 when they call a week in advance.  We say no.  We say no again.  Then they book a table of 4 and a table of 2 and expect to be put together.  One of my hosts made the mistake of taking a party like this.  Of course when the people arrive, if they are seated on opposite sides of the restaurant they are pissed and tell us that we have ruined their Easter.  WHATEVER!!!  I have instructed my hosts to just say we do not have anything available at all to these people for next year.  Of course I made the table happen yesterday, but what if I couldn't?  Do they realize how many reservations I turned down just like theirs?  Do they realize how many people reading this blog are going to be pissed because they are one of the parties I turned down?

Back from Vacation

Since I was off enjoying a wonderful vacation, my manager was left to deal with Saturday night opening headaches.  This all took place over the course of 1 1/2 hours.

The back deck flooded from the storms on Friday and Saturday and she had to borrow a wet vac from my husband to sop it up since all the stores had sold their wet vacs to the hotels hit by the tornado on Friday.

The valet was a no call, no show, a substitute was sent at 6:10, 40 minutes after we opened and 1 1/2 hours late, this after said manager spoke with the valet boss four times.  The valet boss didn't know if the valet was delayed by the storm or if he just didn't want to work anymore.  He just didn't want to work anymore.

The Point of Sale system was not sending orders to the expediter printer in the kitchen which is our most important station.  Said manager was on the phone with customer support in Boston and with the local guys who just kept telling her that the printer was unplugged.  Though the kitchen staff assured her they had checked all the connections, after 40 minutes it was found that indeed a cord was not plugged in.

Said manager told me upon my return that she had been ready to drive down to Florida to join me on my vacation.  I got back just in time.  I love said manager.

Weekend Update

Business was moderate Tuesday and Wednesday, slammed on Thursday, called in our hostess to help out.  Went beautifully.  Very slow Friday, very busy Saturday.  Crazy, crazy.

C's wife had a baby on Tuesday.  He was on vacation and got to spend the week with her and their new son.  R had an abscessed tooth and was out Friday through Sunday.  H got food poisoning from a fast food restaurant after a late night visit Friday night and missed Saturday.

Switch on the convection oven broke Friday morning.  My prep guy called me at home.  I had to come in to get the phone numbers of the repair people.  It was fixed by 2:00 but prep was way behind.  Tried to bake a cake in our regular oven for pickup at 5:00 PM.  Came out very dry.  Had to call the customer and tell him we needed time to remake it.  Customer agreed and we prepared for Saturday pickup.  Luckily it wasn't needed until Saturday. 

Point of sale system was not running reports.  Giving us database error reports.  Spent four days with customer support.  They kept fixing the problem but something in the overnight shut down was fouling up the data.  On day 5 it was determined that the new Sonic wall that had been installed was not installed properly on one terminal and was interfering with Norton Security.  Installer had to come out and remove Norton and reconfigure.  Working now.  New sonic wall is a new requirement for the tough credit card security compliance standards.

Server who had been with me for over two years left after working out his two week notice.  Hired and trained a new waiter. 

Worked some specials that we hope to put on the new menu. 

That's all!

An Afternoon in the Country

Last Sunday I joined many other chefs and participated in Les Dames d'Escoffier's annual fund raiser out at Serenbe in Palmetto, Georgia.  I prepared Duck Confit Hash with Dried Cherries.  These fund raisers are a lot of work but good for the soul.  My daughter came to help and I also enlisted Kelly Kline, who was my chef de cuisine for 7 1/2 years.   She is currently a stay at home mom and I think she enjoyed getting out as much as I enjoyed having her with me again.

Wow....time flies

Business has been very good.  Several parties have happened, the wine tastings have been sell outs and the weekends are jammed. 

Repairs have settled down to routine now.  We have found a great oven repair guy and a new refrigerator man who both did a great job.  A couple of my guys (who are terrific painters) and I painted the kitchen. 

The Point of Sale system has smoothed out.  I did have to call a head honcho in Boston and suggest they pull the system out of my shop before they sent someone down to fix the last few things.

Somehow I managed to get sick again.  Sick enough that I missed a lot of work and even blogging time.  Stress will wreck havoc on your immune system I guess.  But I've had a nice rest.  Ginny, my manager would not let me come to work for several days.  She even came by my house Sunday night very late and taped an envelope to my kitchen door.  Inside were the time cards and papers for payroll.  On the outside was a note to not go into work.  She knows I would have stopped by the restaurant to pick up the payroll info and end up spending the day. 

Just another week....

Monday:  Pressure washed and resealed the deck.

Tuesday:  Kitchen Air Conditioning fixed, just a bad breaker this time.

Wednesday.  Met with a Point of Sale (POS) sales person and signed the papers for a new system.  It seems my old system cannot be brought into compliance with the new VISA Security measures despite the manufacturer's promises.

Thursday:  Trained my tournant in his new position on Thursdays which is to prep, expedite and help me mise specials for the weekend. 

Friday:  Changed front of house managers.  I finally got my senior server to accept the position.  Have been trying to talk her into it for YEARS.  I am very excited.  I got tears in my eyes when she accepted.

Saturday:  Hosted.  Busy!

Sunday:  left Brunch early due to illness.  I think it's stress.  Came back at night for a couple hours to see what goes on when I'm not usually there.

Monday:  Slept!

Another Monday

My daughter, a friend of hers and I drive up to Lake Hartwell.  We have some wonderful friends who let us visit.  The lake water is beautiful, warm and quiet during the week.  Friends come over, I drink vodka and play scrabble.

The next day we take their pontoon boat out and go to an island with a lovely sand beach.  My husband has come up for the day.  Now I'm feeling a bit cocky and decide to swim across to a point, about 600 yards.  Even though I have taken a swim noodle with me in case I get tired, and the people with us include two firemen and one police officer, my husband is planning my funeral and all the changes he is going to make to the restaurant when he becomes the owner.  It takes me 40 minutes.  It feels great.

A much better Monday.