Wild Musings

another new year...

2010-03-02T14:15:00.001-08:00

so here were are... the start of year 5.

who'd have thunk we'd get this far?!? it's exhilarating, frightening, amazing & a little bittersweet all at once.

4 years of our lives we've poured into this place... it's costs us a lot in material things and emotional energy... we lost our house, we've had some REALLY big fights, we've cried a lot, and suffered from many symptoms of stress... but when it comes right down to it... we've loved almost every minute.

Well, i should qualify that... I have loved a lot of it. Ian has loved a little less of it... the house part in articular. But we can't blame the bistro for that, really... that was poor financial decison-making combined with pride, ego & fear... however, if we didn't have the bistro, we wouldn't have had to make that decision.

All those things said, here we are at the start of year 5... by some measures, that is the defining year for a small business... if we can make it thru this one, we might be home free!

So, we're counting on our fabulous friends & customers to help us get there.

We need your input, your ideas, your bums in our seats... your friends bums in our seats... we need and want your feedback - good or bad - to help us improve and continue to provide you with what we believe to be excellent food, great service and a comfortable, relaxed and fun atmosphere where everyone feels welcome and connected.

There will be more changes coming - this is a never ending work-in-progress...
The lunch menu will shortly get an overhaul - it hasn't changed in over 2 years... either in content or in prices, so it's due...
The dinner menu will continue to be refined while we test out new things...
The bar menu will continue to evolve while we figure out what you like to drink...
Sadly, our staff will be making some changes as our younger ones move on to new adventures - we love our staff, have we mentioned that enough times?? they are awesome and absolutely make wild what it is... but we'd never keep them from their dreams and goals, so we must let them fly as they wish, however, we will find new faces to fill their spaces and hope that you'll welcome them with open arms.

We need some help... we're seeking a financial partner of sorts. No hard cash investment, just a signature on a line... if that's something you think you could entertain, come talk to us and we'll give you the lowdown.

Bonar continues to find and book AMAZING music for our stage. There are SO MANY great acts coming up (check out the calendar www.wildbistro.com/liveatwild for current listings), and we couldn't possibly do it without him. If you're an amazing act and would like to play here, contact Bonar today! (bonar@wildbistro.com)

We're still thinking about summer hours... not sure WHAT the best thing to do is... got an opinion on that?

We celebrated our 4th birthday in big style with a fantastic party at the Gibsons Legion Hall... amazing music - Deanna Cartea, Carnival Era & The Colorifics - a great time was had by all, and now that we've all recovered, it's time to get busy making year number 5 the best yet.

See you soon!

what's the buzz...

2010-02-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

you know that old saying, that it took 24 years to become an overnight sensation??

that's kind of how we're feeling.
almost 4 years now - and it still amazes me when someone comes in and says "i never knew you were here!" I also know we're not the only business on the coast that goes through this phenomena...

the coast is NOT that big...
how is it that we don't all know about what's going on here?

i'm curious to know how YOU find out what's going on or where to go for things you need... do you read the Coast Reporter, the Local, Sunstream, Just Business, Coast Life? do you check the ads in Good Morning Sunshine? Do you listen to CKAY or CVUE? do you rely on Duane Burnett's blog? do you check the Coast Reporter's new site that sometimes has breaking news? do you use the Coast Cultural Alliance's calendar? what about SuncoastCentral.com or BigPacific.com??

do you seek out posters, and check the stacks of handbills at various checkouts all over town? do you ask friends? study facebook & twitter? focus only on the people you know and do what they do??

it's a conundrum for us, as business owners. HOW do we get our word out without wasting money... is WHAT we say as important as WHERE we say it? do you respond more to pictures than words? how much information do you NEED to make a buying decision? What DON'T you want to know? What will make you try something new - do you wait for everyone else to try it first? do you decide by price? location? logo colours? philosophy? proximity to other things you need?

your insights & opinion... and suggestions... are very welcome and encouraged... we need to know!

WHAT are we doing WRONG?!?!?

2009-11-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

ok...

seriously...

WHAT are we doing wrong when we get a comment like this via our website survey...

"REALLY would like to hear local, live entertainment. Along with the food, that does more to bring the ambiance to a totally different level than anything else. We have amazing jazz artists in the area for example, who would be perfect. Tasty local food, tasty local musicians--recipe for success. "

Tell me, please...

We feature LOCAL, LIVE ENTERTAINMENT usually at LEAST 3 nights A WEEK....

I'm gonna guess this person has never been to our place, or they would know that...
right?

Are we completely missing the mark with our advertising - ALL of which says "Live Music" in it somewhere... ???

Are we talking to the wrong people???

Is it just that we're not solely a jazz house and this person doesn't care about any other kind of music?? We were a jazz fest venue!!!

My forehead is bleeding from the brick wall I've been banging it against...

Someone, PLEASE... tell me what we're doing wrong, or not doing enough.... cuz i'm out of ideas.

new fall directions...

2009-09-06T15:29:00.001-07:00

wow... i guess august was busy, eh? no blog posts all month! crazy...

anyway... looks like there are outside factors at work that are helping us make some of the harder decisions about what we're gonna do around here.

the hardest decision of them all is/was... do we stop or continue to provide retail "grab-n-go" sweets like a proper bakery??

Here's the truth of the matter... we never intended to continue being a "proper bakery" when we bought the "proper bakery" three and a half years ago... we saw this great place, and instantly had a vision of what we could turn it into.

So now... three years later... we're realizing that vision but have also maintained almost all the retail baking that we started with, as well as grown the wedding cake/occasion cake side of the business by accident.

So what's the problem? Well... #1. Time. Operating a "real" restaurant does not leave a lot of time to also operate a "real" bakery... at least not with the same amount of staff. #2. Space. The storage space required for the ingredients & packaging for both bakery & restaurant exceeds what we can comfortably manage. #3. Refrigeration. We cannot install a walk-in cooler nor freezer due to the configuration of our space and the fact that to VENT these things we'd have to go through the apartment upstairs or through the concrete exterior wall, which happens to be underground... both scenarios costing WAY more than we can afford. That means, we have to rely on stand-alone units... three of which we lost over the course of this very hot summer. Most recently the only freezer we had that would accommodate full trays of sweets (the size they are when they're made before they get cut down to service size).

This most recent "death" has led to the current crux... we've got nowhere to STORE the sweets between when they're made and when they're put out for sale... and because of time issues, making small batches isn't really efficient because, for one, i'd have to make nanaimo bars every other day to keep up!!

So that then leads to...

a) do we stop making nanaimo bars (and all the others) altogether??? i think we might get lynched if we did that.
b) do we reduce the number of available sweets and rotate the selection? that might be the most logical and least unpopular option.
c) do we find a new baker who has their own commercial kitchen and contract out our recipes & the storage?? that might work but would most definitely put the prices up.
d) do we change our selection entirely to items that are simpler to make in small batches and still cost effective? this might work...

We don't want to price ourselves out of the market - we are by no means "pastry chefs" so creating desserts that end up costing too much per serving because we're only making a dozen at a time because they take so long doesn't make any sense...

We don't want to lose our customers who only come here for the desserts, tho because of our dwindling and inconsistent supply over the summer, maybe that's already happened...

We don't (at least right now) want to start a whole new line of products that we find we can't keep up with and end up going thru this process again...

so what DO we want?

We want our customers to be happy. We want them to know they can count on us to have their favourites pretty much any time they come in. We want them to come back regularly. We want them to tell their friends. We want to focus on lunch & dinner, and special desserts for in-house service.

Any suggestions on how we do ALL that?

thoughts are welcome & encouraged.

vol-au-VENT

2009-07-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

ok, so ya, i vented a little bit in that last post... hopefully i'm allowed and hopefully i didn't upset too many people.

i'll try to keep things more positive and upbeat... but fact is, sometimes this job is bloody hard and there are days when the thought crosses our minds to just stop... go get real jobs and have a paycheque again... and benefits (hm... i've never had a job with benefits... dunno if i could cope!)

thankfully, those moments are usually short-lived, and tempered with the knowledge that we actually do love what we're doing...

that whole line about doing what you love and the money will follow... i guess they never promised how close behind the money would follow... :D

but we're not really here for the money... i mean, it'd be nice if we didn't have to WORRY about how things were gonna get paid, but we're keeping our heads above water and it gets better every day... generally.

anyway - i just wanted to apologize for venting a little ... and reiterate how much we truly love and appreciate our customers - particularly the ones we see all the time who support us so amazingly, and help us out with honest feedback and helpful ideas... and the NEW ones who are just discovering us! Thanks for taking the trip off the beaten path and coming in our door!

Happy Sea-Cav!

bistro or bakery...

2009-07-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

so, we knew when we made the decision to go for our vision that we might end up annoying a few people...

a few of the people who only come here for bread, specifically...

we knew that when we changed our hours and started achieving our goals that some people might not find that to their liking or convenience...

mostly those are the people who only come here for bread.

DON'T GET ME WRONG... we LIKE those people who only come here for bread, and we're grateful that they DO come here instead of going somewhere else... but we really do apologize for creating the concept that we are a bakery first... that was never our intention and from the get go - march 1, 2006 - we have been working at dispelling that myth.

yes, we bought a bakery... a bakery that happened to have fantastic recipes... and a ton of potential to become the bistro/restaurant that we'd spend the previous 6 years talking about and trying to realize...

now... if we'd been able to buy said bakery with a ton of extra cash available, we'd have gone directly to bistro without passing go, and we wouldn't have even needed the $200... but we didn't. We mortgaged our entire lives to scrape together enough to get us open and running... with just enough to manage on for the first few months.

this has been both a blessing and a curse.

as some of you may notice... restaurants that open with a big bang and a ton of capital outlay, don't always succeed... in new york city, for example, 1000 new restaurants open EVERY YEAR... and only 1 in 5 are still open at the end of that year...

we have been forced to grow only as quickly as cashflow has allowed - in many ways not a bad thing.

The curse: This resulted in being perceived as a bakery for a lot longer than we intended...
The blessing: it also gave us a long time to earn fantastic customers who come regularly for their bread and baked goods... and lunch... and NOW, dinner,too.

The curse: we've had to "make do" with old equipment, flatware we think is a bit ugly & pedestrian, 69cent mugs from the dollar store... etc
The blessing: we HAVE made do with old equipment, less than magazine quality flatware and 69cent mugs from the dollar store that have a certain funky charm about them...

The curse: we had to wash & sanitize dishes (which included, of course, muffin tins & cake pans & bread buckets & mixing bowls - all stainless, all requiring scrubbing with steel wool... every day... ) by hand for the first 18 months, which physically wore us out and severely limited how quickly we could grow
The blessing: we learned the importance of taking some financial risks to buy a dishwasher and other equipment... and that the adage of spending money to make money is very true

The curse: we often can't take advantage of sales on equipment that would really make our life more simple and/or efficient
The blessing: we don't buy stuff that we don't really really really need just because we can get it on sale

Even just today... i learned about an amazing financial management tool that could really help us improve cash flow and guide us thru the maze of when to spend how much on what... it's truly an incredible tool, which i would jump at... except that it costs a lot up front that i just don't have - even THO it could pay for itself in a few months and help us get AHEAD in not many more months further down the road...

but we don't have that big deep pocket backing us up... we dont even actually have a change dish beside the bed to back us up...

we've got our wits, our drive, our love of what we're doing, and our wicked-ass, amazing, loyal, supportive and delightful customers to keep us going... and slowly, bit by bit, we claw our way up and out of the pit, and eventually we'll build a little hill of "extra" cash (is there really such a thing as extra cash??) that might allow us to buy that new fridge or pay for an ad, or heaven help us, take a vacation, even!?

Anyway, the point i was getting to... and yes, i'm sure if you've read more than one post here, you've noticed it can take a while to get anywhere... we have strived for 3 years to become a bistro and are finally there in our eyes, while we now can probably count on another 3 years trying to convince everyone else.

So, we apologize if the bread isn't ready at 10am... seeing as we're not open til 10:30 we're ok with that... we apologize if the bread isn't ready at noon... in fact we apologize that we're not making bread every day...

fact is... we're not a bakery. we've never wanted to BE a bakery... we're a bistro that happens to bake enough bread that we have some left over to sell...

and we'll be super happy when the general perception of who/what we are changes out there too... we know it will take time, and sadly it also means we'll likely lose some customers who are not prepared or willing to change along with us... but hopefully they'll find somewhere else to get what they want when they want it, and the folks that ARE willing to come along with us will do so and allow us to continue living our vision and enjoying it with us.

summer frenzy

2009-06-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

ok... so call us crazy but we've committed to minimum 12 hour days (which actually means 15-16 hour days when you count prep & cleanup) for at least the summer...

not sure what we were thinking except that we're finally doing what we wanted to be doing all along - serving great lunches & dinners & drinks at a great price to great people...

i'm thrilled to report that we've had a fantastic response to our "test runs"... the soft opening for dinners on the weekends... now, granted, many of the folk who turned out for those are already dedicated & loyal customers & friends, and maybe they were being nice, but we think we're onto a good thing here and really hope that EVERYONE will come give it a try.

Currently, the most expensive dish on the menu is $14 for a single serving... there is Machos for 4 for $30, but that's what... 7.50 each?

There will be the occasional special that goes over the $14 mark, but most mains will be in that close neighbourhood. Starters range from $5-10, and desserts max out at $6 for the most decadent...
Bar Drinks range from $5 up... which from what we can tell is about the best price in town (aside from specials) which was our intent all along. We're not "about" the drinks, they're simply to compliment the food... or provide a little relief from crazy summer heat on a blistering afternoon...

we're changing the approach to retail bread & dessert sales... THIS IS A BIG NOTE... Fresh bread will ONLY be made on Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday...We welcome your orders in advance while we work out new daily quantity requirements.

All our bars & savory snacks will still be available for now, but soon you will just have to ask for your favourites, as we won't be displaying them as usual. (That said, anyone need a 6' display cooler? $1000 obo).

Lunch menu will evolve a bit further... will likely add lunch size options of some more popular dinner items and a couple hot appetizers to the existing menu... that remains to be seen precisely.

your comments & feedback are welcome - even the negative stuff... in FACT, we LIKE to know the negative stuff so we have an opportunity to address it. We can't fix what we don't know is broken... right? Complete our survey, if you like... we'd appreciate it.

we look forward to seeing your smiling faces come visit us for lunch & dinner...

kera & ian

licensed to take it up a notch!

2009-05-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well... FINALLY! After a long haul that began in September 2008, we have FINALLY got our liquor license!!

This is such an exciting step in our evolution...

When we bought "wild blueberry bakery" back in March 2006, we had a long term vision. Neither of us ever had dreams of owning a bakery... neither of us are "bakers", least of all me.. Ian has always made bread, and does 90% of the cooking at home... but i was never one of those super-domestics who made cookies & cakes, and fancy desserts just for the heck of it. Give me a reason to throw a party and I'll dust off my culinary chops, but frankly, I got pretty lazy when ian came along and started doing all the cooking!

anyway, the vision from day one was a bistro - bustling with great people, notorious for a wicked wine & scotch list, loved for the interesting and delicious but not expensive food, and simply a great place to be. We think we're getting there.

Ian & I have two favourite restaurants always in mind when we discuss our vision... Ian's is "Amalfi" in Adelaide, South Australia, and mine is "Pagliacci's" in Victoria, BC... our intention is to take the best things of those two places and put our own stamp on them to create Wild... in it's full expression.

We're gettin' there.

We still have a ways to go - there's more construction & decor that need to evolve, there's a bigger bar list that needs to build up, there's a regular menu that needs to be set, and specials that need to be invented... but those will all come together over the next few months... and from there, it's all gravy.

We couldn't have gotten this far without our wonderful customers. I hope you all know that! You are the reason we exist, and we hope that we treat you like that every day... and that if we don't, you'll let us know!

Your support, understanding, empathy, feedback, word-of-mouth and recommendations are all so very important to us. Your suggestions & requests are not taken lightly. Of course we can't possibly accommodate EVERYTHING, but we really do our best to find the balance that fits with our vision and your needs.

So, our hours will be changing on JUNE 8th...
New hours: Monday thru Saturday, 10:30am-10:30pm
We'll see how that works for the summer...

We'll look forward to seeing you!

busy is good... thanks for all your help with that!

2009-04-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to make note of the fact that things have been pretty busy... busy enough, at least, that taking the time to post a blog has been difficult.

there's been a lot of activity over the past month... a couple great coffeehouses, a chocolate tasting, some meetings, a special performance date with Twisted String, some renovations... and the liquor license got submitted...

so - update...

liquor inspector is making a special trip - and I cannot tell you how much we appreciate her doing so - on Apr 29 to do our "establishment inspection" and "education"... if we pass that and she approves our license, we could be selling drinks by May 1!!

we've got more great coffeehouse lineups in store...

a Cinco De Mayo Fiesta on ... yes, May 5... because it's simply an excellent excuse to have a party and introduce some of our upcoming mexican tapas, and our plan for regular mexican nights...
(check the website for details - www.wildbistro.com)

another chocolate tasting with Le Petite Souris... Dark Chocolate this time, in time for Mother's Day... bring your mom and get a little decadent on the dark side.

We're hoping to having the patio finished in time for May long weekend... need some steel fabrication done to hold up the awning, and need to acquire/build tables/benches that can STAY outside... See it... margaritas on the patio... come on... how great will that be?!?

Continued renovations (minor) & reconfiguration of the kitchen...

A few new decor changes & additions...

Possibly a big-ass flat screen TV too... for those special events that require TV, or hockey play offs, or seminars that require a presentation... we've got lots of plans... are you ready??

We'd love to have input and help, too... if you are interested in volunteering to coordinate events or do publicity, or sew curtains, or paint... we'd love to have your help!

We're just so EXCITED!

It's all coming together, and we're seeing new customers every day, and we're really, truly grateful for the love and support that our friends (aka fabulous customers) give us on a daily basis... bringing your friends for the first time, telling colleagues, sharing our food with your neighbours... all those "little" things that you think of to do on our behalf are so generous and delightful... we couldn't be where we are, nor on the path we're on, without you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

forward & upward...

2009-03-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

one more step toward the vision... the liquor license application has been submitted! YAY! According to the liquor board rep i spoke with, it should be a fairly quick approval process as, strangely enough, our application was complete... why would anyone submit an incomplete application??

anyway... with the liquor license comes other changes, which are yet to be finalized and a date for which has yet to be determined...

but what changes, you might ask?

well, new hours, for starters... not entirely certain what those will be yet, but we're pretty sure they will not include opening at 8am anymore... unless there's a wild protest. You see, mornings are not our busiest time. In fact, mornings are more often than not, quite quiet before 10am. Especially saturdays, which is weird. But I suppose since we don't serve actual breakfast, that's not THAT weird.

We're really on the fence about it... we don't want to alienate those few but loyal customers who DO come thru our door before 10am, but at the same time, the cost of being open for them is much more than the revenue we generate from them... tho we enjoy their company and value their business, it doesn't really make financial sense.

Here's what we're thinking for hours, and we welcome your comments & feedback:
10:30am-2:30pm - open for lunch, then between 2:30-5:00 open just for snacks & coffee while we prep for dinner, 5:00-9/10/11 open for dinner... Our lease only allows us to be open until 11pm, and since we are below apartments, it's only fair to our neighbours that we be done business by then.

and so what about menu... might be your next question.

that's a surprise!
but we'll tell you this - there will be a good selection of appetizers, salads & desserts, with a small selection of constant mains and then a list of "features" that will change as inspiration comes... mains will be available in single size and share size, as will some of the appy's... per person pricing for things like antipasto platters & machos (yes, that's Machos... you'll see).

and the bar... expect a small and eclectic wine list with more reds than whites... import beer, premium spirits and a short cocktail menu with specials... and a rotating single malt scotch list.

at REASONABLE prices.
house wine will come in at under $5 a glass...
and no, it won't be Calona Red Table Wine

Above all, you can expect the same quality of great food & service at a middle of the road price... somewhere between McD's and Spence... a place where families are welcome, meals are filling, atmosphere is friendly, and the experience is one you'll choose to repeat regularly...

at least that's what we're aiming for.

And we trust you'll let us know how we're doing!

Oscar night...

2009-02-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

Who really cares about who wins... i mean, come on... does it matter one little bit in the grand scheme of things??? OF COURSE IT DOES... It's the perfect, non-secular, non-commercial (in that you don't have to buy a $7 greeting card), Sunday night excuse to have a spectacular dress up affair, eat fancy-schmancy food, drink champagne, and live vicariously through the rich & famous...

And we do it EVERY YEAR.

This will be our 10th annual oscar party... but our first "public" one... and I have to say I'm a little nervous. We've been so busy, I completely forgot about the idea of decorations! Now, we HAVE a red carpet, cuz that's a MUST... but outside of that, the crunch is on and today is d-day... got to get creative and decide how best to decorate this joint to give the illusion of glitz & glamour, cuz well, frankly, we're pretty much NOT glitz & glamour people, but for this one day a year.

I'm not worried about the food... that part i KNOW will be good... we've got some super yummy stuff prepared, and more on the way. And the sparkling shiraz won't go astray either... if you've never had it, then this is a great excuse to get out and try it!

And well... the dress... provided it still fits and i don't look like a fish wrapped in tin foil, we should be all good. Ian's suit has been dry cleaned - yes, you'll get to see Ian in a suit... no maple leaf or anything...

We've got some lovely prizes... many of our friends have come through with gifts for us to share and we're very grateful: Blackfish Pub, Carol Cares (Massage therapy), QT's Hair Design, People Skills Press, Wild Bistro, Penhallow's Pantry, La Petite Souris (chocolates!), Libre Tea, Myoga, Loumidees, Snowcap, some CDs, and other trinkets.

Whatever happens, it will be a good party. That's something we are pretty confident in - throwing parties that people enjoy.

So haul out your finery - or your most outrageous glamour duds... put Cher to shame if you must... and come celebrate with us! Sunday, Feb 22 - 4-10pm here at the bistro... $20 tickets must be reserved in advance (604.886.1917 or eat@wildbistro.com to reserve)

woohoo

2009-02-17T22:32:00.001-08:00

so... were you here for Valentines? If you were, you'd have really gotten a taste of what's coming to wild...

The atmosphere was just so great... it was a defining moment for ian and i to realize just how close our vision is. It was exactly what we've had in mind all this time... tables full of people enjoying music, food & wine... for a reasonable price. I think the biggest bill of the evening was $80, for a complete dinner for 2 with a couple glasses of wine each..

ooh... and if you haven't had the opportunity to try our ossobuco yet... i think we've decided that it will be a regular menu feature. It's just SO GOOD... and we're very pleased to report that it didn't disappoint on valentines. What's ossobuco? slow cooked veal shank in white wine & chicken stock with veggies & spices... generally we cook it a minimum of 4 hours... the longer the better.

anyway, we're really excited about the direction we're going, and we hope that you'll come along with us.

catering to your needs

2009-01-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Have i mentioned before that i love catering??

it's definitely one of the high points of this job... keeps it interesting and fun... and to be totally honest, is pretty good for the ego.

we catered a birthday party in a spectacular house in langdale last night. Mercifully, it went off pretty much hitchless - the weather was a bit of a bear, and we arrived a bit later than planned, but other than that it went really well.

why do i love catering?
- it's a little bit anal, it forces me to be more organized than usual
- it's outside the daily routine, and as anyone who knows me knows... routine is NOT my thing
- it's usually a little "fancier" than what we make for lunch
- it pushes my boundaries for stress management
- it gets me out of the bistro
- it requires extreme team effort and cooperation
- it pays well
- it's gratifying to know you've helped someone throw a great event, and made them look good by providing great food
- hearing comments like "ridiculously good", "heavenly", "oh my god that is amazing" is kinda good for the ego.

Catering private parties, in private homes, is probably my favourite challenge...
pulling off lots of food for lots of people in an unfamiliar kitchen with no access to "what you might need" is exciting. It's frustrating sometimes, but when organized well, it's mostly exciting... thus the cause for being organized! If you don't bring EVERYTHING you need, it's a lot harder.

The other cool part about private parties in private homes is that you get inside some pretty fabulous houses... and being one who appreciates architecture and design, that is a definite bonus for me.

The house last night was amazing... huge, beautifully decorated, every possible convenience, spectacular view... the type of house i'd dream of owning, but hold very little hope of ever achieving. Catering doesn't pay QUITE that much!

But it's good to have dreams...

anyway... wanna know the menu from last night? it was very well selected by the hostess:

- onion confit & ricotta tarts
- chili lime & garlic shrimp cakes
- mini mac & cheese with gorgonzola & truffle oil
- chili garlic mushrooms
- fresh baked baguette with sweet chili cheese dip and hot spinach & crab dip
- mini spanakopita

then as the main,
- ossobuco with roasted garlic risotto and steamed asparagus

they brought a gorgeous cake from Anna's Cake Shop in vancouver. I must admit i was a bit relieved to not have to provide the cake too... it was a lot of work just doing that food for 40.

what's ossobuco?? braised veal shank, essentially... it's slow, slow cooked till it falls off the bone and the highlight is the marrow in the shank bone itself... you suck that out cuz it's really really yummy. it's quite an impressive looking food, big round chunks of meat wrapped around bone that takes on the colours from the sauce - which is simply white wine, chicken stock, some basic veggies, garlic, rosemary and pepper. It's simple simple food, and absolutely delicious.

so, that's why i love catering... it's fun, it's different, it makes people happy.

having a party? call us...

carpooling to wild?

2009-01-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

so... if you've driven by at lunch time in the last few days, you may have noticed a PACKED parking lot!

I WISH I could say that's because we were busy...
Sadly it's not the case.

The Salvation Army has made a decision to hold their AA Meetings from 12-1:30pm DAILY... this is the cause of the full lot.

It puts us into a bit of a dilemma... we of course want to support the SA and AA, and the food bank (whose beneficiaries also fill the parking lot regularly)... but it's costing us business.

We can scarcely afford to have our regular customers drive up and find nowhere to park, and thus decide to go up the road to the wheatberries or wherever...
But how do we still be neighbourly without creating a huge ruckus??

If you have a suggestion, please share... we don't want to be cranky or whiny, but this cannot continue much longer. It's 12:30 on Tuesday as I write this and the parking lot is full to capacity and we have 3 tables!

Certainly there are going to be days when it's slow for us - we're not packed full every day by any means - but when our potential for business is cut off by a full parking lot, what are we to do??

that's my whine & rant for the day.
i'm done now.
carry on.

snow...

2008-12-27T16:21:00.001-08:00

So... snow. right here in gibsons. lovely.

NOT.

I likely don't even have to explain how little i enjoy snow from a business perspective.
Two of our worst revenue days ever thanks to this snow... that's a little troublesome. What with the landlord really wanting us to get caught up on the rent, and nobody able to pull into the parking lot, it really makes it a tough proposition.

As I explained to the landlord... um... can you get the lot plowed? I can't pay you if nobody can get to my door and pay ME!

He understands, to a point, i guess... but apparently not quite enough to get the plow here again... today the parking lot is a slushy, icy disaster... took me FULLY 8 minutes to park cuz i kept sliding and spinning... it was ridiculous. If the lot had been plowed, I would have considered opening today, but there was no point. Nobody could park, and it was unsafe for walking on regardless.
Ya, I see.. Panago opened. It's nice that most of their customers have 4x4's!

Do I sound bitter today? Ya, i think I do. Snow bugs me. Things I can't control that interrupt what I'm trying to achieve bug me. It's a character f law and I'm trying to deal with it.

It's been a really hard year. Can I be that honest?
I suppose some would advise against it... but well, I'm not all that good at hiding the truth.

In our effort to maintain the vision of creating a place where people like us could come and eat more than once or twice a year, we got ourselves into a bit of a financial pickle... that being, that we paid out more than we took in and are thus deep in the red.

It's a sad state of affairs when we can't even afford to eat at our own restaurant... isn't it?? And that is precisely what we were working to avoid. Our entire premise is that regular people with regular jobs, and irregular people with regular jobs, and regular people with irregular jobs should all be able to treat themselves to a meal outside their own kitchen more often than once or twice a year... maybe even more often than once or twice a month! I don't think that's too much to shoot for...

Why should the luxury of having someone else cook & clean for you be exclusively the domain of those who earn more than $75k a year??? Ok, let's re-frame that... You and I should be able to eat somewhere other than A&W a couple times a month without it becoming a major budget consideration.

We've gone over our limit a few times... we've even eaten at Smitty's a couple times when we really shouldn't have... but jeeezzzz... we work hard... don't we deserve those little luxuries? You work hard too... and YOU deserve them too.

If you've got some ideas about how we can achieve this vision - maybe you've got some cost saving ideas, or some free promotional ideas, or would be interested in volunteering a little to help us get some of the work done for less overhead... let us know. Would ya? We're open to suggestions and ideas and help.

Meanwhile...
May you all be blessed with a healthy, happy, peaceful and more prosperous 2009.

holiday hysteria

2008-12-03T22:56:00.001-08:00

i'm tellin' ya... the pressure to make christmas cookies could kill a girl.
The lights are up, and generally somebody is home... unless you get here at 5:55, by which time we're often somewhat braindead.

i've been procrastinating for a good couple weeks now but i FINALLY did it... Christmas cookies are UNDERWAY!! That means that by this weekend (Dec 5) you'll be able to start buying cookie tins & gift packs to share the love with your friends & family.

We've got the good old standbys - Pixies, Shortbread of various sorts, chocolate chip, and ginger, plus some new additions this year - Almond thins, Cocoa-Nuts, Double Chocolate Hazelnut, Lemon Coconut, Espresso Brownie, Cranberry Apple... I'm on the verge of experimenting with Chili Chocolate... any opinions??

The shortbread, as always, is gluten-free! Plus we'll have those amazing Cocoa Pecan Macarons and some other delicious holiday treats for our gluten-freebie friends. (yes, that's what we call you back here in the kitchen, the "gluten freebies", learn to enjoy it.)

we've got 1/2 pound bags of our fabulous coffee coming - they make GREAT stocking stuffers... and will be packaged with other treats for giving.

And there's a rumour afoot that we'll be breaking out the christmas cheer on Dec 20... but that is still just a rumour as I understand it, so wait for official announcements, but do save the date cuz it could be fun!

As always, we'll be open the ENTIRE WEEK (so that means sunday & monday too) before Christmas, closing at 4pm on Christmas Eve.

We'll be closed from then until Monday Dec 29 Inclusive. We'll be open on the 30th & 31st so you can get stocked up for New Year's Breakfast... closed for New Year's Day (moose milk at the legion, need we say more??) and back to normal on the 2nd.

Let the festivities begin!

Price break...

2008-11-24T21:07:00.000-08:00

oh lord... here it comes...
we were told by our accountants that if we did not raise our prices we'd be lucky to make it another 6 months.

so... since we have PLANS, and we want to share them with you - and because we get the feeling from many of you that you'd like it if we stayed - we have no choice but to put up prices.

the hard part was deciding by how much.

so, generally speaking - after much painstaking spreadsheet calculating and head-scratching - most everything is going up by 50 cents. A few items went up by a little more, some by a little less... and believe it or not, a couple actually went DOWN by a dime or two.

Specialty items, custom orders and catering will also see increases but we're confident that we're still not out of our reasonable price range. We've had comments that our catering is "very reasonable, almost too cheap," so we feel there's a bit of room to move there, as we know our product is of high quality.

Oh, and by popular demand... THE BLACKBOARD MENU is coming back. I painted the wall for it today, and over the next couple days will reinstate it for old times sake. Many customers have commented how much they miss it, and we had to admit that we missed it too! We'll keep the printed menus for the convenience of taking them to your table for leisurely contemplation, but the blackboard will be resurrected for quick decision-making and to make it more obvious that we do serve more than nanaimo bars & muffins.

and don't forget - christmas is a'comin... so if you want us to do your baking for you, order it soon!!

ciao for now
kera

the pricing dilemma

2008-11-03T13:09:00.001-08:00

yep, it would be GREAT if everything were just free and money didn't exist.

don't you think?

I've run into another pricing dilemma. The cost of wheat flour has come back down - not down to what it used to be, but down from the stupid price it went up to in the spring. This is a good thing. It means that now, maybe, we're actually turning a profit on bread products, where we have been barely covering costs for the past 8 months. Am I evil to think that?

A big part of my brain says, "now hold on, missy - if your costs are going down, then you have to put your prices back down"... which conflicts with the other big part of my brain (yes, my brain IS that big) that says, "but, but, we were finally maybe going to start making enough money to pay to be here!"

I guess what I'm looking for is some kind of absolution - from our customers, ultimately... is it ok for us to make a decent living doing what we're doing? or are we cutting our throats by charging enough and thus going to lose customers because our prices are higher than the grocery store or the joint down the street.

Since we started this adventure we have NOT made any money.
The first year we covered our regular bills... more or less. There was nothing extra. Then we had to get a new vehicle, and to do that had to remortgage our house... that meant bigger payments, more payments... which we thought we could handle. Suffice to say, we made some mistakes.

So that's where the guilty part of my brain comes in - it's not our customers fault that we made some financial mis-calculations and they shouldn't have to be penalized for that by us putting up our prices.

At the same time, that other side of my brain says... "ya, but if we don't put up prices, then we'll have to not exist, because we CAN'T exist on what we're making now."

So - what to do??

We've since found ourselves in a less than pretty position, with the bank on the verge of taking our house away, behind on the rent for the bistro, wolves at every door and a few windows too... and I'm questioning what the heck we're doing.

We do this because we love to do it. We love the sense of community that we've built here at the bistro. We love our customers and the fact that we know so many of you by name (and your grandkids names, and what your sister's husband's brother's son is doing next weekend). We love that we are providing quality, delicious food as an alternative to the chain restaurants up the road. We WANT to be able to offer you more - like community dinners, and opportunities share and connect like we did at thanksgiving this year.

Problem with it all is this - we have to put prices up by 20% in order to actually start seeing some improvement.

Alternative solutions:
- reduce portions but keep prices the same - i can't see ANYONE being happy with THAT idea - we all hate it when chocolate bars get smaller... it would feel the same for nanaimo bars and sausage rolls
- hold some fundraisers... hard to do for a "for-profit" business, but not out of the realm of possibility.
- attract some investors... not our ideal situation, as that usual means they get a say in what we're doing, but then if they're experienced in this business, that might be a GOOD thing.
- leave the bistro in the hands of some $9-10/hour employees so ian and i can go get real jobs that pay actual money so we can become our own investors.
- find other revenue streams - I currently do web & graphic design still on the side, which helps, but it's exhausting to stay and do that for 4 hours a night after working for 12-14 hours in the bistro already.

We're very open to ideas... so if you have one, don't hesitate to share!

There's one other place where we have a pricing dilemma...
wheat vs. gluten-free products.

Brown rice flour currently costs 5x more than wheat flour.
so, in theory, gluten-free products should cost significantly more than wheat products... right?
but how is that fair? I have a real problem penalizing people for their diet, which in most cases they wouldn't choose if they didn't have to. Why should a gluten-free muffin cost $3 when a wheat muffin costs $1.85? It's the same problem i have with organic pricing... as far as i'm concerned EVERYTHING should be organic and it should all be affordable.

Perhaps we'll take an in-store poll... that worked for the bread pricing... the large majority voted to get the identical product but pay more.

ugh. why can't it be an easy, obvious, no-brainer solution?

see you on the wild side...
kera

why is it so hard to be green?

2008-09-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty convinced that the packaging industry doesn't really WANT us to all start packaging green. If they did, they'd make it obtainable, affordable and logical to achieve.

Problem number 1: Can't get small quantities. If I want to start using "green" coffee cups, I have to order 10,000 of them in order to not pay astronomical shipping costs or the highest possible price. Got any idea how much space 10,000 12oz coffee cups takes up? Well, picture a single car garage. Then picture it pretty much full. (meanwhile, picture the bank account pretty much empty, because I just spent $1200 on coffee cups).

Problem number 2: Our suppliers that we currently buy packaging from have no incentive to source out green packaging because the costs to them are high, which they then HAVE to pass on to us, which makes it even MORE unafforadable - EVEN THO we've told them we'll pay it... just don't make us buy 10,000 at a time!

Problem number 3: Much of the biodegradable packaging out there is made from corn. Corn is replacing wheat in many crops in order to make biofuel. Biofuel is the main culprit behind the cost of flour going through the roof... so... buying CORN-based products is essentially cutting off my nose to spite my face.

Problem number 4: Petroleum-based products are skyrocketing in price now because of the "oil shortage"... so now, we're seeing the prices of the packaging that we've already been buying start to climb toward the cost of biodegradable packaging, and it's still BAD for the environment.

SO... do we just keep buying the same old stuff until it finally is more expensive than the biodegradable stuff? Do we take a stand and say NO to packaging altogether until we can find what we want? We KNOW it's out there - we can see it on the internet! It's HOW to get it that's the problem.

It's a dilemma.
People don't quite seem ready to take their food away in their hands without some sort of paper or plastic product protecting them from it...
So if we say "bring your own packaging or you're gonna get food on your hands," do you think we'll lose customers? Of course we will. Will we lose them for long? This i don't know.
I'm hardly an eco-freak... I just feel like we HAVE to do our part as a business. It's up to business and industry to lead the way... because as long as they are getting the tax breaks, and making the most mess, the rest of the population will be calling "hypocrite" and that simply isn't right.

Why should we - i mean the collective we, as in the private citizens of the world, have to shoulder the entire burden of saving the planet??

Why aren't captains of industry, big players in corporate kingdoms, and international business leaders standing up and leading the charge? They are the ones who have the most to GAIN by taking the forward steps... THEY are the ones that we will support with our consumerism if they lead by example. THEY are the ones who will get lauded for being "forward thinking" and "visionary"...
But yet here we are - jack and jill average, scared to death that our grandchildren and great grandchildren may not get to see the sun, or that polar bears may extinct, or that summer and winter will change times of year - scrounging our cloth bags out of the trunk, or hiking to the store with our backpacks, or lugging around stainless steel, BPA-free, non-petroleum-based cups, plates, spoons and bags to carry our organic, fair-trade, small-estate, locally grown or built "whatchamahoosits" in back to our compact-flourescent-lit, programmable-thermostat-heated, energy-star-compliant homes that cost us a small fortune to convert - in an effort to save the planet...

I don't get it.
I do what I can, what I choose to afford, what i can rationalize in my own life... and I admit, sometimes I take the easier/cheaper way out.
And I feel guilty about it.

Why don't the big guys feel guilty?????
THAT is what I don't get, I think...
I can barely sleep at night knowing that I've paid $130 for 50 big cake boxes that are going to carry a cake from my store to your house, and then promptly end up in your recycling bin or fireplace... and those guys get to make zillions polluting the planet, and destroying the forests, and killing the oceans, and raping the tarsands...

bye bye summer

2008-09-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Oh my... I DO apologize - it's been SO long since my last confession...

Seriously. I do NOT know how those professional bloggers do it... write every day, maybe even multiple times... jeez, you'd think they got paid to write or something!

Anyway... what can we tell you about the last few months?

So much has happened, and yet it was not a summer of any great note as far as numbers were concerned - down about 20% over last year, in fact. But I understand that's not uncommon... seems it's kind of just "the way it was" this year.

Our foray into multiple locations has come to an end. Simply was not what we expected being down there at the Gibsons Harbour. It was a ton of work, and the cost of doing business there was not being met by the revenues at any point, which was really disappointing. We'd had such high hopes, but I think what really got us more than the lack of tourists, or the rise of the "staycation" was simply that we were stretched beyond our limit. We didn't have enough staff, we didn't have enough resources, and we simply didn't have what it required to make it successful.

Live & learn.

On to other things! Like our gorgeous, wonderful, miraculous expansion here at Gibsons Way!!

If you haven't been in to see it yet, we really hope you DO come soon!
We had a fantastic team of volunteers - friends, family & customers who came out and swung hammers and swathed paint, and swept and washed, and drywalled, and decorated, and played with electricity... it was so incredibly cool and generous and amazing, and we are very very grateful and appreciative of every single second you spent helping us achieve this step in the journey.

In a nutshell, we've nearly doubled the size of the seating area, built a bar, rearranged the main service area, added a men's restroom (complete with the requisite fixtures), upgraded the overall look & feel of the entire place, redirected the chi, and boosted the energy level.

Hmmm... built a bar, you say?? YES!
So, one thing leads to another... no saying yet WHEN that will come, but expect sometime in the not ridiculously distant future to be able to get a glass of great draft or a hand selected red with you meals... aw heck, maybe even a perfect martini!
And THAT would also suggest that perhaps meals past 6pm might be on the horizon... WATCH FOR IT. We'll be doing test runs by invitation, so join the mailing list and we'll tell you how you can get invited!

The whole coffeehouse idea is going really really well... summer was a bit quiet, but we're looking forward to re-ramping things up this fall. We had standing room only crowds in the spring... now everyone can have a seat! and it'll be so comfortable you may never want to leave!

Again, join the mailing list so you can stay up to date with who's playing when... we've got shows on Sept 13, Sept 27 and Oct 11 fully booked... plus Nov 8 and Dec 13 and maybe more in between. Check the website for details (right hand side of the homepage).

I think that's all I can tell you right now. There are some other things brewing but until we have a good handle on them we'll keep them under wraps.

Watch for new menu items - likely sometime in October...
and special events...

see you soon!

kera

summer... ? summer? where ARE YOU????

2008-06-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

ok, so this seems to be a trend. LAST YEAR we had this same issue - summer, gone missing...

Do you remember the ad in the paper? i think it was mid july... "LOST: SUMMER... IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO THE SUNSHINE COAST"... it was brilliant and oh so true.

We really will have to make severe changes if we don't get a summer again this year... it's surprising to me just how dependent our business is on the weather.

I'm not surprised by the kiosk's dependence on good weather, tho it is significantly slower down there than i expected. I'm sure it will pick up once school is out and families are travelling... but wow, it's tough to sit down there for a whole day.

As for the bistro - changes are afoot!
We got the ok to take down the wall and expand... so watch for it... the long awaited expansion - we've been talking about it for over a year. We've decided to just GO FOR IT... so things may seem a little more chaotic than usual while we make that happen - as it will be a night time transformation cuz we can't afford to close for a week to do it... We beg your patience & understanding while we go through the transformation.

AND - if you have a nice old table taking up extra space, we'd love to take it off your hands. We're looking for solid wood tables with character... that don't need a TON of refinishing, but will stand up to regular use. We're also looking for a comfy, easy to clean couch and big comfy chairs... if you've got something in storage, or are upgrading your living room - let us know. Of course there are certain parameters we have to keep in mind, as these will become public seating, so they must be clean and easy to keep clean - leather or microfiber would be preferred. Ya, it's a big ask, but if you don't ask, you don't know!

We really really hope to have at least the wall down and seating in before the next coffeehouse (June 14), because the LAST 2 coffeehouses have been standing room only... which is great, but not all the comfortable for those left standing for 2 hours...

After that will come the lunch counter, and the reconfiguration of the kitchen... i think it's gonna be great. We'll be able to seat 20-30 more people, and have a great space for parties & events.

Speaking of parties - did you know you can book the bistro for your own private functions?
Evenings & weekends we're available to host your party, mixer, meeting, seminar... whatever. Call us to discuss details - you can either rent for a flat fee that includes one staff member & beverage service... or go all out and have us cater your event, too!

Don't forget to come visit the kiosk - open every day! (so if you're hankering for a great coffee on a sunday or monday, just run down the hill to the wharf and you'll find us...)

that's all for now.
back to waiting for the sun.

moving into may... it's wedding season

2008-05-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

ok, could it look much less like SPRING???
I saw snow on Mt Elphinstone this morning as I'm driving to the bistro... what is with THAT??

According to the weathernetwork, however, we're in for a HOT one on the long weekend... that will be a nice change. I think it's been a really long time since we had a blistering hot Victoria Day long weekend.

So prepare yourself. There will be no tolerance for whining about it being TOO HOT after whining about it being TOO COLD all winter long. (yes, that goes for me, too.)

Anyway, bistro-wize, things are ok. We've booked some catering this month, which is always great. It's a lot of fun, and allows us to get quite a bit more creative than the day to day food we make which keeps it interesting. Are you having an event? Need food? Call us.

And wedding cakes... those are for sure my favorite. I made one yesterday that turned out really well, I think. Just a small one, but it still takes creative juices and concentration which I really enjoy. Wedding cakes are funny... well, maybe it's brides that are funny. Some know EXACTLY what they want... they saw it in a book, or at another wedding, and know precisely the flavours, the sizes, the design... others - not so much. The cake I made for yesterday's wedding was one of those... "just make it pretty."
I like that, because then I can really put myself to the test. What exactly is "pretty" going to mean to this particular bride? What will be "too pretty" (ie. too girly, too prissy, too much) and what won't be "pretty enough" (ie. too simple, wrong colour, too abstract maybe).

The best you can hope for in that situation is that you have a good feel for who the bride is, and have had enough chats with her to determine her general style... and then HOPE that she tells you the truth afterwards about how she liked - or more importantly, didn't like - the final result.

I realize that my attitude somewhat bucks the traditional convention... I'm sure Martha Stewart would be appalled at my approach. Whatever.

The other thing that I have to say about wedding cakes is... WHAT'S WITH THE MARKUP???
Who decided that for a wedding cake to be viable it has to cost hundreds of dollars??? That is so damn ridiculous I can't even PRETEND to go along with it.

Yes, I've made cakes that cost hundreds of dollars... because they required special, organic, fresh, top of the line ingredients, and tens of hours of preparation and decoration. But they don't ALL HAVE TO.

That lovely cake I made this weekend cost the bride under $100. And you'd never think so to look at it, judging by "wedding cake standards." Just because it's got the word "wedding" in front of it, somehow bakers take that as a license to print money. I don't get it.
I've done more than one wedding cake for under $100.

Yes, part of that equation is the number of servings required... it's easier to get a cheaper cake if you have small wedding... but you know what? Most folks don't even get around to eating the wedding cake, so you can cut itty bitty slices and get LOTS of servings out of a smaller cake.

When I started making wedding cakes - just two years ago - I was under the impression that the standard was to charge "by the serving"... and the cheapest cake I could find on the internet was about $3.95 a serving. And a serving is typically a 1"x2" or 1"x3" slice of cake - do you know how SMALL that is? A veritable sliver of cake. So a 12" square cake should then, technically, get up to 72 servings... so suddenly this 12" cake is now apparently worth $284.40 - and that's just one layer. Ok, I'm sorry BUT... I already make fantastic, rich, dark chocolate or moist dense sweet lemon cake on a daily basis that would rival any $284 wedding cake... how can i justify suddenly charging that much for a cake I would otherwise charge $55 for??

There are a few things that make the bill start to add up...
- buttercream - have you seen the price of butter lately? and if you get fancy and go with organic, fresh churned butter, forget it.
- fresh berries out of season - $7 a pound for cherries out of season... excuse me?
- fancy fillings that take extra time to prepare - ie lemon curd or creme anglais
- fondant covering. THAT is the kicker. If you want a flawless, smooth, inedible looking cake, THAT is where the cashola is going to come in. Fondant takes time... and it takes extra ingredients like marzipan to smooth out the cake before the fondant is applied, and that ain't cheap.
- and well, intricate decoration. That's where the time comes in, really. If you want me to spend 5 hours making sugar paste roses or golf balls or multi-coloured fish then you can certainly count on spending a lot more than $100 on your wedding cake.

Or you can keep it simple.
Elegant & simple.
Even crazy & simple.

All I'm saying is... weddings already cost enough... why blow the budget on a cake that is going to be looked at for 5 minutes and likely not eaten by many.

Spend it on your honeymoon.

winter in april...

2008-04-19T16:44:00.001-07:00

just when you thought spring had sprung... old man winter shows up for another kick at the can.

IS THERE NO END??
gratefully, cold pushes people through our doors... theory has it, it's warm & toasty in a bakery. We are, however, desperately looking forward to spring & summer and SUNSHINE and WARMTH.

we didn't get any snow that stayed this weekend - at least, not yet - so we can't complain a LOT... but it's biting cold out for the last half of April, and the wind is far too chilly.

And... we just bought new patio furniture to replace the old wooden stumps that have thus far passed as tables out there! I think so far just 8 people have tried it out.

Do come on down and visit - even if it's winter-like...
this CANNOT last forever...

can it?

welcome, amy!

2008-04-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yay!! We've got an extra hand who also happens to come with a cheerful, helpful, humourous attitude and great work ethic. Her name is Amy and we're very happy to welcome her aboard.

playing with my head...

2008-04-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's true... there IS a restaurant god... or a whole bevy of them.

And they're playing with my head these days.

Things were going along swimmingly... spring break was better than usual, easter weekend was great, and the week AFTER spring break & easter - which is traditionally a deadzone - was really quite busy (comparatively speaking). I was feeling really encouraged and buoyed by the idea that maybe we'd have a better spring than last year... (from which we're still recovering).

Then it all tanked. Sales went to HALF what they were in that week after easter... with no apparent reason why.

And they stayed that way.. it wasn't just a day or two, it was almost two full weeks!

Then today, just as I'm on the verge of panic (tho i'm trying really really hard to accept, surrender, trust and be thankful) we had a very acceptable day - a higher than average day for this time of year, in fact, a decent day for the busy times of year... so my hope and faith are stayed again.

Some days i get the feeling that the restaurant gods are just testing me...
to see if i have what it takes for this work.

i prefer the days when i'm confident that i'm at the head of the class.