10..9..8…7…..
Throw out the list, discard the budget and don your fireman’s hat. It’s last call to opening night and sanity has been thrown out the door. We are now on the final countdown to June 25th. My days are now spent putting out fires (or floods), solving bad decisions (yes I have made a few), fixing leaky faucets, interviewing prospective employees, checking and double checking our order lists, making sure that I have enough trainers to train the new staff, finding a place for my trainers to sleep and living on a diet of cold coffee and stale cigarettes. Sounds like and old Tom Waits song. It is chaos any way you call it and at times I want to cry, I want to laugh, I want to scream or worse I want to run away. All of this becomes food for laughter around the pool at night when I sip my 3rd Margarita and wade in the pool all in an effort to calm down the brain cells and try to not think about tomorrow. Sometimes it takes a 4th margarita which cause some grief the next morning as my thinking becomes impaired.
My worse fear (besides no customers) is that I haven’t done a good enough job of taking a beast of a space and taming it. Seeing as how our largest location (Encinitas) is 4000 square feet and Palm Desert is 9000 square feet, you can get a sense of the challenge of making such a large space feel intimate and cozy. Once the wine arrives and we have it stocked I hope that my fears subside. Given the budget constraints I placed on myself, the challenge was in how to spend $$ wisely and get the most décor for my buck. This place could have easily gobbled up a million dollars and it looks like I will do it for under 400K. Remember, the idea is to make it look like I spent a million. Don’t tell anyone….
My last major hurdle comes on Monday when I have my final health inspection. Many an opening date has been destroyed by the health inspector. I feel confident that we will pass, however I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Once the health inspection is behind us, we hope to start receiving food into the restaurant on Tuesday. The best part of this is the fact that I won’t have to depend on Carl’s Jr. for my mid day energy. Did I mention that eating while opening a new restaurant can be hazardous to one’s health?
The final week is spent planning, strategizing and putting yourself in the middle of the restaurant and trying to envision the flow of what I hope is a busy restaurant. It’s a very interesting mental exercise trying to be childlike and play pretend games. It is the only good way of seeing the potential blunders that lurk just around the corner. I have, on many occasions, done this with new restaurants and amazed myself at how “Carnac like” I can be. I go from table to table and sit at each one trying to get a sense of what the customer experience will be. With respect to this restaurant it looks good. I haven’t found any “dog” tables or black holes in this restaurant. My biggest concern is the long walk from the dining room to the kitchen. Plates will have to be very hot so the food doesn’t get cold on it’s way to the table.
Blogging at this point becomes difficult. My mind wanders on the myriad of things I need to do and all the tasks that lay ahead. I probably will sit down again to write after we open. I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings. For those of you who enjoy warm weather, see you soon. For those of you who like cooler times, see you in the season.
Ed
FYI, we did pass our health inspection!
I’ve enjoyed following your blog and what it takes to make a restaurant a 3rd Corner. Is your webmaster (is that you too?) ready to update this site with the new location?
Quick fix for housing trainers is Marriott. Try the Residence Inn on Cook street. Also Marriott Villas II on Cook Street. Both give home like feel and good pricing close to your place. For future trip planning own your own Condo Membership without all the timeshare hassles with Club Sea Breeze. http://ClubSeaBreeze.com/love. Prices for seven day stays as low as $299 no higher than $950.
Hi Ed,
Congratulations on the new “Third”. We will be in Palm Desert this week-end to celebrate Mare’s birthday. Any chance you’ll be around… or maybe resting up for the masses. Much success to you!
Best,
Duncan
You will be having customers – the word is being spread around that you are opening.
So those of us that live here full time, plus love wine, are very excited to have a palce like this come ot the desert! welcome!
So, we have been watching and waiting!! Wonder if you will really be open on the 25th of June – or even before for a “soft” opening? We are going to be celebrating a few things next week and want to include at least one visit to 3rd Corner as soon as possible! Saw either you or some other 3rd Corner person there last week sort of late in the evening – don’t work too hard!!
Did you open today???? phone number???
So you “acquired” the chef, Matt Smith, from the WineSellar and Brasserie. Ed, you better keep looking over your shoulder because Gary Parker might be sneaking up behind you
All I can say is “wow”. My wife, Angelique, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time spent in this fine establishment last night. I’m not given to raving about much of anything, but this place deserves all the praise I can possibly heap upon it. Lets start with the staff. Every single staff member that we had contact with went out of their way to be attentive to our needs. Unfortunately in this day and age, quality service is a rare commodity. It is, however, a commodity that 3rd Corner has an abundance of. Next up…food. I had the Mahi-Mahi. It was quite simply the best combination of flavors on a plate that I have experienced here in the Desert, and I have sampled much of the fare offered here. My wife had the Short Ribs, and was equally enthralled with her choice. Desert: We don’t normally order desert. Last night we got a wild hair and had the Crème Brulee and the Goats Milk Cheesecake. Simply out of this world. I tried to tell the wife she had to share her Cheesecake with me, but she was having none of that! (I did get a small taste.)
My thanks goes out to all involved last night! We will be back many more times!
Have you opened?
After enjoying your restraunts in San Diego, we were thrilled that you were opening here in the desert. We just had dinner tonight and absolutely loved the food and everything about the restraunt, especially the wine!! It was great to see you again! We look forward to spending many more evenings with you!
Thanks for your posting. Another thing is that just being a photographer includes not only trouble in taking award-winning photographs but in addition hardships in establishing the best digital camera suited to your needs and most especially problems in maintaining the standard of your camera. It is very real and visible for those photography enthusiasts that are in to capturing this nature’s captivating scenes : the mountains, the actual forests, the wild or the seas. Visiting these exciting places certainly requires a dslr camera that can surpass the wild’s tough surroundings.
We visited your restaurant this week for dinner with friends. It was highly recommended by people we were golfing with at Desert Marriott. Everything was absolutely delicious and your service was so pleasant. We can say this with true honesty since we run our own steakhouse in Hot Springs, SD. We absolutely love your wine concept idea. Wine is an art and this gives it true appreciation that it deserves. Your prices fit right in line with your market. Seems like you will have a great future ahead of you. Look forward to eating there again next year!!