Friday-

This is an at home weekend. I hop into my car on Friday afternoon and drive home for the weekend, and then I will go back to the desert on Sunday evening. I was doing this every weekend but lately it’s been every two weeks. I suspect that within the next month I will be extending my stay in the desert through the opening of the new restaurant and my weekends at home will be on hold for a while. My wife will be doing the weekend drive to Palm Desert to see me.

My weekends at home are a time of catching up. On Friday night I visited both restaurants. While I am in the desert, I’m able to log into my work computers and see raw numbers that tell me how business is doing but nothing replaces actually visiting each location. I get a chance to talk to my managers face to face, talk about upcoming events, try as best to fix isolated problems and say hi to my employees. As I get closer to opening Palm Desert, many of my employees will be actively involved in the training of the new Palm Desert employees. Some of my staff will train from each location while others will make the trek to the desert to work through the opening of the new restaurant. As each new restaurant opens, it becomes easier to train new employees because of the number of current staff I can utilize in training. Virtually all of my employees will participate in the training process.

Saturday-

My mind is a blur of all the things I will need to do in the next 4 to 6 weeks. Since I have decided to use hand held Point of Sale devices in our new location, I want to visit a restaurant that uses the same system to see what problems I can short cut. I decide that Saturday is a good time for such a visit so I’m off to the new Wine Steals in downtown San Diego next to the ball park. Wine Steals opened it’s first location in Hillcrest a few months before we opened our first location in Ocean Beach. Ken Mills, owner of Wine Steals is a very sharp guy. I first met him a few weeks before we opened Ocean Beach and I’ve been very impressed with his concept and growth ever since. Ken’s ball park location was a huge step (and a big gamble) in the growth of his company. It’s about 1pm on Saturday when I arrive at the front door of his new store. Look who’s in the front of the restaurant but Ken himself. I’m not sure I recognize him (I didn’t expect him to be there) but after a few minutes of conversation I realize it’s him. The restaurant is buzzing with business. It was almost 5 years ago when I last saw him and he has since opened three new locations. He looks like what I hope to look like in a few months, a little tired from 16 hour days but with a smile on his face that translates into “I did it and we’re going to be success”. We walk around his new restaurant while he shows me his new child. He is very proud of his new child and he has every reason to be. The restaurant is beautiful and he has done a great job of spending his money wisely. Ken’s business model both developmental and growth is a text book example of everything you should do in this business. His business has taken of like a rocket and a huge weight has been taken off his shoulders. Like I said, Ken is one very sharp guy. After an hour of talking to Ken and finding out about what has or hasn’t worked with his POS hand held’s it’s off to visit another friend who is opening a new restaurant.

Carl Schroeder, owner of Market in Del Mar is opening a second restaurant in Bankers Hill. I have a $1 bet with him regarding who will be open first. He says he will win but I’m not so sure. He originally thought he would be open in February.

Carl is arguably one of the best chefs in the country. I first met him when he worked at Arterra but it wasn’t until I visited Market that I got to know him better. After a long day of work while opening Encinitas I would visit his Del Mar Restaurant and I was always blown away by how good Carl’s food was. This guy can cook and he is serious about his food. Carl’s transition from chef to owner has been a challenge. He is a self made guy who is learning the ropes of ownership the same way I did, one expensive lesson at a time. He is determined and I admire his passion. Few chefs will achieve success as restaurant owners as the skill sets to cook are quite different than that of running the entire restaurant. Based on what I’ve seen so far, success will always be Carl’s friend. After trading construction stories and getting the 5 cent tour I say my goodbye and wish him well in his opening. He says he will be opened May 5. After what I saw yesterday, he may need more than passion and determination to make the May 5 date.

Tonight is date night with Mrs. Moore. When I drove into town Friday night, Marla was in San Francisco with my son visiting colleges. By the time she returned home I was already in bed and asleep. So tonight is the only night we will spend together catching up on old news as well as planning out the next few weeks. My youngest son is graduating from high school this June and I need to make sure I have all my bases covered so that I can return home for the ceremonies. The opening of the restaurant will be delayed until after graduation.

We spend a very enjoyable evening together. It seems like we pack a few weeks into a few hours.

Sunday

Sunday morning is my last chance to visit at home. I’m up at 4:30 in the morning, and I can’t get back to sleep. My mind has already kicked into gear and that’s the end of sleep. Funny, in a few weeks I will be going to bed at 4:30 am instead of getting up at that hour. After an hour on my lap top I read the local newspaper to catch up on the local news. The Padres are in first place? Who would have thought? By 8am, I decide to head down to the OB 3^rd Corner and spend a few hours doing odds and ends. Marla meets me there for brunch at 11am. After brunch I load up my car with wine and supplies for the new restaurant and start my drive back to the desert. I could leave on Monday morning but I need to be at the restaurant by 7am for the start of another construction day and that would mean leaving home at 4:30am. It’s bad enough to get up at that hour voluntarily but to set the alarm for that time is crazy. Besides, on Sunday afternoon there is virtually no traffic heading to the desert. All of the traffic is heading back home.

Monday morning and its back to work…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 1:51 pm.
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