I picked the right spring to open a restaurant in Palm Desert. The weather has been incredible. Temperatures are ranging from the mid 80′s to the mid 90′s. I feel like I’m being cheated because so far I’ve only seen 100 degrees once. I bet I won’t be cheated much longer.

So far so good. I’ve only had to fight one major battle, I’m 0-1. The wastewater people (CVWD Coachella Valley Water District) are living in Dick Van Dyke time (no translation). My attempts to enlarge my patio have resulted in the wastewater people demanding that I enlarge my interceptor from 4500 gallons to 6000 gallons. For those of you who don’t know anything about grease traps and interceptors, consider yourself lucky. Without going into boring details, let’s just say that 6000 gallons is the size interceptor used by Disneyland and the like. Lets also say the folks at the CVWD live in their own little castle on top of a hill and seem to have absolute power over the valley below. They use 20 year old formulas to calculate things, read little of the science in their field and are not fond of people from San Diego telling them how to do their jobs. Go figure! And here is the kicker. If you don’t do what they say, they will shut off your water. Try and run a restaurant without water… good luck!

Other than CVWD, everything else has been going quite well. I seem to be on time and I think I’m on budget. In other words this is going way to easy. As long as I stay ahead of my time lines I should be OK.

Ahead of me is the finish work. The restaurant will be ready sometime around June 4-6. This means I will have a fully functional restaurant by that date. All of the paint, carpet, lighting, tile, booths, bar, dining room and kitchen work will be done. At that point it will be time to hire and train the staff, make sure I have enough silverware, plates and sweet & sour mix and tell the world I’m open. Easy……..This is where the nerves start kicking into overdrive. Remember I’m the guy who forgot to order and prep vegetables on opening night a few years back. My “to-do” list is about to have babies. I’m currently working 8-9 hour days and will soon be looking at 16 hour days. Believe it or not, I actually look forward to the 16 hour days. It’s the excitement of the stretch run, the sprint to the finish line. And in this instance, seeing just how much business will come through the front door when it’s 115 degrees outside. It could be a lonely summer.

Opening day is set for June 25. Mark your calendars. I hear the desert is …..hot in June??? Opening in the summer in the desert is not considered the smartest move by the experts as well as the novice or anyone else that has an opinion. Everyone looks at me like my brain has been sitting in the sun a little too long for choosing this date. The date chose me. And anyway, this will work to my advantage for several reasons. First there is an abundance of labor to choose from by this date. A lot of restaurants pare back their labor force for the summer which allows a larger pool to choose from. Second, it’s the slow time of the year. We can afford a few mistakes before it gets crazy in the fall and winter. It seems no matter what you do it takes about 3 months to fully train a front of the house staff so this should give us just enough time before all hell is supposed to break loose. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I’ve included a few photos of the before and soon to be after to offer proof that my days are not spent on the golf course. I am a working contractor and I sometime surprise sales people with my wardrobe. I have four pairs of jeans for construction along with a half dozen t-shirts that have seen at least 4 restaurants built. The accumulation of paint, caulk, glue and general construction stains makes me look more like a tramp more than an owner. This sometimes works to my favor as I can blend in with the plumbers when I don’t want to talk to the guy who is selling yellow page ads. I’m fond of this wardrobe and it suits my current needs. Any attempt to dress up during the pre opening phase of construction has always been fatal to better attire. I always seem to crawl under something, forgetting that my shirt is new and unblemished.

That’s about all to report at this time. I will try to do a better job of keeping up with blogging affairs as the opening draws close.

Ed

Tags: T Minus 30

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 2:01 pm.
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