Indianapolis, here we come

A little shout out!

Steel frame on the left is us!

Steel frame on the right- Next to the Alexander Hotel!

Right smack on the corner of Delaware & South!

a wee bit o' growth

On the restaurant front...

We are moving right along... the week(s) of confrontations & bad attitudes have finally ended & we are moving forward in this FOH development! Managers are starting to catch their stride & expectations have been set. I think we are on the up & up. Please God, let us be on the up & up. The absolute highlight & humble factor for yours truly was the result of February's financials. I have had a lot of guilt regarding having this baby & no longer being able to "pull my own weight" at the restaurant. A lot of that has stemmed from the fact that I had to move multiple people up in responsibilities to take over my work which also meant paying them all more. Of course I love that I have staff who are capable to take on those roles & I am happy to be able to pay them more... but my guilt came from the fear that I am hindering the restaurant financially or inhibiting some sort of growth. HOWEVER, for the first time in 6 years, Cerulean made money in the month of February. Wow! Ok Courtney, you can get over yourself now. What a humbling, encouraging step in the progress of this Cerulean life.
And in the meantime, the kitchen & the bar also continues to rock it out!

  

On the home front...

Holy moley we are going up fast! I can't even keep up in photos because this progression has been over the course of 3 days! The addition on the house has begun & although the power saws @ 7.00a are a bit obnoxious, it will be sooooo worth it. Sometimes I still can't believe it's happening... our little cottage house is becoming a home to grow in. 

On the bully front...

Banks has finally warmed up to the fact that Lenny will be in his life from here on out. In fact, I think he may actually be happy about it. 

And Lenny has only grown further in his love of Banks. His need for snuggles & hugs have intensified to the point where he is forcing himself upon Banks. He no longer minds. I mean, how could you not want a hug from this guy??

And on the baby front...

We are 2 weeks from due date & anxious, excited, curious, happy, overwhelmed, and mostly just.... ready. : ) The baby is growing & growing & therefore... 

...the belly is growing & growing...

...and growing.

Needless to say, this life is ever present, ever changing, ever growing, ever... real. 

(and yes, that is Lenny pinning Banks in the last picture)

It's a need a glass of wine day... alas...

There are days when life is frustrating. There are days when it feels like all I am doing is putting out fires & persuading others that a good attitude is a good idea. Ya know those days when it feels like everyone is just out to make your life more complicated than it really needs to be.... those days when it doesn't seem to matter what you do, how much you give, or how much you honestly care- people are just going to be cranky. Welcome to Monday, the 20th... I walked right into the remains of a disheveled weekend leaving repercussions that can only be described as exasperating... 

I can't complain about my life, I really can't. So the fact that today was a let down is just one hurdle in the marathon of owning a business & managing people. However, sometimes it is hard to be the "coach" all the time. Sometimes it is hard to not have someone pulling me up, helping me cope, giving me advice... It sounds so selfish to even type... but that was the kind of day I walked into... I pray for strength & I rest in the promise that God will never give me more than I can handle. I am glad that my hope is somewhere beyond here! 

Then, I get one small email... amidst the cynicism & the negativity & whatever else is going on in the water at this restaurant... and it gives me hope... and reminds me that there are always going to be bad days, weeks, months, seasons even... but there is never a reason to get bogged down & there is certainly never a reason to give up!

"The more I experience different cities the more I realize just how special and great the restaurant truly is.  From the food to the staff to the beverages.  

I went to a lot of different restaurants and cocktails lounges this weekend.  I truly believe our cocktails are hands down better and was actually excited to come home and enjoy one of ours.  I just wanted to send a little thank you and a pat on the back for building an environment that patrons and staff look forward to eating, dining, and working at. Each time I leave for a couple of days and get a renewed vigor and can't wait to apply what I've been thinking about and what I learned from the places I've seen and been to. Hope you guys had a great weekend." 

Hmmm, we really are given what we need, when we need it. 

The drama will still be there tomorrow. And yes, it will need taken care of... but if we can get at least one person to believe in what we do today- I will call it a game & be back to work harder tomorrow... 

1st ever Spirits & Food Pairing!

This past month we were able to hold our first spirits dinner. Now that we are able to serve the 'neat' stuff we thought we would kick it off with a fancy, schmancy dinner that involved 5 courses of food & 17 DIFFERENT TASTINGS OF SPIRITS to pair with it! Words cannot describe the complexity of this dinner so I will just show what we did with photos.... I mean there was nitrogen involved for crying out loud! : ) 

Cheers! To an exceptionally challenging yet rewarding night at the bar!

Opposite of barn raising

This past Sunday we visited an old farm in Ohio. It was our General Manager's Grandmother-in-law's farm.  (phew) We loaded up Nick, Jess, their toddler-sized daughter, Caleb & I into an old pick up truck & headed for the Buckeye country-side! The purpose of this trip was to reclaim some wood from the multiple barns that were about fall down on this particular farm. We will then use the wood in our next restaurant: Project Indianapolis! Nothing like a great deal! We were greeted by one of the sweetest 80 year old women I've ever met! She welcomed us in with Pot Roast & homemade pie... and then they went out to work! And by they: I mean, Caleb, Nick, & sweet 80 year old Mary!

The wind & snow picked up as the day progressed but nothing would stop Mary... Not even the truck getting stuck in the snow!

She whipped out her tractor- "easy problem" she says. 

Did I mention this lady runs this farm all by herself??

And of course, she pulled us out!

After all the food, and all the work, and all the fun... we drove the truck home loaded with lumber & memories. Thank you Mary for your hospitality & the chance to make this new restaurant really special!

fishy fish

We get a lot of crazy comments, questions, complaints & suggestions within the tolerant walls of the restaurant. For example, "this ice water is too cold," or "this hot tea is too hot," or "this Diet Coke doesn't taste like Diet Coke." One of my personal favorites is the argument over what the customers SWEARS we had on our menu last month. Even when a knowing manager kindly tries to explain (after being called to the table) that we have never had key lime pie or chocolate molten lava cake on our menu. Now we do love our customers but it's hard to understand why they would think we are out to intentionally sabotage them by serving freeeeeezzzzzing cold ice water. I apologize, but that is not our intention.

This past week has presented another common complaint but it's repetition during this particular week was fairly noteworthy. Here it is....dun, dun, dun.... "this fish is too fishy." 

Ok, fine, I will give a little credit to the varying levels of "fishiness" involved when ordering seafood. I get that. However, when you order fish, I think it is fairly safe to say that a dominant flavor characteristic is probably gonna be.... yep, you guessed it... the fact that it tastes like fish. Even better are the "fishy" complaints that come from those ordering sushi. Now I know that I am getting quite sarcastic here but sushi, by definition, is a style of food preparation that generally involves fish, and many times, raw fish. If a customer makes the decision to order raw fish, the likelihood of it tasting fishy is pretty high. I'm not sure what we're supposed to do about it once that decision has been made?? 

The climax of the week occurred when we got the complaint that the sushi was not only too fishy but it was rolled too perfectly. Yes, too perfectly. The explanation of the complaint went something like this... since the fish tasted fishy & the roll was rolled so tightly & precise, there was no way that we rolled it. A machine had to have rolled it because a human couldn't get it that perfect. Yes, this was a complaint.

I don't know how to respond to that. 

Journaling

Lately (as in the last 6 years) I have concluded that journaling is an art form. I used to journal a lot & found a lot of satisfaction that came as a result. However, after getting married, opening a restaurant, moving from one construction project to the other, & raising 2 stubborn bullies... it is definitely a lost art form. Who really has time to sit down & reflect all of their thoughts onto "paper"? Or whatever their medium may be? I do wish I was that person. So this week, I wanted to journal. I don't have any exciting photos to post & the fact that I can barely walk up the stairs at work now w/o needing a break are less than noteworthy. However, there were still significant strides this week that I feel need remembered.... even if it is just in "words."

On a professional note: we are moving forward leaps & bounds in implementing new structure, management & delegation. With baby boy on the near horizon & Indianapolis in the distance, it needed to be done. Many lessons are being learned. For one, someone can only learn what you teach them.... duh, right? It is harder than it sounds. I am finding that to be a good manager or leader, one must teach. One must show. One must be patient & willing to answer any question that comes their way with detail & enthusiasm. How can someone do what you expect them to do unless you teach them? It sounds simple. It sounds like an easy plan to implement. It is not. I have found that even the most "saint-like" of creatures do not like to give away all their secrets. It is not easy to swallow your pride & allow someone to not only learn your job, but potentially do it better. It is not easy to delegate. It is easier to do it yourself & get the credit. We are working on this in the restaurant. Many of us (including, eh-hem, me) are learning the lesson that in order to be a successful leader, one must let go. And although it may be a tough road to get there, the end result is competent, successful managers who accomplish what you did... and yes, maybe better. So on my way to the "no one needs me" office I will find solace & a grateful heart that we do have staff who are competent. We have staff that are eager & willing. We have staff that are trustworthy. And yes, we have staff that.maybe.quite possibly.on a good day.do it as well, if not better, than we did.

We are planning our structure for Indianapolis. We are talking flow charts & management structures & job responsibilities. We are talking about who is going to be where & when... 2 days a week, 3 days a week, full time? Caleb had an 8 hour meeting with our architect one day to start finalizing interior decisions & fixtures. We have to start choosing materials & furniture & placing orders within the NEXT MONTH! The allure of this new restaurant off in the distance is becoming a full speed cyclone blazing into our current anatomy. We had a feeling once the new year hit, it would come fast.... we are prepared to buckle up!

On a personal note: we are learning to be more responsible. Yes, I said it. We are "growing up" & taking more responsibility with the decisions that we've made. We are finishing a lot of the undone projects around the house. We are walking our dogs twice (twice!) a day. We are committed to creating a stress-free environment in our home that excites us each time we walk in the door... We are replacing unnecessary anxiety with responsible actions that are intentional & thought out. Instead of just getting frustrated, we choose to fix whatever is frustrating us. Now I am sure this sounds like common sense to many people... but in a world where work & home & friends & pets & rest have a very blurred set of boundaries, it is often hard to find the balance. It is hard to find peace. Because of those decisions, & despite the extra effort to accomplish those things, this has been a much more peaceful week.

So the picture of the post could be of a very pregnant lady trying to run around a restaurant & show her managers what exactly it is she does on a day to day basis. Or the picture could be of a man who is practically laying on the bar after 8 hours of going over blueprint after blueprint after blueprint. (If they were actually blue, that would make it a bit more exciting) Or it could be of a happy puppy who has discovered that his owners do love him enough to take him on walks & give him peanut butter bones. Or better yet, it could be of a laundry room that has been finished after discussing it for nearly 18 months! But the picture that I want to paint in my memory is not visual. It is the feeling of joy that comes when you see a "student" experience success. It is the thrill that comes when you greet the unknown with arms wiiiiide open. It is the love that you feel when all that little puppy wants to do is cuddle up & fall asleep with his head on your leg... or stomach... or chest. : ) It is the feeling of peace that transcends all understanding & the grace that allows you to finish a week... and then start a new one with renewed motivation.