Sour Grapes, TWEET Success

So, I was at the resto last night having a glass of Merlo and counting down the hours, (had a very long day). In walks a seasoned customer who apparently googled me: 'Sandra Smith Brooklyn'. Not too sure if I like this 'online stardom' thing. Have somewhat stayed away from Facebook some, but truly miss the people I've reconnected with after so many years. Now he wants to be a follower on Twitter. Should I, should I not? I haven't quite determined the true pr value of Twitter, apparently there is indeed value....New York Times Sunday Ideas and Trends Article "The Tweet Smell of Success" suggests such. Hmmm, maybe I wont erase my following customer after all....

Ripe and Yummy....

Remembering many years ago when I was watching a comedy, cant quite remember the name but I remember Sheryl Lee Ralph as an actress saying, If you cannot be a Doctor, marry a Doctor! Well, I actually had set my sights on being a Doctor. My best friend and I at the time had our futures planned: get the grades, go to Med School, live happily ever after. Well, me with my roving spirit somehow got sidelined and now years later here I'm with the JD and a chaotic (but at times fun) restaurant life. And no, I did not marry a Doctor!

Oh well! So now it begs the question, if I cannot be the ultimate Chef, should I marry a Chef? Perhaps not a 'marriage' of sorts, but something more like a partnership. With that in mind, for the past 2 weeks or so I've been digging into my past and present for friends or friends of friends who know, knew or could possibly know someone who would want to partner with me. Ok, partnership may be a tall order for someone in the very early stages of a restaurant so perhaps a mentor would be something more appropriate. 

I myself having mentored and knowing the value of such, thought that was the answer to the current state of my affairs. So a couple of days ago, I sat at a Bar in Crown Heights over a glass of merlot with tears in my eyes (i'm a very emotional being as you can tell :p) talking to my mentor-to-be. Two hours later, I learnt more than I have in the past year from the project I call Homage.

Don't want to laden you with sordid details but things like:

1. What I thought was important was NOT that important.

2. What was important was where I was NOW, not where I was going.

3. Time is precious, don't waste it, appreciate it.

4. There is a nine-out-of-ten failure rate of most start-up businesses (hard to accept)

5. Losers think losing is bad.

6. Thinking in terms of risk and reward and understanding that failure is essential to learning and success.

A lot of things that I've of course heard before but never quite took the time to understand. Now I want to pay Homage to NS, the owner of Ripe Restaurant in Mount Vernon. Today starts the rest of my life. 

PS... their jerk steak is really the best ever! (www.riperestaurant.com) and  bf did not marry doctor because bf became a doctor...lol

Spring time!!!!

Its 1030 am on Sunday after a very long night at Homage. Got up with a headache which was exacerbated by the fact that I HAVE TO GO SHOPPING before we open at 12 today. Ahhh. Looking forward to the days when I can call up a reliable manager to check in on, not actually be the hands on chef, cook, delivery person and bottle washer. Okay, it's not that bad....I am actually having lots of fun amidst the chaos. Well, last night was especially special. I had a blast from the past. I actually met with an old friend from High School. Thanks to Facebook!!!!! Hey DH... 

Well if today is just as busy as yesterday, this will be my best weekend yet! If not, I sit and count the days for that to happen....lol....

PS. DT just called me up to say he was coming over for brunch. Salmon Salad -baby greens, vine ripe tomatoes, red onions and just for him, avocado.... Spring and big round table in the backyard permeate my thoughts....

Boiled green bananas

I woke up this morning with a taste for something Jamaican. Roasted breadfruit with ackee and saltfish. Ha! Well, boiled green bananas with saltfish. Hmmm. Golden Krust was just not the answer for me today. Remembering those Saturday mornings when we (my sis, little brother, mommy and daddy) would all go to the market in Savanna- La-Mar and of course return with a big ole banana thingy. My Mommy was especially careful to get the 'young' ones because they were softer and more succulent when boiled. Yum! So here in New York in 28 ish degree weather I trekked over to the vegetable store to buy a hand of green bananas. No saltfish, but I had some tilapia from yesterday's left-overs......Sauteed onions with scotch bonnet peppers....Having thoughts of changing my Homage menu....

Therapy

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like giving up. The tears flowed freely because I was just so overwhelmed. I will be at the Great Jones this Monday. Rest assured.

Limited Liability Companies...

This afternoon a young man came to the restaurant asking if we needed help shoveling snow. It was approximately 20-ish degrees today, the day after the snowstorm, but our regular shovel guy had already been paid for a job well done.

While explaining this to the guy (about 14 years old) I realized that he was the one who came once a week during the summer months to clean our windows. Okay. Well, last summer I remember talking to him about the possibility of starting a window cleaning business (after all, he cleaned about 10 restaurant windows in a 7 block radius in Prospect Heights). I had even gone as far to explain to him that I would show him how to set up an LLC and teach him the little I knew about running a business. He seemed pretty distracted, may have been the summer heat, but perhaps he was thinking I was going nuts, because after all, who talks to 14 year old window cleaners about setting up LLC's.

Well, I've always wanted to be part of an organization that helped the not-so-fortunate youngsters amongst us. I will at some point, once I've stopped devouring sour grapes, start a non-profit specifically geared towards first generation children of immigrants from Jamaica (perhaps High School drop-outs or those who just have a bleak outlook and would be grateful for some kind of direction).

Nonetheless, I invited the kid into Homage and offered him a cup of tea. Kanye was blasting out of my speakers and I could tell by the bopping of his head that I had gained some cool points with him.

I thought about it but decided not to discuss Limited Liability Companies today. Maybe in the summer?

Pleased customers....

My friend D took me shopping for the restaurant today. I had a list which included baby greens, vine-ripe tomatoes, onions, and sesame seeded buns. I spent maybe 20 minutes in the Bakery Section much to D's annoyance. Of course I had to explain to him, 1) that my yelping customers had complained that some of their buns were seedless and 2) said customers even compared my burger buns to McDonalds'!!!! He shook his head in amazement and told me that there was no way I was going to be able to please all my customers. He further advised me that unless the seeds were glued to the buns and specifically packaged for Homage, then I was not going to be able to have perfectly sesame seeded buns. I was however determined to prove him wrong and asked him to bear with me for another 20 minutes....Left the bakery with 100 perfectly seeded buns and one frustrated friend...

Welcome to Homage.....

In August of 2007, the then President Bush said the economy was thriving and he was doing what he could to keep it strong. He even went as far as quoting Hank Paulson by saying,

 

'This is far and away the strongest global economy I've seen in my business lifetime.' 

That was only a month or so before I signed the lease at 636 Park Place in Brooklyn, Homage.

It is somewhat ironic that in January of 2008 with the recession looming ahead, I still decided to go ahead with my life-long dreams of opening a restaurant. I could have called it quits, returned the keys to my landlord and pocketed my meagre life savings. Funny this may sound to you, but I was sure that my fortune was hidden within the depths of some good food. I did not necessarily have any great ideas about how to make the next famous Chipotle BBQ or pesto sauce or perfect fried pumpkin. 

What I possessed however was drive, passion and a little imagination. What I didn't bargain for was how difficult it would be in my attempt to grow a business during a recession.

Difficult. A lot of work, a lot of ingenuity, a great deal of creativity and many, many sleepless nights amidst the blogging and yelping and complaining customers.

Well, at the end of my first year, which is now, I have learnt several lessons and I'm sure there are many more lessons to be learnt.

For one, I am learning how to run a tighter operation, paying more attention to not only quality but costs. Learning how to conserve product and energy and wages in order to get through the next couple of months. I've also learned that staff enthusiasm and attitudes go a long, long way. Gotta stop being shy and work on my 'Welcome to Homage' salutation.....

If this world were mine

....all my days would look like this!

Egg burgers... Brunch Anyone???

Brunch is totally a spring concept to me. My partner thinks that is a bad business ideology but I cannot seem to wrap my head around it. So now I count the days until the spring when I can reintroduce my seriously delicious egg burgers. Yum! My favourite, Turkey burger with arugula, red onions, vine ripe tomatoes, swiss cheese topped with one over-easy egg, drip drip dripping....yummy...

Jack of all trades

Lawyer by day, Restauranteur by day and night, Cook on some days, Auntie on the weekends, Daughter, Sister, Friend, Woman. I've listed the things that make me who I am these days. They say Jack of all trades, master of none. 

Well, let me say that if all I manage to master is being a daughter, sister, friend and auntie, I'll be one complete woman. 

The rest, Lawyer, Restauranteur are only means to my end.

Sour Grapes

Today my friend stopped by the shop and was thoroughly pleased with the way we arranged our cafe. She thought it was just the place to keep her in Brooklyn. Being a Brooklynite, she thought there was a need to have more places like Homage.

She thought it was part of my sweet success story. Hmmm. Of course, its great to actualize a dream I told her, but I had to tell her my most recent sour grapes story...

600 Dollars. That's what the Judge said. At a recent hearing. Apparently the thermometers I used for cooking were not up to par with what the Department of Health required. Mind you, I had 3 thermometers in my kitchen that were quite functional and that I showed to the inspector after he came to inspect our restaurant. He thought I needed a digital thermometer of some sorts and told me I would have to attend a hearing and see an Administrative Judge.

I arrived at the Department of Health at 10am, because that was the time I was given for my hearing. At 12 noon, we were told to leave the building and return in an hour because the workers were on their lunch break. Great. At around 3pm this wiry woman ushered me, a 'Homage Representative' into a small office to attend my very first Hearing. Did I mention that I was a Lawyer?

Well on that particular day I was a Restaurant Owner who the Judge (wiry woman) thought was chop liver because she did not give me a chance to explain that I in fact had 3 thermometers in my restaurant that were up to par. She proceeded to read me different lines from the 'Health Code' for about 15 minutes. 

Of course the Inspector was present and mumbled incomprehensible things to the Judge after being questioned about my thermometers. I had even brought evidence in the form of receipts to show that the 3 thermometers I possessed were bought from a reputable restaurant wholesale store and that said receipts were dated before the actual inspection.

Moot. The Judge felt it necessary to punish me and fine me in the amount of $600 for not possessing a digital thermometer. Sour grapes.

Free loaders..

Learned something today. There are some very dishonest customers out there. The ones who order, then call to say the order was messed up. Okay, being the one trying to please all my customers, I ALWAYS offer to re-do the order. For no extra charge. 

On certain occasions, like today, I get the feeling that people try to get one free meal. Today my delivery guy asked for the first 'messed' up order and customer says oh, I gave it to my neighbour.....mmmm?!?!

Homage. The Meaning

Homage.

Historically and during the feudal period, homage referred to a public avowal of allegiance by a vassal to his lord or an act done or thing to show the relationship between lord and vassal.

These days homage is used to refer to respect, honour, tribute, allegiance, things of the sort.

Folks are always questioning Homage and how and why I chose that name. Well, I could go into great details about my search for the perfect name. Heneq. Heqet. Copper. At one point I was determined to call it Foggybottom. Yep! Foggybottom. How about this? Foggybottom Cafe. Foggybottom Burgers. I ran the name by a couple of friends and I leave it up to you to imagine their comments. So okay. Then I got stuck on Chittybang. Chittybang Cafe. Chittybang burgers. I thought of a thousand things that would make that work. T-shirts that said Banging! Pretty waitresses with pony tails and t-shirts that said chittychitty bang bang! Okay....So you know what happened to those ideas....

So my designer, great artist, paint on canvas and illustrated above, was busy painting one night when I stumbled in to check on his progress. He had painted 'Black Magic' where we now have the infamous 'Homage' and I told him ahhh, not to my liking.

Came back the next day and instead of Black Magic, he had painted the word Homage. Long story shortened, my parents and family came over to see our work in progress and someone thought I had decided upon Homage. Well, the rest is history. That night, my Dad's birthday, November 27, 2007, I decided upon Homage.

Yelped!!

I have a love-hate relationship with yelp. Want to know why? Just check out www.yelp.com. Type in Homage Burgers in Brooklyn...hmmmm.

I am also a yelper but mind you, if I don't like the food I'm having, I either (1) order something else or (2) do not go back to the restaurant. Simple!

So for some reason I do not think that my customers know that I obsessively check yelp. Very much like my obsession with FB.  If I'm not face-booking, rest assured I'm yelping. And I yelp for several reasons including, to check up on my esteemed competitors, to see what people are thinking about Homage and primarily to take these constructive criticisms lightly and in turn improve upon the quality of service and the food I serve.

So forgive when I gripe about this particular customer who I well know and who knows me by my first name...(go back to the yelp page you just closed and look for the customer who says, 'one of the owners, Sandra'......)Yes, that's me! 

Well, here is my version of the story. It was a summer evening, I remember quite well because we were still trying to get our backyard to where we wanted it. I had spent most of the day painting the picnic benches into a beautiful, almost-midnight blue. By dusk, I was so tired that the only thing I had the energy to do was to sip on an ice-cold cranberry lemonade. So here I was in my dimly lit Homage backyard and in walks this older Caucasian man who decides that it was his night to talk to a very tired restauranteur. Conversation was great but by the time we were done it was almost time to close and so we took the conversation into the restaurant.

It was at this point that this very inquisitive and quite attractive female decided to peek in to find out exactly what Homage was about. She looked at our menu and was quite pleased that we had tuna burgers. Her fave, she had said that night. Mind you, I told her we were just about closed but nonetheless I would have my chef make her her 'fave burger'.

I explained to her that we typically have pesto on our tuna burgers unless our customers would have otherwise. I assure you, she said, no pesto sauce please.....No pesto sauce please....

Just for a day...

I just want to run away for a day...Off into the sunset.

Heart-strings and aprons

I woke up with breakfast in bed. Was looking forward to today and quite frankly, wouldn't have minded staying home with a classic black and white movie, take-out and a foot rub. I honestly think Valentine's Day is 'too much ado about nothing'. 

So, we basically had Homage covered for the day...All we had to do was to open up for the guys and be on our merry ways. Well 4 hours and maybe 25 burgers later the guys hadn't shown up nor called. Everyone seemed to want Homage for Valentine's brunch, and, without a chef, that simply meant Sandra had to put her heart on hold and tie her apron strings!!!

I guess we'll just have to close early today. Moral of the story? Chefs have Valentines too. They're so fired!

Mascara and High Heels

'Hello, Homage, May I take your order?' Familiar voice responds, 'Hi, its me'....At first I was like, okay???? But then I thought hey, it's not so bad, there's nothing potentially stalking about a recognizable voice that meant BEEF BURGER DELUXE, medium well, not well (okay I heard you and I know your voice, you order every day, hallo?), herb fries, extra mustard, extra mayo,...

And then tonight I got a chance to put a face to that voice. He was one of our seated customers tonight. The cutest customer, ever! With the cutest girlfriend in tow. Where was my mascara when I needed it most? I'm definitely wearing heels the next time I work at Homage!!!

Dram Shop Actions

I could not sleep that night. I was haunted by images of swaying girls, scantily clad wrapped around their dates whose fingers were wrapped around a blunt. Ahhhh, it was the first week after opening my restaurant and a friend of mine threw a party to which I was not invited! Okay.......it was a little hard to swallow but i found myself getting out of the bed at 230am that morning to do a drive-by at the place I now call Homage. 

These were the questions that haunted me:

1. What if the neighbours were annoyed by the loud music and called the cops?

2. What if the party people were smoking marijuana?....neighbours calling cops again.

3. What if they all got totally inebriated and something really bad happened?.....law school classes on Dram Shop and potential liabilities on my part.....

4. What if, what if????

So I drove by and parked up front. Everything was cool. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

PS. 

The State of New York's Dram Shop laws make it difficult for bar owners and restaurants to defend against civil actions stemming from alcohol related injuries or death. To figure out exactly when to stop serving alcohol to a patron in order to avoid civil liability or death sustained by a third party is a difficult exercise in and of itself. The standard applied by the courts as to what constitutes 'visible' intoxication is a complex, varying one. What is absolutely clear is that a detailed, immediate investigation must be conducted of all customers and employees of a restaurant/bar upon learning of an alcohol related accident.