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!