Repentant and exhausted but still babbling

Did you ever lose contact with an old friend. You were supposed to call them back and then you forgot and then it became really uncomfortable and still you didn't respond and the longer you take the more difficult it becomes to make a simple phone call? That defines me and this blog. I dropped it when I finally became overwhelmed in the final stages of construction. Keeping a blog seemed like such a fun and easy idea at the time but its amazing how lack of sleep and extreme stress subtley redefines your priorities.
Anyway - we opened our humble little restaurant thanks to months of hard work by Chrissy and me, but just as much credit goes to the EXCELLENCE of our entire staff and the stunning loyalty of the RigaTony's faithful, and in the end the opening was an enormous success. I can't overstate how big the opening was. I don't normally talk about numbers because it feels like I'm devaluing the what we're really all about - serving great food. My philosophy has always been to serve great quality at a great value and the numbers will take care of themselves. But lets break that rule and talk numbers for just this once! Before we opened Chrissy and I did a business plan and endlessly debated what our sales numbers would be. My position was that we would lose about 25% of our business by moving from the Chandler location. Some people might feel it was too far away, others may not discover our move etc… I hoped at the same time that we would make new friends in our new neighborhood that would make up for most of that loss so that in the end I felt we would be doing 90% of our old business. Over the course of a year I felt we could make up the 10% difference and even build on that eventually. Chrissy, my lovely and always optimistic wife thought we would be busy from the get-go and forecast an immediate 10 to 20 % increase over last year's numbers….. The envelope please…….. The actual opening numbers are; Week One- 50% increase from 2009, Week Two - 60% increase, Week three - 70% increase. (I'm not kidding!) After week three we leveled off and now continue to hold at around 60-70% more sales than last year. I have always found that the busier we are, the better job we do. Everyone is energized and focused and after nine weeks of business we are doing an outstanding job - if I do say so myself. I love to brag on my crew because I think they are truly remarkable.

The first two or three weeks of our opening were nerve wracking because the waiting line was so long and it is painful to tell good friends they have to wait for an hour or more for dinner. Since then we've made adjustments, added seats with the opening of the garden terrace, purchased a paging system, increased the kitchen capacity, and in general have become more efficient. As a result our waiting list is rarely more than 30 minutes now.

Ok - enough numbers. I think what I want to do now is to finally finish this blog, or more accurately bring it up to date. During the opening at different times I lost both my camera and my cell phone so I don’t' have all the images I was hoping to post here. (are you beginning to feel how out of control I was?) But I did save some images and some funny moments which I will add to this blog. In the meantime I apologize to those of you who kept checking back for updates on the restaurant just to see this site frozen in time, but most importantly to those of you who helped make our opening the most exciting experience of Chrissy's and my professional carriers. We are now settled into the wonderful and comparatively relaxed routine of serving lunch and dinner to our friends every day, but that last couple of months was an "E ticket" ride we will never forget.

Here's a link to the first part of the final tour of the finished product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRjFv4XVP3o

Mike

Construction Chaos

Here is a brief look at what is going on in your new restaurant. Things are moving very quickly and its fun to watch it evolve before your eyes.

sad goodbye

All of our little problems, our worries, our work and our everyday lives came into much sharper focus Sunday. Our entire crew learned with unspeakable sadness that we lost one of our own. Edgardo Ramirez, a two year Rigatony's staff member died of a heart attack on Saturday night. If you had walked through our kitchen you would have recognized him by seeing one of the hardest working people in the building with the biggest smile. His defining characteristic was that he was a joyful man, always happy, always laughing and a pleasure for everyone to work with. He was only thirty and he leaves behind a seven year old son Jair, a six year old son Jeremy, a two year old daughter Angelie and his wife Areli who is expecting their fourth child. No other words are needed beyond that and indeed none can express the shock and sadness for our crew and certainly for his family.

We are starting a collection for his family and if you wish to contribute we are accepting contributions in his name at the front desk at RigaTony's or by mail at;

First Press Ventures,
PO Box 1701
Gilbert, Arizona 85299

I'm back!

I'm obviously far behind in my posts but I am going to commit to at least posting a simple picture every day. Overall things are going well. We are really excited about how its coming together. I really think the finished building will exceed our lofty expectations. Even with the pressure of a big construction project we're still having fun with the design. Between Chrissy and me, I am the more conservative - matching the EXACT shade of stain for the wainscott, and making sure everything is symmetrical and lined up. Chrissy by contrast loves chaos and surprises and talked me into a red bar. So between the two of us I am thinking we captured the essence of RigaTonys look, but with some exciting new elements.

One of the things we've committed ourselves to during these last few months in Chandler is scheduling one of us as an extra person whose only responsibility is to meet and chat with every single customer to discuss our move. I have only had time to work a few of those shifts but its been a true pleasure to spend some quality time with all of our patrons. When Chrissy gets home after working one of those shifts she is so jazzed up that I eagerly set aside an hour to listen to the highlights of her night. (how's that for delicate phrasing)
Meanwhile this Sunday morning I am looking out of my window at another half an inch of rain that’s fallen during the night and thinking that might be a pretty big obsticle for planting the two 60" box trees that are supposed to be craned into our new patio tomorrow. Would have been great to have this rain come THE DAY AFTER the trees had been planted instead of before, but just another little challenge. Bye for now. Oh first here is a pic of our new 700 pound butcher block bar top being maneuvered into the building.

Color me gray... and gold and green

The painters are ahead of schedule. Hooray. They have painted the inside ceilings, exposed air ducts and now that things have dried up outside are tackling the roof and areas of the building that aren't waiting to be reconstructed. Commonweath Electric company sent a crew in today to rough out the locations of lights and switches in the new walls that we built inside. First you frame the walls, then run electric and low voltage data wiring, then get an inspection for framing and electric, then drywall, then wainscot, then paint high walls, then stain and varnish wainscot, then faux paint walls. The electrician decision was holding us up but this crew is on it and we should be ready for inspection by Thursday. We're also pouring concrete in the back of the building tomorrow morning for a utility room. Another rain delayed project to get us back on track. The pictures show one perspective of the roof being painted and my daughter Jenny helping me with a roof inspection. Extra credit if you can find and ID the hidden three people
in the first photo.

Soggy in Tempe

I haven't opened a restaurant in nine years. As you get closer to the opening it gets unbelievably hectic and tense. Problem after problem crops up that you never anticipated or budgeted for. Contractors don’t show up, or they do the wrong thing. The dozen or so permits and licenses become more and more difficult to come by, and you encounter more red tape in a month than you would in a decade. You go to sleep with budget numbers floating in your head and wake up thinking about the width of an aisle or an electricians bid. Did you sleep at all? And in the end… I have to admit that I love it. I am a pressure junkie and the rush of trying to solve all the problems, keeping people together and motivated, and most importantly - and the most difficult under the circumstances - keeping your creative juices flowing to build the best facility that you possibly can. It is invigorating to me like it must be to a bungee jumper or an actor on opening night. So when it sounds like I'm whining about this problem or that - I'm not. I've found that a little whining is good therapy for me.

I will catch you up on some details this week but last week was pretty much a disaster. We've only 9 weeks or so until opening and the rain was not kind to us. It cancelled concrete pours, it caused about 10 major leaks with consequent damage in the building, and the worst storm night caused Arizona to declare a state of emergency which caused Tempe to cancel their City Council meeting which had my pending liquor license listed as item #3 on the agenda. Nice. My architect still has not secured a permit to begin construction on the outside of the building (therefore the leaks) and my electrical bid came in almost exactly twice what we budgeted.

There were good things though. I got to focus on the interior. Chrissy and I made a swing through some antique stores and bought about a dozen vintage light fixtures. My sister sent me some wooden pews from the drugstore soda fountain in Syracuse that we used to go to as kids (perfect for the lobby waiting area!) We finished deciding on and ordering the remaining pieces of kitchen equipment. We passed inspection on the kitchen plumbing and filled in the trench. I awarded bids to a paint company and a technical wiring company. We scored two awesome stained glass windows thanks to Chrissy's mom Barbara. Kim - our designer developed an awesome new tile design for the lobby and bar area which we've been really having trouble deciding on until now. But as far as where we are right now…. I think I'll give you another quickie video tour this week. You won't believe your eyes because it looks way worse than the one I took a few months ago, but I still believe we'll get this done by the end of March.

I am friends with Geoff Stanisic who owns the Mongolian Grill Restaurants and he dropped in the other day so I showed him around. After a ten minute tour of the carnage I told him the opening date and watched for his reaction. He nodded thoughtfully and said "No problem" and I breathed what was probably a visible sigh of relief. That bit of positive reinforcement was better than my daily whine.

Attention to Detail

When you heard that your RigaTony’s – along with your baked RigaTony – was going to move, what was your reaction? Yes, exactly and that’s why I’m here.

This is an amazing process. Not just opening a new restaurant but moving a beloved “place” full of memories, laughs, and good meals. Mike, Chrissy and their team are paying attention to an incredible number of details – it is overwhelming and exciting!

But I’m curious, from your perspective – what makes RigaTony’s – RigaTony’s? What do you want to “see” when you walk into the Warner/McClintock location? Let me know what 2 things must make the move and what 2 new things you’d like to see.

Let me hear from you at chris_stage@cox.net

Tearing it up

Huge pieces of lumber falling randomly and dangerously from the sky. Finally some fun!
Lots of activity today as we tore away the front of the building, our plumber readied our kitchen ditch for inspection, our contractor readied the framing crew for work next week, the water treatment company came in for testing, our upholstery company (Cannon's Upholstery) reviewed our entire project and hauled away about 20 booths to their shop, two exhaust hood and duct companies surveyed the job for last minute measurements for their bids, and our designer spent hours going over details with Chrissy, Chris and me to get us to where we need to be right now. As a review… because now it will get complicated, Chrissy is my wife and partner (sounds redundant but you get the idea) and Chris is Chris Stage who is a newcomer to this project.

About Chris: I met Chris doing volunteer work for a political election campaign. Since then she and her husband Roger have become friends with Chrissy and me. They are both industrious, bright, creative and have a dangerous streak of adventure to them. She has worked in radio and TV, been a government research analyst, a Peace Corps volunteer, a Rodeo Queen, a beach bum, pursued a doctorate in Communication, taught college classes, and directed a local non-profit organization.

Seems to me that would be enough for a lifetime of experiences but she and Roger have always had this irrational urge to do something creative on their own in the hospitality business. Chris came up with the idea of spending time with me on the project as a sort of "intern" and I jumped on the idea. It’s a win win fo both of us - or at least for me. I love the idea of having someone with her creative and organizational skills on the team and its always good to have someone from the "outside" to give us a fresh perspective on our efforts.

As a matter of fact, speaking of perspective, I have asked her to contribute to this blog and hopefully you will soon be hearing from Chris directly.

Darkest before the dawn

Chrissy and I couldn't get to our daily south mountain hike until evening yesterday so we strapped on our headlamps and started up the slopes in chilly darkness. While we climbed I summed up the current status of our project. We are in the middle of the plumbing project from hell, illustrated with a 30 foot trench in our kitchen, the air conditioners we contracted for are out of stock, we are furiously juggling the demands of the fire department, health department, liquor board, environmental services, and the City of Tempe, I keep changing my mind and tweaking our kitchen layout and therefore delaying our equipment orders almost to the point of impossibility, and every project - our design team and contractor are well behind schedule and frustrated. We are supposed to open in 11 weeks. We plodded silently for a few moments in our tunnels of light when Chrissy asked me "How does anyone open a restaurant anymore?" I knew what she meant. I have been associated with about 20 openings in my career, four of them my own. With my experience this should be smooth sailing but it was anything but. The good news is that we FINALLY got a permit today. The interior permit at least, so we can proceed to actually build something. Hopefully we'll get the exterior permit next week so we can start work on the new look of the building and the patio. Today we also had a marketing meeting with our management staff, Ruthan our graphic artist and Chris Stage. We are still making the assumption that we are still opening in mid-late March and our big challenge is to communicate our move to thousands of customers before we leave. We put together a great campaign which kicks off this Friday. In the meantime back to the trenches.