What I've seen thus far?

So hello everyone now I know my last blog was about the layout and I had promised to continue   more about the layout plans but after a recent job change I have decided to switch gears a little and devote this blog to giving some more insight on what I have seen since working at my new restaurant place. So most of my blogs thus far have talked about concept, staffing, inspiration and the start of the process all of this is I  have gotten to experience first hand at my new place of work.

Since starting my new job at the beginning of January and now it being in the middle May you could say that I am  starting to establish myself and am trying to prove that I deserve to be in the position that am. The company I work for we are working managers which I think is a great skill for any person to inquiry that wants to start their own business or in my case their own restaurant. This is important for many reasons because in order to be an owner or in my case a manager if you don't know how to do something how is anyone going to have any respect for you. So when I was hired for this position I didn't really have any management experience I did some manager duties but that was about it. So when I started this job I was a bit nervous and afraid will I have to be cooking and grilling and making the food and such then I got told they wanted me to be in the front so I felt a little better and felt that if I knew the basics of the line I would be okay. Well things have changed recently and I've been on the line alot more which I'm not complaining because I'm learning and I still love ever minute of it even the times when I don't. Trust me I'm far from perfect at my job or even in life and each day I learn something new or a different way of handling something and I make a note. I don't ever pretend to know how do something if I don't I will be the first to admit when I don't know how to and will not be afraid to ask someone that knows how to do it to  show me.  Some may see that as a sign of weakness or wonder why I'm a manager and think she already know why is she asking me.

There are so many people in the world that feel they can do your job better or feel that you don't belong in the job that you are in but I believe that nobody truly understands what it takes until they actually do it themselves. To those people I just smile and continue to do the best I can do and learn from the mistakes I make and ask when I just simple don't know.


I hope you all enjoy this blog as I shared some personal things in there as well. Until next time I'd give you a little taster of what the next blog will be about I haven't figured it out yet.

The FIVE Pub Layout

Hello everyone it's been a while but what better way to start off the New Year then writing a new blog and getting to the fun details that everyone is probably excited to hear about. The layout of the restaurant is just as important as the location, staff, and the concept.

Let's dive in shall we. First once the location and the building has been selected then one must decide how many seats they want to have for me I'm thinking between 50-70 including a patio this is subject to change but I selected this range because I don't want to be a fairly large place I want to keep it more intimate and family friendly. Next as it relates to space is allowing space for all the essentials such as a managers office, dining area, entrance, hostess stand, server area, etc. These spaces are crucial in making the restaurant successful but they don't have to be costly or cause to much headache. The way I want my layout to be is obviously when the customers first walk in the first thing they see is the horseshoe bar and the wooden hostess stand this is the most important thing to me is the first interaction. Throughout the restaurant will be Italian sayings and generally sayings as  such as Bon Appetite and Welcome to the Family, When your here your part of the Five Family, and Jesus Pete now most of these sayings don't need an explanation but Jesus Pete does like I said family is a big part of my life and I want everyone that comes into my restaurant to feel like they matter. My grandpa is a funny man without even trying so when he doesn't know what to say he often just walks out of the room saying "Jesus Pete" this is something that has created a lot of laughs for us grand kids and it only seems fitting to have a sign saying Jesus Pete on the wall of my restaurant.

Next more about the decor of the restaurant I want to create a place that is happy and bright therefore the walls are going to be an orange yellow showing a family oriented place and then have the sayings on rustic boards that make them stand out.

The flooring of the restaurant is also very important whether its the main area of the of the restaurant or the kitchen part both are important. For the kitchen it's important to have slip resistant flooring for the staff which is why I would use ceramic tile because it's good for the staff and it looks nice and for the walls just a simple basic tile to make it look professional and elegant. Now for the flooring of the dining area I want to do wood floors to make the customer feel welcome so I will be using a medium colored wood. For the tables I will be having rustic wood tables and wooden chairs with cushions to make the customers comfortable. All of this is important and the lighting is just as important to go with the color scheme I would be using pendant lights above each table that are yellowish orange and then will be putting three chandeliers above the ceiling of the restaurant.

Lastly the bar layout as I briefly mentioned I would like the bar to be a horseshoe and will have  granite counter top and will have 12 bar stools and a brass rail for footing. The reasoning behind the horseshoe bar is that it will be layout so the last bar stool will be able to lead the customer to a door out to the patio and a chance to enjoy the nice weather.

Now as you can see their is a lot that goes into the layout of a restaurant and there's not enough space to put it all into one blog so therefore this is the end of this blog and I hope you have enjoyed reading up to this point and read the next one to hear the rest of the layout plans.


Cheers!

What's a business without a great staff?

Being in the restaurant industry for almost four years has allowed me to work with a lot of different people. One of things that is important is finding a staff  that you can trust and believes in the same values that you do.  It is important to find a staff that is hard working and willing to do the work that is required of them.

Part of finding the right staff is knowing what kind of staff you actually want. For me I haven't really thought about the kind of people I would want to hire for my business except for the fact that I want my staff to love coming to work for me and be proud to say that they are working for my business. 

My business is going to be a place where people can come and feel like there walking into there own home and feel like family and that is how I want my staff to feel too. But on important note I want my staff to be willing to work without  complaint, being on time and putting forth the effort.  Now I will say that some of the people I have worked with have said that I'm a bit bossy and while that may be true working for me I will not be demanding or dictating my employees I will work with them and show them and teach them anything they want to know or learn. 

Now all this is important but the staff I would want is a right hand person also known as a General Manager  that will be me when I'm not there, I'm also looking for a experienced chef that will be responsible for making the dishes on my menu as if my grandma or I were making them. Next will be servers and bartenders and a Assistant/ dining room manager. I want my staff to be able to run and understand their responsibilities when I'm not there and honor the business as if it were there own.


I want to help my employees grow and be passionate about the work that they doing and I think that is something that is important because I'm very passionate about  establishing this business and I want to be able to pass that on to my staff. In an article by Jessica Thiefels states"Provide your team with professional development opportunities and flexible working schedules, and acknowledge and take advantage of the things they’re best at. This allows them to provide the most value to your company, which makes them happy and the company successful" (The Importance of Hiring a Passionate Tribe for Your Start up). This is what I want my focus to be for my company and for my staff.

I know my readers may be a bit confused on this blog because I was a bit all over the place with this one but that's because  I know what I want in my future but a bit on sure about my future staff at this time but since it's a little bit far off I can't write much about the staff until the process actually happens. So if anyone can shed any light on the process of starting out with looking for the right staff I would appreciate the advice. 

Thanks!

Off to the Concept

Hello my fellow readers (which who knows how many that is) anyway that's not the point the point is to share my journey of opening my own restaurant. So the last time I blogged I was talking about the location and why it's very important to make sure when deciding a location that ever factor is considered when making that decision. So enough about the location for now let's dive into the fun part which is the concept and the theme for the restaurant.

Now Italian is by far my favorite cuisine of food and that has always been the dream to one day open my own Italian restaurant and to show my grandma's recipes and let the world enjoy them as much as my cousins and I do. That is still something that I want to do because her dishes are that good that they should be out there for all to enjoy but in order for the restaurant to be  completely successful I have to make a some changes to the concept which is turning into an all around restaurant instead of just focusing it on one cuisine. One way of showing everyone the concept I'm going to is to dive into some of the menu items I will be having. Let's start with the appetizers  one of the most common items is Bruschetta and Calamari which as most of you know is classic Italian items but some other items that are going to be added under appetizers is buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks these items are more typical for a pub like restaurant which is where I'm heading more in the concept that way I'm reaching all parts of my demographics. Next were going to skip the salads because those are pretty straight forward for the most part. The best items are the entrees so the first one which is one of my grandma's famous entrees is spaghetti this is a homemade sauce recipe with the option of either having just straight marina or adding meat sauce and an extra kicker of adding two ground beef meatballs to the dish, also with each entree the customer will be given either a house salad or a Caesar salad and garlic bread. All entrees whether they are a pasta dish or not will be receiving the salad and garlic bread option because this is something that is important for me and it may sound weird because its just a salad and garlic bread but just because this isn't a  solely Italian focused restaurant I still want to keep those Italian restaurant traditions within my restaurant. Other entrees that will be added will be  three different steak options a Filet Mignon, Ribeye, and  New York Strip each steak is served with a choice of two sides which are vegetables, mashed or baked potato and penne pasta with vodka sauce or marina sauce. One last entree cause I don't want to give to much of the menu away is going to be a classic ground beef burger with a choice of side french fries, baked or mashed potatoes or a vegetable.

Now like I said this is going to be more than just an Italian restaurant but l I want what I feel are still those Italian traditions so when the hostess seats each customer they will give the customer an option of bring them a bread basket or complimentary bruschetta samples this is very important to create that customer relationship and to give them a great dining experience. This also seems like the great time to talk about the name for my restaurant and explain the story behind the name. While the name was originally going to be Le Cinque which translated to The 5 it just doesn't seem fitting since it's not just Italian  so the new name is The Five Pub which represents my favorite number being five and representing the person that inspired me to do this coming from a family of five and also myself being part of a family of five it seems almost perfect because that is my main demographic is families and those that love to celebrate and be with family and are loud with laughter and jokes and family stories.

I hope that you have all enjoyed this blog because this is the most detailed I have gotten in my blogs thus far and this is the blog I was most excited about writing and sharing with you all. While it may not seem like I don't have much more to blog about this is just the beginning of my journey and I have appreciated those that I have continued to support me through this process whether it was at the beginning or are just joining on the support train now either way it's all appreciated. So therefore there will be no hints this time on what the next blog will be about  so you will have to just read this one and read the next one too in order to find out.

addio per ora( goodbye for now)

The Five Pub 

Start of the Restaurant Process

Hello everyone I know I promised to give you all weekly blog posts about my journey to starting my own business but life got in the way a little but now I'm back. Last time I was talking about the inspiration behind my business now I'm going to dive into the details about the business.

Opening a restaurant requires a lot of thought and a lot of decisions that need to be made. The way I started  approaching everything  for my  restaurant is by creating a gantt chart which was something that I learned in my project management class. A gantt allows you to list out each task that needs to be completed. My gantt chart consists of 14 tasks each task you put a start date and how many days you estimate the task to be complete. The most important part of  the gantt chart is it allows you to see what tasks you can start at the same time even though the tasks may be completed at different times. An example is the task assemble a team and hire an architect/ contractor can start at the same time even though one may take longer to finish than the other.It's good to be able to see what tasks can be done at the same time because it makes things go more smoothly and makes the grand opening stay on track.

While I don't want to bore you  with listing all the tasks that are needed to get me to that grand opening day. There are so many other things that have to come first before even getting all the tasks together and that's location and concept  that is going to be reached to make this dream of mine successful.

For me Florida has always been my dream place to open my restaurant but the more research and thought I have realized that is still possible but may not be ideal. Location is one of the main reason's for why restaurant's fail because of the traffic flow, the rent and many other factors.  Florida is a great place and the living situation is great but it's not ideal to live and work in the same area or town. Therefore Florida is still a location that I strongly believe in and want to have my restaurant in but it may not be ideal for the first location. Yes, I said first location I believe that there could potential be multiple locations and that Florida would be a perfect second location but again I'm getting ahead of myself.

Italian is in my blood and when I first decided I wanted to  open my own restaurant it just made sense to do Italian and use my grandma's recipes and make what I wanted which is a family restaurant and place for people to come on date night, family dinners, special occasions whatever the reason may be. Now I still want to create this place for families, date nighters, and special occasion events. The concept selection is just as important as the location selection. Stay tune for the next blog to learn more about my concept selection.

My Inspiration

Hello everyone it's been a while since I have  blogged but now being a graduate of Benedictine and having more free time than I know what to do with I figured this was a great time to get back into blogging and share with everyone where my inspiration comes from what I want to do with my life. Now for those that don't know I have always wanted to be in the food industry some way some how but since getting my degree in restaurant management my focus as been on the restaurant industry itself.  Then getting my degree in business entrepreneurship it couldn't be a better combination to start my own but wait I'm getting ahead of myself.

Now my parents have always supported my dreams and my goals which is something that is very important to me. But the true person behind my inspiration for doing what I have always wanted to do is my father this man lays it all out for me and gives me the good and the bad of every situation. Being a business man himself I know that what he is saying he is speaking from experience. Back when I decided that I wanted to open my own restaurant the first thing my dad said to me was it's going to be hard but you can do it if that's what you really want. Then as time went on I started finishing school doing more research and we would continue to  have conversations here and there about where, what kind of food, etc. Then about 3 months ago my dad comes up to me and said he wanted to be a partner with me for my restaurant.  I would be lucky enough to have my dad as an investor in my restaurant but I  would be honored and lucky to have him as a partner. He is the main reason for my inspiration of wanting to do this and make my dream a reality. Stay Tune for my next blog where I dive into the juicy part of what I have planned for my restaurant.