Part Deux

Yesterday I broke the news and today I am going to fill you in on the process thus far.

First we found a location.  We have a lot of fun concepts for the Valley but location dictates the concept.  Certain concepts would only do well in very specific locations, at least that's how we feel.  So once we found a location that was appropriate for one of our ideas we were able to move to the next step.

Next was finding out if the space was actually available (it was), making sure the owner would allow a restaurant (they would),  and making sure the inside space would accommodate our needs (it did).

Then we had to do a little homework and find out permit wise what it would take to turn the space into a restaurant.  This was (is) very important.  We went down to the building department and spoke the commissioner about issues such as zoning, handicap accessibility and ventilation.  The zoning was not an issue.  We were told we would not need to convert the bathroom into a handicap accessible bathroom, but we have been down this road before.  When opening BLG, we went through the same process and were told that we did not have to update the bathroom.  A month or so before we were set to open, the commissioner (different than the current one) came in and told us we would have to bring the lavatory up to code.  We had already budgeted not to do so, so this was a big deal.  A $15,000 big deal to be exact.  Good thing we had a contingency fund.  This time we are forecasting the same circumstance and budgeting for it just in case.  Ventilation was something we didn't have to worry about when building out BLG because the space had a working hood and fire suppression system.  The new space does not.  What we have planned would not need a full grease hood and fire suppression system (type I), but new code states that we have to put in some sort of ventilation. Our concept would require at least a steam and condensation hood (type II).   There is a big price difference in price so we adapted the concept to fit a type II requirement.

After speaking with the building inspector, we needed to work out a business plan and be sure we could get together the appropriate funding.  The plan itself is a lot of paperwork, paperwork is something a chef doesn't appreciate.  I actually like certain parts of a writing a plan, conceptualizing a new restaurant is a lot of fun. It's the financials that I am not so fond of (except the equipment list, sending a chef to a restaurant supply store is like sending a child to a toy store).  We put together a solid plan and headed off to the bank.

Murphy's Law tried to rear it's ugly head early, the landlords talked things over with their property management group and decided they wanted a type I hood with suppression.  We had already set a budget and the bank was already in the process of granting a loan so this new development was, to say the least, unsatisfactory.  We weren't comfortable with going forward under this new condition without knowing exactly what it would cost.  We put a hold on the bank's progress and set out to get estimates.  For our space, a type I hood would cost about $28,000 (actually on the cheap side for something like this, hoods can easily end up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars).  A type II would cost about $8,000.  We were not prepared to up our investment $20,000 on top of the possibility of a handicap bathroom, so we had a meeting with the landlord to discuss the specifics of the menu and concept and why a type I hood would be unnecessary.   The buildings owners changed their mind and we are now in the process of negotiating a lease.


All of this occurred in a mere couple of weeks, all while we were busy with BLG.  This is why we felt the need to head down to NYC a few times.  Good food, fun nights and a clear mind are necessary before jumping off the "part deux" cliff...