Contractors and Concrete

Hullo again, loyal readers!

I'm glad to report that we've moved from the waiting phase into the doing phase.

The primary hurdles were choosing contractors (GC and mechanical), getting the construction permitted, and getting approval from the health department for the site plan.   The first two were relatively easy.  The health department was more difficult.

The person reviewing my plan had concerns about the refrigerator capacity for rapid cooling of hot foods given my menu.  My solution is to replace the under-counter sized freezer with a "Dual-temp" refrigerator, which adds another 9 cubic feet of refrigeration (and about $1K).   I can also purchase "cooling paddles" which are filled with ice and submerged into the cooling food.  They're designed to have a lot of surface area.   The plan reviewer was still concerned but in the end, signed off.

Couple of unexpected "surprises" regarding the build-out:

One of the mechanical contractors who was bidding (and who I ultimately chose) pointed out that the size of the gas pipe coming into the space is too small to provide an adequate supply for my equipment.  Apparently the sub responsible didn't follow the specs.  The landlord is trying to address the issue without tearing everything out, so has proposed moving a line from another tenant space that won't be using it to mine.  So that means two 1/2" lines.  Haven't yet gotten the opinion of my contractor on whether that is a satisfactory solution.

This week's discovery came when the plumber came to do rough in.  There is a section of the floor that was left open (not filled with concrete) that was supposed to provide access for connections.  Except it didn't.  So, extensive concrete cutting was required, and which led to the discovery that the section they were going through wasn't evenly thick (at ~5-6").    The area they are going through has between 1-2 FEET of concrete.  It's like the contractor who poured it backfilled that area with concrete rather than soil.   Required a jackhammer.  None of this was anticipated in the bid, and I don't yet know what the change order will cost.   I will be taking this up with the landlord because I don't think I should have to eat this cost.   At our last tenant's meeting they were saying they're out of money, I'm willing to have the cost offset against rent.

I'm sure these are not the last unpleasant discoveries to come...

In other news:

• Ordered the hood late last week, should be in within another couple of weeks.  Ordered all of the energy saving options so I should get a rebate that more than offsets the initial costs.  
• Bought tables and chairs at Ikea.  Great price and they have the vibe of NOLA garden furniture.  And deemed comfortable by the family.
• Started rehabbing some base cabinets to use as service table.  Experimenting with chalk paint, looking into using tongue and groove flooring as the table top.
• The tenants are going to form an LLC which will allow us to have a single OLCC permit for the entire facility.  The bar tenants will have primary responsibility for policing the common area.  It's new territory for OLCC, and they're being very cooperative.
• Liability and property insurance in place, and for less than expected.
• Pickled pork experiment was extremely successful--served to three families and they all loved the flavor.  
• Found a commercial kitchen with great rates on 82nd Ave ($13/hour) that I will use for some testing of recipes using commercial equipment.

Wish there was more I could be doing right now!  I'm sure I won't be saying that for long.

Pickled Pork and Progress

Whew!  Full speed ahead!

So good to get past the first gate--signing the lease!

So many things that need to be done that were contingent on that:  Health department plan review! Contractor bids!  Insurance quotes! Equipment quotes!  Getting drawings and other documentation for construction permitting!  Setting up a web presence!

From an equipment perspective, the biggest sticker shock by was the quote for the hood and exhaust system.   Wowser.  To be fair, it includes lots of components:  Hood, stainless steel backer of range and hood, fire suppression system, exhaust ductwork, exhaust fan, make-up air vent, the list goes on.   Turns out to cost (just equipment mind you) about $1500 per foot.  I need an 8 foot vent.  You do the math.

I'm waiting on a quote for the hood installation.  Lynn's ballpark was <gulp!> $10K.  I'm going to negotiate on behalf of all of the tenants who need hoods hoping that we'll all get a break.

Even though I had a pretty good idea of what it was going to cost to get this off the ground and we're still within the anticipated range, it is still daunting as the four figure charges pile up.  Example:  "System Development" charges, which are calculated on the number and size of sinks, drains, etc that will draw on and drain to the local water system.   $5,500.  I anticipate the total cost of permitting (construction, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, health department, OLCC) to be in the range of $6-8,000.

Before you start fretting on my behalf (as, no doubt, you are, or should be), my confidence in this business is not only undaunted but continues to grow.

On the food front, starting to talk to suppliers, arranging for rental of a commercial kitchen to practice my recipes on commercial equipment; I made a big batch of seafood gumbo for our friends' Super Bowl party.  Very good, but will be better with some tweaks.  I'm determined to get ahold of some small blue crabs to make the base.  Add some ham.

I'm also in the process of making pickled pork (or "pickle meat" as it's often called in NOLA).  It adds a distinctive and authentic flavor to Red Beans and Rice.  I'm interested in how non-New Orleanians respond to the flavor.  The process is very similar to making corned beef.

Along with everything else I'm researching decor ideas.  Bought a beautiful chandelier at Rebuilding Center along with a base cabinet that my talented pal and I think will convert into a great, funky sideboard for condiments, napkins, silverware, etc.  Trying to choose a color scheme.  Trying to do it all for a buck fifty.

So, yeah...progress and pickled pork.

Getting Real

A delightful holiday respite with family and friends completed, I'm back to it.

I'm working on web presence--set up Twitter account and FB page, am planning to use Squarespace for my webpages--and they'll host the restaurant "domain."

Researching POS tools, back-office (accounting) tools, etc. etc.

Getting ready to sending red-lined lease back to the developer.  We met last week and he was very agreeable regarding my requests for changes.  In several cases he asked me to draft proposed language, I need to give the document one more careful read.  With luck--lease will be signed this week!

Meeting with consultant to review revised build-out plan.  If it doesn't need further changes we'll start the county and OLCC permitting process, put the plan out for bids, begin the purchasing process for equipment, get insurance quotes

Thinking about decor...etc. etc. etc. Yikees.