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.
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