Transition Complete

We are now fully moved into our new home. The 18-wheeler with most of our things arrived from LA this morning in the midst of a snowstorm, but everything is accounted for and in it's proper place. Heading down south tomorrow morning to visit with my family through Christmas.
I have done as much as I could do in terms of gutting out the restaurant this week. The architect came by today, and had a look around. He seems like a nice guy, and was very positive about our ideas. We have several possible layouts for the dining portion of the space, and he didn't think any of them would pose too much of a problem for us....if we're willing to spend the money to make it happen. He will be drawing and measuring for the next couple of weeks.
I borrowed my friend, Danny's truck, and loaded 400 lbs of what I thought was aluminum into the back to sell for scrap metal. At 25 cents per pound, I had visions of saving dumpster space as well as $100 to give Samantha this evening. Unfortunately, I don't know my metals too well, and steel is only fetching about 4 cents a pound. I made her only $10.20, but the dumpster space is worth the effort, and I am now officially on vacation from a job that doesn't yet exist.

Demolition Derby

The mile walk from our house to the restaurant takes just a few minutes. When it's icy, one must be careful, and keep the hands out of the pockets lest they fall on their face. I almost learned this the hard way today. It was certainly not a pretty maneuver, but I executed a perfect split, followed by about a half lux, and a girly little shriek. Welcome to town California Kid.
My reason for taking this little walk was in fact destructive from the start, although not self-destructive. I came to knock down some walls in the restaurant which is exactly what I did. I am an expert at this sort of work, and I enjoyed every minute. First peeling off some paneling, then taking down the ceiling, and finally knocking out the sheet-rock and wall boards, I put in a long day's work, and was satisfied to see straight through the 3 dining rooms by nightfall. Much more work is needed, and I'm happy to do it. Not only is it fun, but it'll save a few days of having to pay someone else to do it.

First Snow

The building which we are going to open up our restaurant in was once called, and still known as "Radio Market." It's obviously a pretty old place, and the name says a lot about the era in which it was built. Back in the day, the people who owned this little deli and market were the first in town to own a radio which was apparently a great business move. People crowded into the place to hear the national news and whatever was topping the charts. Radio Market did well for many years.
The city of Haverhill, MA used to be a shoe-town. I mean that it was a factory town, and companies for whatever reason, found it to be a great place to make their shoes. The city boomed and the people flourished, but as with many types of factories, the good years came to an end. Not many shoes are made in the U.S. anymore, and I doubt that any are still made in Haverhill. The huge brick factory building are all still here, but now they are being converted into condominiums. The city is now attracting people who work in Boston, but don't want to live there. From Haverhill, it's just a short train ride into the city, where they can grab the "T" to just about anywhere.
All of this is great for a dying city. More people means more taxes, and of course, more businesses! Our location will be perfect to take advantage of this growth, which is exactly what we intend to do.
As we were finishing up a hard day's work last night, the first snow of the season began coming down. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Small town life

It's funny to be living in a small town again. My life has been split between the big cities and those that hardly make the map. Not that Haverhill is one of the littlest places in Massachusetts, but compared to LA or Atlanta, it's a village. I like this place because it's real. People have real conversations, and they don't assume anything about anybody else. I think that I may even fit in after a few months.
As we looked around at the building where much of the coming year will be spent, people poked their heads in again and again to see what was going to be new in the neighborhood. It was nice because they were genuinely interested in our presence there.
The building is going to be great when we get done with it. There's plenty of space for 70 or 80 patrons, 20 staff, and a whole bunch of storage. Tomorrow we are going to begin a little bit of demolition. Should be fun.

Beginning Anew

2 weeks ago, my fiance and I pulled up our roots in sunny Los Angeles. We jumped on the freeway in her car which was loaded down with as many of our belongings as we could fit. Our destination was her hometown, Haverhill, MA, where we planned to open a restaurant along with her family. Both of us have spent many years doing various jobs in the restaurant world, and actually met one another while working at a little Italian Cafe in Santa Monica. It was only natural to join her parents, brothers, and sister in this exciting endeavor.
Beth's sister has purchased a building in a nice location close to downtown so the first challenge has been taken care of for us. Now that we are here, many more obstacles are looming in our path. The new england winter is not the least of these! Each will be a learning experience for us as neither of us have built a restaurant from square 1.
Much renovation is required to bring our building up to date. We first have to decide on a layout for the restaurant. Everybody has a different idea of how this place should be put together. Beth's father is in charge of the kitchen, so the rest of us will put our heads together in the front of the house. Hopefully this does not mean that we will be butting heads too much.
From there we will hire the people with the know-how to make our plans come to life. Our first deadline is Tuesday, which is when we will meet with the architect to pass along our ideas.
We do miss California, but we are excited to write this next chapter in our lives together. I will do my best to keep an accurate journal of how things go...the good, the bad, and the ugly.