It's Coming Together
As expected, things have been incredibly busy as we finish up everything and get ready to open the doors! Our mom, sister, and brother visited for Thanksgiving and we put them to work painting the building. Jill and I have spent another 60 hours doing more painting this week, and it's finally getting finished. It was in the first 15 minutes or so that I recalled why I dislike painting. But now we have a really fun red accent wall that came out just how we imagined:
The dust in this picture was generated by Aaron, who was sanding down our custom coffee counter and bar, which he made using reclaimed wood from the demolition of the interior walls of the building. This is the raw wood, which will be sealed with a thick coat of polyurethane:
We also had some custom stainless steel fabrication done by Jon from Metalhead Fabrication, who did a great job making a table that fits around our stove.
People who stop by and see the building keep telling us that they don't think we're going to be ready to open this week, which is getting on my nerves. Considering how many other things we've accomplished that people said we wouldn't be able to do, I think predictions of failure at this final stage are overrated.
This week the building has been full of people finishing up their parts of the construction: plumbers, insulation installers, drywall guys, electricians, HVAC guys, delivery people, gutter repair people, and us! Jill and I are working about 21 hours a day to get the building in shape and also arrange for our food deliveries, utilities, insurance, employee training, equipment servicing, and about seven thousand other things. About all I do at home is take showers and recharge my cell phone. Yesterday I discovered some laundry in my dryer that's been there for several days. We told our significant others that if they want to see us, they better show up with a paintbrush or power tool. Jill's boyfriend hung our stereo speakers last night, so we finally have music to paint to.
Over the next three days, the building is going to be inspected by every city regulatory agency known to man. If we pass everything, we can open our doors on Friday. We won't be offering full service in the cafe because we need to make all our food, so Friday is really a prep day for us. We're making everything from scratch, from the pastries to the coffee syrups, so it will take us at least a day to be able to offer our full cafe menu. If we pass inspections this week, we're going ahead with our grand opening party on Sunday. If we get hung up on something, we'll have to delay the party by a week, but I'm feeling optimistic right now. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
The dust in this picture was generated by Aaron, who was sanding down our custom coffee counter and bar, which he made using reclaimed wood from the demolition of the interior walls of the building. This is the raw wood, which will be sealed with a thick coat of polyurethane:
We also had some custom stainless steel fabrication done by Jon from Metalhead Fabrication, who did a great job making a table that fits around our stove.
People who stop by and see the building keep telling us that they don't think we're going to be ready to open this week, which is getting on my nerves. Considering how many other things we've accomplished that people said we wouldn't be able to do, I think predictions of failure at this final stage are overrated.
This week the building has been full of people finishing up their parts of the construction: plumbers, insulation installers, drywall guys, electricians, HVAC guys, delivery people, gutter repair people, and us! Jill and I are working about 21 hours a day to get the building in shape and also arrange for our food deliveries, utilities, insurance, employee training, equipment servicing, and about seven thousand other things. About all I do at home is take showers and recharge my cell phone. Yesterday I discovered some laundry in my dryer that's been there for several days. We told our significant others that if they want to see us, they better show up with a paintbrush or power tool. Jill's boyfriend hung our stereo speakers last night, so we finally have music to paint to.
Over the next three days, the building is going to be inspected by every city regulatory agency known to man. If we pass everything, we can open our doors on Friday. We won't be offering full service in the cafe because we need to make all our food, so Friday is really a prep day for us. We're making everything from scratch, from the pastries to the coffee syrups, so it will take us at least a day to be able to offer our full cafe menu. If we pass inspections this week, we're going ahead with our grand opening party on Sunday. If we get hung up on something, we'll have to delay the party by a week, but I'm feeling optimistic right now. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
posted by The Cooking Doctor at
11:52 AM
2 Comments:
The beige walls are nice, too, and things look so much better with lights! Also people don't look too bundled up, so I gather the heat's on. Cool (no pun)! Sorry you aren't getting more than 3 hours of sleep.
Wow, it looks great! I for one would just like to say that you two would most likely have to die to not open this weekend and since that is not going to happen there will be a party. Maybe I can come visit in January or Februray of next year. I am very excited for you girls.
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