Hi everyone and Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, Bonnybear (sp?), etc!! I miss posting as frequently as I used to.
Here's a quick update from Red Gravy!
I generally miss my daily sales goal by about a hundred bucks each day. It's got me concerned, to tell you the truth. That goal is about 1/2 of what I'd love to be making, but I'd settle for the goal. I have good ads out, and people do respond to the ads. I need more word of mouth, though,and that takes time. I did let the cook go, unfortunately. I was doing most of the cooking anyway, so it didn't make sense to have a $10 an hour person just to make grilled sandwiches and potato salad. So, for now, I do all the cooking.
Starting the 26th of December I'll be open 7 days a week. I do a nice enough Saturday brunch, I wanted to see if there is some additional Sunday business as well. I just don't want to drop dead, either. It's looking like Wednesday is my slowest day. That surprised me, honestly. I thought it would be Monday, but that's not the case.
I'm considering cooking classes for adults and for kids as a means to make some extra money. I'm also getting closer to actually doing the chef's table one night a week. I've looked into a liquor license and will probably apply for one the beginning of the year. Problem is...I'm pretty much broke right now. I came down here with a fair amount of money, but it's all in the restaurant, well, all but about 5% that I have left over. It's really scary.
I'm participating in a chocolate showcase fundraiser the end of January, sponsored by the PBS station here. I'll supply 800 sample size portions of menu items to the guests. I'll be listed in all the event ads, websites, commercials, flyers, etc.
I've got lots of repeat customers, lots of them. That's very encouraging. It shows me that once people come in, they do like it. I just need more of them.
The sandwiches: The most popular breakfast sandwich is the Bruce, followed in order by the Debra, the Jim and then the Nancy. Lunch is almost a tie between the Mark and the Lou, but according to my reports, the Mark is just a bit ahead. The Ivan beats the Blair, and the Grandma and Granddad are ties, as well...kinda like the people the represent. The Sarah usually beats the Coco. Baked Ziti and Lasagna are big hits, and the roast pork, brisket and turkey are better sellers than the roast beef and ham. I'll probably take those two off the menu in January, replacing them with meatloaf and fried fillet of fish, respectively. I also added Philly cheesesteak to the menu, and that does okay. Everyone loves the meatballs, everyone. If there was a contest today, I'd win. The carbonara, bolognese and fra diavlo have serious devotees. I'm encouraged by that, too.
As for the rest of my life...I rarely cook at home any longer. The icebox is like a foreign country now. I'm hardly home any longer, too. We leave the house at 5am, and I don't get home till 5pm (Lou only stays at the restaurant till about 10am). We deliver to the french quarter, and CBD, and that helps, too. Funny how I was about to talk about the rest of my life, and it becomes talk about the restaurant!!
Lou and I are going to 7 on Fulton tonight for a Revillon dinner. Revillon dinners were/are traditional christmas eve celebrations/dinners that took place after midnight mass. We went carroling in Jackson Square complete with candles and songbooks on Sunday night. We were joined by about 10,000 other people too. It was wonderful.
I'm closing for christmas eve and christmas day...Maybe I'll even take a picture or two of the food again.
Be good to each other, treat each other well.
Peace
Here's a quick update from Red Gravy!
I generally miss my daily sales goal by about a hundred bucks each day. It's got me concerned, to tell you the truth. That goal is about 1/2 of what I'd love to be making, but I'd settle for the goal. I have good ads out, and people do respond to the ads. I need more word of mouth, though,and that takes time. I did let the cook go, unfortunately. I was doing most of the cooking anyway, so it didn't make sense to have a $10 an hour person just to make grilled sandwiches and potato salad. So, for now, I do all the cooking.
Starting the 26th of December I'll be open 7 days a week. I do a nice enough Saturday brunch, I wanted to see if there is some additional Sunday business as well. I just don't want to drop dead, either. It's looking like Wednesday is my slowest day. That surprised me, honestly. I thought it would be Monday, but that's not the case.
I'm considering cooking classes for adults and for kids as a means to make some extra money. I'm also getting closer to actually doing the chef's table one night a week. I've looked into a liquor license and will probably apply for one the beginning of the year. Problem is...I'm pretty much broke right now. I came down here with a fair amount of money, but it's all in the restaurant, well, all but about 5% that I have left over. It's really scary.
I'm participating in a chocolate showcase fundraiser the end of January, sponsored by the PBS station here. I'll supply 800 sample size portions of menu items to the guests. I'll be listed in all the event ads, websites, commercials, flyers, etc.
I've got lots of repeat customers, lots of them. That's very encouraging. It shows me that once people come in, they do like it. I just need more of them.
The sandwiches: The most popular breakfast sandwich is the Bruce, followed in order by the Debra, the Jim and then the Nancy. Lunch is almost a tie between the Mark and the Lou, but according to my reports, the Mark is just a bit ahead. The Ivan beats the Blair, and the Grandma and Granddad are ties, as well...kinda like the people the represent. The Sarah usually beats the Coco. Baked Ziti and Lasagna are big hits, and the roast pork, brisket and turkey are better sellers than the roast beef and ham. I'll probably take those two off the menu in January, replacing them with meatloaf and fried fillet of fish, respectively. I also added Philly cheesesteak to the menu, and that does okay. Everyone loves the meatballs, everyone. If there was a contest today, I'd win. The carbonara, bolognese and fra diavlo have serious devotees. I'm encouraged by that, too.
As for the rest of my life...I rarely cook at home any longer. The icebox is like a foreign country now. I'm hardly home any longer, too. We leave the house at 5am, and I don't get home till 5pm (Lou only stays at the restaurant till about 10am). We deliver to the french quarter, and CBD, and that helps, too. Funny how I was about to talk about the rest of my life, and it becomes talk about the restaurant!!
Lou and I are going to 7 on Fulton tonight for a Revillon dinner. Revillon dinners were/are traditional christmas eve celebrations/dinners that took place after midnight mass. We went carroling in Jackson Square complete with candles and songbooks on Sunday night. We were joined by about 10,000 other people too. It was wonderful.
I'm closing for christmas eve and christmas day...Maybe I'll even take a picture or two of the food again.
Be good to each other, treat each other well.
Peace