.....you're supposed to get out of the kitchen! Hiya!! I was going through a closet yesterday and came across a Net Cooking Talk apron, like the one we sent around to get signed. Got me thinking and checked back here. Had to remember my original password, which, at my age, was no small feat. I'm used tos toring them all in the cloud, like I know what that even means.
It's been a ride down here in New Orleans, to say the very least. I see a few of you on facebook, and always love connecting again. Our restaurant, Red Gravy, which was initially in a very touristy area of the CBD in New Orleans was hard hit by covid. We'd been in that spot just shy of 10 years and had been doing a great business. However, the location, surrounded by hotels, was not so great when the hotels closed, and the guests left. Doing daily brunch wasn't going to keep us going, and not too many folks were up for brunch take out. Take out was a great idea if you were selling lunch or dinner. We moved at some astronomical expense to a more neighborhood, local area. After being shut for 2 months, we opened in a bigger spot, with a full bar, nice courtyard, and started doing dinner only. We kept trying to add lunch to the mix, but between the initial dining restrictions, and the difficulty in hiring staff for the additional hours, it wasn't happening as we'd hoped. Still,our dinner business was doing well, we were serving all handmade pasta, gnocchi and ravioli; we had live music on the weekends, and were part of the neighborhood, instead of just having tourists as our customers.
Then Hurricane Ida hit. We'd been in the new spot for about a year. The building, which I didn't own, took a hit. The courtyard fence came down, our sign was down, the walk in, which was outside, was seriously damaged, an interior wall took on water and had to be repaired. Insurance covered what was mine, but we were closed about a month. I lost members of my staff that were key members, my sous chef, my utility guy, people that had been with me for 9 years... It's hard to wait for a place to reopen, and other places were hiring. Trying to bring new people in, and getting that groovy feeling we all had was impossible. 3 sous chefs in 3 months. No utility guy for weeks on end. When there would be nights it was just Lou and I in the kitchen, doing all the prep, all the tickets, and all the clean up, we started to think it might be time to shut her down. When we had to start turning tables away, nothing bigger than a 4 top, no large parties, dumbing down the menu so I could cook 4 entrees at one time, I knew my FOH staff was suffering. We made the decision with the entire staff, and everyone agreed it was time. It broke my heart.
So, it's been a little more than a year since we closed the brick and mortar part, but have been working out of a commissary kitchen for a few months now. Our reboot, more or less, for the time being is just doing take out. Working with Uber Eats, we are still rocking and rolling our handmade meat balls and pasta. We've been looking for another location for a year with nothing to show for our efforts. Everything we come across is either too large or needs too much work, or the location isn't quite right. We want to simplify. We want to do breakfast and lunch, deli style, with a small market to sell out handmade pasta, ravioli and sauces. I can see it in my head, but I can't find it on the street.
So, I'll probably spend the next hour or so looking around at some of the posts. Glad to see some familiar names. Glad to see everyone is still cooking.
It's been a ride down here in New Orleans, to say the very least. I see a few of you on facebook, and always love connecting again. Our restaurant, Red Gravy, which was initially in a very touristy area of the CBD in New Orleans was hard hit by covid. We'd been in that spot just shy of 10 years and had been doing a great business. However, the location, surrounded by hotels, was not so great when the hotels closed, and the guests left. Doing daily brunch wasn't going to keep us going, and not too many folks were up for brunch take out. Take out was a great idea if you were selling lunch or dinner. We moved at some astronomical expense to a more neighborhood, local area. After being shut for 2 months, we opened in a bigger spot, with a full bar, nice courtyard, and started doing dinner only. We kept trying to add lunch to the mix, but between the initial dining restrictions, and the difficulty in hiring staff for the additional hours, it wasn't happening as we'd hoped. Still,our dinner business was doing well, we were serving all handmade pasta, gnocchi and ravioli; we had live music on the weekends, and were part of the neighborhood, instead of just having tourists as our customers.
Then Hurricane Ida hit. We'd been in the new spot for about a year. The building, which I didn't own, took a hit. The courtyard fence came down, our sign was down, the walk in, which was outside, was seriously damaged, an interior wall took on water and had to be repaired. Insurance covered what was mine, but we were closed about a month. I lost members of my staff that were key members, my sous chef, my utility guy, people that had been with me for 9 years... It's hard to wait for a place to reopen, and other places were hiring. Trying to bring new people in, and getting that groovy feeling we all had was impossible. 3 sous chefs in 3 months. No utility guy for weeks on end. When there would be nights it was just Lou and I in the kitchen, doing all the prep, all the tickets, and all the clean up, we started to think it might be time to shut her down. When we had to start turning tables away, nothing bigger than a 4 top, no large parties, dumbing down the menu so I could cook 4 entrees at one time, I knew my FOH staff was suffering. We made the decision with the entire staff, and everyone agreed it was time. It broke my heart.
So, it's been a little more than a year since we closed the brick and mortar part, but have been working out of a commissary kitchen for a few months now. Our reboot, more or less, for the time being is just doing take out. Working with Uber Eats, we are still rocking and rolling our handmade meat balls and pasta. We've been looking for another location for a year with nothing to show for our efforts. Everything we come across is either too large or needs too much work, or the location isn't quite right. We want to simplify. We want to do breakfast and lunch, deli style, with a small market to sell out handmade pasta, ravioli and sauces. I can see it in my head, but I can't find it on the street.
So, I'll probably spend the next hour or so looking around at some of the posts. Glad to see some familiar names. Glad to see everyone is still cooking.
