Be sure and give us the update!
-Scott
Scott, thanks for asking. I really appreciate the noticing. (We may hurl from the anxiety before it’s all over)
Been and gone by noon today. Seems I got a somewhat rude awakening that embarrassed me and set us for a follow up tomorrow morning at 8 am. Seems that when my staff todl me they had wiped down all the equipment and it was ready . . . they meant all the equipment except the warming cabinet. pizza table, cooler and sandwich prep table. Just a simple oversight, and only took a very little effort to correct, but was grounds for a re-inspect.
Talk about feeling sheepish. I told the lady I had no excuses, and apologized for wasting her time. She was quite understanding. I had no way to express my exasperation and embarrassment for not having gone after the guys to make sure we had it all ready. It’s not like they didn’t work butts of polishing and cleaning and getting stuff done . . . they just focused on the OUTSIDES. I ahd ducked out to a City Council meeting and came back after their efforts were done.
I ordered a big ole’ truckload of food on the assumption that we will pass and get our permit. Turned out to be a bigger order than anticipated as I had unplugged one 20 cu ft freezer to move for floor painting about 3 days ago . … and never plugged it back in :shock: So, a little food waste, and a few more lines on the invoice. Not really big losses as some would certainly have been discarded as poor quality anyway.
Tomorrow, we cook . . .bake . . . heat through . . . scortch . . . embroil . . . sear or otherwise complete the process of our FIRST PIZZA in seven months TO THE DAY! I’m salivating just talking about it.
In the scurrying around, we have discovered the loss of our canopener and a container of shelf clips for holding up the cooler shelfs. Our good friends across the county line had a spare opener in a drawer that will be quite serviceable (with some serious scrubbing) for a few days until we can locate and purchase a new one. Ordered clips at really good price from USFoods, but won’t arrive until next week. So, we make due on the shelves for a couple days with the clips we have in hand.
I’ve got two in my garage. I got them in an auction. You can have them if you’ll pay shipping from Nashville. They’re used, “probably” work, but don’t have the holder sheath thingy that mounts on the table. Both are just the units with the blade and handle piece that inserts into the “bottom” part.
Well good luck tomorrow. Gotta love the little incidentals the day before opening.
Just wanted to wish you well, looking forward to some new pics.
I’m sure you are gonna be real busy next few days (weeks) but let us know how it’s going.
Kris
DONE. You guys rock in a good way. I’m sure I’ll be several days getting them, but I certainly have a loaner to use for a while.
If you’ll send me an estimate of the shipping costs, I will send the check out as you ship. I’ve had bad turn around waiting to see what the cost is and then sending a check out. One generous guy ended up waiting a couple months for the money I owed him. Don’t want to do that again.
PM the cost, address and who to make check out to.
I have health inspector sign-off and busines slicense in hand. Food comes sometime today, and we fire up the oven tonight. I lit all the pilot lights, and organized the dry goods we have on hand.
Gonna be a big time in Grantville tonight. Gonna suck using a home-kitchen twist knob opener for those #10 cans of sauce tonight 
Hope I get this loaner opener cleaner and working so we can save some wrist action.
Nick,
Congrats and good luck!!!
You’ve been so excited for this day, and it’s finally here.
Take some good photos and share them on your website.
Have fun!
Nick,
You might be able to rig up a turn table device and use a home mechanical can opener for those cans. All you really need to do is get the force required to turn the can down, as well as probably hold the can opener so the can bottom spins, so the weight of the can isn’t an issue. Then again, It might not be worth all that 
I know most home spice racks have bases that spin though.
-Scott
So Nick… gonna take the night off? j/k.
Congratulations and good luck.
May your pockets be full of pizza flour and your shirt have a clean imprint of your apron.
-J_r0kk
P.S. I expect a full report of the happenings tonight. No matter how good or how bad, I wanna know.
Way to go Nick…It has been a long haul…Good luck…Royce…
Nick & Kim
Yeah good luck from OZ. May the wizard pave your road with yellow (gold) bricks.
Dave
hey nick sorry if I missed it, but you were closed for 7 months? why?.. remodeling?..
good luck damn its been 7 months already misery goes by 2 quick…
hope all goes well…
First, for the curious . . . we operated at a location in the historic downtown for right at three years. We had a 1 year lease that could be renewed each year (read rent increases). When I asked for a three year renewal with specific rent increases, they put us on month to month becasue, “We just treat everyone like family and don’t need those sorts of contracts for our leases”. ALARMS . . WHISTLES . . . RED FLAGS.
Fast forward to August 2006. These same landlords have two piles of rubble in the same historic district that used to be buildings, and no demolition permits obtained. Those ipiles were there 18 months, and more deterioration each month . . . we had our 32nd consecutive month with a leak in the ceiling when it rained. I made a public comment at a City Council meeting that our town (that has no bank or grocery store) had to start taking itself a lot more seriously and clean up the downtown that looked like a war zone before any businesses would consider anythign to do with us. A 2 page statement had one small paragraph about them.
Well, local newspaper reporter, who has sat idley by for 5 years watching these guys buy up and neglect property after property, hopped on my back and did a pictorial ‘exposee’ with their peoperties on the front page. 2 days after that hit the streets, I got a letter from an attorney advising me I had 60 days to vacate.
With them owning the only other viable restaurant space in town, we went on a crusade to biy a space, rehabilitate it and redirect the “center of town”. Took too long to negotiate the sale, too long to get financing lined up and too long to construct. We are now ready to sell pizza again. Still more to do, but we will have a destination restaurant that I really believe will draw people for 100 miles at some point. It is just the location, the history of the area, and the legend of a spectacular restaurant 10 miles away that only folded when the owner/chef went to prison on a crystal meth charge. That was 9 years ago, and people still wax poetic about the place. We want to be the replacement.
That said, yesterday and last night were successes. We got our health certificate, which led to our business license, which led to not having to send the US Foodservice truck back to the warehouse.
It was a goosebumpy feeling to be checking off delivery and stocking the coolers/freezers again. All went ok. We are short of those pilaster clips that hold up the coller shelves. So, we are about 6 shelves short of what we need to set all up the way we want in the collers. I have 5 dozen on order to be sure we are flush . . . damn those are hard to just buy off the shelf in a rural town
The one huge gaffe I made was in placing my oder. When setting up my list, I awlays list pizza cheese and wings as first tow items. SOMEHOW, I forgot to read off the pizza cheese when I ordered. So, when we had all the order put away when the truck arrived, our cheese shelf was startk empty. Laughing my apron off, I called my rep and put in a mayday order. She brought it to me in 2 hours, and we were still good to go. I have never forgotten to order cheese before, and no idea why I didn’t call it out . . . it is on the order sheet I drew up.
We spent the night setting up, prepping the tables, stocking the shelves, test running pizzas, and finding all the packed away tools and containers we know we used to have. It was a huge success as everyone just fell into the flow. We have some fiddling to do getting the spaces to work, and smaller tables to feel right.
We had maybe 30 to 40 customers ‘drop by’ to congratulate us and wish us well . . . and put in pre-orders for tomorrow night. We didn’t sell naything last night, just got it ready to rock for theweekend. It just felt right, and all the stress melted away ast night as I got the best sleep I have in 3 months. We are in, tables are full, and we know orders are coming in tomorrow. Life could not get much better for us today.
We are dropping a direct mail card in the mail next week so we can ‘ramp up’ to full speed without pulling any muscles or throwing a lift rod. e are back, and loving our them song in it all by Chumbawamba
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/191182/i_ … cked_down/
It almost brings a tear of pride to my eye listening to it as I type! WE ARE BACK, BABY!! :twisted:
Nick,
When you get a chance, I’d love to see pictures of everything complete. I checked out the ones during the build out and just curious how it looks now that it is finished!
Good Luck!
We aren’t so much “finished” as we are willing to start bringing money IN nistead of all goging OUT. We are at an uneasy plateau ion contruction with lots of ‘finishing’ still to do. We’ll take pictures tonight of the place to show out where we are. Dining room still closed (delco only) until we have money and time to finish it . . . figure a couple weeks to a month. We have floor finishing and top/bottom tril to hang. Other detail is that we are building the pendant lamps ourselves using colanders as the shades. Good fun, and will lok sharp in the place.
We’ll be building on the place for over 6 months more before we can proclaim ‘finished’. But the phase I pisseria should be done inside a couple months, and read yfor dine-in and beer/wine license!!
Nick,
I am glad to hear that it has all come together so WELL for you and wish you the best of luck!
Congratulations, Nick! Would love to see pics of you guys “up and running”!
good luck(not that you will need it)
and god speed
thanks for that fall down video,man thats funny!!!