It could be you! I'm out and about, so whoever can get their video up is today's DJ!
5 thoughts on “September 5, 2021: Today’s DJ”
Yesterday, I didnt know there was a Twins game until I flipped to FS1 looking for a football game and the Twins were down 6-0 in the 2nd. Woof.
Today feels like the last day of one crazy summer. Those who follow on social media may be aware already, but I decided to close the joint today and tomorrow for Labor Day weekend. I made that decision a while back. It is a great opportunity to give the entire staff two days off. The new patio has been open almost 12 full weeks. During that time I have only had 7 or 8 days in which I did not work at least 6 hours. I think I averaged 75-80 hours per week over this time. Last night, around 7pm, I was very happy with the decision as it was one more long crazy day with tons of curveballs and I was just beat. Knowing we were closed for a the next couple days carried me through the last few hours of my shift. Had a cocktail at our patio bar after work and just the excitement on my employees' faces made my day. We are probably sacrificing about $25k in sales by being closed, but it is a small price to pay for the mental (and physical) health of all involved with our business.
I will be stopping in on Labor Day to catch up on a ton of book work, then I work a 8-5 shift on Tuesday. On Wednesday we depart for a 5 day vacation in Oregon. When I get back I have a ton to do. I have one salaried manager who is wrapping up her tenure with the joint and I have to find her replacement. I am also training a great server to be an hourly supervisor a few shifts per week. Lastly, I am looking at Phase III of our remodel/expansion project. I am drawing up plans for outdoor restrooms and an outdoor kitchen for the joint. The patio at the joint has been an enormous success, but there were 2 things that created challenges. First is the fact that our indoor restrooms are in the far corner of the restaurant, opposite the side of the building that the patio is on. People are constantly making the long journey through the bar and dining areas to visit the rest room. Secondly, our current kitchen is maxed out with indoor and outdoor dining orders and we have been unable to do any take out or deliveries at all. Even though we doubled our previous best summer in terms of sales, we left a fair amount on the table with no take out or deliveries. So my plan is to build a nice outdoor open kitchen to service the patio, and my current kitchen would service indoor diners, and deliveries. I am considering having 2 different menus (with a few crossover favorite menu items). Right now I am looking at adding a smokehouse to the kitchen outside so that we can smoke our ribs and possibly add brisket and a few other smoked items to the outside menu. We also currently cold smoke veggies and other ingredients for some of our sauces. The idea would be that, even in the winter, we could use that area to smoke meats and veggies and also use as a back up prep area during volume times or if I have a big catering gig.
I feel very fortunate and blessed right now (despite the heavy fatigue) as a lot of my life long dreams are coming true. I have envisioned building this type of business for decades and it is so cool to see that my vision is yielding success. A lot of incredibly talented people in the industry are gravitating to my joint and I have never had such a strong kitchen and front of house staff in any market I have operated in. I think I will be in a spot in late winter that I can go south for a few weeks and catch some Spring Training and enjoy some beach time. I also think that by next summer I will be enjoying a new role at the joint in which I work 40-50 hours per week and primarily spend time and energy on working with the leaders at the joint in terms of personal and career development, which is my biggest passion in this industry. If this happens, I am considering one more life long dream, which is to write a book. I have been journaling quite a bit over the past few years and I think it would be pretty cool to write a book about the journey I have experienced in this venture of mine. I have always felt that the success of a business can be achieved while still having the best interest of the workers and community in mind.
Lastly, next summer is pretty far away, but I would be totally open to hosting a caucus at the joint. The best days for me would either be Memorial Day or Labor Day if the amount of interested families is pretty large. If there is a lot of interest, I would could host it on Sunday or Monday of those two holidays and would close the joint down to the public and just have a few employees come in to sling some drinks and cook ups some grub. I have met many of you over the years, but it would be super cool to meet many more and witness a large group of us interacting in person with our families.
Oh man, that sounds excellent. Great ideas
We're always up for the county fair mid-July, so I'd have to attend by proxy 😉 walleye sandwich, baby!
Congratulations on your success!
Any chance anybody would be interested in a “Pick’em” fantasy football league?
Historically, I’ve found that a mildly entertaining, low effort game.
I’ll check in again early this week before games start.
I also noticed the draft for those in the B-squad (I think) is Wednesday evening. FYI.
Yesterday, I didnt know there was a Twins game until I flipped to FS1 looking for a football game and the Twins were down 6-0 in the 2nd. Woof.
Today feels like the last day of one crazy summer. Those who follow on social media may be aware already, but I decided to close the joint today and tomorrow for Labor Day weekend. I made that decision a while back. It is a great opportunity to give the entire staff two days off. The new patio has been open almost 12 full weeks. During that time I have only had 7 or 8 days in which I did not work at least 6 hours. I think I averaged 75-80 hours per week over this time. Last night, around 7pm, I was very happy with the decision as it was one more long crazy day with tons of curveballs and I was just beat. Knowing we were closed for a the next couple days carried me through the last few hours of my shift. Had a cocktail at our patio bar after work and just the excitement on my employees' faces made my day. We are probably sacrificing about $25k in sales by being closed, but it is a small price to pay for the mental (and physical) health of all involved with our business.
I will be stopping in on Labor Day to catch up on a ton of book work, then I work a 8-5 shift on Tuesday. On Wednesday we depart for a 5 day vacation in Oregon. When I get back I have a ton to do. I have one salaried manager who is wrapping up her tenure with the joint and I have to find her replacement. I am also training a great server to be an hourly supervisor a few shifts per week. Lastly, I am looking at Phase III of our remodel/expansion project. I am drawing up plans for outdoor restrooms and an outdoor kitchen for the joint. The patio at the joint has been an enormous success, but there were 2 things that created challenges. First is the fact that our indoor restrooms are in the far corner of the restaurant, opposite the side of the building that the patio is on. People are constantly making the long journey through the bar and dining areas to visit the rest room. Secondly, our current kitchen is maxed out with indoor and outdoor dining orders and we have been unable to do any take out or deliveries at all. Even though we doubled our previous best summer in terms of sales, we left a fair amount on the table with no take out or deliveries. So my plan is to build a nice outdoor open kitchen to service the patio, and my current kitchen would service indoor diners, and deliveries. I am considering having 2 different menus (with a few crossover favorite menu items). Right now I am looking at adding a smokehouse to the kitchen outside so that we can smoke our ribs and possibly add brisket and a few other smoked items to the outside menu. We also currently cold smoke veggies and other ingredients for some of our sauces. The idea would be that, even in the winter, we could use that area to smoke meats and veggies and also use as a back up prep area during volume times or if I have a big catering gig.
I feel very fortunate and blessed right now (despite the heavy fatigue) as a lot of my life long dreams are coming true. I have envisioned building this type of business for decades and it is so cool to see that my vision is yielding success. A lot of incredibly talented people in the industry are gravitating to my joint and I have never had such a strong kitchen and front of house staff in any market I have operated in. I think I will be in a spot in late winter that I can go south for a few weeks and catch some Spring Training and enjoy some beach time. I also think that by next summer I will be enjoying a new role at the joint in which I work 40-50 hours per week and primarily spend time and energy on working with the leaders at the joint in terms of personal and career development, which is my biggest passion in this industry. If this happens, I am considering one more life long dream, which is to write a book. I have been journaling quite a bit over the past few years and I think it would be pretty cool to write a book about the journey I have experienced in this venture of mine. I have always felt that the success of a business can be achieved while still having the best interest of the workers and community in mind.
Lastly, next summer is pretty far away, but I would be totally open to hosting a caucus at the joint. The best days for me would either be Memorial Day or Labor Day if the amount of interested families is pretty large. If there is a lot of interest, I would could host it on Sunday or Monday of those two holidays and would close the joint down to the public and just have a few employees come in to sling some drinks and cook ups some grub. I have met many of you over the years, but it would be super cool to meet many more and witness a large group of us interacting in person with our families.
Oh man, that sounds excellent. Great ideas
We're always up for the county fair mid-July, so I'd have to attend by proxy 😉 walleye sandwich, baby!
Congratulations on your success!
Any chance anybody would be interested in a “Pick’em” fantasy football league?
Historically, I’ve found that a mildly entertaining, low effort game.
I’ll check in again early this week before games start.
I also noticed the draft for those in the B-squad (I think) is Wednesday evening. FYI.