Now that we've leaped all the legal hurdles, it's time to get down to the business of designing a restaurant. We are working with Reb Haizlip of Haizlip Studio. He comes highly recommended by some very influential people in town. Some of you might be familiar with Reb and his work around town. He worked on The Children's Museum, projects at The University of Memphis, The Grove Grill, Memphis Country Club, and L'Ecole Culinaire. We consulted with him on the feasibility of the very first property we looked at. That led to other conversations and meetings about another property. I have to say I've learned a lot about how Reb's mind works in the past couple of years. He has some great ideas. I love his sense of blending the trendy with a timeless style. Reb always listens to our ideas and open to suggestions. Like most artists, I'm sure he is confident in his work. But this is definitely not an architect who is making this his vanity project. Andrew (more on him next time) and I had a meeting with Reb this afternoon. I am so excited about his ideas. As a matter of fact, Reb will be a contributor to this blog with sketches and photo. That means you get an insider's look at the progress of the restaurant. Tell me what you think. I do value your opinions.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
OFF TO THE RACES
I am quite new to this blogging stuff. I know, I promised to post something at least once a week, and here it is now January 13. I started writing my first post January 2 and just published it a few minutes ago after several editing sessions. What a slacker! I promise, it gets better!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy New Year
Happy New Year! With the beginning of each new year, a feeling of excitement, hope, renewal, (and dare I say it?) "change". Did I really just say that most overused word of 2008? I digress.
I am very excited to finally announce to the world that I am opening a new restaurant in 2009! I'm sure many of you have heard all the rumors and speculations about the location, time frame, and etc. about the project. I can't tell you how frustrating it's been for me in the past 2 years since I left my eponymous restaurant. We had a location in mind of where we wanted to be and targeted a certain property that was for sale. Of course negotiations fell through when we could not agree on a price. We also looked at 3 other properties on the same street. Same story. Each time I thought we were close, the deal fell through. Needless to say, I soon tired of telling friends and former clients that we were "close" to opening at "so and so" and a certain date. Paranoia started to set in that everyone in Memphis was saying I was full of crap. The questions didn't stop coming though, all of you loyal fans kept encouraging and waiting. For that, I am eternally grateful.
The new restaurant will be at 690 South Perkins. It's right up the road from Theatre Memphis. I could not be more happy with the property. That was actually one of the properties we wanted during the search process. We got lucky when the former owner decided to move to Colorado. It is actually the largest and best property on the street. The back yard has big, beautiful oak trees that provides plenty of shade for outdoor dining. I will describe it more in detail in future posts.
I am very excited to finally announce to the world that I am opening a new restaurant in 2009! I'm sure many of you have heard all the rumors and speculations about the location, time frame, and etc. about the project. I can't tell you how frustrating it's been for me in the past 2 years since I left my eponymous restaurant. We had a location in mind of where we wanted to be and targeted a certain property that was for sale. Of course negotiations fell through when we could not agree on a price. We also looked at 3 other properties on the same street. Same story. Each time I thought we were close, the deal fell through. Needless to say, I soon tired of telling friends and former clients that we were "close" to opening at "so and so" and a certain date. Paranoia started to set in that everyone in Memphis was saying I was full of crap. The questions didn't stop coming though, all of you loyal fans kept encouraging and waiting. For that, I am eternally grateful.
The new restaurant will be at 690 South Perkins. It's right up the road from Theatre Memphis. I could not be more happy with the property. That was actually one of the properties we wanted during the search process. We got lucky when the former owner decided to move to Colorado. It is actually the largest and best property on the street. The back yard has big, beautiful oak trees that provides plenty of shade for outdoor dining. I will describe it more in detail in future posts.
The legal hurdles are finally out of the way! We were approved by the land use board in November. Even though the location of the property is zoned commercial, we had to get approval from our commercial and residential neighbors because of the nature of our business.
We had to reassure the residents that it was not going to be a nightclub or bar with thumping rap music or loud rock bands playing till 2 A.M. After approval from the the neighbors and the Land Use Board, our next step was the City Council. The City Council gave us an early Christmas present on December 16 when they unanimously approved our project.
Now the fun part starts. We get to design a restaurant from the ground up. Hopefully, we will get things going in the next few weeks. Check back at least once a week to get updates on the project. I should be able to start posting pics soon.
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