Crunch time!

Oh dear, the weeks are getting longer, the writing shorter, with longer spans between posts.  Its "crunch" time!  I'm working 24/7, well maybe more like 19/7, and I'm still freaking out about getting everything done.  Most nights I fall into bed so late and exhausted there's no time to write, and it'll probably get worse before it gets better.  So please forgive me if these little posts get further apart.  Getting Pizzalina open is the main priority and keeping myself healthy is second.

I've had a couple high anxiety days this last week, I'm trying to keep calm and focused, but whew, there's so many things that you just can't predict.  All your best laid plans, and then S*%# happens.  You gotta zig and zag, and roll with the punches, go with plan B, C and XYZ.  Though you spend months planning, designing, plotting, thinking, it starts to take on a life of its own.  Its like that joke about if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your well laid plans. 

This week the lighting that I fell in love with had to go.  When they got unpacked and ready to hang we discovered they were too heavy for the suspended ceiling.  They would've had to take down the ceiling, insulation and figure out a way to reinforce the framing = more money than I'm willing to spend.  Didn't love 'em THAT much.  So back to the store they went for a newer, lighter chandelier.

The stone counter tops went in this week and they're gorgeous!  The floors were finished and they turned out beautiful.  Michael Brennan finished the oven surround which compliments the Italian wave mosaic perfectly.  We got our preliminary health inspection and it cleared as well as being able to forgo the "sneeze guard" which I was dreading.  The place is really coming together and I'm so happy with the overall look!

We are pretty much through the building phase.  The only thing that's holding us up now is the store front, which was the first thing ordered?!  It was supposed to be delivered this week, but the latest word is that it'll be late the following week.  And of course we cannot get any of our final inspections until that's in and finished.  So I'm trusting that its a blessing in disguise.  We really do need the time to get our staff together and plan out the logistics of working the place.  However, I could REALLY use the income right about now as opposed to the outgo!  Ah the balancing act.....

Today we held our first round of interviews for the staff.  I'm happy to report we've probably identified a third of our staff.  Which is pretty good for our first round.  I put another ad on Craigslist today and we'll be interviewing all week.  So if you know anyone....... send 'em over!

I just can't wait to get open and make killer pizza!  To stand in the middle of the restaurant on a crazy busy night, and watch people eating, and drinking, and laughing, and enjoying each others company. It's the heartbeat of a community, we are more alive together.

cheers to that day, coming soon..........

Keep Calm And Eat Pizza

Wow, what a week!  Friday they started moving in all the kitchen equipment and its really starting to look like a restaurant!  My long time friend, Bruce Davies of Empire Painting is doing all the painting and his crew was in all week painting the place.  It's been so great to have my buddy on the job site, his crew is great and a lot of fun, just like Bruce.  There is an ease and confidence that surrounds him and it rubs off on me.  Wish I could keep him around me at all times, it might balance out my high anxiety nature!  Hahaha, working on it!

Michael Brennan and his assistant Natasha came in and knocked out the wall and pizza surround with a very artisan technique of texture and color, then painted some whispy swirls as accents.  He made the best of faux pas on my part.  I had been envisioning some thing, which I learned too late, was actually impossible for the way we had started out.  Luckily he understood the look I was after and made the best of what we had.  I love it, and its a Michael Brennan and the wall now makes the space!

Tomorrow I have to meet with the Health Inspector to try and figure out a way to get around the "sneeze guard" she insisted I have to put up.  Its such a long story, I won't even attempt to explain.  I just pray for cooperation and understanding! 

I'm really excited for tomorrow morning to see the floors done.  I think its really going to finish off the place and look fabulous.  John is a concrete artist who is staining and refinishing the beat up old concrete that was there.  I think the restoration will be nothing short of a miracle!

We are now officially hiring!  I've put up ads on Craigslist, Poached, onsite and going over to College of Marin tomorrow.  So my friends, if you know of any willing, able-bodied, fun, diligent chefs, pizza makers, waiters & bussers, please send them my way!

Coming on the final stretch!  So many little details to finalize.  I'm trying not to panic, stay calm, focus, breathe deep, keep my faith and trust this appointment.


My new motto.......

Every Day Is One Step Closer

Michael & His Assistant Starting The Wall

I'm so grateful for small victories.  It seems in the last week there have been some very pressing trials, but I thank God for the victories.  I don't know why or what makes it so easy for us as a peoples to concentrate more on what's wrong than on what's good.  The glass is half empty or half full.  I had to remind myself this morning to be grateful for all that is going right (and there is so much) and forget about the hurdles.  I'm sure they will become dim and insignificant when all is said and done.  These tests and trails just make my reserve all the more strong, and I'll have an awesome testimony!

I've had to rethink some of my plans and switch around people for timing and such.  Its been a hard decision and one I don't like to make or feel very good at.  My contractor said I've got to be more of a hard ass, which I agree but I don't think I'm very good at it, though I will say I'm getting better.  It's getting easier to be direct with people.  Its a fine line.

Back Stage

 Thank God for my church and my choir, it's where I recharge.  It's what reminds me to be grateful and put things in perspective.  This week besides having a reunion with my old choir mates, The Lighthouse Singers, my church choir was asked to back up Patti LaBelle at the Concord Pavilion.  It was big time, what an honor to sing with such a mega great talent, and FUN!  It was such a production.  I guess because of my little business I'm trying to orchestrate, I stood in awe of what it takes to organize and produce a show of that magnitude.

Things are really coming together with the space.  Michael Brennan is doing my "art" wall.  Yeah!  Bruce my best buddy and longest friend is painting now.  The floors are almost done.  They should start moving in equipment next week.  Now I just have to get a staff!  Which is harder said than done.  In the mean time there is so much more to do behind the scenes and I feel one step behind the eight ball in so many ways. 

My friends Stephen and Jennifer Simmons opened their new Lincoln Park this weekend and I'm so inspired by what they've accomplished.  I went in tonight for a glass of wine and supper and it was fantastic.  The food was great and the atmosphere buzzing.  I hope that I can open with so much style and grace.  Go, go, go, support them and make your town a more vibrant community!

every day is one step closer!

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

The guys putting up the hood

Despite having a real bad day yesterday, there are many wonderful pieces coming together.   This is were faith and optimism must conquer doubt and fear.

Monday was going along marvelously.... I met with Douglas and we got a lot of work done on purchasing, menu final, and he brought me a sample of some knock out meat balls, Gluten-free!  I'm pushing for lots of things on the menu for my GF buddies.  How simple to make meatballs with risotto as the filler!  You could even fry them with rice flour.  Yummy, you'd never know if I didn't tell you.  We'll put the recipe on when they are perfected.

Anyway, my friend Colleen gave me the name of this Frenchman who sells the most beautiful olive wood bowls and platters out of his van.  He pulled up to Pizzalina, opened up his doors and we bought some amazing boards for our antipasti platters.  And he threw in some spoons for Douglas and me.  We'll be buying more!

Then the banquette was delivered.  It turned out great, but we had to have it delivered to my house until its ready to go in.  Its going to look beautiful in the space.

Yesterday was a double drink day!  I've got about 3 people doing key jobs that swore they could do X-Y-&-Z, but it ain't happening.  Maybe some of them will pull through in the final hour, but things are getting too close to not see any real action.  Then its too late to find someone else, you gotta zig and zag to get it done, come up with a plan "B".  And, being the type "A" person I am, my anxiety goes through the roof.  Then I applied for my resellers permit, they want $10,000. deposit!  Like I've got that kind of money to let them hold.  Hell, they still won't give me back the $2,000 they owe me (another story).  Then I got my bank statement, bla, bla, bla..... suffice to say, I was on the verge of going back to bed and having a good cry all day!  I pressed on through my day and went and had a wonderful dinner at Picco with my son.  They have the BEST barrel-aged Negroni!  That pretty much took care of things.

Bring it on!

Anxiety Rising

Oh dear, the days are flying by now.  Each day is jam-packed and I feel there aren't enough hours in a day to accomplish all I need to get done.  My lists are growing, my piles of papers is growing, my bills are just beginning, and  I feel my anxiety levels rising.... oh, peace be still!

Last week the building inspector stopped the job on Wednesday.  I still don't exactly understand why or how or who is responsible.  Everybody starts talking loud, rolling their eyes, and saying things like, "well he shoulda", and "every other city", and "I-I-I- don't know".  Meanwhile, I get to write all the checks!  Apparently the "fire-wall" details (which is the code between two adjacent buildings) wasn't in the plans, the specific insulation, baffling, and other construction logistics I don't understand.  What I do understand is my architect had to draw, spec, copy and resubmit to the Town of San Anselmo Building Department.  So in we march Monday morning with the new specs, an addendum, a fee (of course) and I basically had to plead for them to approve it over the counter.  By the grace of God the inspector did approve them right then and there, otherwise we would have had to leave it with them, and God knows how long that would've taken or how many more days would have been lost!  So between the architect fees, and the additional materials and timing fees that just cost me around $5,000 more.

Today was a shopping day at Economy with Chef Douglas, we picked out our smallwares order.  Got about 85% of it done.  Just last minute stuff left.

Yesterday I had a wonderful day.  Reconnected with an old friend on my way up to Healdsburg to do some wine tasting with sister-friend and fellow stew hen, Colleen at DaVero.   May I just say good friends are a blessing and to be cherished!  Not only did she fill my belly with lovely wines, but we went for a dip afterwards.  Just what the doctor ordered!  So on that 90 degree, Sonoma afternoon we paddled about and caught up on life until the cool water had pickled our fingertips and toes.  Perfect!

Do yourself a favor, google DaVero Olive Oil, join their Club DaVero and order yourself some of their incredible wines, oils, etc and you'll be on their mailing list for upcoming special events.  I highly recommend the Chardonnay (and I don't even like Chardonnay), the So'Bianco, the Dolcetto, the Tannat and the Rosso Di Bea.  Kick my own self for not taking pictures!

So then it was up to my mom's house for dinner and she made me some incredible Vichyssoise soup, which is the perfect appetizer on a hot summer night!  And today I had dinner with another friend I haven't seen in awhile.  Like I said, good friends are a blessing and to be cherished!

So call a friend, tell them you cherish them, and enjoy a meal together.  I think the world would be a happier place if we all did that more often!

Cheers........

The Heart of Pizzalina Arrives

Well, its been a whirl-wind week!  My contractor is SO AWESOME!  I may actually have the only restaurant in the history of the world that ever opened ahead of schedule.  Josh doesn't mess around!  My oven was delivered on Monday, the heart of Pizzalina.  Josh had actually tried to surprise me and get it there on Friday but the driver got in an accident on the Golden Gate Bridge.  He was fine, and the truck was fine, but the oven he had on the truck broke free of its straps inside the cab when he had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the driver in front of him.  The oven went tumbling on its side, smashing the framing, but the brick oven itself was ok.  They took it back to Watsonville where luckily they can rebuild the frame around it.  This is why I chose to use Mugnaini Ovens, they're imported from Italy but fitted, framed and shipped right here in the Bay Area.  I've heard of too many horror stories of people not getting their Italian ovens in on time because of shipping, accidents or customs.

We also ran into a little trouble with the main sewer pipes that run into the space.  It seems they were corroded.  But once again, Josh to the rescue, he ran interference with the landlord and got them to handle it.  I think I'll get Josh a Superman T-Shirt!  The guy is really looking out for my a@#* and I don't even know how I'll ever be able to repay him for the extra mile he's gone and continues to go.  He is a true jewel.

Got the fire pit done too!

So this weekend he says, "you know I could have this done for you by September 1st."  That's a month earlier than originally predicted!  Let me tell you I freaked out.  Though I'm overjoyed to be open sooner, there's so much more to do to get ready.  I realized I've got to kick it into high gear!  So if there are days that go by and you don't see a post, you'll know...... I'm running and too tired at days end to do anything else.  My eyeballs literally hurt.  Some days I run all day; meetings with sales people, tasting product, pricing vendors, running interference for Josh and then when I get home at night I'm working on paperwork.  HR packets, policies, job descriptions, training manuals, procedures, forms, recipes, costing sheets.  No more TV, no more books, occasionally I'll sit down at the piano and sooth my soul with a hymn.  My life has changed, but I've never felt more purposeful.  I love it!

goodnight angels, I hear your wings.......

Napa Valley Morning

Well, it's been a week!  And I couldn't think of a better ending to a busy week than to rise up early nestled amongst the the dappled vineyards of the Napa Valley.  Last night we had another wine tasting for the menu, this time at the "guest house" at Paradigm Winery.  A charming little farm house tucked within a secret garden and surrounded by some of Napa Valleys finest vineyards.  Tired as I was, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to rise early with the sun shinning though the leaves, and catch up on my writing.

We found some more gems last night for the list, of course everything that Suzanne Groth brought, and also some wonderful wines from Robin Gerber with Spotlight Brands, who specialize in small, local producers, blending unusual varietals, and a couple of stand-outs from my friends at the James Family Vineyards.  Yummy!  We had a nice little pot luck dinner and I made another attempt at the GF pizza, which wasn't as great because we had to use a standard oven, which doesn't get as hot so I couldn't get the bubbling I'm looking for, but the taste was good.

So last weekend it took me three days to get over the shell shock of depositing BIG checks to start funding this whole project.  I had to write some major checks, I think I had my contractor really worried.  He warned one of the subs, "You can talk like a truck driver around her, just don't mention money!"

Besides the entire kitchen equipment contract, I got most of the big, timely stuff ordered this week; banquette, community table, mixer, trim tiles, bath tiles, and the outdoor sign.  Next week will be tables & chairs, smallwares, phones, sound system, etc.   Now Sean and I are going to walk to Bouchon in Yountville for coffee; get our morning coffee and exercise too.  Not a bad way to start the morning!  Then it's back home to work at Picco for the day.

Enjoy these beautiful summer days!

Hallelujah!

Cleaned up, wall in place ready to build!

Hallelujah!  Thank you Jesus!  I got my Building Permit! (Happy dance).....

Looking out the front window and entry

So, six weeks later and $7,000, well $9500 if you count the road deposit.  Something they're supposed to give you back when you're done if you haven't torn up the road.  Really?  The cost of opening a restaurant....  They told me it would cost more than I expected and take longer, they were right!  You need to have faith, passion and determination to pursue your dream!  To risk everything and dare to do what many will caution you against, isn't easy, its downright scary at times.  You have to believe with everything in your heart that you are being called to do precisely what you were meant to do.  And then trust, walk out on that ledge and jump and know that God will give you wings!  OK, that's my pep-talk to my own self for the day!

Now I'm running trying to get my money lined up, contracts with my equipment guy signed and deposited.  Gotta make a list and schedule to start ordering the things I'm in charge of: tables, chairs, small equipment, small wares, lighting, trim tiles.  The list goes on and on.

Plumbing line mapped out

Also meeting with my chef next week to finalize the menu and start on recipes, costing sheets, vendor lists, labor staffing, scheduling and training.  Get utilities and internet to the site.  What else is on my desk/kitchen table?  Oh yes, my lovely employee handbook, almost finished.  Then on to training manuals and employee packets.

Then my architect calls me today and says, "oh you need those plans that the Health Department stamped, but we had to give them to the Town of San Anselmo Building Department and they threw them out!"  REALLY!  Who's A#%* can I go kick?!

Oh yes, and don't forget to celebrate with your best friends!  God bless Barry, Kate and Nick who called me up tonight and said, "let's go celebrate!"

Cherish your friends.........

Gluten-Free Pizzas

Margherita (amazing cab)

In the spirit of Independence Day, I think our Founding Fathers would be appalled at what it takes to get a little business opened in America today.  That being said, I did go down to the San Anselmo Building Department today and found out that both the Building and Planning Departments had APPROVED my plans!  Woo-Hoo!  However, they were waiting for the Fire Department's approval.  When I went down the street to the Ross Valley Fire Department, I found out the Fire Inspector was on vacation all week.  Wouldn't you know.....When I asked about the status of my review, she said it was "on hold"?  I'm hoping its "on hold" because he didn't have time to review our plan revisions before he left.  I'm also hoping it'll be the first thing he gets to Monday morning and takes "off hold" with his John Hancock!  My contractor is ready, I'm ready, the landlord is ready and I think San Anselmo is ready for some awesome pizza!

With fresh zucchini from the garden!

So, yesterday after a wonderful 4th of July, post Sleepy Hollow Parade party at our friends house, Sean and I headed home for a round of gluten-free pizza experiments.  I've been trying to perfect my dough, and Sean, having been stricken with celiac disease about 8 years ago, is my willing and exuberant guinea pig.  I'm happy to report, I'm getting closer!  I'm not 100% satisfied, but then I'm a bit of a perfectionist.  What I will say, is that if the best I get is what I made last night, it would still be pretty damn good and 95% better than most of what I've tried.  That being said, the experiments go on and I've got a pretty good idea of how to alter the recipe to get the results I'm after.  You'll never get a beautiful, light yeasty crown around the outside with gluten-free dough, but you can get a thin cracker like crust with bubbling, and that's what I'm after.  Even though my regular pizza dough is a natural, long fermentation process and extremely easy to digest and full of probiotics, there are those who CANNOT tolerate gluten, for them I will proudly have a house-made alternative.

Piadine

Got my employee manual started today.  Its hilarious how you can really procrastinate on things that are tedious and time consuming.  I've been putting this off for weeks!  Also got the builders risk insurance lined up and paid for, and the contract with my contractor signed and delivered today.  Also did a little employee scouting.  I've got my eye on a few outstanding people I'd LOVE to recruit!  There are some things you can teach people and there are somethings that they are just born with.  A happy and fun-loving spirit that cares for others and takes pride in what they do, cannot be taught.  That's what I'm looking for at Pizzalina!

Have a wonderful weekend........  

GF dough is best rolled out with a rolling pin

Stew Hens

The Hens (minus Emily & Loretta) :(

This will be another week of waiting on the building permit, and maybe longer because of the holiday.  I'll try to patiently enjoy this moment of calm before the storm.

What could be a more perfect way to start such a week, than with a glorious luncheon with the "Stew Hens"!  Last week was the Stars Re-Aligned Dinner, and this week its a Re-United Luncheon with the ladies of stars.  This little group of women was started maybe about 15 years ago by Colleen McGlynn, of DaVero Olive Oil, who I believe also coined the

Yummy Soft Shell Crab

English Pea Ravioli with Morels - Heavenly!

name, Stew Hens.  It started as a quaint little dinner party at her house to get together with our women friends who all used to work at Stars.  I'll never forget that one because Colleen had picked up some Peking Ducks from a local market in China Town and built a whole meal around it.  It was memorable to this day!  Colleen, Emily Luchetti, Loretta Keller, Wendy Brucker, Holly Snyder, Franny and myself.  Since then we periodically declare a Stew Hen gathering and whoever can make it, gets together to reminisce, catch up, rekindle, and generally love on, support and encourage each other through life. 

So yesterday Colleen, myself, Wendy Brucker, Holly Snyder, and Lori Theis all got together to celebrate Franny Pasternick being in town from Oaklahoma!  Lori flew in from LA and Holly from Seattle.  Now that's what I call friends!  We had an incredible lunch at Waterbar prepared by Parke Ulrich.  Pete Sittnick took such good care of us we felt like royalty!  The view, the day, the food, the friendship; blessings abound with so much to be grateful for!  The only thing missing was our pals Emily Luchetti and Loretta Keller both out of town on vacation.  They were truly missed, but we'll just have to do it again!

Something about food and friends and fellowship, that just brings life into focus and gives it a real depth of meaning.  To share a meal with friends is one of the most basic and necessary pleasures of life.  To sit around a table, laugh, eat, drink, be merry.  To shake off the worries of the world, enjoy the blessings of friends, share in each others lives the stories that make us unique, yet so very commonly human.  To rekindle the bonds that bind, uplift the spirits to soar, and encourage our hearts on in a crazy world, now that's what I'm takin' about...... real friends!  Love you Hens.....

In the mean time, I ordered the specialty lighting for the dining room, and this week I've got to write an employee manual.  Argh, not the most inspired task!

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Grab a friend and BBQ!

Sleepless in San Anselmo

Pey-Marin's Textbook Label...Yummy!

Well last night at three am, not being able to sleep, I got up and spent at least half an hour writing a new, lengthy post, only to loose it in the split second of a wrong click.  No command Z could fix it.  Urgh.... Back to bed where I should've been all along!

Suffice it to say, it was a very lovely post about wine tastings, and health department frustrations, printers and procrastinating engineers.  A fittingly frustrated post to a frusting couple of days.  I went to bed thinking, Forget it!  You have so much to be grateful for and you're almost there.  Think positive and get some rest.

What I will say now, is that I'm so encouraged and excited!  (What a difference some sleep makes).  We're going to have some awesome wines on the list, thanks to my brilliant brother, Sean Crowley.  Really unique wines from small, passionate, mostly bio-dynamic  producers both locally and from handpicked regions of Italy.   All will all have a charming story to tell, and I'm making new winemaker friends and distributor friends, people who are a pleasure to work with and have the same love for what they do as I do.  That right there is something to be grateful for!

We did get our health department issue worked out.  You've just got to get as creative about circumventing their rules as they are about creating them.  Its absolutely ridiculous how they've got you, and nobody will stand up to them because they all just need to get open!  I'd fight about it because I hate to see hard working people done wrong, but just like them, it costs more to fight than it does to get creative and work around things. 

My architect also dropped off the plan check revisions today to the Town of San Anselmo.  I'm hopping for a quick turn around, and a final go ahead! 

Please God.....

Reunions

Graduation cake by Emily Luchetti/Terri Wu

It's been a big week, a reunion week of sorts.  Tuesday was another continuation of the graduation celebrations, this time a reunion of elementary/high school friends and family at Farallon.  A repeat of their high school graduation party.  I'm so blessed to have this circle of friends and family!  As one of the mothers Nancy Culhane said in her speech, "You never know when you'll need someone, cherish these friendships." This group of friends and families have been a great support through my process of starting a restaurant, and I am truly grateful!

Thursday was The Stars Dinner Realigned at Epic Roasthouse.  You can read about it in this link  http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2012/06/stars-reunion-sf-jeremiah-tower-epic-roasthouse.html#photo=1x00002   The hype about the dinner had been building for weeks, and everyone was so excited.  To say it was a memorable evening is an understatement, the food and wine were absolutely stunning!  The room was filled with SF restaurateurs, luminaries, old Stars employees, purveyors, regulars, friends, patrons, press; and you could feel the night pulsing, just as any bustling night at Stars ever did!

I was taking pictures in the kitchen when someone said, "Your food is getting cold."   That being the last thing on my mind, I realized, this is where I'm most comfortable!  This is the excitement!  These are my friends & colleagues!  This is why I'm opening a restaurant!  It was such a moment of affirmation.  I went back to my seat to savor the most incredible course of the night, Mark's sturgeon.  Aged, lobster-stuffed sturgeon, so infused with tender flavor it seemed to have swam onto the plate on its own accord.  To dress it in a simple butter sauce with caviar, is like putting a silk chemise on Sophia Loren.  And then to pair it with Chassagne-Montrachet 1st cru, I'll be thinking of that dish forever!

Every dish was incredible, and the pairings of wines spared no expense to measure up.  Some of the greatest culinary hands in San Francisco lovingly and proudly made this menu come alive.  And with the brilliant and always charming, Jeremiah Tower at the helm, the spirit of Stars past wafted through the dinning room as infectious as it always was.  Being a part of this kind of sophistication in food has been my life and my education, its in my blood. Thank you God of Grace for aligning me with such spectacular people!

On the Pizzalina front, we did get our plan-check comments back from the Town of San Anselmo Building Department last Wednesday.  The architects are all over it and we should be resubmitted by Monday or Tuesday.  I'm praying for a quick approval!  I'm now scrambling to get everything lined up for our green light..... subtitled, put lots of money in the bank......

Nothing ventured, nothing gained......