The Year(s) In Review - Part IV

So at this point the Café’s been closed for a couple weeks and we can’t seem to get the insurance issue sorted out. What is the best and most non-emotional decision I can make. So, we decide to close and not renew the lease. It was a hard decision but it was for the best. At the end of the day, a business decision, not a personal or an emotional one was the right one to make.

The reality is, I did take it personal. On some levels I felt like I had failed. Failed the family, failed my friends and failed the investors. What you find is that you are always your worst critic. In reality, the catering had a great year, but it was overshadowed by the Cafe's trails and tribulations.

We spent the next few months focusing more on The Spice Rack Catering. My spirit is such that I don't stay down for long and I look at setbacks as just obstacles to overcome.I realized that my desire to open a restaurant had not changed and I still loved the idea of the Cafe. I spent quite a bit of time getting back into the food (which is why I had got into it to start with). The Cafe had taken me away from the purity of the food and the creation process as I had know it (not to sound too dramatic and theatrical).

2014 ended up being a great year despite the setbacks and we’re well ahead of 2015 projections already. We’re lining up to start paying the investors back, and the idea of the Café and the restaurant are still there. It will just be a more informed process.

At the end of the day, there were mistakes made. It was all a learning process and one that made me a better chef, a better husband, a better father, a better friend and a better business owner.

So stayed tuned…2015 is going to be a great year!

The Year(s) In Review - Part III

So at this point we’re getting new customers and some are becoming regulars but we’re still below what we need for the business to support itself. But you see, I’m the type of person that believes that the best things come with time. The Café will be known and will eventually support itself. But again, time “isn't really on our side and most bills are 30 days. Labor was a weekly challenge that I had inflicted on myself. And through it all we mostly (I mostly) neglected the growth of the catering company. The Café needed just about all of my attention and efforts to help it grow, it is really your proverbial baby is what I realized.

What I hadn’t realized is that the catering company was also my baby but that it had grown from all the efforts I had put in the years before. It had learned to walk a bit on it’s own. Despite my lack of attention, The Spice Rack continued to draw business from word of mouth and from some of the previous events we had done. It was our saving grace. It helped quite a bit with the Café location expenses.

It was a good thing, but I really wanted the Café to support itself and I knew that would only come with time (there it is again). So, could we wait it out? I think so, or I did at the time. And then it happened.

We hit 2014 with new vigor and passion. I just needed a new plan for the Café. Better marketing, a change in hours, a revised menu geared around the farmers market (which I had start doing a few months before). January had quite a bit of cold snaps and I was in an old building.

First, I had a pipe burst under the building which ended up being piped into the next building (I did say the building was old right). So we got that fixed, then the hot water pipe froze. I had the cold water on a slow drip but not the hot. Never occurred to me. Didn't matter anyway. The reason it was cold was because someone had stolen our outdoor unit for the heating as well as the outdoor unit for the walk-in.  It happened over the course of four days where there was snow and we had the Café closed.

Turns out the HVAC for the Café was also ducted to the small unoccupied apartment upstairs! So, as the temperature dropped outside to in the 20’s it got down to the low 30’s inside the Café. We had space heaters, but we had a large space and they just weren't working. It was way too cold to have customer in there. So then, a day or two later a pipe behind the wall in the upstairs apartment burst and flooded the Café. It was so cold that the water froze in place and I had icicles hanging inside the Café, huge ones!

It was all disheartening. We had put so much work into the place. The kids had painted, spackled and even helped on the register. Broke my heart to look it that way. The insurance process was a slow one and we lost business during this process. There’s a lot I could say here, but I’ll only say that as a tenant it’s important to have an understanding of how things should proceed and work in certain situations.

By this time, our lease is almost up (we only signed a one year lease oddly enough in case things didn't quite work out). My spirit, my pride, the Brooklyn in me says to rebuild and hit the ground running. But is that thee right “business” decision or is that the “emotionally attached” decision?

To Be Continued…The Conclusion (finally!)

The Year(s) In Review - Part II

So, here’s what you think when you set an opening. You think that you’re going to be so busy that you won’t be able to keep up. I did research and couldn't find a place in our area that was going to do what we were going to do, offering the cuisine we were going to offer. Good thing right? No, not always. The reality is, the reason why there’s nothing in the area could be because it may not fit the people in the area. But you see, as an artist I believe when you build it they will come, and it does in certain cases but not always. There are way more factors involved than the hope and the dream. There’s location, appearance, marketing, foot traffic and parking.

Before I go any further please understand that this is therapy for me and also meant to tell the story and offer a view through our eyes of what happened, what didn't happen and why. It’s partly biased but it’s all told from a great place.

So, expecting all this traffic we purchased the equipment and purchased product (quite a bit of it perishable because we build up just about everything from scratch). Hired staff as well.

Opening day comes and nothing. Actually, we had done a soft opening and opened our place up to the Comic Book store next door for a Comic Book event they were doing. Sales were moderate but below expectations. So, while were on that subject there is a target sales number you should be looking for. It should be the amount of money you need to make on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to take care of all the expenses the business is generating. Expenses like Security (alarm company), Business Insurance, Lease, County Fees, Utilities and the big L (Labor).

We did a Grand Opening with the Local Chamber of Commerce. Thoughts were that once that happened, business would pick up. Again no real increase in business. At this point we’re advertising locally in the neighborhood and targeting them on Facebook as well with the logic being that we draw our neighbors in and grow from there.

So, we did start to get customers (regulars in fact) and we had some great days. Were they all great? No. Did the sales keep up with the business expenses? No. So what had we done wrong? Quite a few things at this point (6 months in).

Well, we took on labor much sooner than we should have. We also didn't realize that what we were doing didn't really fit the neighborhood. Maybe it would have over time, but when you’re bleeding cash, time is not a luxury that you have. Our Social Media presence could have been better. We had a great track record when it came to the food. Once someone tried it, they were likely to come back.

With low foot traffic and a limited social media presence we didn't have a steady way to increase our client base. The intersection we were at saw a huge amount of vehicle traffic, but we didn't have a whole lot of parking and the front of our place wasn't the most attractive. My thoughts were that some of the best food I've had came from hole in the wall places. The trick to these places is that they've operated years under the radar before they became know (if they ever did). There again is that tricky thing called time.

To be continued…..

(One more I think)

The Year(s) In Review - Part I

So it’s a new year with exciting and grand possibilities for The Spice Rack. I feel reflective and also like it’s necessary for me to try and sum up the last two years. I contemplated doing it at the end of 2013 but it was still unfolding and honestly I was exhausted, conflicted and sensitive about the whole thing. We’re in a different and great place and the reality of it is that I owe this story to our fans and friends and anyone else that is venturing down this road or thinking about it.

It’s way too much to put in one blog so I’m going to break it up into a couple blogs to keep your eyes from glazing over. J

To take a step back, we are a family-owned and operated catering company called The Spice Rack Catering.  In May of 2013 we opened a Café in Glen Burnie, MD called Café 648 and in February of 2014 we closed. My dream had always been to open a small restaurant that served comfort food, and the Café’s menu would be designed the same way. It would be comfort food for lunch service and then we added breakfast in the mix. I always cooked from the heart and the Café would allow me, allow us to bring our passion for cooking and respect for food to people on a daily basis.

Our catering company had been doing well and had a gradual increase in business from its time of inception to the opening of 2013. For those who don’t know my wife is the General Manager and Front of the House person for the catering. I consult with her quite a bit because I realized I was actually one of those artists who only care about the product (like most artists do). For many artists it’s about the music, or the poetry or the artwork or in my case the food. We don’t really care about the business side of things. In reality, if I didn't have bills, I probably wouldn't even charge for it. So, you see the need for a balancing (and patient) voice like that of my wife.

That said, my wife’s opinion (and the opinion of some other business associates) was that I should focus on continuing to capitalize on the growth of the catering company and then focus on a Café or a restaurant. Now that doesn't mean she didn't support me in the Café because she did. She believes in what I’m doing and realizes that I am the hard-headed quintessential artist that has selective hearing. The irony is that she is a poet so this whole experience must have been a bit surreal.

The renovation, permits and opening are a whole other story that I’ll cover in another blog.

We spent most of 2013 trying to increase clientele and get our name out……

To be continued…

Wedding Wire Rated

Its been a couple months since we last posted. We've catered a couple weddings (thanks to the lovely couples), some corporate events and a golf tournament. We'll always be grateful that people trust us with their Family, Friends and Coworkers.

We should also mention that in our recent move, we've opened a little place called Cafe 648. It's our chance to bring our food to you on a daily basis. Serving lunch (and now Breakfast), we have two times a day to bring you food that is near and dear to our hearts.

Thanks to all the people that have come by and tried the food, and we look forward to seeing many more of you. Our menu, hours and locations can be found at: Cafe 648 Facebook. And don't forget to check out our daily specials which now boast: Sundried Tomato Flatbread Pizza with Truffle Oil, Ranch Chicken Sandwich and our ever popular (and disappearing soon) BLGreenT.

All that to say thank you. We look forward to catering more Weddings and Corporate Events. Please feel free to contact us at:  catering@thespicerackllc.com to request a menu and to setup a tasting at our new place.

Oh, and the purpose of this blog is to announce that we are:

See our Wedding Wire Reviews.

Talk to you all soon.

A lot has happened since my last post 8 months ago. A deal in the works for a soul food kitchen fell through (the deal wasn't right for our brand anyway). We set out again looking for a new kitchen for catering that had the possibilities for expansion. It took us until earlier this year to find the perfect kitchen (in Glen Burnie) for what we wanted to do. It allowed space for the Spice Rack Catering and also the creation of Cafe 648. 

Cafe 648 is our answer to one of the most asked questions we get at our events which is, "where is your restaurant" and "where can we get your food"? Up until now, we've unfortunately had to say see you at the next event. Now we can say, come by and see us Tuesday through Saturday.

The process of getting it up to snuff was a tedious one, but worth every minute. It has been fun and trying all at the same time. Now we are onto the next phase which is growing the Cafe and expanding the catering. we like the new neighborhood we're in. We believe it fits us and our philosophy. We look forward to increasing our exposure and participation in the community and an increased effort to source locally.

We're excited about the upcoming neighborhood events like the Glen Burnie Summer Concert Series and the Carnivals and Fairs.

See you all soon!

Monday October 8th and The Spice Rack

So, today is a unique day. It is the first Monday where I am an employee of The Spice Rack only. I have for quite some time executed events with the team and still had to be concerned with the "other work phone".

Today has the odd silence of no "other" phone ringing. The Spice Rack phone is ringing (which is a great thing) and there's emails to reply to and proposals to send off. It's a transition period started last week in which me and my wife took a trip to Montego Bay. She has been very supportive (and patient) throughout this process. Thankfully she sees and understands my often times agressive growth plan.

In any case, the prospects look good. We will also be getting information out about a Soul Food takeout restaurant we will be launching in the next 30 days.

Stay tuned, the ride get's interesting from here.