The lights went on yesterday. Today, I will put in bulbs.

For over a year I have worked very closely with The Fifteen Group – restaurant consultants. Long story made short, I was going to open a franchise to fill in some large gaps in my business knowledge and my resto knowledge in particular. I was headed down that road when my friend Bill Anderson one night said, “Why don’t you open your own place?” This lead me to some Googling and I discovered The Fifteen Group. Their Opening Handholding Package (for me) was more or less the same cost as a Franchise Fee. I figured that they would be able to teach me everything that a Franchise could and then I would have two advantages:

(1) I would not pay 5% of my sales to head office for all eternity; and

(2) It would all be mine – the vision, the dream, etc.

I thought some about it and decided that I would not be a good franchisee and that I should gamble on my own vision of a restaurant. Later, Raelene (The Sweet Banzini) and her remarkable petite cheesecakes entered the scene and completed the vision.

Over the last year The Fifteen Group Chef, Stuart Betteridge, has worked really closely with my to develop the menu. Six weeks ago Chef Ryan Moore (The Savoury Banzini) started with me. Most of the menu was set when Ryan started although some of the items are all his – The Steve McQueen beet pizza, for instance, is Ryan’s creation.

Today, both chef’s will share the kitchen and prepare the entire menu. Exciting times. This will finalize every recipe and every menu item. A year in the making, today we will set it in stone.

I started out as “roast meats turned into panini with a gelato bar.” I am finishing with “roast meats turned into freshly carved sandwiches, panini, and pizzas with a remarkable offering of petite cheesecakes.” Very close to the original vision.

Dave

Chef Ryan, The Savoury Banzini, is very happy to have a full fridge.