It is amazing that two weeks have gone by already. This past weekend was a true test of our capabilities, and we did a lot better on Saturday night than on Friday. Friday we lost control of the DR, as it were, and the price was a long wait for food to come out of the kitchen. The entire Silcox SibNet was there to witness the event... Saturday night we held the seating back a little better, which meant people had to wait for a table but not for the food as well. Things went a lot smoother. There are still kinks - of course - to be worked out, but as the kitchen gets used to the menu and the DR staff gets used to the kitchen, the timing issues should disappear. Or "go away" as Holly says.
We are so incredibly lucky to have this great crew to open with, beginning with Holly Childs, the sous chef. She is a treasure. Very organized, a good manager to the rest of the kitchen staff, very strong on the line, and a good cook to boot! That mushroom soup she made this weekend... Another treasure we have is LaVonte Johnson, on the Dish side. He waited several weeks for us to open and we are glad he did - his job is possibly the most important in the kitchen and often times the hardest to fill. LaVonte has already proven to be one of the top employees we have ever hired - energetic, conscientious, and willing to do whatever you need him to do, be it mop the dining room floor, prep strawberries, carry glasses to the bar, he does it, besides keeping up with the pots and pans and managing Alec, his helper, on the weekends. LaVonte and Holly are just two of the 25 or so employees at Brooks Tavern, and so far all of them have been good hires. That is just incredible. In our 19 years of running restaurants in Kent County, we have never seen such great people come around for work. Maybe my theory that the more restaurants there are the more employees there are is actually true! What ever, we feel very, very fortunate that we have been able to hire such great people to help us on this big adventure.
Feedback so far has been about 80% positive - some over salting has probably been the biggest problem with a couple of the menu items - but it's still early. We don't think we have a noise issue in the dining room, but we haven't been truly full yet, so that might still be something to deal with. The tall tops have not been as well received as we'd hoped, and the banquettes are a little "New York-y", as far as closeness goes, but we knew that going in. People seem to like the appointments, and the look of the DR as a whole seems okay, although we need more for the walls, and a mirror by the bar so we can keep an eye on 21 without hovering. Keeping the DR clean is our biggest job, with an unending supply of dust coming out of the walls and ceiling. We strip the tables at night and cover things up on the bar and then dust dust dust before service, but it is tedious. Kevin and Holly love the kitchen - it is HUGE - and most of the equipment is just what they need. No one has officially sat at our "Kitchen Table" yet, maybe this week.
Over all we're pretty okay with the opening weeks of BT. There is still a boatload of organizing to do, ordering to get used to, paperwork to catch up on, and scheduling to master, but for the most part we are well on our way and happy to be there. See you at the Mill!
We are so incredibly lucky to have this great crew to open with, beginning with Holly Childs, the sous chef. She is a treasure. Very organized, a good manager to the rest of the kitchen staff, very strong on the line, and a good cook to boot! That mushroom soup she made this weekend... Another treasure we have is LaVonte Johnson, on the Dish side. He waited several weeks for us to open and we are glad he did - his job is possibly the most important in the kitchen and often times the hardest to fill. LaVonte has already proven to be one of the top employees we have ever hired - energetic, conscientious, and willing to do whatever you need him to do, be it mop the dining room floor, prep strawberries, carry glasses to the bar, he does it, besides keeping up with the pots and pans and managing Alec, his helper, on the weekends. LaVonte and Holly are just two of the 25 or so employees at Brooks Tavern, and so far all of them have been good hires. That is just incredible. In our 19 years of running restaurants in Kent County, we have never seen such great people come around for work. Maybe my theory that the more restaurants there are the more employees there are is actually true! What ever, we feel very, very fortunate that we have been able to hire such great people to help us on this big adventure.
Feedback so far has been about 80% positive - some over salting has probably been the biggest problem with a couple of the menu items - but it's still early. We don't think we have a noise issue in the dining room, but we haven't been truly full yet, so that might still be something to deal with. The tall tops have not been as well received as we'd hoped, and the banquettes are a little "New York-y", as far as closeness goes, but we knew that going in. People seem to like the appointments, and the look of the DR as a whole seems okay, although we need more for the walls, and a mirror by the bar so we can keep an eye on 21 without hovering. Keeping the DR clean is our biggest job, with an unending supply of dust coming out of the walls and ceiling. We strip the tables at night and cover things up on the bar and then dust dust dust before service, but it is tedious. Kevin and Holly love the kitchen - it is HUGE - and most of the equipment is just what they need. No one has officially sat at our "Kitchen Table" yet, maybe this week.
Over all we're pretty okay with the opening weeks of BT. There is still a boatload of organizing to do, ordering to get used to, paperwork to catch up on, and scheduling to master, but for the most part we are well on our way and happy to be there. See you at the Mill!
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