The Myth part two

Please scroll down and read The Myth part one before reading this article


....And the show goes on


By most accounts the situation seems dire, No?
I mean, come on. Tax bills from businesses that aren't even open anymore...raising prices of all utilities and major food product...delivery trucks charging an extra $40 to pay for their gas...minimum wage being raised. Any normal business owner would feel like they were facing a tsunami.

I am not a normal business owner.

After reading a very good book called THE E-MYTH by Michael Gerber.
(it stands for entrepreneurial myth). I learned that to truly succeed in business you must have three major roles filled. The Administrator, or CEO, the technician (in this case, the Chef) , and the sales director.
If a cohesive team of three is not present, you will eventually fail.

I'm a technician. I always have been. When you reach the level of Executive Chef you have behind you many years of leadership training, stamina training and most importantly, training to deal with adverse situations. It's like being Captain Kirk on the Starship Enterprise. Kirk steers his ship while directing all of his officers and whenever necessary, he jumps right into the action to defeat the klingons, or he runs to the engine room to direct Scotty how to fix the engine so that the ship continues at warp speed, or he gets beamed down to the hostile planet to engage in hand to hand combat with a creature with a mans body and a lizards head. Oh, and once in a while he gets to boink the green chick.

I am also a fireman. A fireman who specializes at putting out several small fires all at the same time rather than battling one huge inferno.

So you see, I am a technician who drives his ship from the most important location in the business...the kitchen.
As far as a sales director, well, my entire team, AND my loyal customers (such as Paul Lamarine) have accepted the task of promoting our restaurant. And in the end, the great food and service really kind of sells itself.

So there I was. it was the beginning of 2008. The fall and winter seasons are upon us...very busy time for restaurants... and the road ahead seems daunting. You see, right after the wonderfully busy holiday season every restaurant hits the time of year sometimes referred to as "The Winter Doldrums" Basically the months of January, February and March. It typically is painfully slow, for all the reasons you would imagine, and if you havn't saved the money that you made from Christmas to get you through, you truly will be challenged in ways you never knew.

So that's what I was facing as an owner. Every week there are more and more reports of people losing their homes and cars, business going bankrupt. thousands of people getting laid off. Ever the American auto industry was on the edge of going belly up. All bad news.

But I kept cooking.

And the customers kept eating.

I kept cooking because it's what makes me feel like everythings right in the world.
Martin Luther King once said,

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy"

Sylvester Stallone once said,

"Its not how hard you can hit that matters, Its how hard you can get hit, but keep moving forward"

That was my decision. To live the words that these two great orators have spoken. No matter what, I was going to do whatever it takes to keep moving forward. Whatever it takes. I knew it would be difficult, but the thought of coming out on the other side was so damn inspiring, I wouldn't let myself accept any outcome other than success.

So I kept cooking.

And the customers kept coming

And the servers kept serving . And the Managers kept managing (managing to put with me!) Our entire team kept moving forward. Yes lots of bad news was circling the town and sometimes it was about us, but I assured the staff that as long as we continue to work as hard as ever, and continue to provide an excellent experience, the people will keep coming.
Was it a bluff...maybe, a bit. I didn't know what the outcome would actually be. But I always believe that positive thoughts lead to positive actions. So we stayed positive. We talked about it every week. We shared our fears and worries. And although things got very scary during the doldrums we never lost sight of what we needed to do.

Cut to last week.
I read in one of my restaurant trade journals that by some accounts the food and beverage industry is showing signs of elevation from the harsh economy. Certain customers tell me that they are feeling a bit better because the stock market was...um...doing good, I guess. Or at least better? (by now you should be able to tell that I have no stock investments)
My manager prints out a comparison sales report for year to date numbers. Wow! We are almost exactly the same as the year before the recession! I wont lie to you, we had a great summer. I know that it was mostly rainy days and allot of folks were pissed off, but the rain brings people into restaurants. I would secretly do rain dances in the afternoon to welcome the clouds and the bad weather.
Yup, a damn good summer.

Now, people who are in the know, know that the past year has been incredibly tough on myself and my wife. There have been, and still are, nights when we're not sure how the next bill is to be paid. When she gets nervous I tell her, "80 percent of the country is going through the exact same thing right now" A little know fact about owning a small business is that when payday arrives, It is the owner that receives his check last. If at all.

Character. Hardship strengthens character. That's what my dad has always told me. Let me tell ya, Ive got buckets of character spilling out of my ears.

But the show goes on. And there is a full house of hungry friends

And you go to work every day knowing that it will be better than yesterday. You pull your head up out of the muck just long enough to notice that 225 thousand is now down to 49 thousand.
And 50 thousand is now down to
14 thousand. you look
at your recent mortgage statements(for the house and the restaurant) and you see that both are current. You feel energized. To use an extremely trite saying, you see a light at the end of the tunnel. Today IS better than yesterday. last week WAS better than last month.Last month WAS way ahead of last year!

Keep moving foreword. Keep steering the ship. Keep putting out fires.
Keep cooking, serving, managing....smiling

"....times of challenge and controversy"
Some might say that sharing this story with you is controversial. "why would you want anyone to know that?!?" they say. "What if people don't come back?!?" they say. Sharing stories of hardship brings a community closer together is my answer. Why wouldn't they come back? They were here last week, they loved their food, they enjoyed their server, the felt that the evening came at a value. They know I'm here, moving forward, working hard, leading the crew of the Enterprise. Ready to feed the Man creature with the lizard head...or cook something special for the green chick.

I have boatloads of faith. Faith in myself, my team and my customers. My restaurant is my home, and when you visit my home you get treated like family...huge deal when you're Italian...and family members talk and share experiences and support each other. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude to the hundreds and hundreds of people who support us on a daily basis. I can only hope that the level of passion and love that goes into everything we do is felt by those who benefit from it.

In one of my previous blog posts I mentioned the phrase,
"Within these four wall we refuse to take part in a recession"
This became our mantra. If we believe...truly believe that we are going to survive the bad economy, continue to create and innovate and remain authentic
and provide our customers with the experience that they deserve, if we promise our friends that when they spend an hour or two with us we will help you forget the failing economy. We will cater to you for that short period of time and we will only hope that by the time you leave, you feel just a bit better than when you came in. We will relish in the fact that we have been a part of your day...hopefully, a good part.


It has been 8 years since I opened my restaurant in Sturbridge and I have survived.
I have survived nights with snowstorms and no customers, survived
a severe drop in pasta sales when the Atkins diet was the rage. A September that was so unbelievable horrible that our citizens didn't feel right about going out and having a good time. I have survived rumors (see my very first blog entry) Lots and lots of rumors.
Rumors so thick that you had to wipe them away from your face with your hand. I have survived expanding to three restaurants, and decreasing back to one. I have survived battles with terrorist parking lot owners, and tyrannical "sign police" from the town hall. I have survived fabricated restaurant reviews from jealous competitors who spew bile and hatred out on the food websites, and battles with unruly customers who refuse to pay for the meal that they have just licked clean off their plate.

I have survived. But make no mistake about it, I did not do this alone. I would NEVER have survived without the constant love and support and understanding of the people who I call family. I would be typing for days if I spent the time to name them all. They are the people closest to me. My team, my friends, my loyal customers. My father, my wife. My wife...I could write another blog post just about her. But whatever I write would never fully describe how important she is. I think she knows.

And Sharon. Most of you know her. To call her the "manager" just doesn't describe fully what she means to me and to my restaurant. As a typical Italian male, I never tell her enough how much I appreciate her. Yes there are disagreements, arguments, fights. But through it all She more than any other team member never lost the faith that Rovezzi's will survive whatever the world throws at us.

So...Still want to be a restaurant owner?

I f I had to do it all over again, I would. This story is full of painful experiences and difficult times.
But everything I have told you here is dwarfed by the absolutely wonderful things that have happened. The people, the events, the food.... The food. That's pretty much it for me. It's all about the food. Being able to create as an artist, and then receive almost immediate feedback for the work, that is what keeps me going, keeps me cooking, keeps me focused.
Do I love what I do?

Shoeless Joe Jackson was heard saying,
"It's not about the money, it's about baseball. Christ, I would do this for beer money"

I don't drink beer, or enjoy baseball...but I think you get the point

Now, if you will excuse me I have a new fall menu to create.

Tomorrow,

Warp speed Mr. Sulu

The Myth

If you scroll down several blog entries ago you will see one titled , "Recessed"

A major goal of that article was to convince everyone that although our country is in the middle of an economic recession, Rovezzi's stands strong as an anchor of community business is the harsh seas that is our economy.

The ship attached to the anchor... it's getting battered to hell by the storm.

There is a saying in the food and beverage industry, "If you want to make a small fortune in the restaurant business,..start with a large fortune and wait 6 months"
I frequently use that phrase when I am approached by an enthusiastic pre-entrepenuer who is ready to throw all of hi life savings, and 401K money into opening the next new, cool, eclectic, eatery/tappas bar/raw bar/cigar bar/steak house that serves American Kobe beef that will become an instant success because all of his family and friends are going to patronize so often so there's NO WAY it could fail.
"I love to cook!...and my wife enjoys meeting people, we would make a great team, me in the kitchen and her as the manager!"
"We will only serve creative Martinis at the bar, that way we don't have to bother with purchasing all that other liquor."
"We will only serve organic produce and grass fed beef and pork."

Yes these are all actual things that have been said over the years.

I am the Executive Chef of my restaurant...Would you like to know what I did today?

Woke up to a phone call from my produce company reminding me...for the 6th time this week...that I owe them money.

Drove to the restaurant but not before stopping at the bank to withdraw cash for a food delivery. Most companies during this recession are demanding COD. They are not taking chances.

Ok, up to the office to finish the new menu...

Found out, as soon as I sat down, that a booze delivery was coming. No problem, I have enough cash...liquor companies cant take cash?...they need a bank check? OK, back to the bank.

Drove to Worcester because my assistant in the kitchen forgot to order something from the delivery that's coming. Arrive at the place to get it. Oh, they re not open Monday thru Wednesday? OK. Across town to another place.

Back to the restaurant. The delivery came but they were out of an item. Called the owner, "you don't have any?" "Nope" "But I order it every week" " ya, I know...sorry" "sorry?" "well what else do you want me to say?...I can get it to you tomorrow" "But I need it tonight!" "Ya, that doesn't really help then does it?" CLICK

Off to the store. Get back with the item. Find out that another Item was missing. "Go with what you've got!" I shout. "You ll make it through tonight"

Run home to let the dog out...you know what happens when they are cooped up all day.

Decide to take that ever help full 20 minute cat nap that really refreshes the brain. My eyes start to close. My phone rings. Its my manager telling me that the cable guy is at the restaurant to shut off the service because we are behind a month. And you guessed it....he wants cash.

Back to the restaurant to pay the guy.

Dinner is getting close to starting and the cook says that we had an extremely busy lunch so we are going to need some more boneless chicken...Of course we do. I'll go get it.

Return with chicken. The manager tells me that the soda machine is out of Co2 gas and we don't have another tank. Proceed to make 5 phone calls to track down a gas tank. Whew, the local brewery has one. I'll be right back.

Hook up tank. Back up to the office to finish the new menu. Phone rings. Its my Insurance agent. He wants to know if he can cash the check that I gave him a week ago. I asked him to hold it as long as possible.
A couple more days? I ask. Uh Oh, he says. I already cashed it. I thought you were going to say yes when I asked you.

Oh well, cross fingers....pray

Back to the menu.

Phone rings. Its my accountant. Hey did you receive some information from the IRS? he says. I think so but I didn't open it, I say.
Drive it up to me tomorrow, he says.

I slump in my chair.... This cant be good.

Yes, the IRS. The government agency that you become intimately connected to once you own a business. I have had hundreds of discussions with the agency over the past 8 years of business. But the highest concentration of talks have been in the last 2 years since closing my other two restaurants.

Oh, you didn't know? Yes its true, I had three restaurants going at the same time. I was so excited about running one very popular place that I thought I could have several. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Bigger is not better and all that was accomplished was tripling my headaches and problems and reducing the amount of profit in my pocket...all in all...A nightmare.

So as the recession was hitting I was consolidating back to one location. The first one. The best one. But you see, closing a restaurant isn't a simple thing. It comes with allot of responsibilities. And if the business was hanging on by threads at the time of closing well that just means that there will be allot of money owed to allot of different people. Most importantly....yup, the IRS.

And the Massachusetts Department of revenue.

These two agencies collect ALL kinds of taxes from you when you own a business. Taxes for things that you have NEVER heard of. You would swear that they were just making it up as they go! This cant be right! Another tax bill?!?
Well, when times are tough and you are trying to keep the business alive you start to make tough decisions. You know that you need product to serve, so you buy food. You know you need people to produce, so you pay payroll. You know you need a place in which to do this, so you pay rent and utilities. Hmmm. What's left. Oh, taxes... geez, there doesn't seem to be any money left.

Oh well, they can wait. I'm sure the Gov. isn't going to crumble because they don't have my measly little tax payment.

Cut to a week after the restaurants are closed. I'm sitting in the office of an IRS agent with my accountant. We are trying to negotiate a payment plan. A payment plan to pay off the 225 thousand dollars that is owed to the Gov. from the two failed restaurants. (just a hint in case you are ever in that position...crying doesn't get you out of it)
Okay, deal accepted. 5 thousand dollars a month till its paid. SURE, I can swing that! No problem

Across town to the Mass. Dept. of revenue to workout a payment plan. A payment plan to pay off the 50 thousand dollars owed to the State from the two failed restaurants. (again, no crying)
Okay, deal accepted. 15 hundred dollars till its paid. SURE, I can swing that!

Cut to me standing at the bar in my restaurant with statements in my hand from my food and booze companies saying that they will be accepting COD only. On the bar in front of me are the bills illustrating that the price of propane, heating oil AND electricity are going up. On the television above the bar there is a newscast. The announcer is saying that the chairman of the federal reserve has just announced that our country has been in a full on recession for months but no one wanted to admit it.

To be continued....