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10.5.2013

 

 

This Blog thing is new to me, I don't know if anyone will find this interesting or worth while but I added a comment box by chance you may want to respond or ask questions..........

Blog....

 

10.16.2013

 

Coming up on the 6 month mark and wondering if it is better to be posting the truth or the possitive spin that everyone pushes to help promote their businesses.  Well, since I have been going against the grain for the majority of my life I'm not gonna change now.  

 

The reality is this project has been even a bigger eye opener than the Food Cart project.  When you spend over two decades working in an industry and you are passionate and care about what you do it isn't really that hard to make a decent living off of it.  However, some of us feel we have a deeper calling and in this case I have some sort of malfuntioning bug inside me, telling me I need to continue trying to bring a pure quality product to the the everyday man/women.  I don't know why?  Maybe because I come from very little and when I took my first real job at the age of 14 at a real restaurant washing dishes my eyes were opened to the world of real food and I never looked back and maybe I just want to share that.  

 

I could have stayed the course and worked my way through top tier restaurants, added a powder here to this, a coloring there to that, packed some meat into a plastic bag, trained some minium wage cook to sear and reheat, but none of that seemed right to me.

 

I chose to be a traditionalist, work with local ingredients, support local farmers and businesses, pay my staff more than most and try to sell my product at a resaonable price during business hours to the working man/woman.  Unfortunitly, what I consider quality is unfamiliar to the general public, what I consider to be a fair price point is too far above the average price point for lunch.  So, I sit here after every 14+ hour day, worried about how to pay the morgage and support my pregnant wife and baby on the way becasue I try to do the right thing.

 

I have friends who say it is irresponsible to sacrifice profit for my moral standing, yet I feel like we are at the brink of breaking through.  It is just hard to keep pushing forward when you know you are doing what is right, you know that people who know what is right appreachiate what you are doing. However, you have to at some point accept that there just are not enough people who care, care to care or can afford to care about real food done right (during our hours in our location).

 

At the end of the day I could buy cheap meat that was fed slop in a shit yard, I could use bread made in Texas, I could use premade sauces made from hydroginized oils, I could use frozen fries.  I could do what almost everyone else does and be making money, making good money.  Instead, I stand my ground and try to do what is right, I don't want to preach so I put out educational reading material and a few posters stating what we do, but try not to make a strong stance.  However, in turn I get bad yelp reviews for not making menu changes or being to pricey or not having enough options.  Or even worse there is this underlying vibe of people who think we are pushing something on them or feel I am some hipster trying to rip them off, and they just look in as if we are fish in a tank with an odd look on the face.  What??? What did I do to offend you? Then they just stroll by everyday and never stop in, never try a bite?

 

This is my life, has always been my life, I am just trying to share good food made from real ingredients to real people it really is that simple! But, is it sustainable in this format????  I don't know..............?

 

 

12.12.2013

 

We are quickly coming up on the one year anniversary of taking over the space from Looney's BBQ.  It has been a very interesting year. I am VERY proud of everything we have accomplished.  As with any new business we have to grow and adapt.   We have had to make many changes and have many changes coming. I would like to thank Brendan for his time served and Jason who will be moving on in time for the holidays to visit family back East.  

 

With that said, I am happy to welcome Matt Butler, who is starting next week as the Chef de Cuisine. He will be taking a little weight off of my shoulders, allowing me a little bit of extra time at home with our soon-to-arrive baby girl!!!!  Matt will be a great addition to the team and has worked closely with me as my Sous Chef  at two other locations.  I would also like to welcome Joshua who has been doing a great job working with you guys heading up the counter slot this last week.  We are happy to have him on board and hope he sticks around, it has taken awhile to find just the right fit. We also have another new team member who helps us out in the evenings and I would like to thank Ben for bringing in some Upsate NY humor to the shop and reminding me of my own Hudson Valley roots. 

 

Marrow is constantly pushing through growing pains.  In order for Marrow to keep moving forward, we need to continue to grow and push forward.  As mentioned earlier, this location has proven to be challenging for our offerings.  We have built a nice business and made a great deal of new friends, however, for Marrow to continue grow we need to make the changes neccesary.  Compromising the quality of our product is not an option, so the only real solution is to find a location that will allow us to have full-service, including......tables, chairs, beer, wine, cocktails, servers, bartenders and  kitchen staff to allow us to fully highlight our Whole Cookery appraoch.

 

We submitted a "Letter of Intent" on a location VERY close to our current spot but there are multiple interested parties. So, no promises.  We can't make any move without the proper funding to make it happen. 

 

At this point, we really need to figure out a few major things very soon. Where is the best location to reach our full potential, how do we finance the move, who can take over our current location - that is great for someone wanting to do a quality business lunch program or a delivery focused business.  The bottom line is that this "Whole Cookery" concept is a hard concept to stand behind with only Monday-Friday foot traffic looking for a cheap lunch.  

 

I can't  abandon the concept now that I know it can work at such a low price point.  I need to push this concept of only buying, killing and using ONE animal at a time forward.  If I can be profitable (even if barely) serving simple foods, such as burgers and sandwiches, then there is no reason a larger establishments shouldn't be embracing this appoach.  It is not a new approach, just a lost appoach. Laziness and greed are not acceptable reasons to continue the status quo.

 

 

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