Red Gravy Update
- Thread starter VeraBlue
- Start date
goatherder
New member
What does the menu look like?
SilverSage
Resident Crone
Looking good! You must be exhausted!
I cant wait to see it.
I cant wait to see it.
MexicoKaren
Joyfully Retired
Vera, it looks better every day. It must be very exciting to see the dream coming together. I love that Jack Vettriano print of the couple dancing in the rain...very atmospheric. Are you hiring people? Wait staff? Are you doing the cooking? Sous chef? So many bases to cover...I don't know how you do it and remain sane.
VeraBlue
Head Mistress
Next week I'll start working on advertising and menu pricing. By the 13th I'll place some ads for help. There's no need for waitstaff since it's counter service. I'll do soups, sauces, meats and most of the baking. I need a sous chef or lead cook, a deli/salad person, cashier and utility person.
VeraBlue
Head Mistress
Things accomplished since the lease signing...
Kitchen scrubbed, sanitized.
Hood/exhaust scrubbed and sanitized. It also works...
Both bathrooms painted an ivory colour
Dining room painted red on the bottom, ivory on top.
Balcony painted blue on the bottom, yellow/ivory striping on top
A/C vents painted.
Window cleaned of old name, washed.
All the wood in the restaurant cleaned with wood soap.
Red Gravy sign ordered.
RedGravyCafe.com purchased
Restaurant insurance purchased
Plumber obtained - working as we speak
Electrician coming tomorrow to start work
China ordered
Flatware ordered
Furniture for the balcony area ordered.
Floor plans and restaurant information presented to local Sanitarian for approval to begin scheduling inspections
Equipment quote due by Friday
.......
Okay, let's see what I can add to this list...
All the painting, both interior and exterior is complete. The bathroom has been froofed with appliques, and two small cabinets are in each one (for extra c-fold towels and toilet paper)
Balcony floor is complete
Artwork for balcony area and dining area purchased. I can surely use more, but for now, I've got enough to start with. Like my house, it will be a work in progress.
All plumbing and electricity that could be done prior to installation of equipment is done.
Kitchen floor is painted, moulding placed around floor.
Sysco will be the general food vendor
Louisiana Fresh is my produce vendor
Nor-Joe is the Italian specialty food vendor
Coca Cola is the beverage vendor
Community Coffee is the coffee vendor
Binder most likely will be the bread vendor
Schneider's Paper will most likely be the paper vendor
Auto-Chlor will set up and stock all chemicals and dispensers
SDT will handle waste removal
Door knob replaced - brass
Cafe curtains on front windows
Received and signed proposals for equipment, flatwear, tumblers. Picked smallwares (pots,pans, containers, cook's utensils, etc). Waiting for a 'better' price.
Received camera ready logo.
Purchased fax/scanner/copier; computer with monitor, phones
Phone, fax and DSL being connected on Monday. Got the phone number and the fax number today.
Hooked up with ADP to handle payroll. Can begin interviews next Tuesday
Contracted with great accounting firm
Got quotes for embroidering logo onto chef jackets
Meeting with advertising rep tomorrow for the Gambit. Waiting to hear from the Picayune
Menu completed. 95% of pricing included
Plan approved by Sanitarian - once the equipment is installed she'll come for the inspection.
So, that's where I'm at right now. I'm hoping for Nov. 8th as the opening. I'm also working on a tag line... So far, my favourite is 'please come and eat, I always make too much'
buzzard767
golfaknifeaholic
So what have you been doing in your spare time, Roseann? 
Awesome tag line Roseann!!!!!! All this is so exciting. I like the idea of counter service, it simplifies things and saves your diners a some in tips. It sure works for Panera bread. I don't mind going up to get our plate ....seems like service is quicker also since you are not waiting for the waitress or waiter to get back to you.
Keltin
New member
Awesome job Vera.
I’m not a fan of the tag-line though. The whole “I made too much” bit smacks too much of “WE” cook what “WE” want and “YOU” will get our left overs.
I’d opt for a more customer oriented tag line that stressed attention to individual customer service, catering to the paying customer’s needs. Burger King says you can have it your way, so the customer is first.
From our hearts to your plate.
We love to cook what you love to eat.
We’re happy when you’re happy.
From our family to yours.
From hearth to heart, we aim to please.
Until you smile, we keep trying.
Where everyone is family.
Food, Family, Laughter, and Love, it’s all here.
You are our most important ingredient.
There’s always room for one more.
Eat it, or the cat dies.
Please come eat, we need to pay the Coonass.
We’ll do whatever it takes to keep the lights on.
I’m not a fan of the tag-line though. The whole “I made too much” bit smacks too much of “WE” cook what “WE” want and “YOU” will get our left overs.
I’d opt for a more customer oriented tag line that stressed attention to individual customer service, catering to the paying customer’s needs. Burger King says you can have it your way, so the customer is first.
From our hearts to your plate.
We love to cook what you love to eat.
We’re happy when you’re happy.
From our family to yours.
From hearth to heart, we aim to please.
Until you smile, we keep trying.
Where everyone is family.
Food, Family, Laughter, and Love, it’s all here.
You are our most important ingredient.
There’s always room for one more.
Eat it, or the cat dies.
Please come eat, we need to pay the Coonass.
We’ll do whatever it takes to keep the lights on.
MexicoKaren
Joyfully Retired
Me too - I'd do just about anything to save a cat...
VeraBlue
Head Mistress
Sorry, folks....a tag line, in my opinion, isn't something someone else can create for you.. This particular tag line says everything you ever want to know about me, not to mention it's a typical Italian trait...we always cook extra knowing others will find their way to the table.
Keltin
New member
True that, it’s your place and you should tag it anyway you like.
But you are in my neck of the woods now. As you know, New Orleans isn’t Italian, it's French-Cajun. Also, being a coastal, deep-south area, the residents, like me, are very familiar and used to a strong Matriarch presence. The Matriarch always held things together, and always cooked a LOT of food.
So while your tag sort of touches on that Matriarch experience, you also have to realize that we southerners are always faced with more than one Matriarch due to in-laws, and some of those Matriarchs weren’t the best cooks. Greasy beans, stewed intestines, dry biscuits, hard grits…..and they cooked too much and demanded you eat it. Being polite, you had no choice but to do it.
While your tag may be trying to inspire that colloquial feeling of family, you are now in an area where that self-same idea of the motherly Matriarch can actually work against you.
Plus, your tag is conflicting. No Matriarch I have ever met in all my years EVER said “Please” come eat. Every single one always, and to this day, says, “Sit here boy and get yourself some food”.
But, N.O. is a big tourist attraction, so that tag may work for the out-of-town newbies, but it’s not something the entrenched southern folk are likely to cotton to.
I’m not trying to step on toes, but I grew up down there, and still live in the deep south. While you may think your tag is suiting for the southern folk, it’s actually not what they want to hear. I can see it working up North or possibly in an Italian community, but it’s really not working for the deep south that you find yourself in.
Oh, and don’t be surprised if your customers want Red-Eye Gravy (coffee gravy) and biscuits. Southern folk call tomato based sauces…….sketti sauce…..and sketti isn’t real popular down south. Only Italians call tomato based sauce red “Gravy”. To a Southerner, gravy is made with flour, grease drippings, and stock or milk. The only Red Gravy the Southern folk know is coffee gravy…..Red-Eye Gravy that we eat at breakfast on biscuits and country ham.
Just something to think about. True, an ethnic place can thrive in N.O. There’s no reason an Italian type place can’t make it in N.O. But if you want to enamor the locals, you need to think of them as well.
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VeraBlue
Head Mistress
Keltin, I've spent about a thousand hours researching the local flavour here. I'm not about to sink a hundred thousand dollars into a venture that I am doing on a whim. Every single thing I've done here is with a eye on what is selling, what is lacking, what is respected, what in tolerated, etc. I'm not trying to be anyone's mother. I'm not all that interested in selling to tourists as my base customer, either. I'm in the CBD...the business district. The majority of my customers will be white collar professionals. My nod towards the blue collar locals is an automatic 10% discount to anyone in the service industry, including the cabbies.
I realize you are trying to be helpful, and I thank you. I have to say, though...every single person (and by that I mean people who have lived here all their lives and those who got here 6 months ago) thinks the name Red Gravy is great and means exactly what I want them to think of. The last thing New Orleans needs is another cajun/creole restaurant, especially done by a little italian girl from New Jersey. I don't think it's a fair comparison to compare New Orleans to any other southern city. Here, in New Orleans...red gravy means the red stuff that is put on top of spaghetti. I've never heard anyone here call it sauce. I know what red eye gravy is, even before I moved here. I am fairly sure the sign I am spending 950 dollar on, with the two huge tomatoes on a large platter will be convincing enough I'm not talking about coffee gravy.
My vision and my name, and as of yesterday, when I started tossing it about, the tag line, has been met with enthusiasm. I'm encouraged that I'm not putting anyone out. I've been in the business of cooking what people want to eat for 20 years. I've done my homework. I've been here since mid-June and I've already got a guest list of over 50 people to invite to an opening event. I suggest it's my character that did that. So...please, come and eat....I always make too much.
I realize you are trying to be helpful, and I thank you. I have to say, though...every single person (and by that I mean people who have lived here all their lives and those who got here 6 months ago) thinks the name Red Gravy is great and means exactly what I want them to think of. The last thing New Orleans needs is another cajun/creole restaurant, especially done by a little italian girl from New Jersey. I don't think it's a fair comparison to compare New Orleans to any other southern city. Here, in New Orleans...red gravy means the red stuff that is put on top of spaghetti. I've never heard anyone here call it sauce. I know what red eye gravy is, even before I moved here. I am fairly sure the sign I am spending 950 dollar on, with the two huge tomatoes on a large platter will be convincing enough I'm not talking about coffee gravy.
My vision and my name, and as of yesterday, when I started tossing it about, the tag line, has been met with enthusiasm. I'm encouraged that I'm not putting anyone out. I've been in the business of cooking what people want to eat for 20 years. I've done my homework. I've been here since mid-June and I've already got a guest list of over 50 people to invite to an opening event. I suggest it's my character that did that. So...please, come and eat....I always make too much.
Keltin
New member
One more thing, you may want to incorporate “Italian” into your tag line. Something like “A taste of Italy in your Southern Backyard” or something.
Calling the place Red Gravy in the South makes a southerner think of Red-Eye Gravy and biscuits……which makes the whole restaurant sound like a breakfast and biscuit stand (which are quite popular down here - lot’s of breakfast only places down south). If your place is misconstrued as a breakfast only place, which the name implies to a Southerner, you could get hurt on business. A sidewalk chalkboard menu would probably help for the passersby.
Calling the place Red Gravy in the South makes a southerner think of Red-Eye Gravy and biscuits……which makes the whole restaurant sound like a breakfast and biscuit stand (which are quite popular down here - lot’s of breakfast only places down south). If your place is misconstrued as a breakfast only place, which the name implies to a Southerner, you could get hurt on business. A sidewalk chalkboard menu would probably help for the passersby.
Keltin
New member
Keltin, I've spent about a thousand hours researching the local flavour here. I'm not about to sink a hundred thousand dollars into a venture that I am doing on a whim. Every single thing I've done here is with a eye on what is selling, what is lacking, what is respected, what in tolerated, etc. I'm not trying to be anyone's mother. I'm not all that interested in selling to tourists as my base customer, either. I'm in the CBD...the business district. The majority of my customers will be white collar professionals. My nod towards the blue collar locals is an automatic 10% discount to anyone in the service industry, including the cabbies.
I realize you are trying to be helpful, and I thank you. I have to say, though...every single person (and by that I mean people who have lived here all their lives and those who got here 6 months ago) thinks the name Red Gravy is great and means exactly what I want them to think of. The last thing New Orleans needs is another cajun/creole restaurant, especially done by a little italian girl from New Jersey. I don't think it's a fair comparison to compare New Orleans to any other southern city. Here, in New Orleans...red gravy means the red stuff that is put on top of spaghetti. I've never heard anyone here call it sauce. I know what red eye gravy is, even before I moved here. I am fairly sure the sign I am spending 950 dollar on, with the two huge tomatoes on a large platter will be convincing enough I'm not talking about coffee gravy.
My vision and my name, and as of yesterday, when I started tossing it about, the tag line, has been met with enthusiasm. I'm encouraged that I'm not putting anyone out. I've been in the business of cooking what people want to eat for 20 years. I've done my homework. I've been here since mid-June and I've already got a guest list of over 50 people to invite to an opening event. I suggest it's my character that did that. So...please, come and eat....I always make too much.
Best of luck to you. I've got 4 of my friends coming to your place from Mobile. I told them the name, and they asked if it was breakfast only. I told them it wasn't. I'll let you know what they say! Good luck and keep us posted on the grand opening!
VeraBlue
Head Mistress
Just had a meeting with an ad rep from the Gambit today. So, this weekend I'm making pasta with meatballs for photography purposes for the ad. I've signed a 13 consecutive week contract, running ads alternating between two colour (the red in the tomato) and black and white. My first two ads, which are slightly less than 1/4 pages totaled over eleven hundred bucks!!!
First ad comes out Nov. 9th!!
Ordered chef jackets with my name and logo as well. Under my name, instead of executive chef....I've opted for.......Madame de Cuisine, hahahahahaha
First ad comes out Nov. 9th!!
Ordered chef jackets with my name and logo as well. Under my name, instead of executive chef....I've opted for.......Madame de Cuisine, hahahahahaha
MexicoKaren
Joyfully Retired
Woo hoo, Vera! That's gonna be the most serious pasta with meatballs that you've ever made! Judging from all we have seen, I'm sure it will be gorgeous...advertising is SO expensive, isn't it?
I just cannot say enough words to let you know how much success I wish for you...
I just cannot say enough words to let you know how much success I wish for you...