THE plan...(part 2)

I thought I had said all I wanted to say about the plan for the restaurant in my last post, but it wasn't more than a few moments after I hit the publish button I realized I had more I wanted to add.  Part one of "the plan" dealt with more mechanical aspects of the move; the outer reasons.  Here I want to talk about the inner reasons for the move and for me the most important part.

I've spent the better of 20 years asking the bigger questions of life.  I've read theology, philosophy, science, and literature. I've talked with poets, professors and priests, and everyone else in between.  I've scoured more websites than I can count.  I've spent sleepless nights, restless days, scraps of any moment I could mulling over the question of being.  In the past couple years I have settled on my conclusions and have prepared a pretty nice foundation to move on to other questions. 

Over the past few months I've turned my attention to what is means to be happy, which after all my previous study, seems to be the highest goal a person can have, and the true pressing issue in our move. 

A couple Harvard psychologists asked a group of students which of these options they would prefer: 1) to make $100,000 a year while thier peirs made $200,000 a year or 2) to make $50,000 a year while their peirs made $25,000.  The group as a whole said option #2 was the option they would take.  Interesting, they would take a $50,000 cut in pay as long as they made more than their piers.  There have been other studies that have found the same results.  People are happier when they make more than those reference group around them.  And, if they make the same amount as those around them, they typically try harder to make more.  It seems that the old adage of keeping up with the Jones' holds some water.  The funny thing is, even though the average family in the US makes twice as much as they did in the '50's, people are no more happier than they were then.  Why?  Because everyone else is also making twice as much and so just because we all have more money, we still compare ourselves to those around us who may be making a little more or the same amount. 

So how does this tie in with the restaurant.  Simple, we are small, and even with the upcoming move, we will remain small.  I have fallen victom to the thinking that the students above fell for.  I compare my meger 25-30 seats with other restaurants that may have 70-150 that are in the same area as we are.  I'm comparing sizes (typical male, huh?), and in the comparison am getting caught up with a false sense of what it is to be happy.  I've mistaken bigger and more with happier.  I've thought that just as long as I keep with the Amical's, the Red Gingers, the Mario Batalis, Andre Rochats, etc I would be happy.  I thought my sucess as a restaurant and chef could only be truly mesaured by comparison.  I am wrong.  I don't need to compare myself to anyone.  My happiness is defined differently and it is about time I admit to that.

To get down to the nuts-n-bolts of the issue, we have two restaurants and that looks and sounds great.  Isn't that every chef's dream to have his/her own little restaurant empire?  If you were to look around at today's high powered chef the answer would seem, "yes", but for Jen and I the answer is really, "no".  We have no desire for empires and big restaurants.  We have no desire for riches, fame or the big time.  We just want to cook.  The past couple years have been very difficult on both of us; this running two restaurants.  We have lost our focus on what makes us happy.  We are cooks, not restaurateurs.  This moving the two restaurants back into one is the biggest step we can take to get back to what we love; cooking.

We have chosen to do away with the unnecessary expenses that come with bigger restaurants and multiple restaurants.  We are only going to open 5 days a week so we may have more time with our families, which is something I have put off for to many years, and more time to just fiddle around in our kitchen coming up with new ideas and new directions.  We are choosing to lose all that extra income for the sake of more happiness.  We know we could make much more money by having two places that are open for more hours but at the end of the day, we spend more time running restaurants and much less time cooking than we would like.  We realize we may lose some of our guests who may not like the direction we are going but in the end we have decided that is just something we have to do.  We are confident once all the dust settles and we have worked out all the kinks, the restaurant will be even better than it is now with the add bonus of us being happier.

Comments

[Chris]

You may lose a few guests, but many of your guests will continue their patronage. At the end of the day, it's about good food. Godspeed.

[Beth]

We'll hang in there with you! We love the food, the creativity, and local flare. All the best.

[JTH]

hey ... we're in your corner, covering your back, name the phrase it's your sort of thinking that makes TC area special

[Jim]

"Things taste better in small houses"
— Queen Victoria

[analytical essay]

Many students have a tendency to limit their learning in the classroom. They do not explore and apply what they learned in class.