Two months in.

It's pasty crimping in Virginia, being conducted by a Brit who is now part Aussie. I now admit to the full public audience, Nicola (alias the Queen of Dough - she is so good with our pastry) crimps pasties better than me. There, I've said and won't take it back.

Now we are 2 months in and everything is getting much smoother as we find our feet in the shop and solve all the little problems. We still have an issue with the HVAC. It wasn't working well for weeks and we thought it was just us not setting the controls properly. Then one of the pipes iced up, so we had an engineer look at it. The cooling coil was a complete block of ice. So we defrosted it, which wasn't simple. Then we had it serviced, then it did the same thing 2 days later. No it's affected the heat side, the furnace blower rumbles like a plane taking off.

Nick the landlord is now looking at quotes to replace the whole thing.

The funny part is, that even in the current cold weather, the problem we face is that the kitchen gets too warm. This affects the dough and makes it too soft to with, for now we just open the door and let some cold air.

Otherwise everything is doing fine.

Mike Smith is handling all the issues to get the cart on the road and down to Ballston for lunchtimes. This is one of major projects and will be a big step forward when we launch. Winter and freezing weather makes the cart work hard but it will be worthwhile in the long run.

Josh has the kitchen running really smoothly, so supply and demand is now nicely balanced. We have gone live with new soups, Prosciutto and Potato, this weekend we produced a stunning Chili. We have also answered the loud British demand for Cheese and Onion pasties, and contemplating an original with Rutabaga (Swede for Brits).

I have managed to get permission for a small amount of seating, so that's one tick in the box. Meanwhile I'm pursuing a solution for both local delivery and shipping. The shipping part will probably need a new website with an online store etc.

My biggest challenge is Quickbooks and the accounting system. It's starting to make sense now, but to start with .... let's just say it's a friendly package.

So lets see where it all goes next month.

One month in.

Well we are 1 month in and still going, sometimes I was wondering if I would survive to the next day. The first 2 weeks were a little slow and tentative as we started out on our journey. The location is a little hidden away and can be hard to find, so people just didn't know we were here. Then the Washington Post featured us and it went a little bit crazy. We had been warned of the post Post effect, but the reality was something else. We were still working on the processes to make the wonderful product we had been selling this far. Then we got swamped and making them quick enough became a real issue. Everybody had to dig really deep to try and get over this peak, and the effort expended was outstanding. One night Josh and I just kept the mixer going to 01:00 am, gave the dough time rest and were back in at 06:00 to make more pasties. That weekend I thought we would never make enough to get through Sunday, but we did, just about.

I thank all the customers that were patient while tried to catch up with the baking and were waiting for their favorites to pop out of the oven. I definitely thank Josh, Mike (brother-in-law) and Nicola for pushing so hard to keep up with the huge demand, but a really specials thanks to my wife Jen for jumping into the breech at the front of the shop.

So far so good, things are settling down a little now.

I never knew there were so many Brits in the area, plus Aussies, Kiwis, and other savory pastry lovers. Then there were so many people who had tried pasties on their visits to the UK and were just loving the opportunity to try them again here, and making favourable comparisons to the UK product. On top of that were the people from Michigan and Wisconsin where the pasty is staple food.

All in all its going well. The word is out there, we just hope it keeps on spreading.

Time to prepare for the holiday season!

Opening - that was fun.

I'm not sure if the correct word is hectic or frantic, but that was wild and fun ride. The only analogy I can make is like tackling the toughest run in the ski resort. The preceding weeks were like the chair lift taking up to the top, probably followed by a hike to get really hard section. Then strapping on your board and looking down at something that is mighty more scary than when you suggested it over a beer at lunchtime. Then there is no choice, you just have to go. You have to give it your best shot because the alternative is just not pleasant at all.

So, on Thursday we had a wonderful party full of friends and family. Many were friends made along the Pure Pasty team (above). It's no longer just me with a wild notion about selling Cornwall's classic dish in the South East of the US. Joshua 'Head Chef' Andrus has been a stalwart now for months. Coming from Michigan he is no stranger to pasties. Mike Smith (my brother-in-law) has been ready to come on board from launch. Then Nicola just wandered into the shop, a Brit living in Vienna, complete with Chef skills and kitchen management (a god send). A certainly not the least; the ever supporting and loving Jen, who has suffered me banging on about pasties for years, then worked all the long hours of Friday, Saturday & Sunday to get us up and running

The party was a fun filled event, we got the bunting out that my mum had sent for the occasion. The British meet up group turned out in force which was wonderful support

. In fact everybody turning up was a spectacular effort as North Virginia's weather had turned from summer into torrential rain all day long. In

fact we had water dripping in from a number of places.

After the party we had to get up really early on the first day of 'go live'.

The problem was that we prepared well for the

party and had work doubly hard to make stock for day 1. We were late opening. It was 12:00 before we flung the doors open. I feared a slow day and having reassure myself that trade will pick up as we go along. The first customer, a wonderful lady, presented me a dollar to mount as my first earned in the business, and promptly ordered 12 pasties. That set the tone for the day brilliantly. We were playing catch up all day long, just making pasties as quick as we could and baking them straight away. As soon they were

coming out of the oven they were selling from the sheet pans, some not even getting a stay in the hot display that had caused me so much heart ache.

Jen did a wonderful job on the till with brother Mike, customer service skills sprang out that I never knew existed. Josh and Nicola were bashing out pastry and ingredients like crazy. Josh has been an absolute star in every aspect in the lead up. Now he was in his element and Nicola was just the support he needed. She even went home and came back with her daughter so she could work much later than we had agreed.

At the end of the day we were

all exhausted, but we had made and sold nearly 200 of little beauties, and Facebook had given some excellent feedback.

The next few days were still going well after the storm of interest on day one. All the local businesses are being really supportive, and we are getting lots of custom from the bike shop next door. A pasty is a great meal for a hungry cyclist after doing a long stretch of the Washington Old Dominion trail.

Now to clean the shop with Mike and close up day 3. Tomorrow is our scheduled close day, and time to sort out all the bugs in our processes.

For all of you who use Twitter we are now going to start tweeting when we get the cart up and running, plus when we start adding to the 'soft launch' menu. We only did 3 to start and intend to build to 6. Plus Sausage rolls of course, as so many people have requested.

Opening Oct 1st!

Last week was hectic, simply hectic. We completed all our inspections, and many thanks to all who assisted. Jose who made all the arrangements and then guided a lot of the inspectors around the facilities, and the inspectors for turning up on time and doing a great job. Paul (the architect mastermind) and I walked the certificate of occupancy application over to Vienna Town Hall on Friday, once that is completed we can serve the wonderful public.

So that means we are shooting for our first day of trading on Friday October 1st!

Our aim is to serve you lunch to go, so the doors will open at 11:00.

We will apply for permission for some seating but that change will come after we have obtained the certificate of occupancy. One thing at a time is the best way forward. After all the pasty is ultimate 'food to go' item.

Josh has been a star all around the place last week, and on Friday we capped off the day by baking some of our recipes. Our neighbor John (Bikes@Vienna) kept popping in to help with taste testing and was mumbling approval with a mouth full of 'Traditional Style - beef, potato, onion.

We had a few nervous moments as Vulcan ovens gave us a few teething problems. Miriam at Yas Bakery sprang into action referring a couple of great technicians who have sorted out those problems. However, that was a real scare and threatened our live date of October 1st.

Now we are fingers crossed that the gremlins are out of the system and we can just get on with what we love - cooking great food.

Our launch will probably be a soft launch, limiting our menu slightly at first, so we can give our full attention to a smaller number of our pasty options. Then the others will be added, giving people a growing choice, and nobody will get bored. Actually it's really difficult to get bored of pasties, ask all people in UP Michigan. One friend we spoke recently said that they out sell pizza up there. So I'm sure the wonderful people of Virginia will take to them really easily.

Must go there are 101 things to do today so we can hit that date!

See you all soon.

And the inspections roll on.

I took some snaps while we were waiting for some of the inspections to show how things are looking. On the left here we have the lovely retail area, and where the lovely pasties will be baked. The infamous warm display unit is now in place and I'm getting to like it now. Paul the architect likes it, but is still complaining about my acquisition of an old Quiznos open air merchandiser. I had to save money for that superb Vulcan oven in the corner, they don't come better than that beast. The hood above the oven and now all the air conditioning mechanicals have passed the final inspections so we breath a big sigh of relief.

Also you can see the drinking fountains are in place,

these were delaying the final plumbing inspection

but that is now all completed.

Then we are now hung up on the electrical inspection. We had been calling for final inspection all last week with no response. On Tuesday they came, but it appears we have to change some sockets to contain their own circuit breakers. That work was done immediately, we had to sit it out through Wednesday, and then today we got the little signed sticker.

Just as the electrics were all signed off, the Health Dept person arrived. Annette is great to work with, and all our work met with her approval :-) So today was a very good day.

It's not all over yet though, we have the buildings inspector to come tomorrow (Friday) and then the Fire Marshall. Both vital and important.

Anyway, on the right is the beautiful open kitchen, may it always stay in this wonderful state.

Except full of pasties being stuffed with gorgeous organic goodies.

The Final Countdown

Oh look at the nice new signs! We now have the shop front all neatly decorated with new signs and I think it looks good. So when you all come to find me I should stand out a little. Let's tick that one off the list.

As many of you would have gathered, back in early August we set a target date of September 10th for opening, but we are a long way behind in getting all our sign-offs. Thankfully there are no problems in the work that has been this far, but the sign-off schedule keeps on extending.

We have been ready for electrical sign-off since Thursday last week and we await the inspector.

Paul added some more detail on the drawings for the Mechanical people and today we are requesting that they sign-off.

Plumbing is delayed by the late delivery of our water fountains, then the wrong one arrived, that should be sorted out by this Friday.

Once those 3 are finished we can have the buildings inspector in to check the construction work for one last time.

Then it's the Fire Marshall, and the Health Dept.

We are going to resist setting another date until we have have the green light from the Health Dept. We think we have got everything right and bang on to the original plan, but it's fingers crossed and hope it's all smooth running.

Meanwhile we are pushing for the internet and telephone connectivity to be completed, so we can talk to the outside world.

We have fired up most of the equipment, and after a few nervous moments with the freezer, all seems to be OK.

So the BIG question everybody is asking is WHEN WILL IT OPEN?

As soon as we have the go ahead with the Health people, you will be the first to know.

Of course PARTY invites will be sent to all for the evening before the first official day.

The Hood.

Ok. I agree, not the most impressive photo in the world, but..... This is the extractor hood that deals with the heat from the ovens. It is all an equation of temperature, air coming into the building via the HVAC and air going out via the extractor hood. It's not a subject that will make your day reach a crescendoof excitement, but to me this week it was very important.

That's hood over there on the left, at least the bit you see inside the shop, and yesterday it passed it's code inspection.

Hip Hip Hooray for the hood, or rather Jose and team who put it all together.

That code inspection is a major tick in the box on the schedule towards opening. So a big sigh of relief from me.

Next we have electric and plumbing, before the highly important health inspector.

The food warmer display unit, has been the subject of many headaches for the front of shop solutions. I had eventually had to settle on one that was a ready made option, rather than the bespoke idea I really wanted. Then when I ordered it, I nearly had a heart attack. At first the distributor company said all was fine and took the order. Then proceeded to tell me 4 days later there would be a 98 day delivery time. So I looked elsewhere and other places said it was in stock at the manufacturer, (nobody keeps stock themselves). Eventually it boiled down to confusion on their ordering dept regarding part numbers. The original manufacturer was Anvil and it had changed to Vollrath (aren't they a heavy metal band?) causing a change in id numbers and the sales people got confused and caused me a minor panic attack.

Panic never lasts long thankfully.

So onward and upward.

We have our shopping list for all the goodies that go into a pasty. So now let's go shopping.

Ohhh look at the shiny Cart

Now it's time focus on the project within the project. THE FOOD CART. It has always been a very large part of the plan to get on board with the gourmet food cart revolution that is becoming so popular in our cities.

I had been busy from day 1 highlighting the g

eographical areas to start this retail arm in. It was decided at a very early stage that the Ballston area in Arlington was an excellent location. The Arlington authorities are very much in favor of this street scene, and there a some very successful enterprises proving that the concept works.

So, having checked out the code and spoken to the nice people in the Arlington police department (Pilar is a star) I new exactly what I was looking for. It was a Custom Cart DC650. I visited their factory in New Jersey early on in the year to see what they could do. Jay Celona gave every confidence, being the kind of person that will find a solution to make anything work.

Since then I was lucky with a find of 2nd hand cart in excellent condition. It was totally clean, it had never even been cooked in. All it needed was the addition of an oven with a warm display unit. Plus in U.S terms it wasn't far away, West Chester PA. So after a couple trips up I95 I had bought it, then moved it to Jay's factory in NJ to have the necessary ovens fitted. Friday was the big day to tow it back 4.5 hours down the wonderful I95, finishing with welcome home of the rush hour traffic on the DC beltway.

Eventually we had it parked up in the lot outside the shop, and it's just waiting for the Pure Pasty logo make over, courtesy of the Banana Banner (signs with appeal - great strapline) people.

So the plan is we open the bakery, get the pasties rolling off the beautiful marble pastry tables, then the cart opens up in Arlington (Ballston to be precise) for lunchtime service. Later we'll open the cart up to weekend events, sports, music and wine festivals. I'm guessing a twitter account is going to come into play to let everybody know where we are going to be. This seems to be the communication method of choice in the gourmet cart world. So pasty lovers, you'll have 2 locations to get your hands on the UK's greatest food to go item.

In Vienna we are still aiming for September 10th. You can see from the picture, there are improvements everyday. We have now started the joinery on the counter area. This week we ran through the sign offs that we require leading to the big target of 'Certificate of Occupancy'. At this stage the date is still achievable, but it really does do depend on gaining those sign-offs. I think each one will be met with a cheer and probably a glass of something to celebrate with. Paul has done a great job with the plans, and Jose has been equally good at converting those from paper to a tangible premises. So I'm confident any problems won't be in the way for long.

This next week, it's all about finalizing the menu for the promotional material, and internal signs/decor. Plus - Business Insurance, burglar alarms, fire alarms, internet and phone access ..... the list goes on.

A hive of activity

The build out is all coming together nicely. Jose, the main man has it all under control. The main point being we have knocked the two big openings into the central supporting wall. In fact it was more than a supporting wall, it was previously the external wall of the building. We even found a dated signature, drawn in the cement of with a finger saying; 'Nicky A 08-23-1964'. This was the current landlord aged 8! I was just 3 and summering in my hometown of Nantwich, Cheshire. The openings for the new bathroom and the retail area had a few minor issues, but the project is more or less on time, potentially being around 5-6 days behind. Still pretty good.

As you can see from the picture; we called in on a Friday evening and the team were still hard at work. The back of the kitchen was even getting a coat of paint, so everything is starting to look like it will when we are in production.

I then left the guys to it and went for a week back home in the UK, despite Delta airlines efforts to bungle as much as they could on my travel plans. Anyway it was all in the name of market research, tasting pies, pasties and sausage rolls. I can confirm that they all still tasted as good as when I left. It gave me all the more determination to match them over here in Virginia.

While I was away, we had our proposal for external signs approved by the Town Hall in Vienna. First problem here was we wanted to hang a swinging sign outside, but for some reason we aren't allowed to do that on our area of the street. Seems odd that it's allowed on the main part of Church St but not our part that is set back a little. So there were last minute amendments for that. The people at Banana Banner we really good about all these last minute changes, as I stood in the Town Hall making amendments with only minutes to go before the submission deadline.

The second problem was that somewhere in the discussions it got a little lost that I was supposed to present the proposal in person to the Board of Architectural Review at their next meeting. Paul the architect who is on the BAR phoned me while I was in the UK to see if I was coming along. Thankfully the BAR people were fantastic and allowed Paul to step down from the review board for my proposal and present. He wouldn't have voted anyway, having a vested interest in my project.

Anyway with one minor caveat it was approved and we can proceed.

Tomorrow, we go over the final stage of the schedule in detail. That's the all important final sign-offs from the various inspections. All mid term inspections have been good, so nothing has raised it's head yet. When we have satisfied all the final inspections i.e. we have done what we said we would. Then we get our certificate of occupancy and business license. That means party and pasty tasting sessions and open doors.

We have a target date written in pencil for September 10th for the opening. Let's see if tomorrow will prove that to be a realistic date.

Construction Starts.

Well, this is the before image of the inside.

Where the door is to the right of the window, that area will extend to be the retail point. If you remember the external shot, it had two windows, that is where the 2nd window is, another room for sales and baking.

The area where the photo was taken will be the production part. All fridges and freezers, where I was standing. Marble tables down the middle. Massive Hobart mixer and other dough devices down the left. The mighty Robot Coupe R6X food processor in the centre.

Now this is what it looked like recently after Jose and his chaps started on it.

The ceiling will be replaced with nice new tiles at the back that comply with health code for food production, and left open at the front with spray painted ducting to give the industrial feel.

It's not a brilliant picture, but that is the main man Jose with debris all around him.

This is the area where the retail point will be. As you can see the opening in the wall has been started, but this will be much larger when we have finished. We will be taking out that beam and putting in a much larger one, letting us take out the wall to the left and right. Giving us a completely open space.

It is all becoming a reality now.

The idea, the plan and now the implementation.

Pasties, Alaska? are you sure?

My friend Jonah found pasties on his trip to Alaska. So it definitely looks like they are making more and more appearances in the US. The wonderful pastry product has now surfaced in Michigan, Arizona, California and now Alaska. Virginia is just around the corner!

I must say from my research the part about pasties having a savory and fruit filling is a bit of a myth. None of the pasty gurus in Cornwall can find any written evidence. Also it would be really difficult to cook one that way. The fruit would take much much less time to cook than the meat and veg.

More big news soon on the shop and the cart!

Permits!!!!

Our plans have passed all the levels of building codes and checks. Now we have our building permits and can start working on the premises. This is a major milestone. Tomorrow the landlord, the architect, the contractor and I are all meeting to set a schedule for the building work. Exciting times are ahead. As soon as I get the information from this I'll be on here telling all of the timeline and progress. There will be pictures of the place undergoing it's transformation and eventually filled with the smell of freshly baked Pasties.

I can't wait!!!

Why has it been so quiet?

I have now decided the sound that red tape makes is silence followed by some very detailed questions.

The reason it has been so quiet for the previous weeks is that we have been firmly embroiled in obtaining all the official department approvals so we can commence work on the premises. This takes time and patience, questions are asked and my good friend Paul finds the answers. However, the light at the end of the tunnel has been burning brighter and brighter. Now it's a full blown sunrise with a hint of green about it. Today we have answered the last comment about the circuit boards and their labeling.

Tomorrow we should have the full blown permit and and a massive bright green light!

We have been busy talking to the bank, buying ovens, trying to find that perfect solution to the pasty display case issue. Btw I have found something very close, but as you might guess its looking very expensive. So I might be having a collection so I can afford it.

The ovens and the freezer arrived. They are now safely stored onsite ready for the work to take place. Tomorrow we move the mixer and the fridges in from storage unit, so all the important ducks are being brought into line.

I've met with the people who run payroll for small businesses. Making me prepared and ready on that front. So, who wants to come and make/sell pasties then?

Tomorrows meeting with the landlord and the builder will be the milestone I have been waiting for. So then there will be some excited postings as we will have a schedule to work to.

Let's start building things.

Dishwashers, Freezers and a goal achieved.

Well as you can see from the picture we have put posters up in the windows announcing our intent on what is coming. Heidi the marketing lady did most of the wording for me and design, except for the wonderful logo from my ever useful daughter.

The big goal achieved was that the plans submitted to the health dept were passed. BIG cheer! Now they have to go through the other Fairfax county depts before we get the green light. So at this point Paul (Architect), Nick (Landlord) and myself got together over a NY omelette breakfast to get our ducks in line. I reckon I'm quite lucky to have these guys on board, we seem to connect well. So, we're putting our contractor on warning for a May start of the necessary construction work. Brilliant.

One fly in the ointment for me was the dishwasher. The health dept threw out the one I had purchased due to its hot water requirement exceeding the planned hot water system. The equation is too complex for here. As I said at the time, probably more complex than the story line in 'Lost'. The bottom line is I can't use it. So, I'm reverting to plan B of get my mum in and give her some rubber gloves.

More good news though, the guys I bought the freezer from in Maryland delivered it yesterday, and it all looks good. Plus I bought the Oven, a stonking big Vulcan SG44D, can bake enough pasties to feed an army. That should be arriving next week.

I saw Paul at the site, when we were dealing with the freezer, and he was smiling. That's always a good sign.

Saving the best news for last, I've been taking finance with my old company HSBC. These guys are really great. John Villar and Tucker Snyder, it's good to see the processes from the customer perspective. I was always in the back room jobs, but these front line people do the company proud.

Let's see where we are next week. Most or the equipment is now done. Maybe time for some golf with Steve (English Butcher) and get the sausage roll project rolling.

Washington Business Journal

Well I've made it into a second publication. This time it's the prestigious Washington Business Journal. See the link below:

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/04/05/newscolumn2.html

I actually gave the interview while driving the truck down I95 in the pouring to pick up my cold goods merchandiser from Richmond. I'm starting to like being interviewed, so if any of the other local publications want to talk to me, bring them on. Anybody that knows me of old, knows it's actually more difficult to shut me up :-) especially about food.

Display Case - Hrumph

I like the sound of Hrumph, it expresses exactly how one feels at that time. I had couple of those moments this week.

From where we left off before, it was all about ensuring The Health people had the spec sheets on every item of equipment I would be using.

Oh yes, and arranging consequent purchases and deliveries. Well the coffee grinder has arrived, I must do some really fantastic organic coffee for the American tastes. Coffee maker, model and make has been decided upon. The dishwasher is in transit as I write, possibly not moving it is Sunday morning. However, there is always a BUT....

The Display Case.

What I want to do is really simple. This item is centre of attention in the shop. It contain the main star of the show, the glorious Pasty. The problem is that off the shelf warming cabinets are quite ugly. I want to replicate the beautiful cases that West Cornwall Pasties use (pictured above). They are just front, top, and sides glass, with chrome steel posts holding all together. Yes, they have them in the States, and I can get all the parts, a manufacturer in California makes them. I can have a local glass company order the parts and fit the glass.

However, the health people say I've got to buy a unit with a NSF, UL or ETL code compliance rating. I've asked how other larger outlets get use ones like the one above, and they do, to find its because the big players can NSF rate them themselves :-(

Hrumph.

Anyway quitting has never been part of my strategy, and neither is settling for second best. Actually that goes for most things really. So next week I'm going to try and find somebody who can build this and the NSF rate it for me.

For now we have an off the shelf model in the plans and that is being submitted. So the approval process can keep on going.

A bump in the road.

I wasn't long before the first bump in the road of 'planning application'!

Previously all 'food to go' and bakery planning apps went to the USDA, only being rubber stamped at The Dept of Health. I'd been told that by the Dept of Health and the architect had many previous projects that all had gone down that route. However not this time! The problem is that the detail level required by each organization is different, so the plans have to me amended. That means involving the engineers again, more time added to the timeline and of course more money.

The other part is that I need to have the full detailed spec sheets on every piece of equipment we will be using in the space, so i've been busy busy on the equipment front. Ebay Ebay Ebay!!!

On the marketing front, we made it into Viva Tysons mag. You can see it online, use the following link and its on page 20. Sometime further down the bumpy road it will be headlines!

Anyway, the bump in the road didn't make any wheels fall off. So the Pasty cart is still rolling.

Another small landmark. My architect (Paul) and I walked over the very detailed build out plans to the officials in the Vienna Planning Office. So that concludes getting a whole raft of ideas down on to paper and its all in black white drawings now. I suppose this is really a very visual statement of 'this is what we are going to do'.

Now we wait with bated breath on what the people who say Yes and No think of the whole venture.

Fingers crossed.

Eventually the dough divider arrived today. A piece of kit for splitting the dough in lovely equal sized pieces for the dough roller. Then we can have lovely consistent sized rounds of pastry for the pasty crusts.

This was the first piece of kit to be put directly in the new premises. Well at least stored there, the storage unit is full and Yas have moved out. So the landlord is letting me use the space ahead of time :-)

So unloaded it from the pick-up truck into its new home.

Now seeing the space empty really brings it home, that is going to be my work and life for some time to come.

That's a happy thought to end the evening.

Gathering Pace.

After the interruption of all the snow, things are really starting to move.

We feared that delays with the Yas bakery moving out due to code compliance issues in the new place would put a big dent in our time lines. Fortunately not, Beyrouz passed on all his code issues and moved to the new premises on Monday. So we are all systems go now.

Meanwhile, another of the refrigerators arrived, after snow delays. This ones the pasty fridge, a Carter-Hoffmann tray line special fitted for the baking pans that will be used in the ovens. I'm happy to get this one, all the way from Naples Florida. Just a bit delayed by the snow.

For the shop front point of sale we now have an IMac G5 that will run the point of sale and business planning software. Oh yeah and look wickedly cool.

After my last post I took some flack from the boys at HSBC in Alexandria who have been tremendously supportive in the banking arena. So, a big thumbs up for Tucker Snyder and his colleagues.

This week its on to the ovens and getting the cart sorted out.

Snowpocalypse 2010.

Well snowpocalypse 2010 hit North Virginia, but the preparation goes on despite 2-3 feet of the white stuff.

A number of significant events happened during the week, so here's the update.

Firstly, I met up with the architect (Paul) and contractor (Jose) at the site to finalize the plans and drawings. Paul had walked through the premises with technicians for plumbing, electric etc and we need to dot the I's and cross the T's on their feedback. The plumbing was good because we had decided to move a hand sink and this made life a lot simpler, and we could utilize a lot of existing infrastructure. We had the quotes on the lighting and that really does effect the image of the place, especially with an open kitchen.

Secondly, Scott the real estate agent who has been with me from day 1 put me in contact with a marketing expert. We met and it sounds like we're off on an excellent level of understanding. We have lots of material to work with and she has lots of avenues to channel it down. So as the build out under goes construction. We will be really busy on the promotion front.

Thirdly, I really needed to decide which way to go on the Point Of Sale system. A cigar box for the cash, a second hand electronic Sharp till, a PC running QuickBooks, or a Mac running Checkout.

I went to the Apple Store and discussed the hard and software options, and the dude at the Genius desk knew all there was to know about pasties. Even down to the logic behind the crust and it worked being a miners lunch!

It has to be the Mac, I trust them so much more than PCs and QuickBooks seems a bit over engineered for what I want. Plus it's so much cooler than any of the other options.

So know I've bought a second hand G5 (intel chip) on Ebay from some guy out in LA, and that will be point of sale in the shop.

Fourthly, I've set-up The Pure Pasty on Facebook to start the social networking of the brand and the product. I gave one of my work colleagues (Hope) a lift home on Friday when the blizzard started, and she has started spreading the word to all her really cool friends. Not only is she a fantastic cook, but she's a little marketing gem. So the ball is rolling on that front. So folks, please get as many of friends as possible to start following my Blog and FB.

THE BALL IS ROLLING.

Finally tonight is the Superbowl and I will be partying with the neighbors while watching the event. I've decided to run a batch of pasties, take them with me and test them out on an unsuspecting public.

All this and Cheesetique was a mad house on Thursday and Friday, as the residents of Alexandria started panic buying cheese!

Right lets mix it up.

That's one big mixer.

Yesterday was a long day. Up very early in the morning to pick up the biggest truck I've driven so far, on the wrong side of the road, with lots of snow and ice still around from the weekends storm. So at 07:30 I set off for Richmond with the ever faithful dog (Mei Mei) for company in passenger in a very large yellow Penske truck. It had to be big because I was picking up the mixer, an 80 QT hobart, it weighs about 900lb so I needed a truck with a lift gate. 2 hours later we're in Richmond at the dealers depot, and the loading bay approach is still covered in snow. That costs me time because its also slightly up hill, so the truck won't reverse up it until we clear it with a shovel. Eventually we man handle it in and we're off to the next stop. I'd won an auction on a double glass door refrigerator and was picking that up. Snow again this time, but no slope, so we're ok. The guy thought we were coming tomorrow, so there's another delay. However, soon we are loaded and off back home again, 2 hours up route 95.

I was scheduled for a managers meeting at work for 14:00 and just made it.

Then after Pat and I went on the storage unit to unload. Pat works in the kitchen and is one cool dude and just the guy you want when handling 900lb mixers. He used used to do power lifting and strong man competitions. Not only that but the dude snowboards and golfs, so there's plenty to chat about while stuck in traffic on Route 66 yet again.

Eventually its all safely in the storage unit, and I owe Pat beers big time.

Tick those items off the list and start hunting the next ones.

All steps in the right direction.

Well the big news is that the Landlord and I have signed the contract, so we are now legally tied to the Vienna location, and I'm most happy with that. I really like Vienna, the more I see of the area the more I like. This is also going be the target area for the house hunt.

The current plan is that the landlord will have the premises for February while a number of construction and power supply issues are addressed. However we have let Beyrouz have an extra few days to help with his move. He's the sitting tenant and he's been massively helpful to me on equipment so far. So that's no problem.

In the last week the big steps were mostly in equipment acquisitions :

I've now bought the dicer for the veg, a big old Robot Coupe R6X and boy can it chop. Devastated a couple of spuds in an instant. I also got the dough roller, a Somerset CDR 1100, great little machine. Finally on Wednesday I bough a Scotsman Ice Maker, this will churn out the ice for the cart that will keep the drinks cool. All are now safely in the basement.

Tomorrow, I pick up the mixer and the big fridge. The mixer weighs around 900 lbs, so this is going to be really fun.

I will report back on the state of my back in a couple of days.

Drawing and design.

I've covered the Cheesetique part and although it's bound to get a mention here and there, from now on it's mostly Pasty Business.

The best thing I did after deciding on the Vienna location was get rid of my first architect. Hamid was a nice enough guy, but he just didn't seem to know much in the way of local code issues, and worst of all was a nightmare to get hold of via e-mail or phone. So I brought in a local guy from Vienna, who had done a lot of the very successful businesses in the neighborhood. I could see his work was excellent in the terms of being aesthetically very pleasing, but he knew all the local code compliance points. I was quickly learning that in the land of free there are a lot of rules and regulations. Also, he had a working relationship with both Nick the landlord and business that was moving out (across the road). Having satisfied myself there was no conflict of interests, this seemed to tie things together very neatly. Most problems in life are caused miscommunication and this seems to have worked very well so far with all parties very much on the same page. This made the discussion of lease terms, conditions and time lines so very much easier, everybody knew what the other people needed.

Before long we had a layout down on paper on how floor space would be divided out, to give the best process flow and impression to the public. We are going to use the Vienna space for 2 functions.

1) Production and initial point of sale.

2) Production for loading a cart that will be initially dispatched to the Ballston.

The space we had divided neatly into an open production area that can be easily viewed buy the public purchasing in the shop. A model I had in mind based on a shop in St Ives from my Cornwall fact finding mission. I can recap that later.

We also built the foundation of the image extending the colours from the logo very professionally designed by my very talented daughter. Now we started building on the foundations of organic content, local suppliers etc. Getting as far away from the image of nasty savoury pie as you can get.

Eventually we had a plan that we could submit to the contractors to get some quotes on how it was going to take to achieve this. I have to say we didn't put anything over the top on the table. I was all functional stuff and all that had to be done to comply with code. e.g. The ceiling has to change. Even though the current place deals with food prep, the ceiling doesn't comply, it needs to be smooth. Just like the bathroom used to comply for disabled use, but now it doesn't. The main problem is, as soon as you change 10% of building space and apply for building permits, it triggers a whole raft of code checks. This will be a pain in the backside for next few months, but a necessary evil that cannot be changed or shifted.

My fiscally shrewd northern attitude was coming to the fore and there are now many spreadsheets monitoring costs etc. How Much??? A cry I introduced to France with C'est Combien??? Is now to become part of the North Virginia vocabulary.

We've had a plan one on the table. Now we are on plan 2 as we've changed a few things that will simplify areas and cut the cost down. I reckon we are pretty much there on the design. I'll find a way to post the final plans so all can see.

Enough rambling for now. There will be more later as bring the whole project progress up to date.

Progress, work and holidays.

Well it's been a while, and I'm guilty of not keeping people up to date.

Lots of small things have been happening, then it was Christmas/New Year. That involved lots of work at Cheesetique.

Ah yes, I've not mentioned that so lets start there.

Back in October, I'd pretty much got the business plan all laid out, and the Implementation plan down on paper, so I was running through the motions of checking all the detail and going through many of the tasks that were sequential. I was getting into the zone of having time to spare, and as much as I love a round of golf, its doesn't pay anything (the opposite) and I learn very little (except how to search for your ball in the trees). So I started applying for temporary work, hoping to get something in the retail area to enhance my experience. Previous people experience was dealing with awkward sods in IT or unhappy IT users (happy IT users are the most silent people on the planet). This resulted in CHEESETIQUE.

I got really lucky. This really cool up market Cheese and Wine Shop/Bar needed people, and my availability suited the job. Apparently, they wanted an English accent on board, but couldn't afford anybody posh, so went down market and got yours truly in the bargain basement section. Anyway most Americans still ask me if I'm Australian! I have to reply with the defence that my Grandfather did nothing wrong, or at least nothing they could prove.

So, I became a cheese monger for about 30 hrs a week. Great experience and fun. I thought I knew a bit about cheese and wine, but what I knew could fit on the back of a postage stamp, and what I needed to know was a library. At this point an English accent combined with a natural talent to bullshit worked splendidly. It seems customers will believe most things I say.

What I did learn was a whole host of things that need to be done to operate in a retail environment, serving people, ordering, invoicing, point of sale software etc. It was tremendously busy in the holiday season, Thanks Giving, Christmas and New Year, but great fun. Now Tommy (the assistant manager) has to move up to New York with his wife, and I'm going to fill in for him, while I launch my own place and they find another manager.

Anyway, need to go to lunch now. I'm out in rural Virginia enjoying the weekend off.

So more in the next few days.