Wine, Women, and Song
I haven't posted anything since we opened-- nearly a year. Things have been crazy and wonderful and terrible and tumultuous and fantastic. This year has been a whirlwind of emotions-- good and bad. Whatever people say about small business ownership is absolutely true. It is a rocky road full of bumps-- good thing that's my favorite ice cream. I just grab a big spoon and dig in!
Things that have happened this year:
* We expanded our beer and wine menus. We applied for a Wine
Spectator Award of Excellence; we will know if we got it in May. We now
have 150 wines on our menu and have 50 by- the- glass wine choices. Our wine cellar is beautiful and actually pretty well organized. Jack
just passed his introductory Master Court of Sommeliers Class, so he is
very close to being a full-fledged wine connoisseur.
* We are having a new bar built to celebrate our new venture into winedom. After a long wait, we are finally going to get to see what it looks like this weekend. It is being built off site to avoid disrupting the flow of business here.
* Virginia Living readers voted us one of the top three Vegetarian Restaurants in the area. We were thrilled to be even mentioned, much less one of the top three within our first year of being open.
* We bought a lot of new equipment-- including, but not limited to new refrigerators, more prep tables, AND a keg cooler with three, soon to be four, taps.
* We lost a few employees that were a large part of our business plan and persevered. I spent more time in the kitchen than I had planned, but I discovered that I have a talent for food that I didn't know existed.We now have a menu that changes nightly. I have read a lot of cookbooks and watched a lot of videos that have taught me some skills that I was lacking. Apparently, the girl who couldn't boil water and used butter to fry bacon not so terribly long ago can actually cook.
* We have maintained our relationships with our local purveyors and have actually expanded the number of farmers that we work with. As we come into the growing season, we are really excited that we have a menu that reflects the wealth of agriculture this area has-- and reflects it on a basis that evolves as the season does.
* We continued to offer different entertainment options for our patrons-- from plays to poetry reading to book signings and music with locals and one Grammy award winning violinist, we have run the gamete of events that have graced our modest stage. We are so excited to continue to offer a variety of things that you just can't see anywhere else. My personal favorite night was when Kisihi Bashi from Of Montreal played with Wes Swing and Lola Mullen. It was packed and the music was transcendent. Some of my favorite evenings have occurred when the shows were over and the musicians just jammed with the friends and staff that were hanging out. I don't know many places were that type of fellowship is facilitated, but I am glad that we are one of them.
Well, that is an all too brief recap of the past year. New things, more growth, and a constant evolution. We like to think that as we grow, our customers and restaurant grow with us. It has been a long strange trip and I am excited for what the coming year has to offer. I look forward to continuing to offer our patrons and friends foods, beverages, and events that they cannot get anywhere else in the Valley.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, August 5, 2010
It has been a whirlwind of a summer. Jack and I are officially hitched in what we (and everyone who attended) thinks was the most magical and sweet ceremony ever. It was Rockbridge County's first and only vegan wedding (at least we like to think so). There were fireflies and a carousel. It was AWESOME!
Also, the City of Staunton gave us our best wedding present-- an approved set of plans for the Cafe. It only took two months longer than we had planned. Then, we had to get the stairs reapproved due to a glitch in the plans that we didn't notice. Now, things are well on the way.
So-- the new things that we will be doing at the Cafe--
1.) We have created our own blend of teas using teas from the around the world and herbs sourced from our wonderful friends at Harvest Thyme Herbs. The on-line store will be up within the next week so that you can get your tea fix until we reopen in September.
2.) We will have a wine list that will have 30 wines by the glass and about 35 beers. We will have an off premise license and will be the only wine shop in the area where you can taste before you buy. That's a lot of wines by the glass. Seriously.
3.) While we still have our fantastic lunch menu that everyone knows and loves, Kelly has come up with an amazing tapas menu for our evening fare. Our new evening menu will be entirely gluten free and have a LOT of vegetarian/ vegan options, but plenty of fantastic choices for all of our meat eating friends, almost all sourced locally. We are even looking at a cow from the Harris Ponderosa in Lexington.
4.) We have our musical line up set through the winter. As always, it is music that you cannot find anywhere in else town. Looking forward to new rock, metal, classical pianist, and funk bands throughout the winter. And, in addition to our Open Mic night, we are pulling together some really cool new events for Monday and Tuesday. There will be something going on every night of the week at the Bigger, Better, Cozier Darjeeling Cafe.
We miss you all and can't wait to see all of friends in September.
Also, the City of Staunton gave us our best wedding present-- an approved set of plans for the Cafe. It only took two months longer than we had planned. Then, we had to get the stairs reapproved due to a glitch in the plans that we didn't notice. Now, things are well on the way.
So-- the new things that we will be doing at the Cafe--
1.) We have created our own blend of teas using teas from the around the world and herbs sourced from our wonderful friends at Harvest Thyme Herbs. The on-line store will be up within the next week so that you can get your tea fix until we reopen in September.
2.) We will have a wine list that will have 30 wines by the glass and about 35 beers. We will have an off premise license and will be the only wine shop in the area where you can taste before you buy. That's a lot of wines by the glass. Seriously.
3.) While we still have our fantastic lunch menu that everyone knows and loves, Kelly has come up with an amazing tapas menu for our evening fare. Our new evening menu will be entirely gluten free and have a LOT of vegetarian/ vegan options, but plenty of fantastic choices for all of our meat eating friends, almost all sourced locally. We are even looking at a cow from the Harris Ponderosa in Lexington.
4.) We have our musical line up set through the winter. As always, it is music that you cannot find anywhere in else town. Looking forward to new rock, metal, classical pianist, and funk bands throughout the winter. And, in addition to our Open Mic night, we are pulling together some really cool new events for Monday and Tuesday. There will be something going on every night of the week at the Bigger, Better, Cozier Darjeeling Cafe.
We miss you all and can't wait to see all of friends in September.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Going to the Chapel...
The Darjeeling Cafe has been very good to me. On top of providing me with food and an overabundance of caffeine, one day about a month after we opened this tall guy with pretty blue eyes came in and ordered a vegan wrap. He then proceeded to steal the crossword that my friend and I were working on. Later that night I ran into him as I was out with my girlfriends. We struck up a conversation and spent the entire night talking. Of course, the following day he left to go back to California and I never thought I would see or talk to him again. Well, the old boy kept calling me and texting me and emailing me and sending me packages filled with poetry books, little pictures, and wonderful letters written in beautiful script. And then he moved all the way across the country because I had just started a business and couldn't just up and leave.
And, now, we are getting married.
Jack Morgan has been integral to the success of the cafe. I would not be in the position that I am now if it were not for him. I couldn't be happier to have found a partner in life and business.
On that note, this spring will be one of transitions for the Cafe and for me. Please bear with us as we plan an awesome wedding and make some big changes to our business. And on that note, we are planning one heck of an engagement party to celebrate with all of our friends and loyal patrons! Be ready for it!
And, now, we are getting married.
Jack Morgan has been integral to the success of the cafe. I would not be in the position that I am now if it were not for him. I couldn't be happier to have found a partner in life and business.
On that note, this spring will be one of transitions for the Cafe and for me. Please bear with us as we plan an awesome wedding and make some big changes to our business. And on that note, we are planning one heck of an engagement party to celebrate with all of our friends and loyal patrons! Be ready for it!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Making your way in the world takes everything you got... Sometimes you want to go where everyone knows your name...
Every time I write a blog post I promise to be more diligent about keeping it, but with everything else going on, it's hard to remember to post here as well as Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr and Darjeelingcafe.com.... So for the (not so) New Year I won't say that I will post regularly, but at least with more frequency than every 6 months.
We have had a spectacular winter (until February when Mother Nature's depth perception got screwed up and she mistook Staunton for Alaska). Not many businesses can say that they have doubled their sales repeatedly since the previous year, but we can!
This fall I hired Kelly Seymour to be our chef and that relationship has worked splendidly. Between Kelly, sweet Sarah Pool, and me we have run a tight ship and made this little shop a fun lunch spot, a teen hang out, a place for a multiple course dinner, and a friendly neighborhood bar. We're like a multi-purpose Cheers!
We are now hosting monthly Wine Tastings that involve a four course meal and multiple wines! I am very excited that those are so successful we have to take reservations!
Our role as a music venue is continuing to flourish. At this point, we are booked through mid-May. I have more people asking to book shows than I have available dates.
I think that the Darjeeling Cafe is continuing to solidify its' role in the community as an authentic European style cafe where you can enjoy a fine glass or wine, a good beer, a cheap beer, exotic tea, or a French Press of coffee, as well as a wrap, comfort food, or fine dinner. The direction that this place has taken is so much more than I ever expected. I couldn't be prouder of the little Cafe that could.
We have had a spectacular winter (until February when Mother Nature's depth perception got screwed up and she mistook Staunton for Alaska). Not many businesses can say that they have doubled their sales repeatedly since the previous year, but we can!
This fall I hired Kelly Seymour to be our chef and that relationship has worked splendidly. Between Kelly, sweet Sarah Pool, and me we have run a tight ship and made this little shop a fun lunch spot, a teen hang out, a place for a multiple course dinner, and a friendly neighborhood bar. We're like a multi-purpose Cheers!
We are now hosting monthly Wine Tastings that involve a four course meal and multiple wines! I am very excited that those are so successful we have to take reservations!
Our role as a music venue is continuing to flourish. At this point, we are booked through mid-May. I have more people asking to book shows than I have available dates.
I think that the Darjeeling Cafe is continuing to solidify its' role in the community as an authentic European style cafe where you can enjoy a fine glass or wine, a good beer, a cheap beer, exotic tea, or a French Press of coffee, as well as a wrap, comfort food, or fine dinner. The direction that this place has taken is so much more than I ever expected. I couldn't be prouder of the little Cafe that could.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Just a small town girl
Sometimes I feel really boring. I have only lived in Lexington and Staunton. I have never traveled extensively (like my brother and Jack) or been invited to NYC Fashion Week (like a girl I went to school with). I don't make a lot of money (or really any for that matter) and everything that I do make goes directly back into the business. So I have to say that it is pretty surprising when people that have known me for a long time say that I am doing cool things-- because I don't notice it and God knows I have never been cool.
I get some really great bands in here-- traveling troubadours, electronic bands from Prague, famous metal acts-- and we have fun events like last nights Shakespearean monologue slam and magazine launch parties, but I look at those things as work, because without them I wouldn't have a job.
I have to say that it is really nice that while I frequently don't recognize what we do here as awesome it is really reassuring to know that others do. So thank you to everyone who frequents the Cafe and makes everything that we do here worthwhile. Without your continued support there would be no reason to keep having such a variety of "cool" events.
I get some really great bands in here-- traveling troubadours, electronic bands from Prague, famous metal acts-- and we have fun events like last nights Shakespearean monologue slam and magazine launch parties, but I look at those things as work, because without them I wouldn't have a job.
I have to say that it is really nice that while I frequently don't recognize what we do here as awesome it is really reassuring to know that others do. So thank you to everyone who frequents the Cafe and makes everything that we do here worthwhile. Without your continued support there would be no reason to keep having such a variety of "cool" events.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
I'm leaving Monday, It's better than Sunday, I'm leaving younger, It's better than wiser
Among my friends and I has been a long running joke about the fact that I am an old man magnet. For some reason, old men just really like me. Yesterday I was slated to learn to cook traditional Hungarian food from a Transylvanian. I have to say waking up yesterday I was not in the mood for a tutorial on anything. I had a to do list as long as my arm and knew that none of it was going to get done.
Jack and I walked to work and Steve showed up soon after. We had to go to the store because being a predominantly vegetarian restaurant I don't have a lot of chuck roasts just hanging out. He drove and showed me exactly what I would need to make a real meal, not just the Americanized slop I served up the last time we did Hungarian night. Everything from the type of meat to use to the type of peppers was laid out for me.
As we were leaving he stopped to get gas. Since he drove I offered to pony up for some gas money. He filled up and said, "Ok, $20." I was more than a little surprised and said, "But you just drove to Martin's not Budapest!" but I handed him the cash. He got back in the car and handed me $10 back, proclaiming, "I'm a Hungarian, not a gypsy!"
We spent the rest of the day chopping vegetables. The whole place smelled divine. He showed me the proper way to trim meat which is much more economic than my hack and toss routine. The Happy Hungarian told me about his life, growing up during World War II, joining the merchant marines, cooking in the Hungarian army... It was truly fascinating. I could have gone without hearing about his hog butchering technique and the proper way to make blood sausage, but everything else was really amazing. His great disdain for porridge made me crave Cream of Wheat for the rest of the day.
All in all, this day that I did not want to deal with turned into an awesome learning adventure. I must remember to start each day in a more open frame of mind, because I grow much more that way. And now I can make a killer goulash!
Jack and I walked to work and Steve showed up soon after. We had to go to the store because being a predominantly vegetarian restaurant I don't have a lot of chuck roasts just hanging out. He drove and showed me exactly what I would need to make a real meal, not just the Americanized slop I served up the last time we did Hungarian night. Everything from the type of meat to use to the type of peppers was laid out for me.
As we were leaving he stopped to get gas. Since he drove I offered to pony up for some gas money. He filled up and said, "Ok, $20." I was more than a little surprised and said, "But you just drove to Martin's not Budapest!" but I handed him the cash. He got back in the car and handed me $10 back, proclaiming, "I'm a Hungarian, not a gypsy!"
We spent the rest of the day chopping vegetables. The whole place smelled divine. He showed me the proper way to trim meat which is much more economic than my hack and toss routine. The Happy Hungarian told me about his life, growing up during World War II, joining the merchant marines, cooking in the Hungarian army... It was truly fascinating. I could have gone without hearing about his hog butchering technique and the proper way to make blood sausage, but everything else was really amazing. His great disdain for porridge made me crave Cream of Wheat for the rest of the day.
All in all, this day that I did not want to deal with turned into an awesome learning adventure. I must remember to start each day in a more open frame of mind, because I grow much more that way. And now I can make a killer goulash!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you...
Today is my one year anniversary. One year. It is such a small step when it gets down to it. After all, one is the loneliest number. It seems more like it actually feels when you break it down into actual days. 365. That's a lot of days. Out of those 365, I have been here for 345 of them. Out of an entire year, I have only had 20 days where I did not set foot in the cafe. Most of my days here have been great; not all of them, but most.
Let's face it, if I wanted to get rich I would not have started a restaurant. I'll never make a million dollars doing this, but I love it anyway. I have managed to take a business that was only open a couple days a week and turn it into a seven day a week operation. When I started I had a staff of 1 and a half and now I have 5 employees. As I said, I'm not setting the world on fire, but I am managing to turn a profit and in today's market there's a lot to be said for that.
Every penny that I have made has been reinvested to improve the cafe. I doubled our refrigerator space recently, which may not sound like a lot, but in a kitchen as small as ours every inch helps. I expanded the food menu and increased the number of local purveyors and farmers that we work with. The wine list has gone from 5 to 36. The beer list has gone from PBR and Bud Light to fine German crafted beers, microbrews, and imports-- 30 to be exact.
A lot of really good things have happened here since I opened. During our first week we more than doubled the biggest day that the previous restaurant had ever had. We have done that on several occasions since then. Also, we have become a venue. At this point, I don't even have to book bands anymore; they come to me. We have had people from all over the east coast play here as well as popular local acts and this summer we even have a group from Prague coming in. I have had 6 art openings, one of which was a sell out show. We have hosted bridal showers, baby showers, an engagement party, and the Blu launch party for about 200 people.
A couple of other pretty monumental things have happened in the year, too. I met Jack Morgan here shortly after I opened. He just happened to be in town from California to review plays and came here for some vegetarian grub. Little did the poor guy know that it was served with a side of sassy tea maiden. We carried on never ending transcontinental conversations and he ended up moving here in November. Since he's been here the entreprenual bug has bitten him as well and he has become one of the co founders of Blu Magazine, a local arts and culture monthly that launched to rave reviews.
It hasn't been easy and it won't get any easier. The more we expand and grow the harder it will get. I've learned that the hard way. But I am moving in the right direction. It might be at a a glaceral pace sometimes, but I'm moving nonetheless. So happy birthday to you Darjeeling Cafe. It's been a wonderful eye opening year. I hope to share many more with you. Now I'm going to close early and make a toast in your honor.
Let's face it, if I wanted to get rich I would not have started a restaurant. I'll never make a million dollars doing this, but I love it anyway. I have managed to take a business that was only open a couple days a week and turn it into a seven day a week operation. When I started I had a staff of 1 and a half and now I have 5 employees. As I said, I'm not setting the world on fire, but I am managing to turn a profit and in today's market there's a lot to be said for that.
Every penny that I have made has been reinvested to improve the cafe. I doubled our refrigerator space recently, which may not sound like a lot, but in a kitchen as small as ours every inch helps. I expanded the food menu and increased the number of local purveyors and farmers that we work with. The wine list has gone from 5 to 36. The beer list has gone from PBR and Bud Light to fine German crafted beers, microbrews, and imports-- 30 to be exact.
A lot of really good things have happened here since I opened. During our first week we more than doubled the biggest day that the previous restaurant had ever had. We have done that on several occasions since then. Also, we have become a venue. At this point, I don't even have to book bands anymore; they come to me. We have had people from all over the east coast play here as well as popular local acts and this summer we even have a group from Prague coming in. I have had 6 art openings, one of which was a sell out show. We have hosted bridal showers, baby showers, an engagement party, and the Blu launch party for about 200 people.
A couple of other pretty monumental things have happened in the year, too. I met Jack Morgan here shortly after I opened. He just happened to be in town from California to review plays and came here for some vegetarian grub. Little did the poor guy know that it was served with a side of sassy tea maiden. We carried on never ending transcontinental conversations and he ended up moving here in November. Since he's been here the entreprenual bug has bitten him as well and he has become one of the co founders of Blu Magazine, a local arts and culture monthly that launched to rave reviews.
It hasn't been easy and it won't get any easier. The more we expand and grow the harder it will get. I've learned that the hard way. But I am moving in the right direction. It might be at a a glaceral pace sometimes, but I'm moving nonetheless. So happy birthday to you Darjeeling Cafe. It's been a wonderful eye opening year. I hope to share many more with you. Now I'm going to close early and make a toast in your honor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)