Part 107 Change

Expectations, Barbara and Penelope.

Did you know, if you put a Like at the end of this, Barry Manilow will sing all of his greatest hits at your next birthday party.

Now then, thanks for coming back to read our story.

Right, we’d been open for about two years, and after a crappy first year, the second year was getting a little better. So much so that we had taken on Mike to give us a helping hand with Friday nights.

However……

The busyness continued to increase, which is obviously a good thing, but we couldn’t keep up with the rate at which it was increasing.

Have you ever done that thing where you run down a hill so fast that your legs can’t keep up with the velocity of your body and you feel as if you’re gonna fall? It was just like that.

If you’ve never done it, trust me, it’s poopy pants time.

But there was something else, we were getting a good reputation. Now you might think that this was great news, but it actually wasn’t.

You see, there were still the bitter comments on Tripadvisor from the Jims and the Jeans, but comments from others, and mentions in magazines, were about this ‘fine dining vegetarian restaurant’. Our profile was rising too much. We never said we were a fine dining restaurant, everyone else did, but we didn’t.

We didn’t even try to put a label on ourselves, we just described the restaurant as not being the usual hippy joint where you could pull up a beanbag and eat a sandal.

So, what was happening was that the GP were painting an image of Vanilla Black based on what they had heard or read.

“Morning Barbara darling, looking forward to the weekend?”

“Oh ya, can’t wait darling, Sebastian is taking me for a meal tonight. No reason, just as you do, you know. Hahaha.”

“Oh that’s amazing, anywhere special?”

“Yes actually, he’s taking me to a fine dining vegetarian restaurant, it’s supposed to be amaaaaazing.”

“Oh darling, that’s superb, what’s the restaurant called?”

“Vanilla Black, you probably don’t know it, it’s a bit spesh.”

“Oh darling, of course I’ve heard of it. Isn’t that the place that serves the food on plates which were actually hand made by Tom Cruise?”

“Yes that’s it Penelope, and the service is so good, once you arrive, the waiting staff actually pick you up and carry you to your table.”

“Yes yes Barbara, and the food is exquisite. I heard that the chefs drive over to France very morning to collect gallons of French water to cook the vegetables in.”

Neither Barbara or Penelope were Emma’s mam.

A good breakfast option.

So you see, people had high expectations, yet what we were actually offering was nowhere near what the hype was telling them. yes we were creating some unusual dishes, but we weren’t this fine dining restaurant they were expecting. So our reaction, was to become the expected.

And looking back, we realise that at the time, we were moulding ourselves to the expectations of the public. We were trying to become what they wanted. The public’s expectations formed us. And in an odd kinda way, it was a pretty good thing to happen, it forced us to strive for improvement, forced us to bend towards the words which were written about us.

But it wasn’t easy, it’s like saying to a football team, “Get better, win every match.”

You don’t just become better on Monday morning, it takes time. And how? What actions could we take to become the reality of Barbara and Penelope’s image?

Well, fortunately, Donna and I are very self critical, we even agreed with Jim and Jean.

“The food at this restaurant is poor and overpriced.”

“Do Jim and Jean have a point Donna? I mean, we are crap aren’t we.”

So we pushed onwards. Donna decided that we should upgrade the soft drinks and the mixers. She contacted the drinks supplier and started the task of searching for something unusual.

Then we asked Tina Terminator if she could carry diners to their table.

“Probably. But I’m not going to, it’s stupid.”

And the food needed to improve, it needed to be presented better, it needed to be more adventurous and we needed to have more time to prepare more adventurous dishes. We had to keep pushing.

So we made the decision to employ another chef. I mean yea, it was another cost, but we were getting busier, and we had to improve.

Nice eh?

Then, coincidently, Mike, who had been with us for a few months at this stage, had started his own business, so he left. That was a shame, because although he had worked for SAF in the past, we liked him a lot. But he went on to have a very successful business, and that’s a very good thing.

Oh yea, and it saved us some money!

An advert was put out for a chef, and when interviews were held, a weird thing happened. This guy turned up, he seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him, until the conversation started.

“Hiya Robert, have we met before?”

“Yes, you interviewed me a while back, but you said I didn’t have enough experience. So I went away and got more experience, and here I am again.”

How good was that. This chef, who wasn’t a vegetarian, and just wanted to work with us, waited for another opportunity to join the team. Yes, of course he got the job.

There we go, isn’t life great. Some of you reading this can be a bit negative, don’t deny it. But just trust in the universe and it will give back.

Then a couple of weeks later, Skater Jane had some news, “Listen mate, sorry yea, I need to leave.”

If you’re having trouble keeping up with all of this, imagine how we felt. Employ someone else so we can improve, then someone else leaves.

AAARRRRRGGGGGGG!!!

Skater Jane had been with us for about a year and she was going to intern (work somewhere without getting paid to gain experience and stick it on your CV) at one of the best restaurants in the world. So fair do’s.

If you think we deserve a coffee for writing this, that’s the button.

So, towards the end of 2010, we put out another advert for another chef to replace Jane. This idea of employing just one more chef had taken months to happen. Why is everything so difficult? Bollocks to the universe.

Several people turned up for interview, but they were a bit humdrum, they didn’t really want to work with us, they just wanted a job.

However, and here’s our friend the universe back in action again, a Canadian guy in his early 30s appeared for interview. This laddo had been working in London for about 9 months……at SAF!

Here we go again.

But I was starting to realise that I would have to let the whole SAF thing drop, this guy seemed OK.

His name was Richard, he was short and narrow, and he was quite quite direct. But not direct in a rude way, he wasn’t a cocky lad, he just didn’t mess about, he answered questions and gave just the right amount of information.

“Richard, did you enjoy your time at SAF?”

“I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it but I learned some useful culinary processes and it was a notable experience.”

See what I mean, he spoke as if he was using AI, before it existed.

And he wasn’t exactly chipper either, but he wasn’t miserable, just direct and without too much emotion. As I sat chatting with him, I started to wonder if he would fit with us, he wasn’t our usual type, I couldn’t see him gelling with the likes of Tina Terminator.

But then he said something which made me laugh……..

“Andrew, you do realise that we have met previously?”

“Errrr, have we Richard, I don’t remember. When?”

“About six months ago. I had only been working at SAF for a number of months when I heard about Vanilla Black. So I looked at your menu and decided that I wanted to work at your restaurant. A day or two later I dropped off my CV.”

“Ah right, that’s nice Richard. And who did you give your CV to?”

“I gave it to you.”

I panicked a bit, I didn’t remember any of this.

“Right, OK, I don’t remember that Richard, sorry man.”

“I do. When I handed it over to you, I asked if I could be considered for any positions which became available. Then I asked for your name.”

I still didn’t remember, but I put that look on my face as if it was all coming back to me.

“Oh right Richard, and so I told you my name and took your CV. Yes, I remember now, of course.”

“No, you told me that your name was Elvis Presley.”

“Did I?” I thought this was hilarious, Richard smiled a little.

“Richard man, I’m surprised you came back after that.”

“It’s OK, after reading your menu online I expected to meet someone a little eccentric.”

I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

And then, Richard asked, “I have my whites with me, can I spend an hour or two in the kitchen?”

“Errr, if you want to I suppose, yea, OK.”

“Thank you, I just want to determine if this is the correct working environment for me, and it also gives you a chance to form an opinion about me.”

Say it like it is Richard.

Richard spent more than a couple of hours in the kitchen, we couldn’t get rid of him.

By now we were left with Emma and Robert, and it felt strange that Emma, who five months ago hadn’t stepped foot in a kitchen, was now the most experienced member of the team. And Robert, who had been with us for four weeks, was only just finding his feet.

And this was us trying to move the food up a level, it was nigh on impossible.

Anyway, I asked both Robert and Emma what they thought of Richard, and they both approved.

But did Richard approve of us? Were we worthy?

I watched him pack his knives away and he asked if he could talk with me in the corridor. Bloody hell, was he going to ask me out?

“Andrew…..”

“Richard, it’s Elvis”

“Yes, very good. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the kitchen, and although Emma and Robert have little experience, they’re keen, and that’s half of the battle. So based on these facts, I would very much like to join the team, that’s if you’re happy with my performance.”

I took that as him wanting a job.

“Yea Richard, brilliant, when do you want to start?”

“How’s tomorrow?”

“Err, yea, I wasn’t expecting that, but yes, great with me.”

Richard jumped back into his civvies and left, then joined us the very next day.

And after he joined us, way back at the end of 2010, everything changed.

Thanks for STILL reading these stories, much appreciated.

Andrew and Donna