Looks like we’re not opening a cafe after all. We’re open a health club, working hard to fill you full of vital metabolic compounds for the development of biological stuff. I leave those details to brilliant Finnish scientists. Get you some coffee! Good luck billing it to insurance…
https://www.oulu.fi/en/news/study-links-coffee-consumption-metabolic-health-and-sex-hormones
While sketching interior decor ideas using my professional-level art skills, I got side-tracked.
The road to opening a new cafe is fraught with peril. Economic peril, not anything like a threat of getting eaten, as far as we know. The lease, equipment, supplies, framing, drywall, electrical, plumbing, and WHOOO, the HVAC! Like getting the death of a thousand cuts from chainsaws.
The common wisdom is to get a 2nd gen kitchen space that previous got cleared by the Department of Health, but we’ve been looking into the possibility of updating a retail shop, since it’s got a cool look, good location, and doesn’t appear to be haunted.
It’s a slow process, though, since we have to wait for contractors to tell us if it would even be feasible, and they’re busy folks. But we have to go through the process and be patient. When health department requirements meet spaces that aren’t already built out to allow for food service, it creates massive unknowns that can kill baby book cafes before they’ve even hatched.
Hatched meaning opening. I was just going with the killing metaphor, which we probably shouldn’t use anyhow, especially when referring to baby anything. In retrospect, the chainsaws in the first part were a bit much as well.
The point is that logos are challenging to make, and sometimes a minor alignment mistake can persist for months before getting fixed. Anyhow, the official logo has always obviously looked like it does now, so I don’t know why to even bring it up.
To summarize, we’re still looking into spaces, calling contractors, making spreadsheets grow by the day, brewing coffee, reading stories, and munching on snacks. And maybe fixing an occasional logo, who can say…
Here’s a random sampling of how we spend our days while hunting for a new home. I mean, without the spreadsheets and commentary on the intricacies of building HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. Yeah, we party pretty hard like that, so you might want to start limbering up.
Test subject: Cherry chocolate chip cookies
Result: Testers agreed that the cookies were delicious, but the cherries are still getting lost in the mix.
Conclusion: BIGGER CHERRIES.
Oh well, back to more testing. I love this job.
After dragging our feet to enjoy some time off before going all-in… er, I mean, after a great deal of careful and rigorous planning, we are actively seeking a home in Cheektowaga!
Which means it’ll probably be a few more months before we actually hit anyone in the mouth with caffeinated goodness, but like my Granddad used to tell me, “all good things come to those who eventually get a location, do a bunch of building, and then get approved by code enforcement.” That dude was weird, but he made good coffee.
I’m pretty sure this is real, but our lawyers insist that it may not be, so disclaimer for the doubters.
It’s probably good for you, or at least not that bad for you. Or don’t if you’d prefer not to. I’m a blog entry, not a cop.