Sorry for the delay...

I wish I had better news, but we are still looking for a place to rent to open our café.  We are definitely happy we didn't get into the other place, but it has been stressful to think of the things we would have faced if we had sign with them.  On the other hand, there are a couple of places that are actually better, with better locations...  We just need to find that place that matches our budget and allow us to do what we want.

In the meantime, summer is hot in NYC, and one early morning I got some nice view... my AC was not working and getting out was the best thing I did...

That Gut feeling

You know when you have that "gut" feeling that tells you not to do something???  Well, I got it when I finally got the lease document.  Just opening it I saw already 3 mistakes that are really bad ones, starting with the name of our business: we are defining it as "Café and Bakery", because the bakery products are a very strong point and basically the reason we started this project.
I later found out that there was a strong reason behind leaving out that part of the name:  turns out that buried down on page 35 of Appendix G there is a little line that stipulates that the Landlord can not lease to anyone selling packaged or fresh bakery products for off-site consumption...  so basically it is telling us that we can make your wedding cake, but you'll have to eat it at our café!
Right away I called Ralph and told him.  He already was complaining about other mistakes he found in the document.
So, we called our leasing agent and told him about that detail.  We were not even going to send the document to our lawyer to check it out.  The leasing agent told us that he would try to get a waiver for that, but that was the last drop.  I asked Ralph what was his gut feeling, because I didn't want to be the pessimistic one, but we all are on the same page.  This doesn't feel good!!

So basically after few months of dealing with this, we are looking for another place, and preparing for other plans.  This means that most likely I'll be spending the summer in NY...

Like dealing with a used-car salesman....

Well, things are very uncertain at this point.  To open the café we need to get a place that is appropriate.  I think we found it, We've been planning around the place, we've been there few times taking pictures, measurements, we've chosen the paint color for the walls, the fabric for the chairs, the color for the carpet... we've been negotiating the lease, we talked and talked, been back and forth, and we still don't know for sure if we will be approved to take the lease!  What we negotiated at some point is now being knocked out by new little details.  It feels like we are buying a used car at one of those dealers that makes you feel you are getting a great deal on the price, and then turns out that there a million charges that were not on the initial price.

I remember a comedian explaining about a $2,000 car with leather seats, AM/FM Stereo, CD Player, Antilock Breaks, powered doors and windows, and really great smell of "new"... but he had to pay $12,000 extra if he actually wanted the car to go around, because the $2,000 model did not include steering wheel, motor, tires or mirrors... those were "extras"...

So, as much as we want to open the cafe and move forward, we still don't know when will this happen.  Everything is still in waiting.  I'm glad I haven't rent a place in Richmond yet.

Waiting, again...

Well, I sent all the documents that the leasing company required, we are "ready to go" on our side, but we haven't heard from them yet if we are approved or not.  We are thinking in a positive way, since we are guessing that they rather have us than nobody renting their space, but until there is a definitive answer, we can't be too sure of that!
In the mean time, we continue preparations.  We have already collected few resumes that look promising. Some are impressive, but I don't think we'll be able to afford those people. At least not now.  Maybe later when we open a high scale restaurant!  But there is still enough time for that.
Other than that, I spent Memorial Day at a friend's house for BBQ.  We had a pretty good time.  I thought that by now I would be already in Richmond getting ready for opening day...

A Sea of Pizza!

Ralph made this pizza and it was sooo good! I told him he should do it for a living!
Also, we are waiting for the registration of our business to become a reality...  soon I'll be moving down to Richmond for good.
I'm looking for an apartment, but I'm not too worried, because there are plenty of places to choose from, even though some are too expensive for my taste.  I found apartmentrating.com and it is been very helpful!  A place that is cheaper than the others, has only a 25% positive reports.  But I guess like everything, there is something good and something bad in every place...

Here I am in Richmond...

Things are looking good.  I arrived on Sunday, we met the lawyer on Tuesday, and we just came from having diner with the guy from the property managment company.  We want to get things done faster, there is such a great potential all around!  After diner we went driving around and then I wanted to have something sweet.  The only real option was Gelato, which it was very good, but I didn't feel like Gelato.  I wanted have more of an option, and I think that is the real niche that we will fill up around this area:  great desserts in a nice atmosphere, other than what you can get at every restaurant. 
Very soon, as soon as we get our name registered, I'll be able to publish it here.  We are now working with the logo, with the ideas around it.
Also, we are deciding about how to paint the place (besides the bathroom), and the palets that will be more to our place.  Ina has very good ideas, so it will be a matter of just getting there and start doing it!
It is a good feeling!

To Richmond!

I'll be on my way to Richmond tomorrow.  We'll meet with the lawyer next week, to form the company and to finally get all legal to do the next steps...  I've been sick and busy, but mostly sick.
I'm certainly looking forward to this adventure.

Some interesting cakes!

I've been sick in the last few days, so we haven't done anything that we were supposed to...  but it will be done soon.

In the mean time, I got few pictures on an email that I needed to share with you... we do birthday, wedding, and special occasion cakes, and we can do divorce cakes too! Enjoy!

Nail biting wait

This week we have someone coming to the place we want to lease to tell us from the "experienced" point of view what do we need to do to bring it up to code.  Since we have limited resources, this is definitely a "do or die" situation.  If it is more expensive than we plan, then we can't do it.  We can't just go and open the place without enough money to back us up for few months until we are actually making money to cover all our expenses.
Although I'm very optimistic that we can succeed with our new café, it is hard not to feel nervous thinking what is going to happen.  So, basically this is decision week.  I guess by next weekend I'll know for sure what we'll be doing.
I would be biting my nails if I did that when I get nervous.  Instead, I'm watching movies on Hulu.

I am right about the toilette!

And here's the proof!

I took this image from my desktop while I was watching "The View" on Hulu, and ultra famous  legendary journalist Barbara Walters  showed this picture of her  while traveling in New Zealand, where apparently one of the attractions is ...  THE BATHROOM!

I am a firm believer that just having an interesting and out of the ordinary kind of bathroom at the café, will be a way of "word of mouth" marketing.  I'm very much looking forward for people to say...  "yes, I went to this café, and the cakes were amazing! And you gotta go and check out the bathroom!"
So far I have so many ideas, I guess I'll be changing it every 6 months or so.  I told Ina last night about that, and she laughed about it, but she likes the idea so far.

I am so looking forward to get the lease signed and starting to do all the things we have planned!