Why I Want to Own a Restaurant.

"Inarguably, a successful restaurant demands that you live on the premises for the first few years, working seventeen-hour days, with total involvement in every aspect of a complicated, cruel and very fickel trade. You must be fluent in not only Spanish but the Kabbala-like intricacies of health codes, tax law, fire department regulations, environmental protection laws, building code, occupational safety and health regs, fair hiring practices, zoning, insurance, the vagaries and back-alley back-scratching of liquor licenses, the netherworld of trash removal, linen, grease disposal. And with every dime you've got tied up in your new place, suddenly the drains in your prep kitchen are backing up with raw sewage, pushing hundreds of gallons of impacted crap into your dining room; your coke-addled chef just called that Asian waitress who's working her way through law school a chink, which ensures your presence in court for the next six months; your bartender is giving away the bar to underage girls from Wantagh, any one of whom could then crash Daddy's Buick into a busload of divinity students, putting your liquor license in peril, to say the least; the Ansel System could go off, shutting down your kitchen in the middle of a ten-thousand-dollar night; there's the ongoing struggle with rodents and cockroaches, any one of which could crawl across the Tina Brown four-top in the middle of the dessert course; you just bought ten thousand dollars' worth of shrimp when the market was low, but the walk-in freezer just went on the fritz and naturally it's a holliday weekend, so good luck getting a service call in time; the dishwasher just walked out after arguing with the busboy, and they need glasses now on table seven; immigration is at the door for a surprise inspection of your kitchen's green cards; the produce guy wants a certified check or he's taking back the delivery; you didn't order enough napkins for the weekend -- and is that the New York Times reviewer waiting for your hostess to stop flirting and notice her?"(Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential.)

I just picked up a bachelors degree from Colorado State and was planning to use a simple serving job to help pay the bills through grad school. I do feel some people are dissappointed that I'm not putting my ridiculously expensive education to proper use and I understand. Honestly though, going through college I had no idea what I wanted to accomplish. I started taking a few biology classes and noticed it was something I was good at. Except for a disasterous stint in Iowa city, I kept my grades up. When I graduated from CSU I had no idea what the hell I wanted to do, so I went to more school.
This is when my spoiled ass got cut off. I had to pay my way through this one. After searching for a couple weeks I saw Barbiere's Mama Mias was hiring. I figured what the hell. I know the place, Joe worked there for a bit. I'll subject myself to this life to pay my bills. After a few weeks at the place I found out I actually enjoyed the work. I asked to be put on more shifts just because I liked being around the place. After a year or so my future wife and I were promoted to managers. That was one of the best years of my life. From here on out I started contiplating a future in this business.
Katie and I got big headed, looked for other working thinking we could just shoot up the ranks. Started at Turner's... Pure hell, thank god I got out of there. In desperation we moved to door county and worked 6 months at the summertime in fish creek. I wouldn't change that experience for anything. Only problem was I couldn't live in mom's house and work in door county forever. Katie and I decided it was time to move back to milwaukee.
We saved over $12,000 in door county. Moved back home and figured we could take it easy. Did a quick road trip to colorado, then swung around through ohio to visit some family. Then we went home and started applying around the city.
NO ONE wanted us. We got desperate. God you should of seen some of the shit holes we were willing to work. Yet they denied us. Finally I got a call back from all places "Bosley on Brady."
I never even heard of the place when I applied. When they told me to come in for an interview I actually thought I was interviewing at Balzac up the block. Drove past Balzac and was surprised to see the awning didn't read bosley on brady. Had to call Katie, get the address of the place and then show up.
I thought the interview went well, went home and waited.... and waited. Finally a call from Bosley. They saw Katie sent in an application and they wanted to interview her. I cursed up a storm knowing that that meant I didn't get the job. Low and behold, I got called back 2 hours later and was told I could come in and start training.
I've learned so much about the business here. Katie and I are able to make a decent living as servers there. Of course the monotony of the work gets to me but I just can't see myself doing anything else. I love this business, I love this life, there is NOTHING short of managing the brewers that I'd rather do.
What gets me is everytime I tell someone I want to get into this business I get the same line... You know how hard the restaurant business is? The answer of course is NO! I've never owned a restaurant before... How could I? One thing is for sure though, I know more than 95% of the fools who've done it before me. I study this every day. I think about it constantly. I know exactly what it is that I'm getting into and I'm willing to bear down and attack.
I wrote all this with no proof reading or prior thought. Just a bunch of rambling some I'm sorry if it's in a language that's difficult to understand.
Time to shower and put on that damn apron. Another friday happy hour is about to start. Rock on!