Thursday

Private Chef parties this week

Well, the party last Wednesday was a blast. they loved the Ligurian Beef Stew and the Linguine Vonghole. Turns out that the guests were real lovers of food, they even brought great French wine to go with the menu. I did so well I was given another party for 30 people tomorrow night. This time the menu includes a roast rib eye, Red snapper cartoccio and tiramisu!. the budget is bigger, and it seems the menu will really stuff them. Kids will be able to enjoy the pigs in a blanket made with Puff pastry and german franks.
Did the whole grocery shopping in three hours. As i type this, i realized I forgot to get the puff pastry from santis when i picked up the rib eye. Sigh. I will figure something out.
Tomorrow will be a full day for me. Morning is reserved for my daughter's moving up ceremony. She will be in kindergarten next year. Then cooking in the afternoon for the party to be served at 1930h, then home at ten or eleven to do the cooking for Rossana's company outing. Food will be picked up at 0430h Saturday. Tiring. But I hope it will be worth it.

Private Chef parties this week

Well, the party last Wednesday was a blast. they loved the Ligurian Beef Stew and the Linguine Vonghole. Turns out that the guests were real lovers of food, they even brought great French wine to go with the menu. I did so well I was given another party for 30 people tomorrow night. This time the menu includes a roast rib eye, Red snapper cartoccio and tiramisu!. the budget is bigger, and it seems the menu will really stuff them. Kids will be able to enjoy the pigs in a blanket made with Puff pastry and german franks.
Did the whole grocery shopping in three hours. As i type this, i realized I forgot to get the puff pastry from santis when i picked up the rib eye. Sigh. I will figure something out.
Tomorrow will be a full day for me. Morning is reserved for my daughter's moving up ceremony. She will be in kindergarten next year. Then cooking in the afternoon for the party to be served at 1930h, then home at ten or eleven to do the cooking for Rossana's company outing. Food will be picked up at 0430h Saturday. Tiring. But I hope it will be worth it.

Sunday

Other funding for Souped Up

Presentations of the business plans are underway for different investment sources. In addition to that, I have branched out to get more funds. One of which is the private chef venture that I started. Catering to small private parties, customers hire me to cook for them. I do the grocery shopping, the cooking and the presentation. I got my first gig last Thursday when I got a call to cater for a small graduation party for a family of 18. I purposely did not charge much so that I get a foot in the door to a whole network of people who like food.
I made them an Italian menu. Though some of the dishes are ambitious, I think I can handle it. Now trying to fit the menu in a small budget is the challenge I have to overcome tomorrow.
I will also be meeting somebody for a possible consultation gig in Pampanga. Do not know how much the charge is, but being 2 hours of Manila, I should be fair to both the restaurant operators and myself.
We will see tomorrow.
I want to print t-shirts also for the budding cooks that are coming out of culinary school this month. Undershirts would be good for wearing while sweating it out under those cotton chefs' jackets. It would be cool if culinasry quotes are printed on the back of those t-shirts. This idea will be another great fund raiser.
Sigh. When my restaurant is up and running, this will all be worth it.

P.S. As part of our contribution to saving the environment, REUSE your grocery bags. What could you possibly do with eight additional grocery bags each time you go to the supermarket? Reuse the bags. It just pollutes the enviroment, and the resources to produce them is amazingly expensive. In the long run, your bags would be put to good use, the supermarket will save money, and those savings will translate into savings on the prices since they have less overhead. So please, it's our kids' future we are messing with.

Other funding for Souped Up

Presentations of the business plans are underway for different investment sources. In addition to that, I have branched out to get more funds. One of which is the private chef venture that I started. Catering to small private parties, customers hire me to cook for them. I do the grocery shopping, the cooking and the presentation. I got my first gig last Thursday when I got a call to cater for a small graduation party for a family of 18. I purposely did not charge much so that I get a foot in the door to a whole network of people who like food.
I made them an Italian menu. Though some of the dishes are ambitious, I think I can handle it. Now trying to fit the menu in a small budget is the challenge I have to overcome tomorrow.
I will also be meeting somebody for a possible consultation gig in Pampanga. Do not know how much the charge is, but being 2 hours of Manila, I should be fair to both the restaurant operators and myself.
We will see tomorrow.
I want to print t-shirts also for the budding cooks that are coming out of culinary school this month. Undershirts would be good for wearing while sweating it out under those cotton chefs' jackets. It would be cool if culinasry quotes are printed on the back of those t-shirts. This idea will be another great fund raiser.
Sigh. When my restaurant is up and running, this will all be worth it.

P.S. As part of our contribution to saving the environment, REUSE your grocery bags. What could you possibly do with eight additional grocery bags each time you go to the supermarket? Reuse the bags. It just pollutes the enviroment, and the resources to produce them is amazingly expensive. In the long run, your bags would be put to good use, the supermarket will save money, and those savings will translate into savings on the prices since they have less overhead. So please, it's our kids' future we are messing with.

Tuesday

Souped up in progress

it has been two weeks since I sent out the business plans. I have spoken with a few people. But financing is hard to come by. As I write this, I have no prospects yet. But I have lease applications for some fo the malls.  The forms are quite extensive. Apparently they can not give out the rent rates until the application is approved. I will know that in two weeks time when they mail me the approval.
Right now things are going slow, and I am frustrated that few share my vision. But we trudge on and keep moving forward. I believe whatever I am going through now will prepare me for when i first open the doors to my soup restaurant. 
It is a slow process. But the soup restaurant will get there. Serendipity will come...

Souped up in progress

it has been two weeks since I sent out the business plans. I have spoken with a few people. But financing is hard to come by. As I write this, I have no prospects yet. But I have lease applications for some fo the malls.  The forms are quite extensive. Apparently they can not give out the rent rates until the application is approved. I will know that in two weeks time when they mail me the approval.
Right now things are going slow, and I am frustrated that few share my vision. But we trudge on and keep moving forward. I believe whatever I am going through now will prepare me for when i first open the doors to my soup restaurant. 
It is a slow process. But the soup restaurant will get there. Serendipity will come...

Thursday

The first step toward my restaurant

I have finished the business plan, and have already emailed to potential invenstors. Of course, in today's economy, we are all holding to our cash as long as possible. But i believe my concept will take advantage of the economic downturn by offering more affordable fare without sacrificing quality that other restaurants could not.
So i cross my fingers on how it could go. One of my acquaintainces is a prominent business man, so successful he can spend hours having lunch and then coffee at an Italian restaurant I used to work for. Another reader, the son of a hotel owner, says it is a good thing to get going. So, for the first day and the first step, it has been encouraging.
The projections are about P3M per year, topping off at P4M by the third year, with a 15%-22% net profit. A second store is planned once the P3M milestone has been reached. The first milestone is an investor who can participate in this adventure. Any takers? If you are interested, send me your email, and I will send you the business plan. 

The first step toward my restaurant

I have finished the business plan, and have already emailed to potential invenstors. Of course, in today's economy, we are all holding to our cash as long as possible. But i believe my concept will take advantage of the economic downturn by offering more affordable fare without sacrificing quality that other restaurants could not.
So i cross my fingers on how it could go. One of my acquaintainces is a prominent business man, so successful he can spend hours having lunch and then coffee at an Italian restaurant I used to work for. Another reader, the son of a hotel owner, says it is a good thing to get going. So, for the first day and the first step, it has been encouraging.
The projections are about P3M per year, topping off at P4M by the third year, with a 15%-22% net profit. A second store is planned once the P3M milestone has been reached. The first milestone is an investor who can participate in this adventure. Any takers? If you are interested, send me your email, and I will send you the business plan.