Easter Brake

Nope, that's not a typo. I do mean brake. Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays, so the banks and grocery stores are closed and none of the bars open until midnight. It's another one of those cultural nuances we didn't pick up on when planning the restaurant, so we are moving our opening date back to April 11. It will end up being a good thing, however, because we will get in more staff training.

Friday night at midnight there was a huge explosion - sounded like a bomb going off - and then much cheering and yelling coming from the streets below. The bars were open again. Whew! That was a long 24 hours. Kiwis rival the Irish in their love of their pubs.

JB had a slight altercation with a bad gasman (another long story) and now has a really great gasman doing the hookups for equipment. When they turned on the gas the other night, the gas line started leaking because the bad gasman didn't weld the lines correctly. Lenin was filled with gas the next morning. Then the good gasman came and proposed a plan to correct the situation. They will attack the problem on Tuesday (after the holiday). Hopefully they can fix it from Lenin's side and not have to tear our wall out.

Tyler put the employment ad in the NZ Herald on Monday and we have had lots of interest all week. He has been handing out job apps (you can also download from www.mexicalifresh.co.nz), planning the schedule, and will be conducting interviews next week (after the holiday). Even with the lowest unemployment rate in the Western world (3.8%) we have had many really good applicants.

Mike has found a place that makes fresh corn and flour tortillas here in Auckland. The company has a French name and doesn't advertise, which is why we didn't find them right off. They have a great product and will supply us all of the torts we can use.

Conor's signs are AWESOME. He and JB signed off on the paper cutouts last week so they are now in production. He is also working with Insight on development of the menuboard which will be a framed chalkboard. The design looks great. I will put up a jpg so you can all see it.

Last week Conor, Malcolm and I worked with the installer for Micros setting up and training on the point of sale system. Next week all of us (except JB) go to coffee training to learn to make the perfect flat white, long black and latte. After we pass that, we get to go to milk school. Did you know that the ideal milk topping on a flat white should be the consistency of shaving cream?

I found a little bakery who has agreed to do our cinnamon rolls. The only other baker who does that sells theirs exclusively to Starbucks. Our breakfast menu is pretty well set: breakfast burritos, cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, croissants, juice and coffee. Since we are in a very heavy tourist area, we will open at 7 and serve breakfast until 11:00.

There are so many little stories to tell - I will try to get the guys to contribute a little more so you don't hear everything from my perspective.

Have a wonderful Easter!