When I was young and working in this business, I dreamed of opening my own restaurants. It’s funny though. My naive thoughts only went about as far as what the restaurants might look like and what kind of food I’d serve. You know, the fun stuff. Not months and months of site inspections followed by laborious lease negotiation. And I definitely didn’t dream about dealing with the clunky divisions of government that issue restaurants the permits that theoretically keep everything on the up-and-up. Not once did I ever think about legal fees, architects, contractors, structural engineers, acoustical engineers, lighting engineers or mechanical engineers.
Not to mention raising the money—a skill that doesn’t exactly come naturally to me, something I was never taught all those years that I worked as a general manager. Even in my most strapped times, I’ve always been the kind of guy who would rather buy dinner for everyone rather than deal with an awkward moment that involves an exchange of money. Going dutch isn’t in me. (Just ask my wife.) So fundraising is a particular hell.
Nevertheless, in these past six months, I’ve learned so much. The structure has been designed, the plans have been approved, the permits have been issued and we’re ready to start building. Finally—with the exception of a little bit more money that I need to raise—I am getting to the fun stuff. The part that the waiter, cook, floor manager and interior designer in me wanted to do all those years ago: Choose the paint colors, light fixtures and tile samples!
As we build the restaurant over the course of the next 12 weeks, I’ll keep you updated with photos and stories right here on this blog. It’ll go up fast and before you know it, we’ll be into our Indian summer and sitting on our new patio drinking Palomas and eating tacos al pastor.
My friend Paul Madonna—the amazing artist who drew our cooler-than-shit Mission taqueria inspired art for T-LISH numeral uno—is working on some great stuff for T-LISH dos. Judging by his most recent painting of our soon-to-be patio construction site to his weekly feature “All Over Coffee” in the San Francisco Chronicle, Paul is almost as excited as I am, which is really tough to top.
Paul Madonna's Wonderful Illustration of What He'll Soon Illuminate
I can’t wait to see you all later this summer,
Joe