New Dance Steps

Well, we're a month in. Bistro 2.0 has been in full-swing for about a month now. It's been a spectacular ride. Not seamless, yet not as perplexing as the first time we opened a place.

There have been a few bumpy parts: we're still waiting on lots of equipment, including all the feet to our tables which means we have to be creative with making them sit right! Our second hood,deep fryer, oven, and second walk-in cooler are all yet to arrive. I look forward to that day! One of the little challenges that I didn't anticipate is that when we gutted the old restaurant, we had to put everything in storage, and now that we've rebuilt the restaurant, everything seems to have a new home and we're not always sure where that is. Where do we keep the toothpicks? Has anyone seen anymore water glasses? Do we have short straws? Does anyone know where my shoes got put? There are a lot of conversations like that. Construction is still on-going: we are having offices built and the catering kitchen is about half-done so we continue to shuffle stuff around. It's a bit of a fancy dance we have going on right now!

Learning new systems for everything has also challenged our brains. The boys on the line have so much more space (which is a good thing), and there are now three of them (which is also a good thing) and they have all new equipment to work with (another good thing) but the dance steps have changed. Holy Moly, this charbroiler is hot (resulting in a few misfired steaks!) Who does which part? Moving in the space is different. So many more burns! Look at their arms next time you're in, Alex and Quin look battered.

From the front end, we have installed a computer system. Gone are our lovely handwritten bills in favour of a machine that can split checks anyway anyone wants. The process of switching has been quite funny. SImultaneously none of us wanted to give up the handwritten bill yet we

feared the table of 8 that wanted to split the wine 3 ways and 2 different people would share the appetizer and oh, by the way, can I get my friend's first two cocktails? Learning the new machine has been relatively straight forward but we all felt anxious. At one point during the training, our server and poet-in-residence, Andrew, curled up on the banquette with his hood pulled up over his head, hugging the stuffed penguin. Poor one! Now he's a pro.

The other, more noticeable change is we've grown! Whereas we were once able to seat 44 people (okay, a few more if we REALLY needed to), we can now seat 100. That's a lot of people! At first, I felt unsure of where I was supposed to be, my dance had changed, too. The space was so big! Sometimes I felt like I was chasing after staff trying to connect with them. A funny little British-style sketch routine with us running in circles, always missing each other. I also was constantly worried that I wasn't connecting with customers, that somehow I would miss them.

A month in, we're getting in the groove. You can feel all of us relaxing into this new loveliness. Remembering that we are really good at dancing together. Realizing how fabulous this new

situation is! Table isn't ready? No problem, come sit here in the lounge, have a drink and order your apps. No reso? No problem, come sit here in the lounge and have dinner. Want to have a party of 24? No problem, come sit here in our room and close the doors if you want privacy or leave them wide open to be part of the bistro life! The kitchen has figured out the dance. Food is going out at record speed (45 minutes for main courses on Saturday in the middle of the craziness on bills that included really large pieces of meat!), the food is great - I feel Alex is reinvigorated and has some great cooks supporting him, the servers are happy to have space and equipment and systems that work. And from my perspective, I'm remembering what I love about this: it's fun. I love to laugh. I love to look around and see a room full of happy people eating and drinking. I love to work with my staff. I love to think about dinner features and play with infusing booze. I love this whole life.

Bistro 2.0

We are days away from opening our new lounge and private function room, and completely renovated restaurant. I am simultaneously excited and terrified. The process has been arduous and seemingly never-ending.

Three years ago, we decided that expanding was a good idea. I have always felt little pangs of sadness when I send people away to wait for a table. I feel like they’re in my home, I should be able to accomodate them. And so, we began the process of finding the financing to expand. That was a far more complicated and arduous undertaking than I imagined. When we first opened, banks would not even set up appointments with us. No one, not even the credit union I had been dealing with since childhood, was the least bit interested in gambling on a restaurant. In the end, our friend helped facilitate the opening of bistro. I felt that after 3 successful years of business, banks would be eager to work with us to expand our business and open a lounge. Yeah, no. So we cobbled together a group of family, friends and supporters and managed to secure the financing. Fortunately, in the meantime, the space next door had become available. And so the efforts to open a lounge were really in full swing.

We have had drawings for over a year. We’ve been anticipating this moment for a long time. Of course, the unfolding of it is never as smooth as hoped. We put in permit applications in July. We finally received our occupancy December 23rd. Three different engineers agreed to do the job and then decided they were too busy. Our HVAC people have been AWOL multiple times, we lost our electrician along the way (although the one we eventually got is amazing!)...

Fortunately, in all of that some really beautiful things have also happened. Our friend Derryl Theissen stepped up and became the general contractor and has been doing an amazing job. He has beautifully navigated all the bizarre commercial space rules and the anxiety and stress of Alex and me. I can’t imagine doing another project without him. Mind you, he may not feel the same way! Another lovely situation was a longtime customer called to say he had some leftover tile from his house that he had brought in from Italy, would we like it? He dropped it off and it is stunning. One of the workers on the site has a little puppy that he brings to work every day and that makes all of us happy. But, perhaps for me, one of the loveliest parts has been the designing.

I was fearing the decorating piece of the lounge. I have a lot of ideas and sense of what I want but am not always clear on how to translate that. When we opened the bistro, our dear friend, my mother-in-law’s best friend, gently guided us through making the choices. Her name was Cecile Clayton-Gouthro and she was a textiles prof and artist with a fantastic sense of style. She chose the blue and brown, the art, where the mirrors were hung. She died of cancer the week before we opened.

As I was starting to think about decor and how to tie the two spaces together, I realized I was facing two daunting tasks. First, change. Second, what did I want it to look like? First, I was going to have to let go of the blue and brown; of all the beauty Cecile created. In fact, doing the challenging task of making ‘cold’ colours seem ‘warm’. This is hard to do. And, I believe, we have become a bit identified by our colours. Heck, we even have a ‘Bistro-tini’ that is the blue of our walls. Second, I was going to have to pick new colours, decor, design. Ack!!!

Over the past few years, Alex and I have entered the travel phase of our lives. Our kids are older, we have some flexibility, and we are super energized by travelling. We have been exploring other cities like mad and getting our creative juices flowing, particularly around food and drinks. However, a side-effect has certainly been exploring new ideas of what to do with spaces. We have seen some wild and lovely things in Montreal, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Minneapolis, Vancouver... I believe this has deeply informed how we have proceeded with the lounge, and ultimately the bistro. Our favourite hotel in Toronto is The Drake and one of the things we love most about it is the playfulness of it. I hope that we have managed to bring that quality into the new space.

However, I have felt ultimately incapable of executing the changes without help. And here is one of the loveliest parts of the lounge reno story: A few years ago, my friend Liane Chalmers-Bock decided to go back to school and become an interior designer. Liane and her husband, Ted, have been friends with Alex and I for over 20 years. They were at our wedding. We used to have dinner parties together every Friday night. We were pregnant with our first children at the same time. We had baby play groups. And then life happened. We exchange Christmas cards, see each other a few times a year – at the folk fest or at the bistro – but were not nearly as connected. When I ran into Liane at Loni Beach this summer and had a tour of her beautiful (self-designed) cottage, I asked her if she would consider helping me design the bistro. She agreed and we’ve been on this delightful journey together.

I have really love having Liane to bounce ideas off of, to go shopping with, to gently steer me away from some ideas and toward others. She is calm, patient and has a wonderful sense of style. Through the process of developing a new space and transforming an old one, one that has truly been a touchstone in my life, we have rekindled a really great friendship. It almost makes all the frustration and chaos of the past renovation year worth it!

I look forward to shifting and growing and changing. I also look forward to the rekindled relationship with bistro. The opportunity to feel reinvigorated, reinvested, and energized. To try on new challenges (cheese tasting class anyone?) and to sink into the comfort of all the relationships that make bistro such a special place. I feel pretty lucky. It’s a pretty great gig.