Another update, our first event
Hello once again! I wanted to show y'all some pictures, because today we've hosted our first event.
Today's event is a birthday party for a little girl, her family and friends are all here setting up for a meal and they've got a neat inflatable for the kids to play on. She's turning 2 and folks decided to just go all out for it.
I wanted to share too, how this event is helping out the overall plan. The little girl's grandmother was a caterer before they moved here. She doesn't want to do catering professionally anymore, because the job wore her out. She stopped doing it after they moved, because she was exhausted. The way she tells it, it's a pretty typical story of being worked to the bone for rewards that aren't fulfilling, for a larger business that was mostly just about growth/performance. Turned her off to the whole idea, because she was sick of being pushed past her limits. We got to talking with her and shared some of our own plans - to be a local space, small scale and low key, not trying to grow super fast or get bought by something bigger.
As we shared all this I noticed her grandmother's demeanor change, what was at first a negative recollection turned into a sort of hopeful interest. Turns out she would like to do catering again, she'd just like to do it without the pressures of a larger scale business. I said at one point, that our goal was to be a good place, not the biggest business or the richest people. She gave me her number, and said to reach her whenever we wanted.
I couldn't ask for a better outcome on this one, I think. They paid early too :). Anyway, I don't have just a whole lot more to say, I just wanted to show y'all some progress since I'd already written out so much. Slowly but surely, step by step, it's working out so far. Hope y'all's weekend is good, and I hope to show you more soon!
Damn, that's a really beautiful place you have there! I love the old furniture, especially the wingback chairs and that gigantic dining table. The fireplace, hard wood floors, and the crown moulding are lovely too. It reminds me of some of the small dining+concert venues I visited in old Vienna, Austria.
Lovely story about the grandmother too. It reminds me of one of my own. We have an old Italian Chef in our town that used to run a very high-end restaurant downtown Toronto. He retired and moved here, but didn't want to give up cooking for people, so he bought himself a food truck. So now he does that to keep himself busy. It's only open on week-ends, or sometimes during the week but only if he feels like it. The food is insanely good though, and for ridiculously low prices (I'm assuming nearly at-cost), since making money isn't his goal either. He just loves cooking, as well as feeding and chatting with people. So he sees it as a win/win even though he's probably only breaking even... and so do we! :P
Id love to try that guy's food, I'm a bit envious. That sort of person though is exactly who I want to meet, and try to build connections with. If anything, I think it makes what they provide better, if it's produced without a ton of stress. But more importantly, it's an opportunity both, to let them do what they enjoy and see that work be something pretty much immediately. At least personally, that's always what I was after - I just wanted what I did to contribute, to be meaningful. The way the little girl's grandmother lit up at the prospect made me really happy, you could tell in the moment it really did mean something to her. Hoping I can continue like that and one day have a big network, it's one way I'm trying to measure the progress/success of everything.
I love everything!
I hope this becomes the place you were hoping that it would be for your community. It looks like you're already well on your way!
I'm curious if you provided the dinnerware, or if the people planning it did? Those plates are beautiful.
Believe it or not, the small, white plates are actually paper plates they brought along, as well as the cups. Everything else is ours. We do have a set big enough for this, but given the children everybody figured paper was the way to go.
Did the birthday girl have a ton of fun?
Those photos are amazing and I wish we had something like this available when I was getting married :) I'm so glad to see what a fantastic time you had and your success at bringing happiness and human warmth to your guests this new venture!
Very much so! I made a playlist for it, mostly Disney music (Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, etc) and she was just ecstatic, singing with it and playing around with her friends. Though only 2, she was very sweet and loved talking to folks, honestly one of the best behaved 2 year olds I think I've ever seen lol.