Go figure

Thursday was about the best day we've ever had at Edgar's. Huge lunch crowd, I visit every table. Everyone was happy, then the afternoon was fairly brisk, as afternoons go. Huge after work crowd at the bar. Then a good dinner crowd. So I figure. Great!! Good weather, good sales, tomorrow's Friday, nice weather expected. So Friday comes around. 3 tables at lunch. Seriously. Not a soul, except for Greg, an across-the-street regular, who came in for dinner. NO ONE. I can't take that. I was a miserable ball of anxiety. Just standing there with nothing to do. I left at 5:58. There was no one in the restaurant.

At 6:45 michael the manger calls me at home (this never happens), my sister is there. I'd completely forgotten. I felt so ashamed and miserable. I tell myself it will be OK but am racked with doubt and misery. 

I came in this morning to do my taxes, well, organize them so someone else can do them. I look at the Micros system for the total from yesterday, it was whopping!!! They had a huge dinner hour that started at 7 and ended at 10.

Winter of anxiety

Today was a really good lunch in the restaurant. The place was full and it felt like a real restaurant. That's a big issue for me, feeling like a real place. But it's February 21st. These kinds of days are few and far between. That's going on 4 months of mostly feeling inadequate and anxious. And it's because of the weather (at least I hope that's the problem). There are other reasons, of course, no one eats out the day before Thanksgiving, no one eats out on a voting day, but really, no one eats out when the weather is bad or there is the hint of snow. And there have been a lot more than hints of snow this winter. The snow has been more along the lines of getting smacked in the face with the back of a shovel in your face than a hint. My balcony one morning. One of many mornings with new snow.

Dead or dying

My 20+ year old bay laurel tree is either dead or dying. I'm sick about it and it's my fault. It died of neglect since I have been so busy with the restaurant. It was nearly 7 feet tall. I noticed the leaves were shriveled up. Like so many things in my life I've had to neglect a lot to make this restaurant work. I'm not sure how I compensate for the things I've left behind in the frantic pace of what I am doing. In the meantime, I cut the tree back and hope it's still alive and will get new leaves. This is what it looks like now. You can see all the detritus on my dining room table in the background. Poor thing.

The wait

It is just a waiting game. I think the food is good. The interior is really nice. I painted it myself. the service is mostly good. Though it's hard to know to know for sure since I am mostly wringing my hands worrying about the service. When I went out to dinner earlier this week in the end-of-the-world weather, the service was iffy at best. I had to ask a different server to get me another glass of wine. It can't be that hard to see if people are done with their drinks and ask if they'd like another, though apparently it is since it is an ongoing problem at most restaurants. So now I'm waiting for customers to come in. I'm not sure if it will be good or bad. I'd hate to be overwhelmed with people who were then unhappy because it took 2 hours to get dinner. or worse, lunch. Gotta have a prompt lunch.

This is the interior.