Cookaholics Bulletin Board http://cookaholics.org/ |
|
And now, soon, finally, Verjus (Hidden Kitchen Paris) http://cookaholics.org/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1882 |
Page 1 of 1 |
Author: | Kathy's Pete [ Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:32 am ] |
Post subject: | And now, soon, finally, Verjus (Hidden Kitchen Paris) |
Some of us recall trying to get into Hidden Kitchen. Here's an update. At least to me, the underground aspect of HK was behind a lot of its mythical appeal, but I wish them success... Quote: When the idea to open a restaurant was just a tiny flickering candle
in the back of a very dark room, the advice we got from our parents, restaurant owners and dog walkers in the park was unanimous. DON'T DO IT! This was followed by a litany of reasons. France is anti-owner. The high cost of opening a company is only slightly less than the extremely high cost of closing a company. The euro is going to fail. France doesn't support small businesses. It's hard to hire anyone. It's impossible to fire anyone. You will lose all your friends. You will go broke. Your life will be over. Maybe we should of listened to them, any of them. In the last month, a water heater cracked open and leaked. Carpenters stole money and left a bathroom unfinished. The city denied our license, then forced us to wait two additional weeks to serve wine. A neighbor threatened to call the police on us. French police visited twice, both times looking for free drinks. We broke off the door of a moving truck on the narrow driveway of a parking ramp. Our new carpenter covered two thirds of the outdoor tables of nearby restaurants in plaster dust during lunchtime service as he sawed down a wall. Our plumber turned the water off to all the buildings surrounding us as everyone was showering for work. And we had our laptop stolen. So what keeps us going? Well, booze mostly. We came up with idea for Verjus about a year ago. The idea came because we felt like we had hit a ceiling on what we could do at Hidden Kitchen. At times, we were getting fourteen hundred e-mails a day requesting spots at our very limited Hidden Kitchen dinners. Even if we increased the frequency of the dinners in our home, we wouldn't be able to accommodate all the requests. I personally felt like we had also hit a ceiling on what we could cook in our tiny home kitchen. If we had a larger facility, with better equipment, all the food we were serving could be elevated. Our philosophy for opening and running Verjus is simple. Buy great ingredients from small French farmers and producers. Cook those ingredients correctly. Treat our staff well. Respect the people who are paying to dine at our place. If we can do those four things, then in our mind the restaurant will already be a success. Verjus is possible because of the friends we have made through Hidden Kitchen. It is for those friends and the countless more we hope to make with Verjus that we will continue to strive to meet and exceed the expectations people have for us and we have for ourselves. In short, it's going to take much more than the garden variety drama I mentioned above to dissuade us from creating the restaurant we envision. Thank you to everyone who has supported us at Hidden Kitchen and I hope to see you all at Verjus. Our wine bar is open Mondays - Fridays from 18:00 - 23:00. The restaurant is open Tuesdays - Fridays from 19:00 - 22:00 For more information, pictures and such check out the old HK blog or new Verjus site. http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Verjus/fe278391 ... ca39d90799 http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Verjus/fe278391 ... e0e4394d3f -Laura and Braden Restaurant Verjus 52 rue Richelieu 75001 Paris, France Verjus Bar à vin 47 rue Montpensier 75001 Paris, France www.verjusparis.com |
Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ] |
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |