Cafe Friday #5
It seemed the season was mirroring my thoughts these days. Dull earth gave way to vibrant colors, sounds and life; my mind was abuzz as well, with plans and ideas for the future of Tango's. On my planning board, I used my Nona's picture as the center. Her photo and Rosa's from the bakery and a picture of the nice lady who always is out on her balcony across the street. I want this place to feel like a grandmother's home...minus the plastic furniture covers. After a few days of trying to itemize and organize, I see that in order for me not to become overwhelmed, I'd need a great team to help me see this through.
The first person I thought of was my sister Justice. She's the oldest of us kids and by far the kindest and smartest being I know. She taught me how to tie my shoes, how to paint my nails and how to beat the neighbor boys at kick ball. Currently she works at the modern art museum downtown, but I would love to nab her as my manager. I jotted down Tuba as a possible bookkeeper, aptly named because every time he'd blow his nose (bad allergies), he sounded like a tuba. He owes me big time too because when I left Axiom, I recommended him as someone who could replace me, and now he's got a corner office and a massage chair. I'll keep all our chefs and kitchen staff, no sense of fixing what isn't broken, but I do want to give them more leeway to add more delicious flavor. They hail from all over the globe: Brazil, Columbia, Haiti, El Salvador, New Jersey, why not incorporate that cuisine? Right now the cafe has no digital presence whatsoever. I definitely hope Joah could work on some imaging and photos, see if he can direct me to whoever built his website, it's just what we need. Sadie is a calm force, and she's willing to help wherever she can, purple hair and all.
Friday evening I decided to have everyone over to show them my ideas and see if they'd be willing to join me on this adventure. Come six thirty sharp there's a knock at the door. I opened it to find a man who appeared to be Thor's cousin. The Adonis with the bottle of wine introduced himself as Daniel before being hastily greeted by Emmi and plopped down on a kitchen bar stool right in front of the hummus.
I pulled my giddy roommate to the side. "Emmi...dearest...who is that!?", I asked, half whispering half yelling.
She tilted her head to one side, "Oh, Daniel? Isn't he wonderful? He just started at our building in customer service, he's a carpenter by trade, but he's saving up to go on his next trip to Costa Rica. I met him at lunch and we hit it off right away! I hope you don't mind."
"Who am I to turn away an Asgardian?", I quipped. She nearly squealed with delight. I headed off to the kitchen to check on the appetizers and find a corkscrew and some glasses. A few minutes later, another knock at the door and it's Justice...with four year old Talib and teething Talia in tow.
"I know, I know, this is supposed to be a grown up thing, but Terrance wouldn't take the kids (hands baby bag to Emmi) since its not his WEEKEND, I'm sure he's probably with and up under some...hello...there..." Apparently she met Daniel. Without being asked he scooped a Talia and started bouncing her around while Emmi helped get Talib situated. Justice plopped a Tupperware tub of monster cookies on the counter, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Realizing this was turning into an impromptu dinner party, I whipped up a quick salad and texted Joah to pick up some pizza's I'd ordered from Delano's. Tuba brought more wine and Sadie brought some Lumpia rolls, and finally Joah arrived, declaring I owed him $500.
While everyone was eating and in a good mood, I presented my vision about the cafe. To my left I could see Joah jotting notes again, and everyone seemed pretty interested.
"So where would the initial capital come from to get started?", Justice asked.
"I have a few funds put away from my Axiom severance, and I can borrow from my 401K as well; I don't want to take a huge bank loan if I don't have to. And I definitely don't want anyone here to feel pressured to give me anything monetarily. Honestly more than anything, I need help with the other aspects of the business."
"Well I don't know about anyone else but I'm in! Long as I can work my schedule around my kids!"
Tuba chimed in, "I can sacrifice some gaming time to do the accounts, I probably need more human interaction anyway. My usual fee of course and an endless supply of these crispy egg roll things."
"Lumpia!", Sadie said with a laugh, "Yeah, I'm in too."
Everybody said they were down for the cause, even Daniel said he could do something 'really cool' with the tables that we already had and make some benches for the back windows. I hadn't felt this hopeful for a long time. After our first team meeting, I started putting the food up and cleaning the kitchen, force of habit I suppose.
"Oh no you don't! You worked all day today, you not cleaning up this kitchen!"
"And who made Joah the Kitchen Police?"
"Joah made Joah the Kitchen Police!", and he flipped an invisible badge. "I got this! You just sit here and chill." I didn't have the strength to argue. Sitting here at this kitchen table, with a half a glass of Shiraz, house full of people I dig and someone doing the dishes for me, I could almost put this moment in a frame so I could have it all the time. Emmi must have turned on my chill playlist, 'cause the Isley Brother's song came on "Don't Change".
Joah holds out a just wiped off hand and asks me to dance. For just a moment, the world is all mine.
The first person I thought of was my sister Justice. She's the oldest of us kids and by far the kindest and smartest being I know. She taught me how to tie my shoes, how to paint my nails and how to beat the neighbor boys at kick ball. Currently she works at the modern art museum downtown, but I would love to nab her as my manager. I jotted down Tuba as a possible bookkeeper, aptly named because every time he'd blow his nose (bad allergies), he sounded like a tuba. He owes me big time too because when I left Axiom, I recommended him as someone who could replace me, and now he's got a corner office and a massage chair. I'll keep all our chefs and kitchen staff, no sense of fixing what isn't broken, but I do want to give them more leeway to add more delicious flavor. They hail from all over the globe: Brazil, Columbia, Haiti, El Salvador, New Jersey, why not incorporate that cuisine? Right now the cafe has no digital presence whatsoever. I definitely hope Joah could work on some imaging and photos, see if he can direct me to whoever built his website, it's just what we need. Sadie is a calm force, and she's willing to help wherever she can, purple hair and all.
Friday evening I decided to have everyone over to show them my ideas and see if they'd be willing to join me on this adventure. Come six thirty sharp there's a knock at the door. I opened it to find a man who appeared to be Thor's cousin. The Adonis with the bottle of wine introduced himself as Daniel before being hastily greeted by Emmi and plopped down on a kitchen bar stool right in front of the hummus.
I pulled my giddy roommate to the side. "Emmi...dearest...who is that!?", I asked, half whispering half yelling.
She tilted her head to one side, "Oh, Daniel? Isn't he wonderful? He just started at our building in customer service, he's a carpenter by trade, but he's saving up to go on his next trip to Costa Rica. I met him at lunch and we hit it off right away! I hope you don't mind."
"Who am I to turn away an Asgardian?", I quipped. She nearly squealed with delight. I headed off to the kitchen to check on the appetizers and find a corkscrew and some glasses. A few minutes later, another knock at the door and it's Justice...with four year old Talib and teething Talia in tow.
"I know, I know, this is supposed to be a grown up thing, but Terrance wouldn't take the kids (hands baby bag to Emmi) since its not his WEEKEND, I'm sure he's probably with and up under some...hello...there..." Apparently she met Daniel. Without being asked he scooped a Talia and started bouncing her around while Emmi helped get Talib situated. Justice plopped a Tupperware tub of monster cookies on the counter, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Realizing this was turning into an impromptu dinner party, I whipped up a quick salad and texted Joah to pick up some pizza's I'd ordered from Delano's. Tuba brought more wine and Sadie brought some Lumpia rolls, and finally Joah arrived, declaring I owed him $500.
While everyone was eating and in a good mood, I presented my vision about the cafe. To my left I could see Joah jotting notes again, and everyone seemed pretty interested.
"So where would the initial capital come from to get started?", Justice asked.
"I have a few funds put away from my Axiom severance, and I can borrow from my 401K as well; I don't want to take a huge bank loan if I don't have to. And I definitely don't want anyone here to feel pressured to give me anything monetarily. Honestly more than anything, I need help with the other aspects of the business."
"Well I don't know about anyone else but I'm in! Long as I can work my schedule around my kids!"
Tuba chimed in, "I can sacrifice some gaming time to do the accounts, I probably need more human interaction anyway. My usual fee of course and an endless supply of these crispy egg roll things."
"Lumpia!", Sadie said with a laugh, "Yeah, I'm in too."
Everybody said they were down for the cause, even Daniel said he could do something 'really cool' with the tables that we already had and make some benches for the back windows. I hadn't felt this hopeful for a long time. After our first team meeting, I started putting the food up and cleaning the kitchen, force of habit I suppose.
"Oh no you don't! You worked all day today, you not cleaning up this kitchen!"
"And who made Joah the Kitchen Police?"
"Joah made Joah the Kitchen Police!", and he flipped an invisible badge. "I got this! You just sit here and chill." I didn't have the strength to argue. Sitting here at this kitchen table, with a half a glass of Shiraz, house full of people I dig and someone doing the dishes for me, I could almost put this moment in a frame so I could have it all the time. Emmi must have turned on my chill playlist, 'cause the Isley Brother's song came on "Don't Change".
Joah holds out a just wiped off hand and asks me to dance. For just a moment, the world is all mine.
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