May 21st 2015:
We had to rip out our kitchen this week and now we're behind...
Ripping out my brand new kitchen wasn't on my agenda...
Saturday, shortly after Chef Nathan and Paul, Tavern's Manager, arrived to push the freshly-delivered stoves and ovens into place and unload the pots and pans, I heard a deep voice say, "This doesn't work."
The largest and most prestigious kitchen planning company in America hired a new draftsperson who forgot to allow space for the gas lines and regulators behind our kitchen equipment which trapped the cooks in tiny isles and pinched our emergency egress.
I immediately sent a text to my rep from the planning company who arrived at the scene within ten minutes. Nauseated, he proclaimed, "It's totally our fault. Whatever it takes to make it right, we will take care of it."
We sat on our hands until Monday when a team of electricians, plumbers, and mechanical minds assembled at 8am. By 8:30 there was a plan and by 8:31 the demolition had begun. 36 hours later, the island suite's stub wall was completely rebuilt with every inch of pipes and regulators recessed. I now have the only completely-flush gas cooking line in the world. It's really very sexy.
But I lost 4 days.
To do things right, we are forced to postpone opening until Saturday, June 6. The food we are doing is so complex and my hopes for service are so high that I insist upon sepending five to seven days testing, stressing, and retooling in "invitation-only / nonprofit" mode.
