Topic: Ever thought of going into business?

[bamble1976]

Hi Fried

I am exactly the same as you.  I just know if I felt like I was being forced to cook, I would stop enjoying it!

Imagine doing a 10 hr shift and sending out the last meal and some drunken idiot says your food is crap!!!  Not worth the hassle!

Regards

Barry

[Geezah]

I worked a bar for some years and that alone can be long, hard and tireing hours. As much as i'm enjoying cooking and watching my guests enjoy the food, I think doing those sort of hours in a kitchen would not be worth the payback.....unless ....

.... you take a back seat as such.
To be successful you would first need to establish yourself and premisis as a good food place, and then hand over the reigns to a number of chefs who will come and go / work alternative nights and share your skills and knowledge with them while acting as a back seat manager.

You would of course be fronting the house then, meeting and greeting and getting to know your regulars and maybe rolling up your sleeves to cook the specialities.

[loveitspicy]

More than 16 hours some days (unless you work for someone) - starting at 0300am  buying fresh produce from markets etc - then preparing and first cook off for things like Bhajis - preparing the naan dough etc pre cooking the chicken, lamb - cutting up 25/35 kgs of onions for 2 hours making the 35/40 litres of base gravy then if you are busy having another pot of base made up ready, making all the mixed spice up (which goes down very quickly) buying in all the powdered ingredients, buying all the kitchen equipment, cooker fryer fridge freezer sink all essential then all  the pots and pans knives cooking utensils - before you start with the tables table cloths plates cutlery the list goes on .........  and on .......... and on......... and on............ and on..................and on ...............
Thats just the kitchen side - then there is the staff side if you have any - watching for stealing of meat or any other item - easy to take out of a kitchen, making sure everyone shuts the freezer door / fridge door to stop spoilage  of goods - being able to talk to staff not like old Ramsay ( i love the guy) if you talk down to someone watch the food that goes out to the customer it will be spoiled anger and pride cause a lot of problems - then there is the side that takes the money - watch for stealing there too - or genuine mistakes in counting up the change - how do you take the money, set up a credit card system
Then there is tax to pay - however if its all done with till receipts - they have to be kept for providing proof of sales keep all receipts from the purchase of goods - how much to pay wages YOU WILL work for nothing at first all business starts chaotic ploughing money back into the business after all it is going to be your money making venture right!
Then if you are working during the hours of alcohol consumption all the piss heads - complaining about their meal ( they have no idea how to cook but they had a Tikka Masala at their favourite restaurant and yours doesnt taste like it) - and many more!!!

and on ......... and on............ and on ............. and on .............

great isnt it -

best Rich

[Aussie Mick]

I wouldn't even entertain the idea of a restaurant. me and the wife ran pubs in the Manchester area for the last 3 years before we emigrated. One had a catering kitchen, of which I was the only staff member. I DID enjoy it.

But, basically dealing with the general public for any length of time can be a pain, you get to see the worse in people.

But a takeaway??? MMmmmmm!!

My wife is Hong Kong Chinese (grew up in UK) and her family had takeaways. She said NEVER AGAIN. So this wouldn't be a joint husband/wife venture.

Giving it some serious consideration. I'm sick of being on the tools and my knees and back are bollixed. Could be a good move.

[beachbum]

I'm a home brewer. No I don't knock out tins of kit beer, I'm an all grain brewer with my car sitting in the rain because the garage is a brauhaus with thousands of dollars of equipment, bins of malt, five temperature controlled fridges, three taps of ales and lagers on draught, etc etc  ;D

However in the HB community there's also the "wow wouldn't it be great to open a microbrewery / brewpub and spend my days doing what I love to do, create wonderful craft beers...."
But like most businesses, the "core" bit is only about a quarter of it. The rest is filling out VAT returns, hiring and firing staff, paying the bills and getting up at 5 am to shovel stuff in the cold and dark and get very damp whilst doing so 

I really admire the people who work so hard to bring us luscious food and drinks, bless em.

[Salvador Dhali]

I'm a home brewer. No I don't knock out tins of kit beer, I'm an all grain brewer with my car sitting in the rain because the garage is a brauhaus with thousands of dollars of equipment, bins of malt, five temperature controlled fridges, three taps of ales and lagers on draught, etc etc  ;D

However in the HB community there's also the "wow wouldn't it be great to open a microbrewery / brewpub and spend my days doing what I love to do, create wonderful craft beers...."
But like most businesses, the "core" bit is only about a quarter of it. The rest is filling out VAT returns, hiring and firing staff, paying the bills and getting up at 5 am to shovel stuff in the cold and dark and get very damp whilst doing so 

I really admire the people who work so hard to bring us luscious food and drinks, bless em.

Excellent - another home brewing fanatic. I started mashing my own grain beers back in 1980, and haven't stopped since. I've calmed production down from its peak of 10 gallons a week ( I had A LOT of 'friends' back then!  ;D ), but it sounds like you're even more enthusiastic than that, Beachbum.

As with curry, I've often thought about going into business, but (as with a curry business), running a micro brewery ain't a barrel of laughs (excuse the pun).

So many of them go down before they get a chance to make a success of it, but I'm mightily grateful to the micros that manage to thrive, and love nothing better than to consume their products with gusto - preferably with a stupidly hot curry...

[George]

Cook from home (providing your kitchen is up to hygiene standards)

You are correct. You don't need a separate kitchen - just one kitchen that meets local authority standards.

[George]

A Northerner who watches Eastenders!

I read an article about so-called trolls recently. They gave the posting of daft images as one example, and you certainly have form on that front. It's part of what I think of as the dumbing-down of this once great forum.

[Aussie Mick]

I mash brewed form about 1981 to 1986 then got fed up.

For my 21st birthday, my sister offered to get me a gold chain or something like that, and I said, "Please get me a Brewheat"

I used to follow Dave Line's recipes "Brewing beers like those you buy"  I think Dave (God rest his soul) would have been the equivalent of Pat Chapman in the brewing world. His recipes were nearly there. lol

[Salvador Dhali]

I mash brewed form about 1981 to 1986 then got fed up.

For my 21st birthday, my sister offered to get me a gold chain or something like that, and I said, "Please get me a Brewheat"

I used to follow Dave Line's recipes "Brewing beers like those you buy"  I think Dave (God rest his soul) would have been the equivalent of Pat Chapman in the brewing world. His recipes were nearly there. lol

Bless Dave Line - a man truly dedicated to his cause. I still have my tattered copy of "Brewing beers like those you buy" in my bookshelf.

It was a sad day when he died, as there was more to come from him I'm sure. Although I'm not certain how he died, I suspect that it's a vocational hazard when you dedicate your life to producing books about brewing beer and the all-important testing of the recipes therein...

Apologies for going off topic and discussing beer on a curry forum - but beer and curry do kind of go hand in hand...