Pictured above… our first really really happy customer.

I must also mention Mimi Golding and friends. I met Mimi at the locksmith about six months ago. When we met she was so excited to hear about The Flying Banzini that it was infectous. True to her word she followed the adventure on the blog and on Facebook and because her support was so awesome I made of point if inviting her to be our very first customer. Thanks Mimi!

So,how did it go?

I was very happy with the kitchen. The presentation of the food was great. I was very, very happy with the way that everything looked heading to the tables. What I tasted was also food I am proud to serve. We were not perfect. There was one order of potato wedges that were cold. And one or two side salads were not as crisp as I would like. A brilliant start. I hope that Chef Ryan is proud of his team. He should be.

The Sweet Banzini knocked it out of the park. Her cheesecake cooler is a breathtaking work of art. She and her assistant pastry chef are making 1000 cheesecakes a day. I am not sure that we will be able to keep up. People who see them MUST eat one. You can’t help yourself. It’s like some kind of voodoo magic.

See? Tell me you would not NEED to eat one of these. It’s voodoo magic I’m telling you…

The front-of-house is where we need most of our work. This is not the fault of the staff. Not AT ALL. In part, I have designed a novel service model which needs some kinks worked out. This is my fault. And, in part there is just a learning curve we are all on. The Flying Banzini is a noisy place when it’s full. I did not do a good job of preparing the staff for this and, thus, rehearsals were not what they should have been. There are admin problems with our POS system, etc. All small problems but there is still lots of polish to be put on the flying machine.

Thanks for our first day guinea pigs. You enthusiasm and your candor is appreciated. I am proud of my managers and my staff. I am thrilled to have attracted a group of people who are seeing The vision of The Flying Banzini. We will get there… give a few days.

We have another 40 invited guests for lunch today and then 100 for supper tonight. This will put some stress on the system.

The photographer and his work. My father Alan Scharf (with my son Arthur). Dad’s works are behind him.