Yesterday. Easter Monday. As usual, I have trouble predicting what business will be like. Back on Good Friday it was not as busy as we expected. It was steady but, overall, pretty quiet. On Easter Sunday I almost closed the restaurant mid-afternoon but then I realized that there were two reservations for Sunday night (one for seven guests and one for five guests) so I stayed open and was glad I did as it was a good Sunday evening for us. Can’t predict…

Then yesterday, Easter Monday, I am predicting quiet things. Tunney’s Pasture was not at work and Tunney’s civil servants account for a lot of my lunch business. Well… wrong! It turns out that my neighbours (people within about 5 KM) all wanted to go for lunch. It was really busy. I want to publically thank Dafina and Josh (my two cooks yesterday), and Solo and Syhare (my two servers). It was a long, busy lunch hour but we got through it and sent everyone away efficiently and happy.

I’ve said it before, being a restaurant owner is like having rapid cycling bipolar disorder. One goes from euphoria to despair from day to day, hour to hour. Yesterday was euphoria.

Talking to many, many colleagues in the restaurant industry and we all seem to be in the same boat… in the market, in my neighbourhood, in Kanata, in Toronto… The first quarter of 2015 has been very hard on the industry. Sales are down in the order of 20% across the board. We are all hoping for a good summer and fall and the anticipation is that this will happen, in part because of the Canadian dollar. Less people will be going to the U.S. this year. More people will be staying home. And, hopefully, dining out.

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I try to write a short entry most days, Monday to Friday. I muse about the emotion of being a restaurant owner and I also use this space to interact with my customers. If you have anything you would like to know about, please ask. I will be happy to offer my thoughts or answer any questions about anything.

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