What Lies Beneath

This certainly was an interesting month. We made quite a few design and equipment improvements to the layout that put us back a bit, but it was time well spent. Thanks to Tom Wyczawski, Principal at the Foodservice Productivity Group for engineering the improvements and making informed, detailed recommendations that I believe will result in "best in class" operational design and service delivery.

Also, we began Phase II of demolition work, as you can see below. And we are cutting new trenches for the plumbing lines and grease trap with one badass wet saw. (Core Cut: Model# CC3700) When you dig into the floor of a 75 year old building, anything can happen. The building has undergone several expansions over the years and let's just say, shortcuts were taken. 75 years of "My brother-in-law can do that..." But it is now stripped to the bones and we believe that we have uncovered most of the legacy surprises. Now it's time to create an entirely new legacy. One rooted in forcemeat!

Also we've had productive meetings with POS companies, A/V providers and security firms; and retained Spark, a PR/Marketing/Social Media agency.

Finally, I'd like to welcome Jeremy Guthrie, Food & Beverage Director to the JJ's team. We are very excited to have Jeremy on board. I witnessed firsthand his accomplishments at Vintner Wine Market over the past few years, and trust me, the kid has got game.

Jeremy Guthrie, Food & Beverage Director

 

Design Meeting

Mike Pearson (Superintendent) , Tim O'Brien (Architect) , Kris Kellogg (Builder)

Before the Deluge

  The badass Core Cut CC3700, expertly piloted.

 Da Blades...

 Cut Blocks waiting for removal. Slab poured most likely in the 1955 expansion.

Receiving

 A closer look at the cuts...smooth as marble.

 Blockhenge

 These were the old swinging kitchen doors. Big and heavy. Gonna strip and refurb them for the front doors with new etched porthole glass.

 Future office wall

Harvesting the floor for the prep area.

The Scullery

Trenches as of 3.1.12

More Posters

These are created by Austin painter Grego Anderson. (www.mojohand.com) Thanks to Chris Finn for tipping me off to this guy.  He emailed me a picture he saw on the wall of a club in Asheville.

Fear and Loathing in Rochester

I just returned from a trip to my hometown, Buffalo, NY. You may be asking yourself why on earth would someone go there in January, and you would be right to ask. Except for maniacs and shower curtain ring salesman, nobody goes there in January. The reason for my trip was to take a tour of the Sahlen's Packing Co. plant in downtown Buffalo. I wanted to see how the sausage is made. But I also wanted to eat some as well. In the name of research, you see. And there are quite a few places in that part of the world that grill up a damn fine hot dog.

I landed in Syracuse so that I could visit the iconic "Heid's." Then 60 miles to Rochester on I-90W to experience texas hots at "Schallers" - founded in 1967 - followed by the World renowned Nick Tahou's for a white hot. NT's is more famously known for their garbage plates, a late-night godawful mess (as the name suggests) of food on a huge plate. And finally, Sahlen's and a trip to Ted's, the best hot dog on the planet, with my dear Godmother Judy and cousin Kyle, the last of our family still in Buffalo. Orchard Park, actually. In the Southtowns. Home of the Bills.

What I also found was a lost world. Wind and snow-swept highway landscapes. Shapeless men, resembling Bill Macy in Fargo, walking down the street, destination unknown, tethered mittens dragging from their parka sleeves. Chilly grey skies and the shelling rain pelting closed down factories, farms and theaters - all too vivid memorials of long gone prosperity.

But beneath this mantle I also found the roots of the American dream. A flower peeking through the snow. It is located at 318 Howard Street in Buffalo, the site of a humble cluster of buildings, home of the Sahlen's Packing Company, a fifth generation family owned and operated business founded in 1869. They don't let cameras inside, lest snapshots leak out to PETA freaks, the competition or any other soulless jackals that want to sabotage or otherwise distract these hard working souls.

So you will have to take my word for it's pristine cleanliness, state of the art production machinery, gleaming garage sized smokers, and the many proud smiling faces that greeted me inside the facility. No matter. The real proof is not going to be found in a snapshot or any other facsimile. All you need one gorgeous bite of their flagship smokehouse hot dog. Everything you could ever want to know about Sahlen's is right there inside that crisp chewy casing. A wholesome experience that one day we all should understand.

At JJ's, we will carry all five generations on our backs with great pride, as they are more than just worth it. They deserve it and have earned it.
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Sahlen's:

Syracuse:

Heid's, Syracuse:

Schallers:

Nick Tahou's, Rochester, NY:

Kodak Building, Rochester, NY:

Buffalo, NY:

St. Stanislaus Church, Buffalo, NY:

Demolition. Day Two and Three

We made incredible progress in the last two days. One particular rough spot was the bar. It was made with reinforced cement poured inside masonry block. Nobody could figure out why. It took eight hardworking dudes, six or seven hundred swings of a sledgehammer, a high powered concrete saw and a jackhammer to get it out of there. 

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Before the 'hammers:

The Jackhammer:

Former bathrooms, future corridor to the patio:

 

 "Drum" circle:

The bar today, safely demolished...window being cut through wall to create open kitchen tomorrow.

Former managers office...that safe is easily 1000 lbs. This will be the walk up window.

This is the exposed original circular roofline for the Drum. I am no carpenter, but I assume the unique "T" blocking inside the structure was to help shape the curved walls.

Prep area.

Below: Tile we found under the bar. Most likely original tile from "The Drum", circa 1948