Nature is a B@#ch!

Ladies and gentlemen who own any type of business that is effected by the weather my heart goes out to you.  Some are effected for the good, snow removal, flood restoration companies, home maintenance and various other companies who make an honest living preparing and repairing after mother nature strikes.  Other business are like mine, when it rains it pours and when it snows it blizzards.  Many people remember the harsh reality that was the blizzard of ’09 which shut down many businesses including mine right before the holiday rush.  This blizzard, although beautiful and fun for children, was the grim reaper for many businesses already teetering on the edge of the harsh economic times.  I was fortunate to be a business that was able to withstand the troublesome time to get to the wonderful summer.  I bring this up as snow begins to pick up momentum outside of my Bethesda window and Bethesda Ave. remains closed for a water main break.  Last night, we were one of the business that would gain from the weather as most of the more prominent restaurants sat and waited for their power to resume after the horrible water main break.  But, this would be short-lived, we had a packed dining room with a small wait and the kitchen was coasting through dinner tickets like they were moguls on a ski slope for a pro skier.  Then it happened, the entire kitchen went dark, I knew that meant the dining room had done the same.  As I hesitantly peeked around the corner to see the inevitable, it was confirmed.  No lights in dining room and no light in the kitchen which meant no gas on the stove.  Now when you build  a new restaurant it is code to put a shut off on the gas line, so when you lose power, you lose gas.  I would have looked at this as a opurtunity to cook by candle light and give the dining room an experience like nothing they had ever had at Nest, dining by candle light on my delicious creations.  unfortunately that was not the case thanks to the Montgomery County Code.  I am not, by any means, bashing Montgomery County, I know that this code is for our safety and that of our guests, but damn it it sucks!  Let me explain to all those that haven’t owned a restaurant what happens when we lose power.  First and most important thing to understand is that we lose our computer system and like I always say we live by the computer and we die by the computer, in this case we died.  The computer controls the entire infrastructure of the restaurant, sends orders to the bar, the kitchen and to the main data base.  It keeps track of all the money and it is the only line of defense between the owners and theft.  We must immediately begin hand calculating checks with sales tax by memory, an easy way for the server or bartender to take care of those they feel need a little stroking.  The servers must hand write all orders and give them to the kitchen, again a very easy way to steal food for tables.  But the most important is now they must collect the cash or credit card info.  In an age of identity theft,  understandably, guest are reluctant to leave credit card info behind so they pay in cash.  It is very easy for a server to leave things off the check after the guest has paid in order to keep the cash for their own beer fund.  We the owners or management have to go in to high alert and watch everything like a hawk.  Thankfully my power was only out for about 35 minutes and we were able to get the computers back up with out losing too much.  The bottom line and my point of this blog is that in these hard times my heart goes out to all the other businessmen that have to stress every time a drop of rain falls or snow hits the ground.  I especially cry for those in my shoes that are effected by every little thing, holidays, weather, sports, time of year, which way the wind blows and everything else out there.  So to all those who watch the weather like a meteorologist in training I wish you luck and a fruitful winter.  Let’s all join together and cross our fingers for a mild winter!

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