My Restaurant Plans/ Ideas/ Dreams

I told you I'd share my ideas with all of you!

So my whole restaurant idea began about 2 1/2 -3 years ago (about 10th grade). We watch a lot of Food Network in my house, and my favorite show on it is Guy Fieri’s ‘Diners Drive-ins and Dives’. After watching this show often enough I obviously started to form my own ideas of what a perfect restaurant would be like. These plans floated through my brain for weeks before I finally decided that it was my goal to open up a great little restaurant. This changed a lot for me. Before this I was planning on becoming a journalist, since that seemed to be the only reliable career I could have where I would be able to write. I will never regret this decision; I don’t think I would have been happy as a journalist.

I began taking more of the business and cooking classes in high school. In my tiny little school there wasn’t much, but it was better than if I hadn’t taken them at all. I made a really great connection with both my business and my home-ec teacher. I told them about my plans and they were both wicked supportive. I may not have been lucky enough to go to a tech school like some of my classmates here at NECI, but I don’t care. Growing up in a small town has helped shape who I am and what my plans for my restaurant are.

I know that I want a small restaurant. Bigger than a diner, though. I know that I want it to be family-friendly. I have a lot of cousins and growing up the whole family could rarely eat out together simply because the restaurants could not accommodate so many people. The food needs to have that home-cooked meal feeling to it. Just because you eat out doesn’t mean you don’t deserve comfort food!

Right now the plan is that my cousin will be the cook, since she is also attending NECI. That may change, though, since she is a baking and pastry student. I can always have some awesome baked goods at least! I have this little part of me that is just dying to have a Bed & Breakfast. So if that is in any way possible I definitely plan to have it as well. With or without the B&B, though, my restaurant will serve breakfast. All three meals are important and I just don’t understand why more restaurants don’t serve it.

Then my cousin’s boyfriend, who is so loved by everyone he is practically a part of the family, is like this alcohol EXPERT. He also wants to start a micro-brewery. Hello bartender! It just makes sense, right?

So, if you can’t tell, it’s all pretty much going to be family run. Family is important to me, always has been, always will be. The only problem I can think of is the location. Location is the most difficult part of any restaurant plan. I want it as close to home as possible. That is going to take a lot of research, hopefully I learn more about finding a good location in one of my classes.

So, those are my big plans. I also want it to be a farm-to-table restaurant. Support your local farmers! Oh, and raw milk. I can't stand store bought milk, so I definitely need to offer raw milk. Haha, I love afterthoughts.