Should you be open a day where everybody is out of town and where all your competition is closed. The answer is yes if you have a magician that comes to mesmerize the guests, families in the city that decided to stay home and not hassle with traffic or people that just want to stay local and be different...Combine to that a smell that will get people from the streets to wonder how a cumin paprika marination can smell so good...background music...and about 3 piles worth of papers to go through during dead times...That was a great recipe to make for a great productive day in beautiful San Jose...Add to that a quick glance to the Mountain view location to ensure that the paint is actually looking as originally planned...
If you want to double your productivity, work when everybody else is off...
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Patience
This article was forwarded to me by my mom Khadija, I am still amazed how she surprises me with her words of wisdom despite the years, i hope you enjoy it...Be patient but not too much...Hope to see you soon...
| "Are YOU Patient or Just the Patient? |
Busy people create busy lives. And busy lives tend to emit a sense of continuous hurry in which waiting for anything never appears to be an option. After a while the tiring nature of our busyness (Business) has us stop and reflect, hear the inner call for a slower pace, feel the need for a pause in space and realise the need for a break from ‘the race’. Ever played the waiting game? People sometimes do it in their relationships. Teams sometimes do it during periods of the game itself. Have you ever consciously decided not to hurry something, somehow knowing, deep within, that everything will happen in the right way at the right time? The older and mellower amongst us tend to do it. Have you ever decided not to rush somewhere realising you cannot make yourself arrive faster than your mode of transport, and that you cannot control what gets in the way? Bus drivers learn to do it. Even in the midst of a grand priz, racing drivers have to do it. instant gratification or patience to double up on the intensity when the rewards comes to you? Patience is one of those virtues that can transform a moment of high anxiety into quiet relaxation, a rush of mental agitation into the smooth flowing river that life can be. In the presence of a patient person we are surrounded by an aura of calm as we are pulled into the tranquil light of their unhurriedness. Even when they are busy, the quality of their busy-ness still radiates patience. Perhaps they heard Emerson’s advice to, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience”. Nature is almost always ‘patiently busy’, either visibly or invisibly. While most people might admit to being impatient in some area of their life, not many know how to free themselves from their quickening anxieties. Many, if not most, would probably say that they would rather not be so impatient, that they do want to be more patient, but the only problem is they want it now! Obviously restoring a little more patience to our life will require some … patience! So how can we be more patient? Can we just decide to become a patient person? Can patience be a permanent thread woven through our personality? How do we create patience? " |
Monday, May 23, 2011
June 15th is around the corner
Sunday afternoon was great when I did a training session with my team on Safety (Big thanks to Mini Le from San Jose crime prevention units and all her valuable tips) and alcohol handling. Despite the safety of our location (I proud to mention that Morocco's Restaurant has always been violence free for 3 years! Knocking on wood....)
I also shared the news that we are opening a second location. Surprisingly, everybody knew about it!!! I found out that the leak occurred as follow: We decided to cancel a non profitable catering gig that was however great exposure to major corporations in the silicon Valley. When informing our contact person at the company, she informed the head chef at the corporation, who mentioned it to a sous chef who mentioned it to one of my crew members during one of those catering jobs who mentioned it to another employee and voila...I did not know how to interpret the fact that none of my employees told me a word about it for weeks!! Can i question my team or assign it to the fact that they preferred to respect my decision to wait for the right time to share it...I will settle for the latter one...
Today was a wild day between interviewing 8 possible front of the house crew members, picked the tiles that we will be using, still debating on the color choice for the restaurant, seeing my brother main shopping the refrigeration technicians, hood cleaners and some other breeds of professional whose licenses work much more as recognized certifications rather than actual knowledge of a trade, filing corporate paperwork, finding out how much of a check i have to pay to uncle sam for the sales tax collected over the past month (ouch ouch ouch), lined up auditions for artists to perform at the Mountain view location, working on the new web site and communicating at a pretty hectic pace with our web designing team, finalizing the design of the new business cards, calling my cell phone service and learn that my phone needs more memory to handle what i need it for, confirming my attendance to a job fair tomorrow with the desire to find the diamond in the rough (I know it exists!).
I took advantage of a breather to send a couple of text messages to people i care about and was glad to have a fast response.
My main thing focus of the day but as you can see, the exciting pace of restaurant management made me get involved to so many aspects that were not in the agenda.
All the hiring process at Morocco's Restaurant starts on the phone and i was surprised to realize that it is actually possible to populate a paragraph of conversation with "Like like like, you know, whatever, stuff, stuff, you know, i don't know, maybe etc..." Am i too particular for asking for my people to be able to express themselves with proper etiquette? I think my guests deserve it.... My favorite question was: Why do you want a job? Guess what, rare were those interested to take it to the next level or grow but rather were focused on mere desires to make it to the next bill or literally said i do not know..I though about my mother...
Well, i wanted to write about how many of our friends and regulars called to tell us congratulations today, but that will trigger another post...maybe tomorrow...Off I go to Mountain view right now to check the space and brainstorm the vision...
I also shared the news that we are opening a second location. Surprisingly, everybody knew about it!!! I found out that the leak occurred as follow: We decided to cancel a non profitable catering gig that was however great exposure to major corporations in the silicon Valley. When informing our contact person at the company, she informed the head chef at the corporation, who mentioned it to a sous chef who mentioned it to one of my crew members during one of those catering jobs who mentioned it to another employee and voila...I did not know how to interpret the fact that none of my employees told me a word about it for weeks!! Can i question my team or assign it to the fact that they preferred to respect my decision to wait for the right time to share it...I will settle for the latter one...
Today was a wild day between interviewing 8 possible front of the house crew members, picked the tiles that we will be using, still debating on the color choice for the restaurant, seeing my brother main shopping the refrigeration technicians, hood cleaners and some other breeds of professional whose licenses work much more as recognized certifications rather than actual knowledge of a trade, filing corporate paperwork, finding out how much of a check i have to pay to uncle sam for the sales tax collected over the past month (ouch ouch ouch), lined up auditions for artists to perform at the Mountain view location, working on the new web site and communicating at a pretty hectic pace with our web designing team, finalizing the design of the new business cards, calling my cell phone service and learn that my phone needs more memory to handle what i need it for, confirming my attendance to a job fair tomorrow with the desire to find the diamond in the rough (I know it exists!).
I took advantage of a breather to send a couple of text messages to people i care about and was glad to have a fast response.
My main thing focus of the day but as you can see, the exciting pace of restaurant management made me get involved to so many aspects that were not in the agenda.
All the hiring process at Morocco's Restaurant starts on the phone and i was surprised to realize that it is actually possible to populate a paragraph of conversation with "Like like like, you know, whatever, stuff, stuff, you know, i don't know, maybe etc..." Am i too particular for asking for my people to be able to express themselves with proper etiquette? I think my guests deserve it.... My favorite question was: Why do you want a job? Guess what, rare were those interested to take it to the next level or grow but rather were focused on mere desires to make it to the next bill or literally said i do not know..I though about my mother...
Well, i wanted to write about how many of our friends and regulars called to tell us congratulations today, but that will trigger another post...maybe tomorrow...Off I go to Mountain view right now to check the space and brainstorm the vision...
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Opening a 2nd location in Mountain View
Two years ago, a guest said the food is so delicious that we may need to open a second location so that he doesn't have to drive miles to get his weekly fix of tagines, couscous and briwatts...The idea then merged that opening a second location may be an organic and natural next step...right? Well, between landlords with unreasonable demands for unreasonable security deposits and unreasonable out of the market rents, between some real estate agents that need to make a minimum commission versus helping their landlord clients to get secure tenants that will provide peace of mind, between people with simply more money to put down, between "angel" investors that want to own 98% of your operation for a 10% contribution (Devil may have been a better term than angel investors)...We were lucky after 2 years of market research to find pretty much another Morocco's Restaurant in the cute city of Mountain view!!
Why "another"? The location is remote from the main traffic, in a doomed building....Just as Morocco's San Jose, every restaurant that has been in the Mountain View location failed...Bring on the challenge, since i can not afford the high traffic areas, i am going to count on our dear reviewers and hitting the pavement to let people know where we are...Great way to lose weight i guarantee it, sleep less, work more, walk more and voila my recipe for loosing weight....If by any chance you want to join this speedy path to being healthy while discovering the lovely city of Mountain view...give me a ring, we will do it together...just kidding....
We will be located in Castro Street, a street literally packed with restaurants, competition is going to be fierce but i have two allies called 150 year old recipe, a genuine care for my guests and a guy by the name of Chef Jay (Who turns out to be my brother and my best friend) who is a better duplicate of the Duracell Rabbit that keeps on going and going...This is an exciting time and pretty nerve racking...this is literally 3 years of cumulative mistakes, system implementations, training, long hours that we are to put together to full effect before our grand opening date of July the 1st...
This should be good for this first post about the second location...I want to write next about what should we expect from friends, regulars, and facebook fans from Morocco's San Jose to support Mountain View...Stay tuned!!
Why "another"? The location is remote from the main traffic, in a doomed building....Just as Morocco's San Jose, every restaurant that has been in the Mountain View location failed...Bring on the challenge, since i can not afford the high traffic areas, i am going to count on our dear reviewers and hitting the pavement to let people know where we are...Great way to lose weight i guarantee it, sleep less, work more, walk more and voila my recipe for loosing weight....If by any chance you want to join this speedy path to being healthy while discovering the lovely city of Mountain view...give me a ring, we will do it together...just kidding....
We will be located in Castro Street, a street literally packed with restaurants, competition is going to be fierce but i have two allies called 150 year old recipe, a genuine care for my guests and a guy by the name of Chef Jay (Who turns out to be my brother and my best friend) who is a better duplicate of the Duracell Rabbit that keeps on going and going...This is an exciting time and pretty nerve racking...this is literally 3 years of cumulative mistakes, system implementations, training, long hours that we are to put together to full effect before our grand opening date of July the 1st...
This should be good for this first post about the second location...I want to write next about what should we expect from friends, regulars, and facebook fans from Morocco's San Jose to support Mountain View...Stay tuned!!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The love story between Morocco and the United States of America
Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777. In the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships were subject to attack by the Barbary Pirates while sailing the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, American envoys tried to obtain protection from European powers, but to no avail. On December 20, 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that the American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Moroccan Fever
Maria Carey has chosen for one of her twin to be named Moroccan.
Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez sing a song where Morocco is spoken about as a party destination.
Movies such as the mummy, James bond, and Sex in the city where filmed in Morocco.
Many restaurant downtown are adding Tagines and couscous to their menus.
Seems that the Moroccan theme is getting hotter...will this generate more traffic to Morocco's Restaurant or confuse the world about what or who Morocco or Moroccan mean?
Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez sing a song where Morocco is spoken about as a party destination.
Movies such as the mummy, James bond, and Sex in the city where filmed in Morocco.
Many restaurant downtown are adding Tagines and couscous to their menus.
Seems that the Moroccan theme is getting hotter...will this generate more traffic to Morocco's Restaurant or confuse the world about what or who Morocco or Moroccan mean?
Monday, May 16, 2011
CRPs
Consistent and repeatable processes is the secret to increase productivity, learn how to do it the best way possible the first time, do it again and again, get faster, free time, learn a new skill and do it all over again...
My team may think that i am a broken records, back to the basics i say, if the structure is not up to par, no matter how high you build it, chances are you will need to make major adjustments at the base...so my friend, build it slowly and consistently...
Learning to delegate is an art that i am having a lot of challenges with but i have to say that i am lucky to have people that i feel i can trust...
Sky may be the limit but space is just behind it...
I was very pleased by the show that took place at Morocco's Restaurant yesterday, 8 dancers from Belly Dancing to Salsa to bollywood, a real premiere at Morocco's and quite refreshing to say the least...
Our motto when we opened Morocco's was to be a local venue for local artists to perform without falling for the gimmick that is widely abused by Moroccan Restaurant owner (Belly dancing, seating on the floor, and hand washing at the table). That is why we have different artists, be consistent in food and service while provide an experiences for the senses through arts and music.
Speaking of which, tonight is the first time a magician is going to be present to entertain our guests. I look forward to him making things appear and disappear under the pleased eyes of our guests, regulars and friends....
My team may think that i am a broken records, back to the basics i say, if the structure is not up to par, no matter how high you build it, chances are you will need to make major adjustments at the base...so my friend, build it slowly and consistently...
Learning to delegate is an art that i am having a lot of challenges with but i have to say that i am lucky to have people that i feel i can trust...
Sky may be the limit but space is just behind it...
I was very pleased by the show that took place at Morocco's Restaurant yesterday, 8 dancers from Belly Dancing to Salsa to bollywood, a real premiere at Morocco's and quite refreshing to say the least...
Our motto when we opened Morocco's was to be a local venue for local artists to perform without falling for the gimmick that is widely abused by Moroccan Restaurant owner (Belly dancing, seating on the floor, and hand washing at the table). That is why we have different artists, be consistent in food and service while provide an experiences for the senses through arts and music.
Speaking of which, tonight is the first time a magician is going to be present to entertain our guests. I look forward to him making things appear and disappear under the pleased eyes of our guests, regulars and friends....
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