In this day and age news travels faster than it can be produced. You can literally become famous overnight.
The internet has become the great equalizer. Everybody can be somebody, and everybody has a voice.
With the population of this planet as it is, there are a lot of voices out there and almost as many places for them to speak up.
As a business it is important to listen to these voices, but it is impossible to go to, or even know, all the places where someone has something to say about your business.
Fortunately, there are several websites, which cater towards the need to rant and rave.
Gunk Haus is listed at the following websites:
Gunk Haus is also up for vote to be included in Zagat's. If you haven't voted for us yet, please take a moment to do so.
Dirk
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
How To Spell Gunk Haus ...
It's been a long time since I posted, and I miss it. There is so much I want to write about running a restaurant, and in due time I will be back. The walk-in is almost done, and soon there will be taps flowing as well.
This post is actually not intended for you my loyal readers, but for the search engines on the interwebbens, because it has come to my attention that some guests couldn't find Gunk Haus due to misspelling.
Dear search engines, our restaurant is spelled Gunk Haus, NOT Gunk Hause, Gunk House, Gunks Haus, Gunks Hause, Gunks House, Gunx Haus, Gunx Hause, or Gunx House (but if you please take all these names and make them point to us nevertheless, we would really appreciate it).
Dirk
This post is actually not intended for you my loyal readers, but for the search engines on the interwebbens, because it has come to my attention that some guests couldn't find Gunk Haus due to misspelling.
Dear search engines, our restaurant is spelled Gunk Haus, NOT Gunk Hause, Gunk House, Gunks Haus, Gunks Hause, Gunks House, Gunx Haus, Gunx Hause, or Gunx House (but if you please take all these names and make them point to us nevertheless, we would really appreciate it).
Dirk
Thursday, August 5, 2010
What's Your Mix Drink?
Again I stand in front of you, asking you for your participation.
When we applied for our liquor license, we went for the whole shebang: beer, wine, and hard liquor. So far we have only served beer and wine, but we are thinking about slowly adding hard liquor and mix drinks.
So here is the question I put in front of you: What is your mix drink?
As always, thank you for your participation.
Dirk
When we applied for our liquor license, we went for the whole shebang: beer, wine, and hard liquor. So far we have only served beer and wine, but we are thinking about slowly adding hard liquor and mix drinks.
So here is the question I put in front of you: What is your mix drink?
As always, thank you for your participation.
Dirk
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Gunk Haus Brewhaha ...
Gunk Haus is closed on Tuesday, which only means that we have less people around than usual, but work still needs to be done, like payroll, prepwork, paperwork, and what not.
I did a bunch of that this morning, then proceeded to continuing work on the walk-in cooler in the basement (we're slated to pour the footing on Friday, and frame out the room on Saturday; how exciting is that?!).
For the afternoon we had planned our first staff meeting, which was to be all about how to brew beer. As we will be a more beer-centric restaurant (once I have the tap system in place) we felt the staff should know how beer is made and what makes different beers different.
And what better than actually making beer. So we all got together this afternoon, I talked about the different ingredients used to make beer, and showed them how beer is made. Before we put it into the fermentation bucket, everybody got to try the unfermented beer (also called wort), and judging from that I am happy to say that it will turn into a spectacular beer.
Dirk
I did a bunch of that this morning, then proceeded to continuing work on the walk-in cooler in the basement (we're slated to pour the footing on Friday, and frame out the room on Saturday; how exciting is that?!).
For the afternoon we had planned our first staff meeting, which was to be all about how to brew beer. As we will be a more beer-centric restaurant (once I have the tap system in place) we felt the staff should know how beer is made and what makes different beers different.
And what better than actually making beer. So we all got together this afternoon, I talked about the different ingredients used to make beer, and showed them how beer is made. Before we put it into the fermentation bucket, everybody got to try the unfermented beer (also called wort), and judging from that I am happy to say that it will turn into a spectacular beer.
Dirk
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
About That Walk-In ...
The other day (more than a month ago), I told you about installing a walk-in cooler in the basement. Shortly thereafter I looked over the panels of the walk-in we had bought a long while back, and noticed that there was a panel missing, or so I thought at that time (today I know better).
That's when I decided to do what I always had in mind: Build a custom walk-in, which is much larger than what we have, and it will fit into the basement like a glove (after some excavating and such, but you'll see for yourself in a second).
Here is the scene of the crime. In this area in the basement must have been a kitchen in the past ...
... with the food being prepared in this now defunct fireplace. The first task was to remove the concrete in front of the fireplace.
Next there has to be a trench. I love digging trenches, I'm good at it, shallow trenches, deep trenches, I do it all. This one is more on the shallow side, and it is meant for a footing on which the walk-in walls will rest on. This may sound like overkill, but I want to do it right the first time around. Plus, the other functionality the walk-in, or its walls, has is to support the floor above, not that it is in danger of collapsing, but due to the long floor joists it is quite bouncy.
I am almost done with the digging, and here you can see the beginning of the footing form.
It will be a spectacular walk-in, not least because of the door, which we got from our friends at TuthillHouse At The Mill.
Dirk
That's when I decided to do what I always had in mind: Build a custom walk-in, which is much larger than what we have, and it will fit into the basement like a glove (after some excavating and such, but you'll see for yourself in a second).
Here is the scene of the crime. In this area in the basement must have been a kitchen in the past ...
... with the food being prepared in this now defunct fireplace. The first task was to remove the concrete in front of the fireplace.
Next there has to be a trench. I love digging trenches, I'm good at it, shallow trenches, deep trenches, I do it all. This one is more on the shallow side, and it is meant for a footing on which the walk-in walls will rest on. This may sound like overkill, but I want to do it right the first time around. Plus, the other functionality the walk-in, or its walls, has is to support the floor above, not that it is in danger of collapsing, but due to the long floor joists it is quite bouncy.
I am almost done with the digging, and here you can see the beginning of the footing form.
It will be a spectacular walk-in, not least because of the door, which we got from our friends at TuthillHouse At The Mill.
Dirk
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Waiting ...
I have never owned a restaurant before, never worked in one either. Heck, the closest I ever got to restaurants was from a customer perspective. For those of you who don't know it, I am a computer geek, I have been since age 15 when I got my first computer (a Sinclair ZX-81 with a whopping 16KB, that's K like in Kilo!!!). The interest in all things computers eventually led to a Masters Degree in Computer Science.
Flash-forward: It is July 10, 2010. I own a restaurant where I am responsible for the front-of-the-house (restaurant lingo for the staff that you see running around, as opposed to back-of-the-house, which are the people who actually prepare your food, clean your dishes, etc.).
Today we were one server short, and I couldn't find anyone to cover the shift, and that on a Saturday night, when we were destined to get busy. To make it short, we decided to call up E!'s sister to play the hostess-with-the-mostess (thank you Amy), so that I could be out on the floor waiting tables.
I was admittedly nervous, as I usually am when I do something I haven't done before, but I also knew that this was a great opportunity to walk in my staffs' shoes, and do the things I preach them to do.
We had a busy night, but it was a steady flow instead of a mad rush, and that made it easier. I let my two servers wait the tables, keeping an eye on the floor to ensure our guests were tended to in a timely manner, bused tables to take the load of the servers and have them concentrate on our guests.
All this went very well until a party of eight arrived. Larger parties always pose a challenge to wait staff and kitchen alike, taking orders and getting the food out all at once requires more time and ties up the server and kitchen.
That is when I heard my calling: This table was mine!
The party arrived in two groups about five minutes apart, which gave me time to prepare: Mark up the guest check with seat numbers, so that I could remember which guest is getting or had what to eat and drink, get water glasses out, make sure there is enough silverware on the table.
Although I thought I was prepared, I instantly failed to write down drink orders by guest, which meant I had to go back later and peek at the table to figure out who had ordered what drink. I avoided that mistake when taking food orders, and didn't have any problems that the table ordered food in reverse order of my seat numbering.
When the food came out, every guest got exactly what they ordered, without having to ask around who ordered what (it's these little details that make the difference when serving guests).
I continued keeping an eye on the table, refilling water glasses, removing empty plates, taking beverage orders, while making sure the rest of the dining room was taken care of by my two servers.
After my table had finished their entrees I offered desserts and got an order for three Schatzies. I placed the order with the kitchen and started tallying up the bill so I had the check ready when the guests had finished their desserts.
We don't have a POS (point of sale) system yet, which puts some strain on our wait staff, as they have to manually add up the numbers for guests checks. I hope to change this soon, but it all takes time. Baby steps, baby steps.
Fully prepared I went to the table asked if they wanted anything, and when they declined whipped out the check. Splitting the bill five-ways (four credit cards and cash) was not a problem.
After the guests had left and the table was cleared I felt very satisfied: My first waiting experience, and I think I did a pretty good job. I would rate myself at a C+, because I made quite a few mistakes, which I would criticize my staff for, but I am learning, fast, very fast.
Dirk
Flash-forward: It is July 10, 2010. I own a restaurant where I am responsible for the front-of-the-house (restaurant lingo for the staff that you see running around, as opposed to back-of-the-house, which are the people who actually prepare your food, clean your dishes, etc.).
Today we were one server short, and I couldn't find anyone to cover the shift, and that on a Saturday night, when we were destined to get busy. To make it short, we decided to call up E!'s sister to play the hostess-with-the-mostess (thank you Amy), so that I could be out on the floor waiting tables.
I was admittedly nervous, as I usually am when I do something I haven't done before, but I also knew that this was a great opportunity to walk in my staffs' shoes, and do the things I preach them to do.
We had a busy night, but it was a steady flow instead of a mad rush, and that made it easier. I let my two servers wait the tables, keeping an eye on the floor to ensure our guests were tended to in a timely manner, bused tables to take the load of the servers and have them concentrate on our guests.
All this went very well until a party of eight arrived. Larger parties always pose a challenge to wait staff and kitchen alike, taking orders and getting the food out all at once requires more time and ties up the server and kitchen.
That is when I heard my calling: This table was mine!
The party arrived in two groups about five minutes apart, which gave me time to prepare: Mark up the guest check with seat numbers, so that I could remember which guest is getting or had what to eat and drink, get water glasses out, make sure there is enough silverware on the table.
Although I thought I was prepared, I instantly failed to write down drink orders by guest, which meant I had to go back later and peek at the table to figure out who had ordered what drink. I avoided that mistake when taking food orders, and didn't have any problems that the table ordered food in reverse order of my seat numbering.
When the food came out, every guest got exactly what they ordered, without having to ask around who ordered what (it's these little details that make the difference when serving guests).
I continued keeping an eye on the table, refilling water glasses, removing empty plates, taking beverage orders, while making sure the rest of the dining room was taken care of by my two servers.
After my table had finished their entrees I offered desserts and got an order for three Schatzies. I placed the order with the kitchen and started tallying up the bill so I had the check ready when the guests had finished their desserts.
We don't have a POS (point of sale) system yet, which puts some strain on our wait staff, as they have to manually add up the numbers for guests checks. I hope to change this soon, but it all takes time. Baby steps, baby steps.
Fully prepared I went to the table asked if they wanted anything, and when they declined whipped out the check. Splitting the bill five-ways (four credit cards and cash) was not a problem.
After the guests had left and the table was cleared I felt very satisfied: My first waiting experience, and I think I did a pretty good job. I would rate myself at a C+, because I made quite a few mistakes, which I would criticize my staff for, but I am learning, fast, very fast.
Dirk
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
No Schatzies ... :-( ...
Yesterday evening we had a mother with her teenage son for dinner, and they had Schatzies for dessert. Schatzies are addictive, and the son wanted to get some to go, but his mother declined, which clearly must have bummed him out, because after they left, our waitress found this drawing on their table.
For those of you who haven't been to Gunk Haus yet, Schatzies are bite-size chocolate-filled pretzels, and they are highly addictive. The name was coined one evening when we had our neighbor Billiam (of Liberty View Farm) and his friend Helen (the associate publisher of edible Hudson Valley) for dinner, and they got to try Schatzies for the first time. The ensuing naming discussion finally settled on Schatzies, and that's what they're called now.
Dirk
For those of you who haven't been to Gunk Haus yet, Schatzies are bite-size chocolate-filled pretzels, and they are highly addictive. The name was coined one evening when we had our neighbor Billiam (of Liberty View Farm) and his friend Helen (the associate publisher of edible Hudson Valley) for dinner, and they got to try Schatzies for the first time. The ensuing naming discussion finally settled on Schatzies, and that's what they're called now.
Dirk
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