> In 2011, I applied to operate a booth at the Toronto Underground Food Market [...] my fingers cramping so severely from peeling 100 pounds of potatoes that I almost called 911. [...] I lost money
So his first experience was extremely painful, almost landed you in the emergency room, and you lost money on it. What valuable lessons he learned going forward?
> I didn’t care.
None.
> Eighty per cent of first-time restaurateurs fail. I knew this. Opening a restaurant was the least sensible, dumbest thing I could do. My wife, Dorothy, a daycare worker, was coasting toward the end of a maternity leave, and we had two kids to feed.
It's so rare to see people brag about being reckless, irresonsible, and wasteful of resources they cannot afford to waste.
> “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Friends who knew what they were talking about tried to warn him off.
> My shifts consisted of a few leisurely hours chopping veg and prepping salad dressings.
Any opportunity for experience is to be strictly avoided. "The law says I need to know how a restaurant works? I know better!"
> My role was largely symbolic anyway
No it wasn't.
> As it turns out, no one invests in first-time restaurateurs, no matter how mind-blowing they think their cooking is.
Man, I wonder why? More to the point, it's clear he never did.
> I realized it was far from the downtown foodie scene [...] Admittedly, I had an ulterior motive: the place was a 10-minute walk from my house and close to the girls’ school
He purposefully chose a bad location, knowing it was a bad location, because it was convenient for him.
...I've got to stop reading, this is actually enraging me. It's so dumb, and he seems so proud.
So his first experience was extremely painful, almost landed you in the emergency room, and you lost money on it. What valuable lessons he learned going forward?
> I didn’t care.
None.
> Eighty per cent of first-time restaurateurs fail. I knew this. Opening a restaurant was the least sensible, dumbest thing I could do. My wife, Dorothy, a daycare worker, was coasting toward the end of a maternity leave, and we had two kids to feed.
It's so rare to see people brag about being reckless, irresonsible, and wasteful of resources they cannot afford to waste.
> “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Friends who knew what they were talking about tried to warn him off.
> My shifts consisted of a few leisurely hours chopping veg and prepping salad dressings.
Any opportunity for experience is to be strictly avoided. "The law says I need to know how a restaurant works? I know better!"
> My role was largely symbolic anyway
No it wasn't.
> As it turns out, no one invests in first-time restaurateurs, no matter how mind-blowing they think their cooking is.
Man, I wonder why? More to the point, it's clear he never did.
> I realized it was far from the downtown foodie scene [...] Admittedly, I had an ulterior motive: the place was a 10-minute walk from my house and close to the girls’ school
He purposefully chose a bad location, knowing it was a bad location, because it was convenient for him.
...I've got to stop reading, this is actually enraging me. It's so dumb, and he seems so proud.