Chili Bowl Cookoff

Part of the success of any business, especially one that has an actual product is promotion. Promotion of the product, promotion of the business name. We decided last year that this year we'd enter the Chili Bowl Cookoff for two reasons - to promote the business (we were thinking Chica Chica Chop Chop at the time) and because we felt we could do a really good chili.

So, we had a banner done by ZONES who has been very helpful getting us stuff quick for just such occasions, and made about SIXTEEN GALLONS of chili. (Power 105 recommended 5-7 gallons and we had two entries. Well we ended up with leftover, not because we didn't dish it out, I just think people can't eat that much chili.

We made a delicious vegetarian chili with tofu, and a spicy beef chili that had three kinds of bell peppers, fire roasted jalapenos, beef brisket, and black and red beans. We didn't win any prizes (this year) but there's always next year, and the important thing is that we got the word out to lots of people and hopefully kept up the buzz. Thanks to everyone who came out and told us how delicious our chili was.


Using our new logo on the banner


People lining up for the good stuff


Tuti dishes it out

The ceiling

So, I planned on spending one day on the ceiling. It ended up taking two whole days. But it was worth it. This is not a just clean it up and throw together a place to eat operation. We are trying to create something special. Special has a lot to do with details. So, I took what was a pretty decent looking black ceiling, and I painted it...black. I also blacked out the light fixtures and tracks with a high heat paint, and blacked out the conduits too. It is hard to tell from the before and after pictures, but it made a huge difference. Really cleaned up the look. Every detail is important, because when it all comes together it will really add up.

Blacking out the lights:


White lights on black ceiling:



Black lights on black ceiling:

The Logo

The concept for the logo has been rattling around in our heads for a long time, but to get the chance to sit in front of the computer with everything going on has been hard to find. But we needed it for our banner at the Chili Bowl Cookoff this last weekend, so it had to be done. There's lots more to blog about but its late and I'll be lucky to get this one entry done.

Here are some early rough drafts of logo ideas:





Here are some pics of the process of designing the logo. It is of course still going to be tweaked but this is pretty useable for most of the promotional things we are doing right now.





The more or less end result:



Sol means "sun" in Spanish, obviously that is at the core of the logo concept. We wanted it to look hand drawn, almost tatooed. It's a reflection of the personality of the restaurant itself; individual, unique, a non-commercialized experience. The turtle is symbolic of the ocean, and by extension, the beach, the islands, health and longevity, all the things we hope you will experience from the food in our restaurant. (Also it is Tuti's favorite animal, so she wanted it integrated into the logo.) We hope you like it, just as we hope you'll like the restaurant. Lots more to come soon on the blog!

Signs we're doing the right thing?

Starting your own business is a risky thing. Even when you don't have a lot invested in it. Restaurants are probably one of the riskiest. I've watched enough Restaurant Impossible to know that it can get crazy. People put their homes up for collateral, they sell their cars, they don't pay themselves. Some have $500,000 to a million in their restaurants and ARE LOSING MONEY. I've even had suppliers I've talked to say "I'm not trying to burst your bubble but a lot of restaurant fail." Not exactly encouraging words. But as of late a few things have happened that have helped to give me a positive outlook on this decision we've made, some interesting developments that hopefully are am indication that we are not entirely crazy trying to start a restaurant. Sometimes it feels that way.

First off, I was asked to speak to several students at a business class taught by Ana L. Rosado-Feger (who is a fan of our product), and she has passed our blog on to the class. Our trials and tribulations are being used as a learning tool. So, hopefully we will do something educational. I'd like to think we are being used as a model for possible success. Not failure!

We've also had a long time buggy fan, Dale Francis come to volunteer their services. He'll be helping us with some demolition and carpentry work. We hope that is a sign of how much people like the product, and that the opening of the restaurant is incentive enough to volunteer their labor. That's a good feeling.

Finally, We were in the restuarant, taking a break to eat our dinner, from our neighbor WINGS, and someone opened the door from the alley and asked us "Is this a Cuban restaurant?" To which we replied that it was GOING to be, but not for another month or so if all went well. She said she loves Cuban food. Good to know. Hopefully there are lots more out there just like her, waiting to beat our doors down when we open. Not really sure how she heard about us, or thought that we were actually open yet, but the more people that know, the better! That's the point of the blog.

I believe in the product, I believe in the concept, and I get a pretty good feeling that Athenians are going to too.

More Progress

There has been lots of cleaning progress, I won't bore you with details or pictures, but it is amazing how much filth gets left behind (especially under equipment, etc.), not to mention what accumulates after years of sitting unused. Floors, ceilings, walls, it all has to be cleaned. Even the utility room that is used for cleaning supplies,etc had to be cleaned.

We started removing tiles (yes, as you can see we make extensive use of child labor) from the column in the middle of the room. The wood can now be removed and we will be free to do what we want with the structural post (decor-wise.)




Tomorrow's plans are to paint the ceiling, then by the next day hopefully patch, sand, and paint the walls in the dining area, and hopefully, and especially if we get some volunteer help, demo the bar, remove the old carpeting, and make way to paint the floor.

Once the floors are painted, we'll be able to bring in the tables and chairs. This will make the space start to actually look like a restaurant. And that's when it will start to get exciting. Woo-hoo!

Reclaiming the Verizon Sign

So, I finally conquered (more or less) the task of modifying the verizon sign and making it into shelves. I saved the Sheet metal (for use in refacing the bar) as well as the vinyl (which may or may not be used for some design element that has a sailboat theme.

Here are some pictures:

The sign before. It's almost as long as the restaurant:



Removing the sheet metal





Removing the vinyl:



The nearly done shelf (there will be two)

Eco-friendly painting

Well, there are lots of things you can do to help the environment when you paint. I did the best I could considering we HAD to pick out the colors with only 40 minutes before Lowes closed and we had gone through about twenty different ideas and not even settled on any colors. So of course we went with a water versus oil-based paint (which are much more difficult to get, and hardly anything has VOCs nowadays anyhow) I found a really neat paintbrush that was made out of recycled fibers for the bristles and bambo for the handle. Of course it was a little more expensive, but actually not by much, and I am very good about washing my brushes, I usually have them a long time. I also picked up some biodegradeable paint pan liners. It's not a lot, but it's something.





We were back and forth on colors that depicted the beach, water and sky, doing a realistic mural, or an artistic mural, or something simpler and more abstract. Time is of the essence. We are wanting to try and open the restaurant before Thanksgiving (winter break) so we decided there really wasn't time for anything complex. So we were down to colors.

We still wanted to depict a scene at the beach, we also wanted to tie into the interior of the building as well. The general theme is that of a sunset. We pulled up some pictures I have on Facebook that I took at Ft Myers during sunset a few years back. The mural (if you can call it that) is based on people walking on the beach at sunset, with only silhouettes visible, not only of the beachgoers, but of the sailboats and island-connecting bridges on the horizon. The colors turned out pretty nice we think. We have only to add the details of the silhouettes and trim up the windows near Wings, and the painting of the alley is complete.

This picture was sort of an inspiration, and the kind of scene we want to depict:



Here are some before and afters of the alley:








Hopefully soon we will get a chance to work on the sign above the door and we are working to get some sort of temporary (possibly painted) sign up in the alley that will alert passerbys to the new restaurant that is coming and the blog that is documenting it.

I want to send out a big thanks to our friends the Athertons, they made Sunday one of our most productive workdays yet, and helped us get the fridge in, take down the old sign, and paint the alley.

This is how you get a three door fridge in...

So we finally got our three door fridge in the hallway. It only took taking it all the way back outside, and completely disassembling the metal doorway frame and removing the threshold to make the opening large enough. What a pain! And what a relief.



Amazingly, taking out the the frame and the threshold gave us an extra 5 inches and just enough to get it in place.

Disney World for Restaurateurs

So I am a little behind on blogging, but I am going to try to get it all caught up between tonight and tomorrow. Here are some pictures from our trip to Restaurant Equippers in Columbus this last weekend. You should have seen Tuti when she got in there. They have EVERYTHING. Before I took this picture she was jumping up and down like a little kid. So many shiny things.



Bus totes, they're the new black. I mean we bought some new black bus totes. Super exciting.



We bought one piece of much needed equipment, along with a bunch of gadgets, etc, and I am sure we will be back.

First Trials and Tribulations and Brainstorming

So we have only just begun to get going on the restaurant. It has been about two weeks since we signed the lease. Some progress has been made, though it is not readily apparent. The kitchen has been scrubbed down and for the most part is ready for appliances. Some of the walls have been wiped down and are ready for paint. We have pretty much sorted out the details of linen service and soft drink supplier. Here are some pics of the interior as it stands now (the quality is not great, I had to use my iphone because my battery was not working in my real camera):







The big issue right now - we have a large refrigerator that we are not sure of how to get into its space. This is an older building, and with the exception of the main dining area, the ceilings (which are the floor of the apartments above) are very low. The refrigeration unit which fit through the main back door will not pass through the doorway into the main hall heading back towards the restrooms, which is where it needs to go.





I know this is not sexy stuff, a refrigerator getting stuck on its way to a hallway, but it does make for some dramatic moments for us. What are we going to do? Well, there are double doors in the back of the restaurant as well, but guess what? The opening is about 3/4 of an inch too short. So, I am looking at having to possibly remove the steel framework and the aluminum threshold of the door to get the refrigeration unit in. Not even sure if it is possible to remove the frame though it does not appear to be welded to anything.

We are having a very difficult time with colors. This, I thought would be the easy part. However, we have sourced some chairs at a very good price and we don't have a choice in color. While they are not leopard print or anything garish, we are limited to our color scheme by this. Why don't we just get different chairs? Well, there is the budget to consider and the price is just TOO good.

This weekend, we are planning on trying to paint the alley wall (colors still to be decided) and hopefully finalize interior colors. We will be installing the three part sink. Some near future projects: shorten the bar to allow for easy access to the soda machine, pour a concrete countertop for the bar and replace the blue tile with bamboo and metal, remove the decorative wood/tile from around the structural post (I have plans for that post...will elaborate on this later.) We are also toying with the idea of a water feature.

Another obstacle we are facing is the old Verizon sign. "The old Verizon sign?" you are asking. Yes, it is IN the restaurant. It was the extremely large sign above the Verizon store which is now Wings. It is a large metal frame covered with a vinyl type fabric and sheet metal. It is probably about twenty feet long. Was planning on cutting it up and having someone haul it away for scrap. However, A light bulb went off last night and I have some ideas. Starting a restaurant for us is about more than just serving food and making money. It is about conscientiously being part of the community, both locally and globally. We have plans to work with local organizations to support things like food banks and meal programs. We are interested in taking the approach of sourcing as much as we can locally, affecting the environment as little as possible through reducing, reusing, recycling, repurposing, and through the use of sustainable materials. Thinking about these ideas, I started looking at the old Verizon sign in a different light. As a focal point I have been toying with the idea of turning the eyesore post in the middle of the restaurant into a focal point somehow. I've got the crazy idea right now of making it look like the main mast of a sailboat and putting something resembling a sail on it. The white vinyl of the sign may work for this. The sheet metal, with a brushed affect applied, would be just the thing I need to reface the bar, along with the bamboo. The metal frame, I may just be able to turn it into shelving for dry goods which we are going to need. We will see. None of that may happen, but it's worth looking into, and fits into our overall mission.

Should have more pictures from this weekend, hopefully by next week will have the logo for everyone to look at, as well as some drafts of the menu, so check back again!

Welcome to the Blog for Sol Restaurant

Ok, either it's crazy genius or just plain CRAZY, but we are going to blog about our decision to start a restaurant, and YOU, the future patron are going to be privy to the entire process. Why are we doing this? To put it most simply, SOCIAL MEDIA. It's the way word gets out. It's the way you can share an idea, your thoughts, your dreams. This restaurant, it is our dream, and the quickest way I can think of to get word of it to everyone, to really build interest in it, is to share the process with everyone BEFORE it is even open, to give everyone the chance to look forward to this great thing we are creating and sharing with the Athens community, both locals and students. We will be posting pictures of everything we are doing, writing about all of our trials and tribulations, and updating you on things like how soon we will be opening, special events we are planning, and more. We’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have about us and what we are doing.

Who are we? Our names are Todd and Tuti Wilson. I was born and raised in Ohio and Tuti was born in Miami, FL (her family came to Miami after Castro took power and she is a first generation Cuban American.) We met in 8th grade at Athens Middle School when Tuti moved to Athens. We went to high school, then college and married and moved to Miami, FL in 1994 after graduating from OU. We lived in Miami for 10 years then decided to move back to Athens in 2004. Why? That was the question many people asked us. That is a hard one to answer, too. Really, Athens is a very unique place. There are ALL kinds of people from all over the world, yet it is a small town and relatively safe and quiet. It is a good place to raise a family, and a great place to be exposed to the entire spectrum of the human condition without traveling the world. You can be different here. You can be anything here. You can do about anything here if you set your mind to it. We love Cuban food, and have always talked about starting a restaurant. Now we have set our mind to it.

About a year ago, Tuti (who had not worked full-time since we moved back to Athens) wanted to open a food buggy to test the waters. I agreed and we got a buggy, painted it and started serving gourmet Cuban cuisine on Richland Avenue at Stop N Cop carryout in January of this year. We later moved uptown spring quarter, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Those who have tried the food have said things like, "This is the best best thing I've ever eaten" and "I used to be a chef, and this is the best food in Athens." responses like this prompted us to reconsider our timeline for opening a restaurant (which was 2-3 years) and do it the same year as we started the buggy. We have signed a lease for the restaurant location at 33 North Court Street (the former Restaurant Salaam location) and are working on renovating it for Sol Restaurant. Several years back, before we were even seriously considering opening a restaurant, we commented when dining there one evening what a perfect location it would be for a Cuban restaurant. Must have been fate. We love this location for many reasons. It is easily accessible from uptown, it is a wonderfully intimate space, with is drop down to below street level and its brick walls that speak to the history of the building and Athens. We think you are going to really like what we are doing with it.

Regarding the food, those of you have tried it from the Chica Chica Chop Chop buggy already know what to expect. It is fresh, it is delicoius, it is different from anything else you can get. For those who haven't, let me explain a little bit about it. Cuban food, while of a Hispanic origin, is completely different from the Hispanic food most Americans have been exposed to, Mexican. While Cuban food uses many different spices, citrus, and other ingredients to give it a flavor unlike any other food, it is not SPICY. Cuban cuisine is a blend of cuisines from many different countries; at the core is Spanish cuisine, and influences from the Caribbean, Africa, and even Asia (most specifically China) have helped to form its unique flavors. While many of the ingredients are familiar, they are combined in a way unlike any other cuisine. So, Cuban cuisine is actually sort of a fusion already, but we will be doing even more things with it. Not all dishes will be strictly Cuban food as it is presented traditionally at the Cuban dinner table (though we will make extensive use of authentic Cuban recipes handed down from Tuti’s family.) Some will be our spin on traditional Cuban dishes, and others will be inspired by other tropical areas and cultures as well, that reflect aspects of our experiences in South Florida. Many people who tend to shy away from "ethnic" food find Cuban food entirely different from anything they have ever eaten, yet so delicious and familiar enough that they instantly fall in love with it (that's what happened to this gringo!) We are billing the restaurant as Cuban fusion cuisine, fine dining which is slightly upscale, though the environment will be comfortable, casual, and intimate. We will also have a lunch menu, which will focus on gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads. That is what we want to share through our restaurant, a bit of Cuban culture and cuisine. When you come to Sol Restaurant, it will be about more than a meal, it will be an EXPERIENCE. One unlike anything else you can get in this part of the country. Come a beautiful sunny day in summer or a dreary, cold and blustery day in winter, there will be a warm and tropical place for you to take refuge, dine, relax and feel like you are somewhere entirely different...Sol Restaurant.

Please feel free to pass along a link to our blog to anyone you think may be interested in what we're doing. Thanks to everyone for your support and check back frequently for updates!