I spent the morning at Ikea buying a bed, dresser, wardrobe, rug, desk and bookshelf.  After the stuff was delivered this evening I went to take a look at a vintage Danish sofa and chair set that I found on Craigslist.  Both pieces are super-comfy and sport wide teak arms and legs, original fabric, chrome feet and funky casters.  I tried haggling because I really don’t need the chair but couldn’t bear to break up the set.  Impetuosity overcame me and I bought them both.

I’m going to take some time over the Christmas break to assemble Ikea-ware and unpack boxes so this new pad becomes my own little home sweet home.  As I’ve been documenting, the last 18 months has been devoted to starting a business.  As you’ve read, it hasn’t been easy.  I’m not proud of every moment but its like life: good days and bad ones.  In general I’m very proud of what we’ve done.  Yes, “we”.  Although my name is on the door (or above it) this has not been a solo flight.  I am keenly aware of the contribution of scores of others who’ve helped create Caplansky’s Delicatessen.

In my former life as a political organizer I used to tell candidates never to name names in their election night thank you speech.  The reason? Someone always gets left out and I know how that feels from my own experience.  It sucks.  Let me generalize then.  I owe a debt of gratitude to my customers who keep coming back.  Here’s an email I received yesterday from Fraser Robinson:

“I was a big fan of the Clinton operation but was all bummed and negative when I showed up in those new days on College street and you’d run out of smoked meat…granted, I settled happily for the Grilled Versht, which was amazing, but I was still overly grumbly. “I’ll never be back!”, “An outrage!” etc… No longer. Had the smoked meat and a poutine tonight and I’m back in love. Hot stuff.
With great respect from a fickle eater, I remain your humble (and once again regular) client,” See why I love this business?

A therapist once told me that he defines happiness as “the struggle for a worthwhile goal”.  If that’s true then I owe thanks to my team who stuck with me through the fire of hell that was opening week and shared with me the joy of knowing we’re building something special.  Building a business is a worthwhile goal and this struggle brings me lots of happiness (as well frustration, stress, exhaustion and lots in between).  It has at times been an overwhelming experience and I know I’m getting better at it day by day.

When I decided to leave the Monarch I knew I’d have to raise some money to renovate the new space.  Following the “House of Chan Model” I assembled an A List of community leaders to back me.  Last week we had our first Quarterly Investor’s Breakfast and it could have gone much worse.  See, one of my great failings is my incompetence with financial accounting.  All my attention has been on operations not administration.  We’ve drafted outside help to get the books in shape but by the time of the meeting all the bank rec’s hadn’t been finished so the numbers were “soft”.  Soft as in “a pice of shit”.  The guys were very patient and supportive.  They could have raked me over the coals but asked good hard questions instead.  They expressed their confidence in me and satisfaction with our performance.  So this is to thank The Guys for their support and understanding as well as to the admin team who are working hard to firm up the numbers.

The food press deserves a special thanks.  You have given me more ink, more buzz, more hype and type and airtime than any single restaurant can deserve.  The only thing I ask is that you don’t stop.  Nu? You expected me to say otherwise?

The crew who designed and built the deli? Thanks!

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the deli crazies out there.  I don’t mean that to sound derogatory because these are the hardcore bedrock of supporters every business needs.  These are the folks who write books, post reviews, tell friends, bring family, celebrate birthdays (weddings, brises, shivas, baby namings and bat mitzvahs) with us, hire us to cater, make suggestions, offer to help and just generally get behind me and PUSH!!!  You guys rock and I love you.

To my family and friends: I thank you for understanding that I missed your party, gig, gathering, opening, wedding, play and/or dinner because I was engaged in the struggle for a worthwhile cause.  I’ve had four fantastic girlfriends in the last 18 months yet once again find myself single.  Clearly the struggle I’ve been engaged in hasn’t led to an engagement. However, I believe in the Yiddish concept of “beshert”.  What is “meant to be”, will be.  That doesn’t mean I think we are all like railcars on a predetermined track leading to a destination over which we have no control.  No, I believe that life is what we make it.

Then what shall we make?  I don’t know about you but I’m making a cozy nest.  And did I mention I cook?  :)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 am and is filed under Caplanskys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.