In November 2010 Chef Floyd Cardoz had called me into his office along with the Chef de Cuisine Ty Kotz. This was never a good scenario. Being called into a private meeting with Chef and Ty never had a good outcome. It not only meant I was about to get scolded for something, it meant I was about to get scolded for something so bad Chef Cardoz had to do it in private.
I slowly walked behind them, my short stature illusioning I was a kindergartner following my two teachers. Closing the door I sat down quietly, awaiting my fate. "I am going to be opening a new restaurant soon, and I would like for you to come work with me again." Wait...what? "It's not going to be like this. The food will be different, the restaurant will be different." "Of course I will Chef, I would love to open a restaurant with you!"
Little did I know what was ahead of me.
The Opening Team:
Originally shooting for a September opening, the construction was delayed for weeks. It was exactly one year later and a few weeks from the opening that I, and the rest of the opening managers gathered in a board room at Union Square Hospitality Group's home office. I knew most of the faces. There was Kevin Richer, the assistant General Manager from Tabla that went on to become the opening GM for Untitled, USHG's restaurant at the Whitney Museum. Kevin was an obvious choice to become the opening GM of North End Grill. Kevin and Chef Cardoz had become so close over the years they started to mimic each other's movements. Also like Chef Cardoz in the kitchen, Kevin is very passionate about running his dining room, and with the little kitchen experience he has, understands the kitchen's viewpoint on issues as well.
Chris Robertson, sous chef at Tabla that went on to become a line cook at Maialino under Chef Nick Anderer, was named our Executive Sous Chef. Like Kevin, Chris was an obvious choice for his role. Working with Chef Cardoz for seven years at that point, smart, organized, and an effective leader. His personality is contagious, and even though his sense-of-humor at times is very crude, you can't help but like the guy.
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| The opening kitchen management team minus James |
Adam James Harvey was coming to us from being Chef de Cuisine at Union Square Events, USHG's catering company. I had the chance to work with Adam over the summer when North End Grill did its first event at Meatopia, and this guy knew what he was doing. He is headstrong, and has a vast knowledge of the kitchen and a fascination with butchering that made him a great choice in rounding out the opening sous chef team.
Kelly O' Connor was our newest floor manager coming to us from Maialino as well. I met Kelly for the first time at an event we did together for North End Grill a few months prior. I didn't know much about Kelly, but Kevin and Chris had nothing but good things to say about her, so I was excited to work with her.
Chrissy Anderson was a hostess at Tabla and now Reservationists Manager for North End Grill. I hardly knew her, and we never spoke, but I was all for it knowing she was a Tabla Alum.
Then there were the new faces. Alex Ray was our opening Pastry Chef, and coming to us from being Pastry Sous Chef at Gramercy Tavern. Alex scared me at first. Her fiery red hair and tattoos were intimidating, and I honestly thought she was a butch lesbian. It took very little time to realize she was passionate, hard-working, talented, warm, and straight.
Jason Hopple was North End Grill's opening Beverage Director, and came to us from The Modern, USHG's restaurant at the MOMA. His knowledge of scotches and beverage pairings helped put North End Grill on the map.
Sameer Seth was coming over from India, and excited for the chance to work with Chef Cardoz. Knowing how much Chef Cardoz expects from his managers I couldn't help but think to myself "This guy has no idea what he just signed up for", as I listened to him speak.
Lastly, JP Murton. I don't know where to really start with this one. The first time he was meeting most of us, JP decided to "have a moment", and tell us about more than just his professional career, but his personal life as well. Once he started talking about the little girl he had on the way the tears just started to flow. I don't think I was the only one who felt uncomfortable in the room at that moment.
Regardless, there we were along with Richard Corraine, one of Danny Meyer's right hand men. I don't think Chef Cardoz and Kevin could have hand-picked a stronger and more talented group of individuals to come together to open a restaurant.
December 2011, one month until opening:
The construction for North End Grill was still underway, and through field trips to the space in Battery Park City we all saw it come together piece by piece. With the exception of James who didn't finish his time at Oceana until January, all the opening managers came together in the first weeks of December to help make North End Grill's opening as smooth as possible. In the first few weeks we reached our first hurdle, though, and that was the fact we didn't have our own space to physically work.
We worked out of the home office at USHG. We fought for desks. We fought for computer space. We fought for phones. The employees at the home office were sick of seeing us. We took up space in the board and training rooms. We took up space in the break room. We even took over the refrigerator and coffee mugs. "So when is the construction going to be done?" was a question we all started to hear on an hourly basis.
Originally working from one computer terminal in the HR office, Chris, Adam, and I finally got our "corner" on the opposite end of the home office. Two computer terminals and one phone to share amongst the three of us. We tried to accomplish as much as we could on a daily basis. Most of our time was spent calling up purveyors and setting up accounts. The real fun, though, was the recipe testing. The not-so-much-fun part, though, was getting to the kitchen.
The kitchen we were using was Union Square Events, located at 28th Ave and 11th Street. The home office was located in the heart of Union Square. For those that don't know New York City, this was not a quick destination to get to, and cab rides cost us over $20 each way. We spent half the day at the home office, and the rest of the afternoon/night at USE. It was like culinary school all over again, half day of lectures and half day of being hands-on in the kitchen, except we knew what we were doing...most of the time.
USE's kitchen is huge, and any chef working in there is like a kid in a candy store. They have everything you could possibly imagine. Having worked there, Adam knew the kitchen very well, and Chris and I were both very excited to be there. We were even sometimes joined by Greg Baxtrom, Chef de Cuisine at Blue Hill at Stone Barns who became one of our opening line cooks. Chef Cardoz would shoot off ideas to us, and it was up to the four of us to execute.
Chef Cardoz is very meticulous, and has a keen attention-to-detail. As he was training Adam and Greg with his likes and dislikes of cooking, he saw something different in Chris and I. We weren't the same cooks we were a year ago. As I was making lobster stock one day... "Do you have butter in there?" "Yes, Chef." "Carrots, tomatoes?". "Yes, Chef." "Garlic?" "Garlic in stock?" "OMG, you forgot everything I taught you, huh? What did Dan (Kluger) do to you?"
"I don't know, Chef. Sorry."
Night after night we tested, and tested, and tested. Yet we still weren't nailing much of the menu down. Some items, like the "Scrambled Eggs with Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms" were hits from the first try. Some were duds, like the "Stone Crab Claws with Mustard-Mayo". Others, like the grilled pizza, took us weeks to get right. We tested so many different types of pizza doughs, but one key component was missing, the josper ovens.
Almost finished:
We were all excited to learn that the kitchen was finally put together at North End Grill. Chef Cardoz, Chris, Adam, James, and I, all headed out to the space to see it, and our eyes lit up. This was it. This was our new home, and we had a lot of toys to play with. A wood-fire grill, two charcoal ovens, a double-sided fryer, a large tilt-skillet, a stock kettle, glass-enclosed walk-in refrigerator, flattops, and burners. We were ecstatic. "Veg station will be there! Hot Apps will be there! Raw Bar over there with fish hanging from the window!" By the time the FOH team came through the front door, the five of us were calling out orders to each other pretending to be cooking.
The next day, however, it was down to business. Lights were on, gas was on, and we had product in the walk-ins. We started to really look at the restaurant and figure out logistics. In regards to the line, "Where are the drop pans (dirty pots and pans) gonna go?". In regards to the stations, "Should veg station or hot apps be here? This is the space they are working with." In regards to the fish walk-in refrigerator, "Anyone notice the walk-in that holds ice doesn't have a drain on the floor? Oh, wait, here it is, on the other side of the door. Makes sense."
"Where is the prep crew going to work?" "Where are the butchers going to work?" "Heck, where are the cooks going to work?" "How do we light the jospers?" "How do we light the wood grills?" "Hey anyone noticed that Zia can't reach the ticket board?"
Yes, it's true. That happened. Six months later the ticket board was eventually lowered an inch.
Along with all the silly questions that needed tending, we were also busy physically putting the space together. We built shelves for all the walk-ins and dry storage. We put together the offices. We had to figure out the flow of the dishwashing station. It's not as easy as one would think.
But as busy as we were, Kevin and his FOH team also had their own projects to deal with. Their biggest project was painting all the shelves in the open wine room, a project that had us all pitching in and taking over a day to complete. However, we saved the restaurant thousands of dollars by doing so.
Over the next few days the computers were finally set up. The reservationist office was set up. Mariana Cook's very odd photography was hanging up around the restaurant. There were tables and chairs in the dining room. The kitchen was getting there. Now we just needed our staff.
A few days prior to letting the kitchen staff in for the first time the whole restaurant staff got together for the first time and met in a board room in the building next door. As the management team we introduced ourselves, and we finally got the chance to see who we were working with. At the end of the day, one of our cooks had already quit. He didn't realize what he had signed up for. We already lost one person, and we didn't even step foot into the kitchen yet!
Training:
David Kwiatkowski, a line cook from Tabla who went on to cook at Gramercy Tavern, was the first of the kitchen staff to walk through the front door and see the now put-together kitchen. He was joined by the rest of the opening team. They all stood in awe of the open kitchen. Everything was brand new. The stainless steel was still polished. Not a scratch on the pots and pans. The ceiling tiles were bright white. The kitchen really shined, and we were now passing it onto the cooks.
We did our first orientation. We gave the tour of the space. We handed out recipe packets and station assignments. We spoke to cooks and told them what to expect from here on out. The next day, it was go-time.
Chef Cardoz had assigned James, Adam, and I sections of the line to concentrate on. James had Garde Manger and Oyster stations. Adam was to concentrate on Hot Apps, Fry Station, and Josper. I had Veg Station and Grill. Chris and Chef Cardoz were floating around keeping an eye on everything. We all watched. We all watched everything. As the sous chefs all knew at that point, being a cook in Chef Cardoz' kitchen is not easy. Now we had to take cooks who had no idea what to expect and bring them up ten levels to where we needed them to execute. We pushed them, and we pushed them hard. Every day was a struggle, but every day we got better. Some, however, thought they were being pushed a little too hard.
"He's a diamond in the rough." Roman, a cook that Chef Cardoz hand-picked from California, moved out to New York for this opportunity. For the first few days Roman had impressed up in every way possible. He stayed late, helped out in areas we didn't even ask him to, and overall just had a great attitude. His skills weren't exactly where we thought they would be, but that could always be taught. As we moved him from veg station to garde manger, though, his attitude changed. After just three days, Roman had walked out. We now lost our second cook, and we weren't even open yet!
January 2012, opening the restaurant:
The day had finally come. Opening day at North End Grill. We made the decision to open for lunch only first, and we capped our reservations at 50 people. There was an energy opening the restaurant for the first time. We all felt it. However, our first guests didn't. In fact, they were freezing cold. We opened the restaurant, and the heat didn't even work.
All restaurants will ask a guest if they would like to check their coat at the front door. Yet, here we were encouraging our guests to keep their coats on, let alone with them. They couldn't even take shots of tequila to warm themselves up, as we didn't have our liquor license yet either.
Some couldn't handle the cold, but most endured. Many were excited to try Danny Meyer's newest venture, as well as Chef Cardoz' new "simpler" cuisine. Coming off his Top Chef Master's win, it was not any surprise to us that we were going to be very busy, very soon. The first reviews were positive, but we watched and listened to everything. Almost every complaint was tended to, and the first menus were looked at on a daily basis. We took items off the menu just as quickly as they went on. The format was tended to daily. We pushed ourselves and our cooks to finally get the flow down.
The opening reviews were all generally positive, with the exception of a few. We realized very quickly not to tend to all complaints, as some guests had no idea what they were complaining about. In regards to our grilled Caesar salad, one guest complained on Yelp "I can't believe it. They sent out lettuce that was black and wilted!" That's because the lettuce is grilled, stupid.
Three weeks later, it was finally time to open for dinner service.
With a bigger staff and some more adventurous items on the menu, we opened for dinner service on a Wednesday night on the last week of January. Just like we had done for lunch, we capped our reservations at 50 people, then 75, then 100, for us to get our feet wet.
Chris Robertson had successfully expedited every lunch service since we had opened earlier in January. I was put at the helm during the first night's dinner service, and it had gone very smoothly. I had taken it very seriously, watching every ticket and shouting out orders to the kitchen. I watched the service staff. I watched closely to see if every plate was up to Chef Cardoz's standards and made sure all food was going to the right tables. Then, it happened.
When the "pass" was full of food waiting to be run to tables, out of the corner of my eye came a cell phone waiting to take pictures. I swatted the hand away saying "No pictures right now! I need this food to go!" The hand retracted, and as I turned around I turned pale white. The hand I swatted away from none other than Danny Meyer himself.
Needless to say Adam had taken over during the second and third night's, but it was the fourth night that was the first horrible service we had at the restaurant.
Kevin had "opened the book", meaning we took walk-ins as well as our reservations for the night. So many guests had decided to try us out that night, and we got swarmed. The kitchen was hit hard. The dining room was hit hard. For the first time, our entire staff was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. We didn't know what to expect, and we were not ready.
I was at the helm again, and like every cook's worst nightmare, the ticket machine did not stop rolling. I was lost in my tickets. Chef Cardoz came in and couldn't help out. Kevin tried to jump in as well. Food was going out cold. Food was going to the wrong tables. We did over 200 covers that night, and we were only prepped for about half of that.
At the end of the night I stood there at the pass. My head was down. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Chris and Adam both looked at me and said "It happens to the best of us, man". Chef Cardoz then came over and asked to talk to me in private. I knew what was coming. But I didn't want to hear it. I knew I had a bad night and didn't need to be reminded.
"I need you to work on staying in control. No matter what happens around you, stay in control." Wait, that was it? You're not going to scold me? Knowing I just got off very easy, I never forgot that night and those words stayed with me for the rest of my time at the restaurant.
The next day we were closed. And that was the last time we were to be closed for a full day. Two days later, we opened for lunch and dinner together. We were now a full-service restaurant.
James had started off as our opening sous chef, and this was no easy task, let alone doing it at a restaurant that is brand new. As opening manager you are in charge of checking in all deliveries, all the butchering, organizing the cooks, watching all prep, finalizing the menu, and trouble-shooting all mistakes, all by yourself for the first four hours until the other managers walk in. It was not easy on him, and he was putting in close to 15 hours a day at first. One-by-one, the rest of us showed up and started to run around. We were hawks watching every area of the restaurant to make sure all the cooks were executing at a high standard. At first, we were all putting in six days a week, and this continued for the first two months until we finally reached our last major hurdle...brunch.
The brunch program:
"Oh hell no, I want nothing to do with brunch."
Although Adam had worked on a lot of the brunch recipes with our pastry Chef Alex, I was put in charge of starting up our brunch program. Having worked as a breakfast cook for a year and a half, I jumped at this chance. I love breakfast, but this program was not easy to start, and took us a very long time to get it right. After months of teaching the cooks our opening menu, we now had to teach them all new recipes. We had to rework all the stations. We had no idea what to prep for as we had no idea what people would order. Just like opening for lunch for the first time weeks earlier, we now had to look at the drawing board all over again.
The hardest thing about executing brunch is inspiring your staff to do so. Brunch has a bad name, and professional cooks want nothing to do with it. They are here to learn new techniques and cook high-quality proteins, no one wants to deal with eggs and pancakes. Sadly, that was the consensus starting out, and I had my work cut out for me.
Twenty-minute ticket times, overcooked eggs, cold food, food not coming up together, lack of energy, lack of communication, lack of care. These were not the cooks that we dealt with during the rest of the week. For months it was nothing but constant complaints, and we were never busy. Finally, though, we hit our stride. We made staff changes, menu changes, and thankfully the neighborhood finally saw potential in us. Six months later, we were finally in a groove with brunch, lunch, and dinner.
The roof-top garden:
By now we were finally comfortable at North End Grill. We were getting settled into the space, and we started to really push the envelope even further. We were blessed to have one of the strongest opening staff teams we could possibly put together, so now our attention was not focused on what was going on inside of the restaurant, but outside.
The roof of the building is right under the Freedom Tower, with views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty in the background. There are ten beds in total we could plant seeds and small plants into.
Ben Epstein, one of our dining room servers, had decided to spearhead planting of the rooftop garden. With the help of the kitchen, we all went up to the roof of the building and planted various greens, herbs, and seeds. We were all excited to see we could be a part of a slow investment, not knowing what was going to happen.
But like every other aspect of the restaurant up until this point, we realized what worked and what didn't. The first year of the rooftop garden it went as smooth as it could have went, but it was nowhere near where we wanted it to be. We saw potential. We saw growth. We were ecstatic to see how well our first harvests were coming out. Chef Cardoz was up there daily, and now realizing what we could do with the space, got the help of a farmer named Kristen, to help us realize the roof's potential the following season.
Dropping like flies:
The first year of the restaurant saw a lot of turnover in the staff. We cycled through so many cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, and FOH staff. Some of the staff stayed up for a year, but most just for a few months or less. It wasn't just the hourly staff, though, eventually all the managers had left as well.
JP was the first to leave, then Kelly and Adam in the first year. In the second year it started with Sameer, then Chris, Chrissy, Alex, Jason, and finally me. James, now Executive Sous Chef, is the last man standing.
Although I have left the restaurant now, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my time at North End Grill. For me to write about everything that happened in the first two years would have me writing for days. There were so many obstacles we needed to get over opening this restaurant and on a daily basis going forward. But through dedication and hard work of the staff North End Grill finally hit a comfortable stride. Having eaten there a few times I can tell you first-hand this restaurant can deliver a high-quality dining experience. The staff is friendly, and the cooks are passionate about the work they do.
Under the continued direction of Chef Cardoz and Kevin Richer, I know for a fact North End Grill will be around for a very long time. It took a while to get our feet wet, but the restaurant is now planted firmly in Battery Park City.
"Where is the prep crew going to work?" "Where are the butchers going to work?" "Heck, where are the cooks going to work?" "How do we light the jospers?" "How do we light the wood grills?" "Hey anyone noticed that Zia can't reach the ticket board?"
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| Lighting the josper for the first time |
Yes, it's true. That happened. Six months later the ticket board was eventually lowered an inch.
Along with all the silly questions that needed tending, we were also busy physically putting the space together. We built shelves for all the walk-ins and dry storage. We put together the offices. We had to figure out the flow of the dishwashing station. It's not as easy as one would think.
But as busy as we were, Kevin and his FOH team also had their own projects to deal with. Their biggest project was painting all the shelves in the open wine room, a project that had us all pitching in and taking over a day to complete. However, we saved the restaurant thousands of dollars by doing so.
 |
| The FOH team painting the shelves of the wine room |
A few days prior to letting the kitchen staff in for the first time the whole restaurant staff got together for the first time and met in a board room in the building next door. As the management team we introduced ourselves, and we finally got the chance to see who we were working with. At the end of the day, one of our cooks had already quit. He didn't realize what he had signed up for. We already lost one person, and we didn't even step foot into the kitchen yet!
Training:
David Kwiatkowski, a line cook from Tabla who went on to cook at Gramercy Tavern, was the first of the kitchen staff to walk through the front door and see the now put-together kitchen. He was joined by the rest of the opening team. They all stood in awe of the open kitchen. Everything was brand new. The stainless steel was still polished. Not a scratch on the pots and pans. The ceiling tiles were bright white. The kitchen really shined, and we were now passing it onto the cooks.
We did our first orientation. We gave the tour of the space. We handed out recipe packets and station assignments. We spoke to cooks and told them what to expect from here on out. The next day, it was go-time.
Chef Cardoz had assigned James, Adam, and I sections of the line to concentrate on. James had Garde Manger and Oyster stations. Adam was to concentrate on Hot Apps, Fry Station, and Josper. I had Veg Station and Grill. Chris and Chef Cardoz were floating around keeping an eye on everything. We all watched. We all watched everything. As the sous chefs all knew at that point, being a cook in Chef Cardoz' kitchen is not easy. Now we had to take cooks who had no idea what to expect and bring them up ten levels to where we needed them to execute. We pushed them, and we pushed them hard. Every day was a struggle, but every day we got better. Some, however, thought they were being pushed a little too hard.
"He's a diamond in the rough." Roman, a cook that Chef Cardoz hand-picked from California, moved out to New York for this opportunity. For the first few days Roman had impressed up in every way possible. He stayed late, helped out in areas we didn't even ask him to, and overall just had a great attitude. His skills weren't exactly where we thought they would be, but that could always be taught. As we moved him from veg station to garde manger, though, his attitude changed. After just three days, Roman had walked out. We now lost our second cook, and we weren't even open yet!
January 2012, opening the restaurant:
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| The FOH team in the cold dining room |
All restaurants will ask a guest if they would like to check their coat at the front door. Yet, here we were encouraging our guests to keep their coats on, let alone with them. They couldn't even take shots of tequila to warm themselves up, as we didn't have our liquor license yet either.
Some couldn't handle the cold, but most endured. Many were excited to try Danny Meyer's newest venture, as well as Chef Cardoz' new "simpler" cuisine. Coming off his Top Chef Master's win, it was not any surprise to us that we were going to be very busy, very soon. The first reviews were positive, but we watched and listened to everything. Almost every complaint was tended to, and the first menus were looked at on a daily basis. We took items off the menu just as quickly as they went on. The format was tended to daily. We pushed ourselves and our cooks to finally get the flow down.
The opening reviews were all generally positive, with the exception of a few. We realized very quickly not to tend to all complaints, as some guests had no idea what they were complaining about. In regards to our grilled Caesar salad, one guest complained on Yelp "I can't believe it. They sent out lettuce that was black and wilted!" That's because the lettuce is grilled, stupid.
Three weeks later, it was finally time to open for dinner service.
With a bigger staff and some more adventurous items on the menu, we opened for dinner service on a Wednesday night on the last week of January. Just like we had done for lunch, we capped our reservations at 50 people, then 75, then 100, for us to get our feet wet.
Chris Robertson had successfully expedited every lunch service since we had opened earlier in January. I was put at the helm during the first night's dinner service, and it had gone very smoothly. I had taken it very seriously, watching every ticket and shouting out orders to the kitchen. I watched the service staff. I watched closely to see if every plate was up to Chef Cardoz's standards and made sure all food was going to the right tables. Then, it happened. When the "pass" was full of food waiting to be run to tables, out of the corner of my eye came a cell phone waiting to take pictures. I swatted the hand away saying "No pictures right now! I need this food to go!" The hand retracted, and as I turned around I turned pale white. The hand I swatted away from none other than Danny Meyer himself.
Needless to say Adam had taken over during the second and third night's, but it was the fourth night that was the first horrible service we had at the restaurant.
Kevin had "opened the book", meaning we took walk-ins as well as our reservations for the night. So many guests had decided to try us out that night, and we got swarmed. The kitchen was hit hard. The dining room was hit hard. For the first time, our entire staff was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. We didn't know what to expect, and we were not ready.
I was at the helm again, and like every cook's worst nightmare, the ticket machine did not stop rolling. I was lost in my tickets. Chef Cardoz came in and couldn't help out. Kevin tried to jump in as well. Food was going out cold. Food was going to the wrong tables. We did over 200 covers that night, and we were only prepped for about half of that.
At the end of the night I stood there at the pass. My head was down. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Chris and Adam both looked at me and said "It happens to the best of us, man". Chef Cardoz then came over and asked to talk to me in private. I knew what was coming. But I didn't want to hear it. I knew I had a bad night and didn't need to be reminded.
"I need you to work on staying in control. No matter what happens around you, stay in control." Wait, that was it? You're not going to scold me? Knowing I just got off very easy, I never forgot that night and those words stayed with me for the rest of my time at the restaurant.
The next day we were closed. And that was the last time we were to be closed for a full day. Two days later, we opened for lunch and dinner together. We were now a full-service restaurant.
James had started off as our opening sous chef, and this was no easy task, let alone doing it at a restaurant that is brand new. As opening manager you are in charge of checking in all deliveries, all the butchering, organizing the cooks, watching all prep, finalizing the menu, and trouble-shooting all mistakes, all by yourself for the first four hours until the other managers walk in. It was not easy on him, and he was putting in close to 15 hours a day at first. One-by-one, the rest of us showed up and started to run around. We were hawks watching every area of the restaurant to make sure all the cooks were executing at a high standard. At first, we were all putting in six days a week, and this continued for the first two months until we finally reached our last major hurdle...brunch.
The brunch program:
"Oh hell no, I want nothing to do with brunch."
Although Adam had worked on a lot of the brunch recipes with our pastry Chef Alex, I was put in charge of starting up our brunch program. Having worked as a breakfast cook for a year and a half, I jumped at this chance. I love breakfast, but this program was not easy to start, and took us a very long time to get it right. After months of teaching the cooks our opening menu, we now had to teach them all new recipes. We had to rework all the stations. We had no idea what to prep for as we had no idea what people would order. Just like opening for lunch for the first time weeks earlier, we now had to look at the drawing board all over again.
The hardest thing about executing brunch is inspiring your staff to do so. Brunch has a bad name, and professional cooks want nothing to do with it. They are here to learn new techniques and cook high-quality proteins, no one wants to deal with eggs and pancakes. Sadly, that was the consensus starting out, and I had my work cut out for me.
Twenty-minute ticket times, overcooked eggs, cold food, food not coming up together, lack of energy, lack of communication, lack of care. These were not the cooks that we dealt with during the rest of the week. For months it was nothing but constant complaints, and we were never busy. Finally, though, we hit our stride. We made staff changes, menu changes, and thankfully the neighborhood finally saw potential in us. Six months later, we were finally in a groove with brunch, lunch, and dinner.
The roof-top garden:
By now we were finally comfortable at North End Grill. We were getting settled into the space, and we started to really push the envelope even further. We were blessed to have one of the strongest opening staff teams we could possibly put together, so now our attention was not focused on what was going on inside of the restaurant, but outside.
The roof of the building is right under the Freedom Tower, with views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty in the background. There are ten beds in total we could plant seeds and small plants into.
 |
| Teddy with North End Grill's first rooftop harvest |
But like every other aspect of the restaurant up until this point, we realized what worked and what didn't. The first year of the rooftop garden it went as smooth as it could have went, but it was nowhere near where we wanted it to be. We saw potential. We saw growth. We were ecstatic to see how well our first harvests were coming out. Chef Cardoz was up there daily, and now realizing what we could do with the space, got the help of a farmer named Kristen, to help us realize the roof's potential the following season.
Dropping like flies:
The first year of the restaurant saw a lot of turnover in the staff. We cycled through so many cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, and FOH staff. Some of the staff stayed up for a year, but most just for a few months or less. It wasn't just the hourly staff, though, eventually all the managers had left as well.
 |
| James stands alone |
Although I have left the restaurant now, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my time at North End Grill. For me to write about everything that happened in the first two years would have me writing for days. There were so many obstacles we needed to get over opening this restaurant and on a daily basis going forward. But through dedication and hard work of the staff North End Grill finally hit a comfortable stride. Having eaten there a few times I can tell you first-hand this restaurant can deliver a high-quality dining experience. The staff is friendly, and the cooks are passionate about the work they do.
Under the continued direction of Chef Cardoz and Kevin Richer, I know for a fact North End Grill will be around for a very long time. It took a while to get our feet wet, but the restaurant is now planted firmly in Battery Park City.
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| The opening kitchen team |
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| James educating the staff on the Sunday Supper menu |
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| Chris educating the staff on the Sunday Supper menu |
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| North End Grill's Clam Pizza |
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| James making fresh pasta |
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| Jesus, one of the prep cooks, shows off his new hat |
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| A happy guest |
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| Cooking seafood sausage over the wood grill |
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| North End Grill's cheese plate |
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| Alex Ray having a bad day |
North End Grill
104 North End Avenue
New York, NY 10282
*Note: Some photos taken from North End Grill's facebook page
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