If we were open today...

We would be arguing amongst ourselves if we should substitute our poutine's usual gravy with a turkey gravy in honor of the Thanksgiving spirit! I would be spearheading the Turkey Gravy Campaign!

Loosely, our recipe would cook down the giblets, add some dry white wine, butter, onion, heavy cream, brandy... we would definitely argue about the recipe and try several different variations.

And if I weren't hosting my family's Thanksgiving this year (and consequently out of my mind in recipes I'll be using on Thursday), I'd be playing with Saus' turkey gravy recipe. But instead it's only in the back of my mind while I plan a gravy my family will like. (My sister is pretty picky and wouldn't like any brandy in it).

Happy Thanksgiving from Saus

How do people remember us still?

Somehow we are still on people's radars...

thanks for the write up!


http://harvardcitizen.com/2010/10/27/eat-out-more-new-restaurant-offerings-in-boston/

ps. We are still trying to get our doors open.. PROMISE!

Beer and Carving

Since our last post, we have been talking non-stop amongst ourselves about different pumpkin beers. So we decided to stop talking and start tasting.

We threw ourselves a little party and carved some pumpkins while we drank/learned about different pumpkin beer.

Below are the results...
of the pumpkin carving...

aaand the beers we drank...
We tried (from the left) Magic Hat Hex (not a pumpkin...), Fisherman's Imperial Pumpkin Stout, Shipyard Pumpkinhead, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale and Blue Point Brewing Company Pumpkin Ale.

Hopefully we open in fall so we can make our pumpkin beer sauce!

Oktober Flavors

Fall is one of my favorite seasons because of all the flavors associated with it- pumpkin, spiced apple, nutmeg, cinnamon... And as such, it has got me to brainstorm how we can use those amazing flavors to make special fall sauces for Saus. (Since we will be having weekly special sauces we constantly need to brainstorm so we don't run out.) Here are some of my ideas for autumn sauces... if we get open in time!

Spiced applesauce (applesaus?!)- made with freshly picked apples (maybe the Saus team could even go to an orchard and pick them ourselves, instead of just calling up our supplier and ordering local apples. Field trip!) Any ideas on favorite apple varieties? I think this would be great on our waffles (maybe even the frites...)

We already have a Cheddar Duvel sauce. It would be fun to substitute it with a fall variation... Cheddar Pumpkin Beer. Renee's favorite pumpkin beer is by Shipyard. However, I recently tried Pumpking, which could be great. Or, instead of temporarily replacing the Cheddar Duvel with a pumpkin beer, we could make a whole new beer sauce recipe. Ideas?

Anyway, I'm "falling" in love with fall flavors. Yeah.. I know. I had to go there.

Any other fall flavors I missed that you love?

All this trouble for a humble frites and waffles joint?

As our last few blog posts suggest, we have very little to write about other than that we are trying desperately to open. We have written about our permitting perils (actually, we haven't really talked about the half of it...because it's so depressing), so in a nutshell this is how we feel about all that: %@#%&#@#$$%!!!!!!!

Our tweets aren't even tweets anymore, they're faint squeaks.

"Hopefully hearing some good news today!" or "Tried our cold brewed iced coffee recipe today!" ... I mean, how do you capture hopelessness and despair in 140 characters or less?

I'm being melodramatic. For the past 2 years, we have been trying to breathe life into the idea of Saus. It's been 2 years of pain, joy, and everything in between: securing enough money to make it possible (joy, shock), working at restaurants for experience, but little pay (pain, fun), finding 33 Union Street after a long, fruitless search (j-o-y), realizing that building a restaurant from scratch would cause lots of stre$$$$$$$$$$ (pain-stab-punch-pain)...anyway, you get it...this journey has yielded alternating bouts of pain/joy.

However, nothing compares to what we have experienced these past few months, from June (when we thought we would open) until September (now). The past few months have been downright frustrating. You ask: "Who is the sorry wretch to blame for my being prevented from devouring delicious frites and waffles????" In a 140 character or less squeak: it's completely our fault that Saus is not open yet. Plainly, we thought we knew what to expect from the permit process, but we were completely wrong. A quick aside: the city of Boston and Inspectional Services Department are way too busy to care if some kids can't open their little Belgian restaurant. Yeah, we were surprised to learn that too. So without delving too deeply into why it's taking so long (here's a hint: lots of waiting for approval)... I want to leave you with this one note: we're tired, we're disappointed, we're frustrated and running out of patience, we're jobless (can only afford Chinatown now - God bless it), we're jaded, but we're passionate as hell and can't wait to open and (hopefully) make people happy with our food. We're entrepreneurs. We're America. (those last two were completely gratuitous).

FEEDback

We love hearing ideas from people! We aren't even open yet and we are looking into the future, visualizing new items on our menu.

How do we want our little concept to expand while staying true to our roots? We started Saus as just pommes frites and home-made dipping sauces. Then we realized that if we were doing pommes frites, we should definitely have poutine as an option- melty cheese, home-made gravy- what's better? Then along came the Liege waffles. Sweet perfection in waffle. How could we leave out this Belgian classic? Especially when it fit in so perfectly with the theme of home-made sauces. So we created a menu of home-made sweet sauces to pair with the waffles. **

Our current menu is a great way for us to start. We need to hit our groove in turning out perfect frites and waffles. However, this doesn't mean this is what we will always look like. We want to add more Belgian street food classics. Preferably foods that are better dipped into sauce (which most everything is).

This was a very long-winded way of saying I got an email from a real-live Belgian asking if we were planning on adding her favorites to the menu. She asked about meat croquettes (also called "bitterballen" and "vleeskroket"), frikandel and cervela. The latter two she describes as "cut open before frying and then served with mayo, ketchup and diced onions in the middle." So we are looking into these ideas, seeing if anything can be imported for us and how they would add to our concept.

We want more FEEDback and ideas from other people out there waiting for us to open! Any foods you think would work on our menu?



**NOTE: An idea to sweet/salty fiends: try our nutella with the frites.

Getting it done (hopefully)

Our goings on:

1. Editing our recipes (which entails not only making them better tasting, but also coming up with more efficient processes with which to make them).

2. Writing a HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point- basically how to make our food in the safest way possible, identifying what could go wrong at any point in the food's life cycle at Saus and planning how to avoid that trouble).

3. Drinking our iced coffee (we think the cheese cloth really worked to strain the grounds and make the coffee really smooth).

4. Getting written up in Grub Street's Fall Preview

5. Doing our best to live up to Grub Street's fall deadline.

6. Moving to new neighborhoods (Sept. 1! Moving within walking distance to Saus so that work/life lines get blurred).

7. Craving our own pommes frites and home-made sauces (not to mention waffles). Come on permits so that we can open!!!!!!!

Making iced coffee via cold brew method!

Why did we decide to serve cold brew iced coffee (or toddy, in some circles)? Well for one, it tastes better - you can get nice strong, bold flavors without the bite. Also, more machines = more headaches right??
All you need are some coarse grounds, water, a strainer (make sure to use something super fine - we had to use a fine mesh colander lined with cheese cloth), and something to stir with.
Check out the videos if you would like to learn more

What's up with our silence?

Our last post was July 29th. Unacceptable.

It's just funny because even though we are up to our eyeballs in work and trying to get this place open (in 2010 at least...) there isn't much new to write about. We are still working on the same permits that we've already written about. Our days are ISD, fire permits, building materials, plead, plead, plead.

On the upside, as you may have seen on our facebook page (Renee posted videos of it) we have been playing with our iced coffee recipe. We are doing a cold brew method, which yields a smoother, less bitter iced coffee than hot brewing it then putting it on ice. The first time we made it, we sifted the grounds through a very fine colander (to replace filters which are used in the hot brew process). However, it turned out a thicker coffee than we wanted. Through a process of trial and try again (we did one time try using traditional coffee filters), we decided how many times we want to strain our iced coffee to get a perfectly smooth, yet strong and rich iced coffee. We hope you like it as much as we do. I personally think it goes perfectly with a liege waffle. Just something to think about while we continue to try to open...

Did you know?...

Yesterday, Greg and I met with Bill (the fire marshal) at the store. We walked with him through the store as he gave us an assessment of our "life safety" measures (basically, are we set up properly in case of a fire?).

Here is what we learned...hopefully someone out there can use these tips for their own retail projects:

1. It's a good idea to go to the fire marshal prior to construction to get an idea of what you will need in terms of life safety.
2. There are different kinds of fire extinguishers. A general one you can find at Home Depot is an ABC. If you have the potential for grease fires, you will need a more heavy duty "K" marked extinguisher.
3. Our deep fryers are located next to our stove. This is problematic because oil from the fryer can easily splash over and ignite a flame on the burners. Luckily, there are steel barricades you can buy to put in between the two. PHEW.
4. Emergency lights must be checked once a month. You can do this by holding down the switch for 30 seconds to make sure the battery is not on its last legs. Same goes for the Exit sign lights
5. You must have a life safety training plan for employees - it must state a common meeting place nearby for employees to gather to make sure everyone is out of the building.
6. New regulation states that the Ansul system must be checked 4x a year.
7. This is interesting - your ceiling tiles and anything that is upholstered must be certified. Each material must have its own permit - this can be done at the ISD.

So these are just some facts we learned from our meeting. We are constantly amazed by how much goes into this business...

Testing the waffle irons

We have decided to get with the times and incorporate videos to our social media activities.

Decor

With the permits taking as long as they are, we have had extra time to embellish our store with awesomeness. Before we started this project, we knew that decor would play a huge part in our store experience. It would cost more, but we had our hearts set on a fun, hip, traditional, yet contemporary space. So we hired Brandon Graska, a young architect who is pursuing his masters at the Boston Architectural College and is currently working at Concise Design in Brookline. In addition to designing the store, he has been helping us frame Belgian comic strips and black and white photography (scenes of both Bruges and Boston, taken by photographers Michael Joseph and Andrew Ong, respectively) that will be featured on our walls.

Design, decor, and general atmosphere can really contribute to someone's dining experience...and in different ways. Let's look at some famous names: Starbucks, in their early years of expansion, made a point to retain the local, indie coffee shop feel of their original store by featuring photography from local artists, allowing local organizations to post flyers on a bulletin board, and even entertaining local bands to play live music (usually jazz and usually in their larger locations). McDonalds went the other way -- their shtick is fast and cheap and their interior reflects that philosophy to this day...nice, high quality fixtures and artwork do not further the low-cost corporate model.

For us it was simple. We, as diners, wanted to go somewhere that offered counter service. Somewhere that is inexpensive, but unique (not sandwiches or pizza) and offers high quality ingredients. In addition to that, we wanted a nice atmosphere that was inviting and even homey. Why was this so hard to find in downtown Boston?

the Saus team celebrates

For Greg's b-day, the Saus team decided to relax and enjoy some cocktails, conversation and jazz. Oh, and do what we do best- eat!

Renee and Tanya laughing, waiting for the music to start

Close up on our delish cocktails. Yes, mine's purple!
Chin, Greg and Renee
This was a much needed break for the team. The next morning was business as usual. So when you see us at Saus covered in ketchup, mayo and waffle batter, remember- when showered and fed, we clean up nice!

On another note, our mayo is back on track and better than ever. In my last post I said a test run had been a disaster. But not to worry, Chin brilliantly worked out the kinks that came from making the mayo in such large batches (as opposed to our test runs in a home kitchen with a non-commercially sized food processor).

Another Day in the Life...

In my last post, I talked about running around like chickens without heads. Running errands and running from task to task. Well, here is another look into how some of our days go (a much more blasé look).

This morning the team decided today was a non-errand day. So I sat on my couch and started typing. My task: documentation!

We have to know exactly who is going to be doing what and when. And how long any given task will take. And how will any interruption like a spill in the dining room effect our work flow? Who will have time to clean it up? Who can we spare from their normal tasks to clean it up? Our employees need to know what's expected of them. And we need to be able to tell them from DAY ONE. We need to know how our operation is going to run, down to every boring detail.

So I worked on that for a few hours. Then when it gave me a headache, I switched to reading. Since we are going into this venture as newbies, we are getting some of our experience from books. We have made several business how-to books, as well as "behind-the-scenes" restaurant books required reading. Currently I'm reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. He is scaring me.

Then after Anthony made me question my chosen path, I went grocery shopping. Nothing soothes me like food! Time to cook.

And while this may seem like a waste of a day because we are scrambling to open, we need to be prepared when we are open. So today was a prep day. However, tomorrow- back to craziness. On the agenda: getting some supplies at Restaurant Depo and then testing our recipes. Our last mayo test was a disaster, sadly.

What's the hold up?

July is upon us and Saus is still not open. No one is more aware of this or frustrated by the fact than the four of us. We made it worse for ourselves when we tried to predict our opening date. Since part of what we are trying to do with the blog is educate, please take note: predicting an opening date for your restaurant is like predicting the weather in Boston, the forecast always changes and it rains on you, just as you've laid your towel down on the beach and after you've applied a responsible layer of sunscreen.

The delays started over a month ago when the subcontractor who was slated to install our ventilation system backed down. Fine. We'll just have to find another. Sadly our contractor did not have a camp of ventilation engineers ready to show up and get their hands dirty at moment's notice...for the price we were willing to pay, anyway. Finally though, after gathering three quotes from three different subcontractors, we found one. The only problem was that the company had their own set of delays and had to order the proper equipment for our project, thus could not start right away. Okay, not the only problem...

Another problem was (and it still is) that we had to obtain a permit in order to start construction on the system. The engineers used a "short form" application (for small projects) for the permit, assuming ours was indeed a small project (tiny cafe, tiny problems riiiight?). Short form permits take much less time to get approval than long form. Unfortunately, our exhaust (fryer grease) is considered "hazardous" sooooooooooooooo ............. we are currently in line with the other shamed, hazardous exhaust folks (the few, the proud who still believe in deep frying), the long form group - which probably means our application is sitting amidst a stack of other applications waiting to be looked at.

Needless to say, we are upset by the unfortunate turn of events. But there's not much more we can do than wait....well wait, and run an endless list of errands.

Working hard in smallware land

A trip to E.F. Smith and Son in Quincy.

Tanya assessing the merchandise.

You'll never shop for pots and pans at bed bath n beyond again once you find out about stores like this is Quincy.

Stockpot or cauldron?

No time to sleep

The closer we get to opening, the more frantic we get. We still don't have an exact date (we are new at this, so cut us a little slack- we want to be open as much as people seem to want us to open)... and yet it's drawing closer. And we feel the pressure. Somehow instead of steadily crossing things off our to-do list, we keep adding items! And the end result- we run around like chickens without heads.

Today Chin and I spent the entire day in the car running errands over what seemed like all of Massachusetts. We got back to the home-front (aka 33 Union Street) and tried to organize all of our purchases. As we unpacked, we thought of more we needed to buy. Too tired and weary of traffic, we called it a day and the Saus team spent the evening putting sticky felt pads of the bottoms of chairs and tables to protect our coveted floors. Then we rearranged our tables to see how we could fit more seating into our small space without our patrons sitting on top of each other. We want to space our tables far enough apart so that you don't have to become bbfs with the people at the next table. Then, as we pushed some tables together to create four-tops, we noticed they weren't all the same height. (The table bottoms can be adjusted to be taller or shorter and we hadn't set them up all exactly the same.) So of course this is a problem that we decide to tackle immediately.

I know this post is rambling, however, it mimics our days. All over the place, nonstop, trying to get tiny tasks done that are so easy to overlook until they are glaring you in the face and you realize all of a sudden- oh god, we're not ready to open. There is so much more to be done than just ventilation! So while we impatiently wait to see how long permits and ventilation will take, we also breath a little knowing we have a tiny bit more time to get our act together. Thank god we have such good friends who help us run our errands when we've reached the end of our rope!

PS. I know this sounds complaining, but we really do love every minute. I think it's sounding like it is because it's after midnight and I can't sleep. Instead I'm making to-do lists for tomorrow. :)

PPS. In my last post, I mentioned getting shelving and how I would leave it to Chin and Greg. Well, Chin and I got shelving together from Home Depot and I put it together (with a little help from friends, of course)... but I felt very accomplished and dexterous. Which is why I mention it (read: brag about it) here.

PPPS. We still need shelving for inside the walk-in. Chin, when are you doing that? Have we measured for it yet?

PPPPS. Greg, we need to call that door place tomorrow. (This post has turned into a to-do list, whoops).

Opening Checklist

1. Finalize our menu (just last night we were debating adding skewered deep-fried hot dogs. A note to the public: Chin wants to call them wieners. Renee and I stand against it.)

2. Write descriptions for our sauces on the menu (so that when you order Vampire Slayer or Green Monster, you know what you're getting.)

3. Attach table legs to our table tops (easier said than done for some strange reason.)

4. Clean the saw dust off our entire restaurant (everything is covered!)

5. Decorate! (hang pictures, etc)

6. Get shelving for the kitchen and inside the walk-in (it's not that exciting, so I'll leave it to Chin and Greg.)

7. Obtain permit to hand out samples of our waffles (they are so tasty and people have to know!)

8. Obtain remaining permits (certificate of occupancy, health, milk - yes, milk...weird, huh?, etc.)

9. Learn our POS! (we need to connect our POS system and learn how to use it before we can train our staff)

10. Obtain a trash receptacle (apparently good ones are hard to find, unless customized, and cost a small fortune)

11. Hire a staff!!!! (and train them, too)

12. This is a partial list... we are so close to opening but there is still so much to do. We are getting excited!

The sign. Like the Ace of Base song, only better and more literal.

Big thanks to the Boston Sign Co. for creating this. It was a big morale booster for us to see this go up!

Texting

The following "conversation" (if you call the unintelligible back and forth- a conversation) was between myself and Greg (in case you are out of the loop, Greg is our more silent partner) via late night text message. All parties were sober. I think.

Me: Another "slogan"... You need some eats, we got some frites!
Greg: Lol. We open in May, frites on the way.
Me: Show it who's boss, slather it in sauce.
Greg: I am struggling with rhyming waffle, which ain't so awful.
Me: Get a waffle, better than a falafel.
Me again: Or!!! Try our liege waffle, it's a huge jawful!
Greg: Groaning out loud.
Me: Try the nutella. It's our top sell-ah.
Greg: Share our RILF with your MILF.

End of conversation. It ended so abruptly, I know. Just like this post.

First waffle batch at Saus

We recently purchased a 40 qt mixer, used, from a restaurant equipment store in Quincy and wanted to test it out. Hey, it was priced the same as a brand new 20 qt mixer so why not? After a little dusting, cleaning, and assembly, we put the baby to the work. Here are a couple photos from that day:

Asad, Renee, and Greg breaking up some softened butter into small chunks while Chin and Shira look on:

Chin mixes in the dry components of the dough under Shira's keen eye.

Fans and followers all atwitter, and we haven't even opened yet!

The Saus team is astounded by the buzz that the (soon-to-open) restaurant has been generating over these social media platforms. Our facebook page, twitter account, and blog have joined as a trifecta to ceate a micro community of social media savvy food nerds (in other words, people who are a lot like us). Having this community is conducive to our goal of becoming a kind of user-contributed local eatery. We have created a menu and have a store experience in mind that we would want as food explorers, so why not try to make it a place others want to come to as well. For example, one of our twitter followers (we know him as @gregmurph)asked if we were planning to make samurai sauce (a popular accompaniment in Belgium), which prompted us to experiment with a sambal-oelek/mayo fusion. Our samurai sauce turned out to be delicious, so we're going with it.

Facebook has also been a great way to gather feedback from 'fans'. Recently we asked everyone to help us name our sour cream and chive sauce and the results exceeded our expectations. We got 30-some ideas for names that we had to make it a vote.

Of course we will not be able to satisfy everyone. The idea is to try to make everyone happy, and when that can't be done, to mitigate a bad situation as best as possible. Either way, we desperately want to serve you guys and provide a phenomenal experience, but more than that we want to be your place. This is the dream, I think, of every restaurateur.

Check out our deep fryers!

I just wanted an excuse to post a picture of our brand spanking new deep fryers that were delivered just this week. Woot woot.

The Finish Line

In honor of Marathon Monday (and for those of you out there who are unfamiliar with the significance of this day in MA, it's a day when locals come out to cheer on the runners of the Boston Marathon whilst drinking, carousing, etc. Oh and it's also Patriot's Day...), the team is considering our own race to the finish.

We are at our last mile, we are exhausted, we are feeling accomplished, but also like our legs are going to give out. We clearly see the finish line, yet it seems so far away. The metaphors can really go on and on...and on and on. What I am trying to say is that the team is so close to finishing build-out, we're making our final purchases and final touches, yet still have a number of steps to complete before we can actually serve food.

Once the construction is set, we must have an inspector come in to evaluate our space for a Certificate of Occupancy and also to sign off on a Health Permit. We are a bit terrified. What if we need to drastically change something that ends up taking weeks? We don't think there are any potential hazards in the space, but with this team - anything could happen (I mean hey, no one thought Saus could happen and here we are!)

Anyway, we're so nervous. We just need you guys to keep cheering for us a little longer as we "run our last mile" - I know, I can't help it, I talk in cliches in my sleep. After all, when this project is done, the new project begins - and it's all about you guys and providing you with a fantastic food experience. See you at the finish line. (Number of times the word "finish" was used in this post: 6)

A short story about counters

The Saus team is excitedly waiting for Wednesday- the day our handcrafted counters arrive.

Our woodworker/expert craftsman (I really don't know what to call him), Adam has been keeping us as in-the-loop as possible, given that he is making these all the way in Indiana, PA (aka, middle of nowhere).

Funny story, I recently went to dinner at a new restaurant in Boston, Stoddard's. Dinner was amazing (they aren't really open yet, so it was a limited menu). However, what struck me was how we (the Saus team) were children compared to them and what their budget must be. The interior was astounding. The piece de resistance: the massive, gorgeous bar- meticulously and intricately handcrafted in Manchester, England, like a hundred years ago. No joke. It sat in a museum for a while because it was too big for the original restaurant it was made for. When you see it, it's easy to see why. Of course, my first thought was, "Our counter tops are handcrafted in Pennsylvania! They are being imported.." But we all know, it's not really the same ball game.

Anyway, back to Saus, Adam sent us a third round of photos of our counters. They are turning out beautifully! Here are a few- notice Adam in some of the pics!In the last photo, our counters are wrapped up and getting ready to come to 33 Union!

Also, a last word in, while our counters may not be as spectacular as Stoddard's bar (I'm not bitter...), they are so us. Not only in appearance (style wise, matches our personalities and Saus's), but also in construction.

A note from Adam about how they were constructed:
"Your counter tops were engineered to appear like they are 3.5" thick, but are in fact partially hollow. 40% less material was used in the execution of your tops, than that of traditional edge-grain butcher blocks. For the walnut trim around the burlap, parts of each walnut section are engineered from thinner pieces of wood to appear longer and thicker than they actually are. By using the drops and edge cutoffs from the walnut boards, I've used all material that would be considered "waste" to extend the walnut trim columns to their required lengths. I've extended sections of trim by adding in mortise and tenon joints between sections."

Thus, it makes it more beneficial cost-wise, but it's also kinder to the environment. We use less wood, have less waste and kill less trees!

This is why Adam is amazing, he COMPLETELY incorporated the soul of Saus into his work. See some of his other work at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/noelfales
(He does the wood items, not the clothing. That is his talented gf, Noel.)
He also has a website, but it's still under construction. Check back later when it's complete.
http://www.arcwds.com/

Food Safety Training

Today we completed Unit 1 of our ServSafe online course. The entire class is estimated to be between 7 and 10 hours long. We learned all about pathogens, viruses, bacteria, and other toxins related to foodborne illnesses. While technically only one of us is required to have a ServSafe certification, we all decided to train for it - including Greg, who is the financial guy and Asad, our investor and 5th partner.

We learned all sorts of fun facts. For instance, to remember the elements that help pathogens grow and make people sick remember FATTOM, or Food, Acidity (lack of acidity contributes to pathogen growth), Temperature (41-135 degrees F is considered the DANGER ZONE), Time (pathogens grow after 4 hours), Oxygen, and Moisture.

We also learned less interesting and obvious facts, such as there is no smoking in the kitchen, open wounds must be covered when handling food (unless you want to give new meaning to 'blood sausage' or 'blood oranges' hardy har har), and if you use a knife to cut a raw chicken, you can't then use it to cut an orange.

And that is a summary of Unit 1. So the next time you decide to apply the 5 second rule, just remember that you could potentially be exposing your food to physical, chemical, and/or biological pathogens.

saus is famous (ish)

Ok, so it's my birthday (and about to be 80 degrees today in Boston) so this post is going to be a short one. Saus was not only featured in the Boston Globe (with oh-so-flattering pic) but Boston readers apparently are enjoying the article!

We are #6 most emailed! So thanks to everyone for supporting us, this is a big deal.

Aaaand here's the proof that we are #6And of course, the link to the article:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/04/07/serving_a_side_of_social_media_with_their_frites/

And I got notice that while I was typing this short post, we jumped to number 4, but I'm anxious to get out of here for now, so I'm not re-posting the new evidence!

When we're not blogging about it...

These past few months have been exciting, terrifying, stressful, delicious, fun, and exhausting. All the planning that has occurred over the year has turned into executing those plans in just a few short months, and now...weeks. We have selected some vendors, bought equipment, finalized our menu, purchased our point of sale system, and racked up some bills doing so. We have been to Home Depot and back maybe six times to buy necessary fixtures for our contractor. We spend our days off in the kitchen preparing our menu or on the phone, coercing and collaborating, whether it be to get a gas meter installed or to set up a meeting with a beverage distributor. We talk to our lawyer, our contractor, our building manager, and twitter followers more than we do our closest friends.

All this and still so much more to do and more to buy, for that matter. I would like to say that we have become wise to the little obstacles that have the potential of becoming big hurdles (i.e. unexpected leaks in the basement), but we will find out.

So what's next? We will be spending our time now preparing for the operation - everything from staffing (and all things tied to it - workers comp insurance, payroll services, scheduling, etc.) to testing our equipment (I can't wait to see the magic that happens with 225 lbs of frying capacity).

Say Cheese!

This weekend the Saus team met for a, wait for it- it's so glamorous, photo shoot! We not only took pictures of our food (give me sexy, give me saucy, give me crispy! Work it, wooork it!), we also took team photos (for the website).

With two girls on the team (myself and Renee) you can imagine the impending chaos. "I look fat in this one." "Look at my chin! Has it always been that big?" "No way we are using this one, I look awful. Am I sneezing?" "I look soooo faaaaat!"

Chin was the voice of calm in the storm. "You both look fine." (Then seeing our mutinous faces)- "No, you two look beautiful." He may have gotten smacked.

We did a series of ideas. Us standing next to each other smiling at the camera, us standing next to each other laughing at Chin being ridiculous, us looking at a pterodactyl in the distance (Renee's idea). Then we took some of us eating frites, and somehow that turned into a ridiculous circus.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to get you all amped for our coming-soon website and the mystery photo we choose. (Hint: it may not be a conventional smiling-at-the-camera photo...)

Aaand to unveil this beaut. It is a picture of us, looking at pictures of us.

The Saus team + friends, analyzing the photo shoot pics.

Can we move this counter again?

Being the newbies that we are, we are having a fun time of it trying to build the restaurant. Between communicating with the contractors, laying out exactly what we want, and getting everything properly inspected, we are like tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum (except there are more than 2 of us to get the job done..three stooges maybe, plus an extra stooge??)

Let's go through a few examples of our "misadventures" of getting the space built.

1. We may or may not have moved the counter 3ish times. To be fair, the counter wasn't built all the way, just the aluminum underpart was nailed to the floor. The first time it wasn't out far enough from the wall, then out too far and took up too much valuable floor space, then who knows. But the contracting team may hate us...

2. In trying to get our gas meter installed, I first had to find out what a BTU load was and then tell National Grid what our BTU load is. Then they had to come and install our gas lines (but not the meter) and then the city has to come and inspect it and tag it. So, who calls the city? National Grid or us? We assumed National Grid and kiiiiind-of waited for a while. Then, after probably too much time, I called them to verify and of course found out we had to call the city. Now the question is, who do we call??? WHO IN THE CITY? dum-dum-dum.. oh wait, dumb. We'll get there.

3. ... I shouldn't go on.

Good news is, we are learning and the space is progressing, thanks to our patient and knowing contractor.

Here are some pics of the "progress."

Here is our 4 burner stove. We promise to clean it before we use it to cook!
Here is the upstairs interior as seen from the front of the space.
Here is our bathroom. It will be as is, no changes!
Here is the upstairs interior again- this time as seen from the back of the space looking out. Notice the railing right in front of the camera... this is the infamous counter that was moved so many times. It looks good there, no?

Saus Tasting Take Two

This past Sunday night we had our second official Saus tasting. 32 people turned out to taste 28 potential sauses. Each attendee gave ratings, written comments and suggestions. You know the turn-out is good when you run out of frites for dipping and resort to little pieces of baguette. Then you know you're just desperate when you run out of frites and baguettes and start opening boxes of Ritz Crackers. Overall, the feedback was great though. Thanks guys! Some early favorites were Cheddar Duvel Ale Sauce, Caramelized Onion Sauce , Roasted Garlic Mayo, Curry Ketchup and Hot Saus. Shout out to Saus' photograher Andrew Ong for the photos of the tasting.

Counters

Our artful woodworker (for lack of a better word), who is building our counter tops, table tops and our burlap wall (it's going to be so cool!), sent over some progress-report pictures of our counter tops being made. Don't worry, they won't be all splotchy when they are installed...

New Question

We got some really insightful responses to the last post, so I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughts. Good rally.

However, I was apparently misleading. When I asked about soda preferences (regular coke/diet coke/etc versus more rare or imported varieties), it wasn't really an either/or scenario. My bad.

We will definitely be having coke/diet coke/sprite/whatevs in a soda gun behind the counter. That is a definite. What I was trying to gauge was people's interest in paying more for unique soda brands. So far we are looking at a "micro-brew" all natural soda line, as well as a few European brands of soda and sparkling water.

Ok, so, new question:
In my research I found one brand in particular from Belgium. Perfect, right? Well I assumed it was soda. I recently found out that it was actually a juice company. It has cool flavors like apricot, pear and mango, but it is juice. Do you think juice is a good inclusion on our beverage menu? Will people be interested in Belgian juice to wash down their frites? Or if you are already gorging on indulgences, will you just want to enjoy a fizzy drink?

Pop Quiz

The last few days I have immersed myself in sleuthing. I am trying to track down some very unique (read- hard to find) sodas for Saus.

To compliment our Belgian menu, we want to serve up some authentic Belgian sparkling juices. Unfortunately, while we've found the perfect company, they are rare within the U.S., so getting them into Saus is proving to be a challenge. (But after working our butts off to open a restaurant -something none of us have done before and therefore didn't know where to start-, we know how to approach a challenge.)

And to compliment our classic-ly American side at Saus, we want to serve some American classics like root beer and ginger ale micro-brew style. While significantly easier to find than Belgian soda, finding people who distribute these "micro-brews" to Boston is still proving to be a challenge.

Anyway, what this long winded introduction is all about is I want to know if I'm wasting my time. Are you guys interested in seeing rare (and extremely tasty) sodas (and probably pay a tad more for them to accommodate the importing costs) or would you just as happily order a coke/sprite/whatever to wash down your frites?

Speak up!

Dust sets off fire alarms?

This is a picture of our space as of Thursday the 18th of Feb. Doesn't seem like much yet but the contractor had just started construction early that week. Funny story though, just earlier the same day I took this picture, I had come to the space at 9am for a standard food supplier meeting. Parked directly outside the space was a fire truck with its lights flashing. And in-front of the building was a large group of people I could only guess were employees from the offices above us. It goes without saying I was a little nervous, and the siren/beeping coming from inside our space wasn't relieving any stress. Thankfully when I got into the space I found out an abnormally large amount of dust in the air from all the cleaning was the cause of panic. Just want to also note our contractor was happily handing out free pens to all the firemen as they were exiting the space!

Lesson of the day: Dust can set off fire alarms, and if that happens, hand out free pens

Who could have predicted that we would become potato experts?

We are currently in the process of locking down the perfect potato for Saus pommes frites. So far we have experimented with Massachusetts Reba potatoes, Idaho Russets, and Yukon Golds. The Rebas were great because they come from a local farm and yielded delicious frites, alas are too small. The traditional Russets work well, but we want to be as locally focused as possible. The next phase of experimentation is with Maine russets, but we have been hearing that the potatoes are too wet due to the nature of the soil there and would therefore make it difficult to create a crispy exterior for our thick cut frites...we'll see.

33 Union Street gets a face lift

Kind of... Not really... Ok, the interior of Saus might look slightly worse for the wear.

As you may have seen on Facebook, Renee, Greg and I tested paint samples. Or more accurately, we all went to a paint store and debated, considered and finally chose 5 different colors to try on our walls. A brightish blue, a lighter blue, an orangey yellow, a lighter yellow, and a neutralish olive green. Then my artistic side took over and I went crazy on our walls.

After painting all the colors in natural light, I moved to the back of the store and painted them in artificial light. We then discussed which colors we liked and which ones we hated. We kept in mind that the color we choose has to enhance our space, match our furniture/overall decor and be consistent with our branding.

We may not have fallen in love with a color yet, but we did make progress on deciding which direction we want to experiment in next. And I wrote SAUS on the wall really big.

Day successful.

Sneak Peak

So this may be old news for some of you, but at Saus we will have a fairly simple menu. The menu will consist of frites, Belgian liege waffles, and deep-fried eggs. No joke, deep-fried eggs. As in, crack-open-a-raw-egg-into-a-deep-fryer type of egg.

Here is the kicker! To make things interesting- we will have over ten staple, made-from-scratch, savory dipping sauces customers will be able to choose from. And that's not even including our house-made mayonnaise or house-made ketchup or chili-infused malt vinegar. For all the cheese fans out there (I'm sure there are a few), we have a tasty Cheddar and Duvel Beer sauce in the works. For BBQ fans we have a Red-Eye BBQ sauce (made with a little touch of coffee). And the list goes on...

To wrap this post up I leave you with a picture of our waffles. I know a lot of you wonder how our waffles will be different from the Belgian waffles you are used to. Lets just say you need to try them. Especially slathered with our home-made Nutella sauce.

Secret's Out

So our "mystery restaurant" isn't really a mystery anymore. Not since Where to Eat in Boston or Grub Street.

However, we never really did our "big reveal" on the blog. So here is what we are, in our own words.

Saus is a Belgian street food joint, meaning our main menu items are pommes frites (Belgian French fries) and Liege waffles (totally different from what American's think of as "Belgian waffles"). These two foods are very common on Belgian street corners- usually served from carts in metro shopping/tourists areas. Think of them as New York's hot dogs and pretzels.

As our name suggests (Saus is Dutch for "sauce"), sauces are our specialty. The pommes frites are served with a variety of dipping sauces. Traditionally, in Belgium, their frites are served with Fritessaus (which is kind of like mayo). So as a nod to Belgian tradition- a lot of our sauces are mayo-based. Except we play with different spices and herbs, creating sensational (and thanks to Chef Corey) flavor creations. We also make non-mayo based sauces such as cheese-based sauces (Cheddar Beer) or a BBQ sauce. And to keep with the American tradition, we also have ketchup based sauces.

And here is the best part of Saus (I think, anyway): all of our sauces are home-made, from scratch, from fresh ingredients, everyday. Even our mayo and ketchup. However, I'm not discussing any more specifics about the sauces as our menu isn't completely finalized (we will tweak probably until the day before we open) and we need to keep some mystery alive...

Our Liege waffles, in keeping with the Sausy-style, are also served with a selection of sweet sauces. Again, won't say much more... yet.

Our approach to Saus is very eclectic. It is Belgian meets classic Americana with hints of the exotic. We don't want any sauce to be boring, but we want some to be comforting, familiar flavors. Basically, we are pretty sure we have something for everyone.

Feedback

We at Saus love to hear what you are all thinking. Here is what one loyal reader wrote in:

Dear Saus Blog: Since health resolutions tend to be popular in the beginning of the year, are there are healthy Saus options that will allow a customer to enjoy your delicious food selections without breaking the calories bank?

Dear Valued Reader: Our food is made all in-house, from scratch, all trans fat free and with no-high fructose corn syrup. Nothing is processed or has additives. We believe food should be all natural. While our food may not be "low fat or low cal," we are certainly a healthier option than other quick-serve options. We will also take your valued feedback into account and create some sauces from yogurt rather than mayo for "figure-friendly" options! Happy New Year!

...approximately 3 minutes later...

Dear Reader and Friend: I did some immediate follow up research to your question and found an answer from our menu developer. His highly professional response: "yeah I got a pimento yogurt sauce in the works"

2010

New year, new goals, new resolutions.

Saus's new year's resolutions:

1. Open!!!
2. Make friends with our neighbors (you know, so we can borrow some sugar)
3. Make Boston fall in love with us (this one is 2-fold: 1- because we have a complex and want to be liked, 2- because we want to be profitable; even though we love what we do, we have to own up to the fact that we are a business)
4. Lose weight (aka, trim corners where we can, not be spending where we don't need to be spending so that we don't sink)
5. Get creative (from finishing up our space to designing our website- who's tired of looking at this boring blog template? We want to be unique and innovative)
6. Stay true (to ourselves as partners/business owners, to our clientele- which has yet to be established- and to everything Saus has come to mean in the past year, not to mention staying true to our mission and branding values)

(7. Come up with a better slogan than "Sausy!")
* it's not reaaaally our slogan- we just say it a lot

The Working Capital Debate

Working capital is the money you keep in reserve in case you can't pay your bills with profit. The debate around working capital is whether to keep it around or not. When we set out to raise funds, we included in the amount the dollars we wanted to keep around just in case (we calculated the amount as three months of rent + extra for other expenses such as inventory and other fixed costs).

What we discovered was that most restaurants don't keep reserves. They respond to a lack of cash by paying vendors aggressively when times are good, and then delaying payments when times are rough. They borrow money when they have to, they send staff home for the day, etc. None of this is fun to do, but it's a measure that has to be taken sometimes.

But why set yourself up for taking such desperate measures when you could simply put a little bit aside for such times? Well think of it this way: you are a restaurant owner and after a couple months you finally make a nice profit - you're going to pay your bills, and then give the rest to your investors. At that moment, the logic is that the investors are more important. But what have we learned from the master (the master being Danny Meyer for those of you who don't know our team)? Investors should come last when making decisions, after employees, customers, community, and vendors. The idea being when you concern yourself primarily with employees, then customers, etc. etc. there is a positive ripple effect that will benefit investors.

Our concluding opinion: desperate times call for desperate measures, but cutting your employees or not paying vendors as a response to lagging funds should be avoided.