Surreal

Steve Ells did a Restaurateur sign off in the Washington DC region last week, and he was on Good Morning America (NYC) today. He is inching ever closer to Boston, and my resume went live this morning after being approved. The planets are aligning, I just hope all of this pays off. Some days I don't think we're ready, but others I have nothing but confidence. Today was one of those days. If he walked in today during lunch service, he would have signed us off, I guarantee it. If we can manage to emulate today's energy 7 days a week, we'll be golden.

In the land of the DMB, I just put my request in for the Nov. 10th show in Boston. (Last DMB show in Boston until 2012), so I have my fingers crossed for that.

After a week full of secrets, I think Frank gets 2 this week.

Checkpoints

"I can't believe that we would lie in our graves, dreaming of things that we might have been..."



The Regional Director made his surprise visit today. He spent most of the day with the crew and interviewed them one by one. It was an emotional day to say the least, but we made the "Now" list. There's a lot of passion and love in that building, and it feels amazing to be a part of it.

The road to Restaurateur continues...

Fast Food Nation

Let me start off by saying,

I LOVE MY JOB!

Perhaps I'm still high off of the trip that was Las Vegas, but I had an absolute blast. The city itself was pretty insane, and the conference was extremely inspirational. Being in a room with 2,000 other people that feel just as passionate about this as I do was awesome.



(As some of you know), I could go on and on about my love for this company. I'm finally starting to realize what it is I love, and it's more then just burritos. Steve has created a culture of people that is unique to Chipotle, and something that is unmatched by any other.

As much as I love this company, for awhile now I've felt like I took the 'easy route'. I graduated from some prestigious school, and decided to throw all my money into fast food. The term fast food usually makes my nose turn away, and I've actually felt embarrassed telling people I work in a fast food industry. I wanted to believe Chipotle wasn't fast food, because I always thought we were 'better' then the rest. This past weekend I realized, we may be 'better' then the rest, but that doesn't mean it's not fast food.

But...just because it's fast, doesn't make it bad. Like Steve has said, just because it was served quickly, doesn't mean a lot of time effort wasn't put into producing the item.

Over the next 20 years or so, I strongly believe Steve Ells and Chipotle are going to change the way the world thinks about fast food. We are currently buying more naturally raised meats then any other restaurant company in the world, while also buying more local produce then any other company in the world. As people become more aware of the food that goes into their body, they are going to have to start making more educated decisions. If the integrity of the food and the people are kept to high standards, great thing are going to happen, and I'll be proud to say I was a part of it.

The Journey to R+ continues

Secret of the week:

The Big O

I showed up to Needham St. on day 1 of hiring on April 5th. Outside waiting for me was a man named O. I reached my hand out to him, we shook, and I introduced myself as Nick the Apprentice. It wasn't long after that I found out he was a service manager from Manhattan. He had been with the company for 2 years, and had worked his way up in a very busy restaurant. For days O and I joked around about opening up a restaurant without a GM. I assumed that one would eventually show up, but with every passing day, I became less and less optimistic. Towards the end of the 2 week hiring period, he joked that they would put me in charge.

We both laughed it off, not really thinking anything of it. Me? I had never even run a shift before. My six weeks of training was rolling burritos and cutting green peppers for hours at a time.

We already know how the story goes..but they eventually bumped me to GM the night before we opened.

I was terrified going into this, but O was there to calm my nerves. Like me, he was there day in and day out. Already a Chipotle "vetern", he knew anything there was to know about the company. Although I'm his "boss", it's felt like more of a partnership then anything since the beginning. Anything/everything I've ever learned about Chipotle, or how one should be run, has come from inside his head. He's taught me to become a better leader, and has trained my eye for detail.

At the end of May he was eventually promoted to Apprentice, officially making him my right hand man. Like me, he is also there 55-60 hours a week. It's been a tag-team since the beginning, and I couldn't begin to thank him enough. He's the only person that I've talked to almost every single day since the very beginning. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that communication is very important. Even on our days off, we are calling/texting, filling each other in on people's success's and failures. We are both in the loop on what needs to be done, and the goals that have been accomplished for the day. We agree on almost everything, and our employees know what to expect from the both of us.

Thanks O.

Secret of the Week:

I don't know what to do, about this dream and you. I wish this dream comes true"~ [Digital Love]

1,000 Views Later

I don't know why I blog, but I'm starting to enjoy it. I know I don't update too often, but it helps me organize my thoughts, and figure out where I'm at. I don't really care if people do (or don't) read it, as I guess I realized I'm just writing it for ME.

In any case, some of you continue to come back. I realized tonight we *just* hit 1,000 views.

Thanks,
Nick

I had another dream about a girl from MI, though I could not see her eyes.





Secret of the Week:

The Road To Restaurateur (...and Being On The Brink of Disaster)

In the land of culinary arts, a restaurateur is simply someone who owns and manages a restaurant. (By the way, contrary to popular belief, there is no "n" in the word restaurateur).

Anywhoo....in the land of burritos and tacos, Chipotle has a position called Restaurateur. It's the next promotion after General Manager, and something very few people obtain. There are over 1,000 Chipotle's, and less then 10% of those have a Restaurateur in them. According to the website, Chipotle describes the position as:

As a Restaurateur you have a huge responsibility. You set the standard that all other managers strive for. You identify the strongest crews and train them to deliver the best customer experience. You focus on every aspect of the restaurant experience: food, service, and atmosphere. For you, no detail is too small. This results in a restaurant that is exciting for crews and customers alike that is also financially successful.

A person can only come a Restarautaeur if they have a **PERFECT** restaurant. The restaurant must be immaculate, and the people in it need to know about the 'culture'. There can be no low performers, and everyone must bring their A game 7 days a week. The Restaurateur is responsible for finding and developing new people, and turning them into future managers. As you can see, gaining this prestigious title is more about the team then the actual manager. Although it's the title of a single person, it's a title that the whole restaurant would receive.

After a restaurant becomes "perfect", it must then be recognized by the Area Manager, District Manager, so on, and so forth. Eventually, the restaurant gets put onto the "now" list. Once this happens, Monty and Steve, (co-CEO's of the company) can show up at any time to interview the crew members that work there. If they are impressed with the status of the restaurant, and what the crew members say about each other and the GM, then that GM is then promoted to Restaurateur. Simple, right? = /

I've met a few of these Restarautauers, and I felt pretty inspired. They eat/drink/live Chipotle 24/7, (something I find myself doing more and more). Of the 20 restaurants in/around the Boston area, NO GM currently holds this title. Although....

I don't know why, but I don't always believe in myself. Sometimes I just don't see what's right in front of my face. With that said, someone believes in me, and he happens to be my Team Director. (Mr. Corporate, in charge of ALL of New England and upstate New York. We don't like names here, so we'll use his initials, and call him DL). Part of me thinks this man is crazy, but I can't thank him enough. He's the man that promoted me to GM the day before my restaurant opened, and has supported me immensely ever since.

DL also believes we have the potential to become Boston's next Restaurateur restaurant. He was in about a month ago, and was very impressed with the progress we've made since opening day. We've been talking a lot since then, and he often checks in to see how we're doing. I'm never one to toot my own horn, but I'm almost certain he doesn't give this much "attention" to his other restaurants. He operates over 30, and calls us ALL THE TIME.

Last week our LSM stopped by for a "surprise" visit. She stayed for about an hour, and just watched how we worked and interacted. I found out a few days later she was there spying on us, to give the Boston leadership team an 'update' on our progress. Again, I'm not blogging to toot my own horn, but I caught wind of her email, and she made us out to be all stars. She came again today, doing the same thing. This time, she took a few of my crew members, one by one, and sat them down and talked to them for about 10 minutes each. One by one she picked their brain, asking them what they thought about their job, other crew members, and their opinion on ME.

Needless to say, she again left very very happy. She pulled me aside before she left today, and told me that we "inspire her". She thinks we're doing an amazing job, and is very excited with what she sees. She thinks that the Restaurateur level is within reach for us. She definitely made my day, and made an awesome week even better.

All of these people believe in us, I just wish I believed in us. People always come during the daytime, where my crew is stacked with all stars. Unfortunately, at night, and on the weekends, it's a totally different story. We've been struggling with finding good people since day one, and we're still having trouble. 1/2 of my crew is awesome, and the other 1/2 is horrible. I feel like we're teetering on the edge, and I'm still not sure which way we're going to go. They're bringing us down, and I need to get rid of them. I've been looking for people, walking the streets of Waltham with flyers. In an economy like this, I never thought it would be so hard to replace 6-8 (legal) people.

In the next 6 months, two things are going to happen. We're going to find good people, remove all low performers, and become Boston's only Restaurateur restaurant. Or, these low performers are going to hold us back, and we're going to become "just another Chipotle". I guess in the end, it all rests on MY shoulders.

Let's do it Needham St.

In other news, I've been having dreams. I dream about a girl from Michigan. I believe she's my polar opposite, and perfect match. I wish she was real.

Secret of thew Week:

Dear Diary

Oh wow, long time no blog?

I don't want this blog to feel like some type of homework assignment, but I've definitely been slacking. It's not that I forget, either. I'll think about doing one all day long, but when I finally get settled into bed around 11:30, midnight...I'm just too tired. Or, whatever I thought was important earlier in the day, just didn't seem so important anymore.

So I guess this entry is just a diary or sorts, and what has happened since the last one. (Which, to be honest, isn't much).

Anywhoo..the LOST finale came and went. I was thinking for days about writing some sort of recap, or just a blog talking about the show itself. In the end, I decided just to opt out. It's just way to large to go into, and I figure I'll take the Damon/Lindleoff (sp?) approach....let the show speak for itself. The show was brilliant, the finale was amazing, the end.

As for the Dave Matthews Band, it looks like 2011 will fall silent. After nearly 20 years, the band is taking next summer off. There are a lot of opinions/rumors flying around the internet about what this really means, but I think people are looking too far into it. For one, not many bands tour every single summer. I think as fans, we should feel quite lucky. In the past 5 summers, I've seen 14 shows! I don't know about any other band that has been so accessible recently. I don't think 1 summer off is going to kill us, though it will be sad.
Many people see this as the "beginning of the end", (What if they don't come back??). I'm trying to stay optimistic though. In my gut, I believe they'll return in 2012 better then ever.

I'm officially a resident of Newton, MA! It feels good to be out on my own, something I've wanted to do for awhile. I'm in the perfect spot too, right outside the city. It's only a 2 min. drive from the subway, and 'downtown' West Newton is just behind my house.

There is A LOT of good food around here, though I've only just scraped the surface. The other day I went to Blue Ribbon BBQ (http://blueribbonbbq.com/) for a pulled pork sandwich. It came with mashed potatoes and beans, and was out of this world. A few weeks ago I was walking around Moody St, in Waltham, which is also home to probably 30+ restaurants featuring food from all over the world. So far I've tried Solea (http://www.solearestaurant.com/home/) a tapas bar. It was nothing too special, and a little pricey for the quality of the food. I also went to The Upper Crust (http://www.theuppercrustpizzeria.com/) which is some of the BEST pizza I've ever had. Thin, crispy, fresh, huge, and very affordable. I need to bring some Plymouth people there, as I think it's *almost* as good as Marcs.

As much as I like living up here, it does get a little lonely. I stay pretty busy with work, but on those days where I'm out at 5pm and come back to the house, there's not too much to do. It's nice to relax, perhaps I just need a hobby? I would really like to start reading. During school, I kept on saying how excited I was to graduate and start reading books that I wanted to read. Unfortunately, I haven't really held myself to that. I'd also like to get a road bike. A lot of people ride bikes around here, and it's definitely a great way to stay in shape. It seems like it'd be a nice investment, something I'd have around forever.

Ok, I think I'm done ranting for right now. I might do another one in a few days.

LOOONG overdue, but..PostSecret of the week