The History of Big Fish Restaurant Co.
First Restaurant Ever!
Back in the summer of 2011 Evan Stagnaro and Paul Smith decided to try and do a restaurant for their parents and grandparents. They started out in the front yard of Paul's house, and after a few little restaurants made about $60.00. That was a lot of money to them at the time, but they wanted to make more and go bigger. In June of 2013 they planned to do their first real restaurant in August of that year. Due to lack of funds, preparation, and experience, the restaurant was postponed until October 12th of that year. To prepare for the first restaurant they had to get cups, plates, silverware, bowls, tablecloths, flowers, candles, and much more. "The plates, cups, bowls and silverware need to be reusable," said Evan . When they went to get the reusable supplies for October, they spent almost $150.00, hoping they would make it back on the night of the restaurant. The Thursday before the restaurant, which was held on a Saturday night, they went to get the food. They ended up spending another $100.00. They were already at $250.00 and they still had to pay for the disposable supplies, and the rent for the place. When it was all said and done they ended up spending about $400.00.
The night before the restaurant they went to the location and started to set up the tables, bar, kitchen, and start the food that needed to be prepared the day before. They made the sauce and let that simmer for hours. When making the tiramisu they ran into some lighting issues in the kitchen, which made the filling look green. "I was worried to walk in in the morning and the green liquid be growing out of the fridge," said Paul.
On the day of the restaurant they made sure the sauce was ready, started getting salads ready, making the bruchetta, and slicing tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for the tomato caprese. Then about 2:30, Emily Stagnaro, Evan's Cousin, arrived to help with the restaurant. They trained her for about 30 minutes, and then they realized they asked her to come way too early.
When everything was set up it was about time for people to start arriving. "I hadn't been this excited in a long time," said Evan. When the first people arrived Emily seated them, and Paul went over to take their drink order, then more people arrived, and they did the same thing. About fifteen minutes after the first setting started, or forty-five minutes after she was supposed to arrive, Jenna, Evan's sister, showed up. They then told her what tables she was doing and how to take orders and stuff, because she was so late. "The night went very smooth and actually felt like a real restaurant," said Evan. When the second seating started, Nicholas, Emily's brother, came to have dinner, but he claimed to not be hungry, so he went into the kitchen to wash dishes. "I was so glad he showed up and wanted to wash dishes, because we did not have any appetizer plates for the second seating," said Evan. Towards the last table Evan started to realize he was running low on tomato sauce. When the very last table ordered spaghetti and meatballs, he was scared. "Luckily I knew them both very well, because I knew there was not enough sauce for both of them to have to right amount," said Evan. His aunt Linda, who was sitting at the last table got the last bit of sauce there was. Next time Evan says he is going to double the sauce, even if they serve the same amount of people.
When everyone left, Paul, Evan, Emily, Jenna, and Nicholas were exhausted. Evan went to count the tips and all the workers split them up evenly. They all got $10.00 because somehow it was exactly $50.00 Then the moment of truth. Did they make enough money to pay back their debts? When Evan counted the money the first time, he knew they had enough, he double checked it, and came out with about $415.00. They were so excited. When they were done counting they had to go back to the kitchen to do some dishes. Later that night Emily, Nicholas, and Jenna went home, but Paul and Evan had to stay do do the dishes and make sure everything was clean or ready to be cleaned the next morning. When they finally left the restaurant it was about ten-thirty at night. On their way home they went to Del Taco because they wanted a late night meal and most restaurants were closed.
The next morning they got there about ten, and cleaned up for about two and a half hours. Once the room and kitchen were clean, they locked up the restaurant and returned the key to the owner. They each had their own opinions when it was over. "I'm exhausted and happy it's over," said Paul.
Evan said, "I wish we could do it again tomorrow." They enjoyed the restaurant and the experiences that came with doing it. They hope to do many more in the future, and maybe even open a real one full time.
Second Restaurant
The second restaurant was scheduled for summer of 2014. On July 12th it happened. Paul had just graduated 8th grade and wanted to invite about fifteen friends from school as well as one of his teachers. This gave them a large increase in the number of people. They planned for more than double the people. They wanted between forty and fifty people. Bringing in more people brings new challenges, such as being able to change the table cloths, silverware, and doubling the speed of the kitchen to be able to send out food on time. They also needed to buy more plates, silverware, cups, etc., and according to Evan they all need to be reusable.
The Thursday before the restaurant, which was on a Saturday, Evan started making the sauce for the Spaghetti and the Spaghetti and Meatballs. This simmers for hours, so it was better to start it two days before and let it simmer longer. This time he tripled the amount of sauce to make sure he had enough, even though they only had double the people.
The night before the restaurant, Paul and Evan got there at about 7:00pm to set up some tables and cut tomatoes and cheese for the Tomato Capresse. Evan decided to make the tiramisu at his house this time instead of spending all night at the restaurant. When they got home Paul went home and Evan started making four batches of tiramisu. He was up until about 11:00 that night finishing it and making sure it passed his inspection. He then went to bed because he would have to be up early the next day to start preparing the lasagna.
The next morning he was up at 6:30 making sauce for the lasagna, cutting and grating cheese, and boiling the lasagna noodles. He assembled all three lasagnas making a total of 24 pieces. The lasagnas went in the fridge until they were ready to be baked. About 12:00 that day Evan and Paul went to the restaurant. Evan started cutting bread, cutting tomatoes, cleaning mushrooms, and making the other recipes. He sliced the chicken for the salad and practiced making one. Then Emily, Nicholas, and Jenna go there. They helped along with Paul, stuff the mushroom caps with the filling. They also helped set tables and put flowers and other decorations throughout the room.
When it came time for the first service, they were all ready. Evan had made special notepads that made taking orders a lot easier. He also bought a ticket holder to put in the window so he could organized the tickets. During the first seating, the service went very well. All the tables got served, and all the guests left full and happy. The kitchen was smooth and there was not confusion. But during the second seating, there was some confusion. Jenna and Paul got confused on the table numbers and started placing orders for the wrong tables. Luckily, Emily and Evan caught what they were doing wrong before any food went to the wrong tables. Also during the second seating, all Paul's classmates and his teacher came. He spent a lot of time socializing at those tables, causing Jenna and Emily to have to work harder in the front of the house because Paul was unable to pour the drinks for other tables. At the end of the second seating everyone appeared to be happy just like the first seating. All Paul's friends crowded around the bar and kitchen window to talk and had a few extra drinks (sodas).
When they all left the five employees, Evan, Emily, Paul, Jenna, and Nicholas cleaned up and put the dirty dishes in a bin to be brought back to Evan's house to be cleaned. The restaurant was all cleaned up that night and they did not even have to come back the next day to finish anything. The next morning, they washed the dishes and put them back in the bins they are stored in and said goodbye for another six months. Then they relaxed for the rest of the day. Again, Evan wanted to do it very soon, but Paul, on the other hand, could wait a few months.
As of now, they are planning for their third restaurant, with hopefully more than 60 people. Again, bringing in more people brings new challenges, such as being able to change the table cloths and silverware even faster now. They also need to buy more plates, silverware, cups, etc., just like they needed to last time. They are hoping it will be able to be scheduled for the end of January or early February. Be sure to check the calendar and make a reservation for the next restaurant.