In mid-march, the TV show I was working on was ending and my wife quit her job as a chef because they weren't treating her well enough. That next week, shit went downhill fast. My whole industry crashed and burned (it's JUST now starting to get back going, I've had a grand total of 2 weeks of work since March), and she was denied unemployment because she left voluntarily, but nobody was hiring (shocker!)
Around that same time, a good friend and sometime-employer's fridge gave out, so we started taking him some leftovers from food she was already making. My wife makes AMAZING food, something that those of you that are friends with me on Facebook probably already know. She has been cooking for 15 years, studied in France, and has several of the top restaurants in St. Louis on her resume. It only took a couple of these dropoffs for my friend, Tom, to tell us that we should be doing this professionally. With delivery demand booming, we agreed with him and got to work. 2 days later we had a logo, a plan, and a name: Ding Dong Dish.
We started cooking meals out of our apartment kitchen on April 1, and today marks 6 months going. in that 6 months, we've sold and delivered nearly 700 meals, fed 65 different customers, and started to make a name for ourselves. We sell one set meal per day, with a different menu every week. Today was homemade Lasagna and tomorrow is some amazingly thick Pork Chops. Our meals are $15 monday-Thursday, and $20 or more on Friday, plus $5 per delivery.
Unfortunately, working out of a standard residence isn't exactly legal in the eyes of the health department. A month or two into all this, we found a commercial kitchen to move into and go legit. This was a restaurant kitchen that wasn't getting used in a sports bar that had temporarily shut down. This place was an absolute mess. The current owner had never used it, and the previous owner had left it a mess...5 years before. We borrowed a friend's power washer and used it for an entire week, scrubbing the walls, the appliances, the floors, and everything else covered in grease and grime. We got that place looking good and did some upgrades/updates to it, and even after some procrastination, we got the place ready to be inspected by the health department.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a lease with the owner (he was "letting" us get the place ready without paying rent) and he sold it to his neighbor 2 weeks ago, two days before we were planning on taking everything to the health department for our inspection and license.
That's where some good news comes in. Through some local Facebook groups, we found an awesome space in one of the highest end areas of St Louis, Clayton. It's directly across from the county courthouse and among a BUNCH of law offices, banks, corporate buildings, and other white collar shit. It's way more expensive than we were planning, and 4 times as much as the kitchen we were renovating, but the prime location and walk-in, grab-and-go lunch and dinner business should more than make up for it.
I know this has been a long read, but from here on, I'm going to keep updating this thread with our progress.
If you're interested, our facebook page is www.facebook.com/dingdongdish. Our website will go live once we officially open.
Around that same time, a good friend and sometime-employer's fridge gave out, so we started taking him some leftovers from food she was already making. My wife makes AMAZING food, something that those of you that are friends with me on Facebook probably already know. She has been cooking for 15 years, studied in France, and has several of the top restaurants in St. Louis on her resume. It only took a couple of these dropoffs for my friend, Tom, to tell us that we should be doing this professionally. With delivery demand booming, we agreed with him and got to work. 2 days later we had a logo, a plan, and a name: Ding Dong Dish.
We started cooking meals out of our apartment kitchen on April 1, and today marks 6 months going. in that 6 months, we've sold and delivered nearly 700 meals, fed 65 different customers, and started to make a name for ourselves. We sell one set meal per day, with a different menu every week. Today was homemade Lasagna and tomorrow is some amazingly thick Pork Chops. Our meals are $15 monday-Thursday, and $20 or more on Friday, plus $5 per delivery.
Unfortunately, working out of a standard residence isn't exactly legal in the eyes of the health department. A month or two into all this, we found a commercial kitchen to move into and go legit. This was a restaurant kitchen that wasn't getting used in a sports bar that had temporarily shut down. This place was an absolute mess. The current owner had never used it, and the previous owner had left it a mess...5 years before. We borrowed a friend's power washer and used it for an entire week, scrubbing the walls, the appliances, the floors, and everything else covered in grease and grime. We got that place looking good and did some upgrades/updates to it, and even after some procrastination, we got the place ready to be inspected by the health department.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a lease with the owner (he was "letting" us get the place ready without paying rent) and he sold it to his neighbor 2 weeks ago, two days before we were planning on taking everything to the health department for our inspection and license.
That's where some good news comes in. Through some local Facebook groups, we found an awesome space in one of the highest end areas of St Louis, Clayton. It's directly across from the county courthouse and among a BUNCH of law offices, banks, corporate buildings, and other white collar shit. It's way more expensive than we were planning, and 4 times as much as the kitchen we were renovating, but the prime location and walk-in, grab-and-go lunch and dinner business should more than make up for it.
I know this has been a long read, but from here on, I'm going to keep updating this thread with our progress.
If you're interested, our facebook page is www.facebook.com/dingdongdish. Our website will go live once we officially open.
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