Survival of the unfittest

I'm rubbing my eyes a little too much at the moment because it seems we're on course to have our best month to date at Cafe Haven. This is somewhat peverse: it's January! Who has money in January? I guess caffeine craving Sherwood Parkians (and I'm thankful for it).

I'm confused, although with my new and very shiny dad-brain, that doesn't take much.

So, this month has been less watching the bank balance followed by prayers every night and more about getting on top of dishes. Julie and I decided on scaling back the amount of hours our employees work in the week and gave ourselves full time work again at the cafe. Oh my once beautiful soft hands.....

It's worked because the numbers in the bank say so but it's physically hurt us. We're new parents getting used to 3am feedings and pooey diapers. That's left us snoring at the grinders or occasionally burning someone's bagel. I swore I would do something about my lack of stamina this year. Working at the cafe wasn't supposed to be the solution. And it's not exactly stress-free.

And then there have been some interesting moments in January: The drain on the dishwasher unhooked and created Cafe Haven Creek under our neighbour's carpet. With some absolute genius luck they're planning to change their carpet to tiles next week so don't care! Then our extremely high-end Black & Decker (ahem) food processor gave up on us after literally thousands of seconds of use, shock horror! "DON'T BUY RESIDENTIAL!" I can hear chefs all around Edmonton screaming. Does Cuisinart count? No? Oh well....

This small death was followed by a waffle-maker homicide. Rumour has it a Saturday staff member went - as we say in the UK - 'ape shit on it'. R.I.P. Mr Waring. Thankfully, the speedy staff of Hendrix Condon Barr had a replacement shipped from the east in time for this weekend's peanut butter waffles. Impressed indeed.

The staff have been incredibly consistent this month, giving us very few hurdles or stresses to deal with. And that's a real blessing. Actually, there is a really good feeling about the current bunch - a nice gelling of personalities. And that is so important.

And lastly, the cinnamon buns. Edmonton Journal's Liane Faulder does a spot on CBC every other Friday to talk about foodie things. Best cinnamon buns was this week's (29th Jan) topic and we were mentioned! I have to admit, it is one of the few things we don't make at the cafe. A local husband and wife team are the ones who bang out these great desserts, using old church and family recipes. Congratulations Vivian.

Watch out for news on our Original Fare membership!! Very exciting times ahead.

“STORY SLAM IN THE PARK”

LAUNCH - 7:30 pm, Tuesday, February 9, 2010

At Café Haven, 9 Sioux Road, Sherwood Park, 780-417-5523

Contact: Katharine Weinmann, 780-467-9541

or go to Café Haven’s website: www.cafehaven.ca

Based on models in Vancouver, New York and Edmonton, Story Slam makes its debut in Sherwood Park on February 9th. Cafe Haven's Michael and Julie Harvey, and long- time Sherwood Park resident and Story Slam enthusiast Katharine Weinmann invite you to take a risk, be bold, and have an experience you’ll always remember. Visit your dreams, explore your past, stir your creativity, question your existence, write a story and get on stage to share it with an eager, appreciative audience in a welcoming, yet competitive environment. We gather on the 2nd Tuesday of every month to celebrate stories – fact, fiction or a combination.

Arrive early. Share a meal, tip a cup and join our newest community of storywriters and readers. We'll hear stories about childhood, middle and old age; lifetime yearnings and wisdom gleanings; parenthood, sisterhood and brotherhood; triumphs and failures; dreams and nightmares; what ifs, and what might be's.

In short, Story Slam in the Park is:

WHO: 10 storywriters, a story-loving audience and 5 audience judges

WHAT: 5 minute, original stories read/performed before an audience (Strict point penalty for rambling. Gong at 7 minutes). “Pass the hat” for contributions - $5 suggested - the evening’s winner takes all

WHEN: LAUNCH - Tuesday, February 9, 2010 & the 2nd Tuesday of every month Sign up at 6:30 p.m. Stage opens at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Cafe Haven, 9 Sioux Road, Sherwood Park

Check out their website at www.cafehaven.ca for their menu and directions.

Katharine has regularly enjoyed Edmonton’s event, hosted by Susan Hagan and the Blue Chair Café. Appreciating the depth of creativity and the breadth of community represented both by those who step up to read, and who come to listen, she felt captivated and inspired to bring Story Slam to Sherwood Park. “Story Slam in the Park invites a community’s best - its vibrancy, eclecticism, pragmatism, and capacity to dream big… We’re a cross section of age, ethnicity, politics, work and life experience, and viewpoints.”

As a life coach, process artist and group facilitator whose work centres on community building and future creating, Weinmann recognized Story Slam as a simple, yet effective and highly entertaining way to do this.

An open letter to the staff of Cafe Haven and those who supported the 'Keep Edmonton Original' pledge

Dear Cafe Haven staff and loyal & loving customers,

Julie and I are completely stunned by the efforts of our staff and the generosity of customers.

It is a simply brilliant idea that must have been incredibly challenging to put together: for our staff to drum up $500 from paying customers, who already show such dedicated loyalty to the cafe, so that Cafe Haven can have membership to the influential 'Keep Edmonton Original' association, is truly an outstanding act that goes well beyond the call of duty. But what has really touched us, is the time and effort by the staff to do something so thoughtful. And how positively the customers responded to such a request.

When Jenna, the staff member who orchestrated the entire thing, presented us with a huge Christmas card announcing our membership to the association and messages from staff old and new as well of customers' support, it made us both well up. If any of you have watched Jimmy Stewart's It's a Wonderful Life, well, that last scene at the end of the movie, that was how Julie and I felt. It really did.

It has without doubt, been the toughest few months the cafe has ever faced. Jenna and Courtney, with their extra responsibilities, have had more than their fair share of putting up with a couple of stressed owners - in fact, most of the staff have.

I'll be honest and say that our hearts were flagging and our heads were beginning to sag at the thought of another tough year ahead of us. It is regretable that we forget just how much customers enjoy the cafe; that we forget that people see us as more than just a coffee shop but a place in the community. We've become numb from all the problems rather than reflect on our successes.

But what the staff delivered through our customers' generosity has restored our faith and our desire to make this cafe a success. It really is a very special Christmas present - and one we shall never forget.

So thank you, thank you, staff of Cafe Haven and to all those customers who got involved with the pledge! Have yourselves a very Merry Christmas. We look forward to seeing you in 2010!

The Harveys

This letter is written in light of the fantastic efforts by Cafe Haven staff, having raised money through our loyal and loving customers, to pay for a membership to "Keep Edmonton Original", a profile-raising association for independent local businesses. This was orchestrated by staff member, Jenna Sieben.

wasting money

waste not want not - as probably any self-respecting mother from the 20th century would say. Business owners are without question the kings of one thing: reducing cost and avoiding waste. It KILLS a business owner to watch an employee, either through poor training or ignorance, use excess; throw away good product; make unnecessary errors; drop things; break things; lose things...

"Isn't that factored into your costs of business? Isn't that covered with your pricing?". To a degree, yes, but not everything. Watching compostable ToGo paper cups spill on the floor and be contaminated is heartbreaking when you are already paying 100% more than the regular cafe and the national franchises. The same with coffee beans being spilt everywhere: at double the price, you are losing double the profit. Cups smash, wine glasses shatter and plates chip. Franchises have you sipping out of paper whether you want to or not. That's a huge drain on the environment and unnecessary for those customers staying in. We have a policy of making our customer pay for ToGo cups with a 10c increase on price. This goes to a green charity once a year. The flipside is that anyone who comes in with a travel mug (Thank you!), gets 10c off. Simple.

But back to my gripe about waste: It's a problem everyone has, and minimising these mistakes with clear policy, training and constant reminding are the only solutions for survival and reigning in waste.

Other stuff on my mind...

This week has been an incredibly hard week for Julie and I with poor staff attendance (uncommon at haven). It's getting tougher as we enter Christmas: private parties/ catering functions and sections of the cafe booked up for events - all begin to create complications in the running of the business. Good problems of course and much needed money into the business at a time when Julie & I have been struggling to keep the wage bill down. The end of this month shall be interesting for sure.

A nice surprise today came in the form of Andrew Legg (ex-Transcend Coffee employee) who will hopefully be performing a one-man show of the Christmas Carol on 20th December at our cafe. He's also performing it at Axis, which I encourage you to attend if you're more of a city-bound person. It will give us the Christmas feel I'm looking for at haven. It will also remind me exactly what Christmas is all about (it's easy to forget).

the stuff of staff

Being a boss can be great as well as horrible. A lot of it, I think, comes down to your judgement of who to employ. As employers, my wife and I have made our fair share of mistakes but thankfully you learn and get better at targeting traits of good workers.

The problem in the cafe world is that most staff don't hang around too long. Starbucks, for instance, have a joyous turnover of 300%. That's one very fast spinning revolving door.

At haven, we certainly seem to be developing a core of staff that have one quality that every business yearns for: the staff care. It really makes a huge difference to the day-to-day running. This does not mean that you can get laxidaisical in providing clear instruction and sound operational procedures. But it does mean that when things do go wrong it is more likely to be a mis-communication than due to a lack of care. Mis-communication you can rectify. Lack of care is a one-way track out of the business.

It's so important for our cafe because we have a large check list of closing duties that we start at around 4pm....that's five hours before the doors actually close. The duties are not exactly fun but they are incredibly important: the list spans some four pages and requires an awful amount of cleaning. Why? Because as an open-plan cafe you cannot get away with anything be left for more than a day (and in the restaurant world that happens a lot). Our customers can sit at a table and view our kitchen. With this kind of scrutiny you must (and should) run a tight ship. It's testament to the staff that the health and food handling inspector is a regular customer.

So, how do you ensure the staff do the work? Our solution is a simple one: roll your sleeves up and show them yourself. Lead by example. If the boss does it then everyone does it. Nothing worse than a manager showing off his extensive collection of keys to the store safe and various cupboards, refusing to work up a sweat because they are "above that now".

But getting good staff is mostly about leading horses to water and all that. At the end of the day, you need to find staff with good solid character and a conscience. And I'm very proud to say that at Cafe Haven we have that by the bucket full.

Colourful characters can also be problematic. Like coming to work to find your staple in the middle of a plate of jello. Terrific.

Mathéo has landed

Here's the reason I've gone 3 months without a single post on my blog. A cutie indeed. Mathéo was born 9th October 6lb 15oz and Julie & I are as happy as two new parents can ever be. Now four months old, it's a testament to Mathéo's temperament that I am finding the business more stressful than a new born baby. He sleeps alot; doesn't cry too much and; generally has the relaxed vibe of his mother. But I am proud to say he has his father's frown perfected!

Business has been tough. Julie's new found full-time preoccupation with motherhood has left a huge gap in the cafe. Thankfully, we have some incredibly gifted staff who've taken on Julie's usual workload. Jenna Sieben, our new Head of Kitchen & Catering, began to operationalise (if that's a word) the food element of the kitchen. This has been nothing short of a mammouth task. From start to end, Jenna has mapped out instructions on storage, handling, preparation, building items and plating of all food elements.

It's working, but it's costing us. The absence of Julie has led to staffing hours (and therefore wages) increasing significantly. October was a month that almost saw us go under. Hop, skip and jumping our way through the bills has scared us. A line of credit with the bank would seem a logical option but they make everything so complicated and it's $300 just for an application. One part of me feels it's necessary, another part of me wants to stay away from borrowing money.

We added to the chaos by changing the menu and intend to do so every six months in order to give the cafe a seasonal feel. We've also taken on the responsibility to go local, using Sherwood Meats fantastic product of free-range chicken, free-range eggs, locally reared hams and a Montreal-style smoked beef. The flavours are incredible and have improved the quality of the sandwiches dramatically.

So, it will be Christmas soon. With Remembrance Day nearly over, we've found ourselves using this holiday as a starting point for giving the cafe a festive feel. But no Christmas songs until December!

came out the other end safely

after months of planning, pouring over the smallest details, we finally took the plunge, closed shop and ripped out the whole kitchen.

it was a scary, stressful and uncomfortable time. i don't think i've slept as little in my life.

it all started off with friends coming over on the saturday and helping us literally tear the place apart. the shock of seeing what has not probably been uncovered in 15 years was, well, just gross! unbelievably, we were able to clear out the entire cafe under 3 hours. without friends helping us we would have been there for days!

sunday (4th July) saw us begin what i considered the biggest challenge: a six foot trench through concrete. julie's dad had the sole responsibility to make sure the trench was accurate, clean and perfectly dug. and he did it to perfection.

thinking the biggest hurdle was behind us, of course, several issues decided to change that. concerns over the thin wall between ourselves and Cash Central were highlighted (since it use to be a single unit back when BMO were tenants). This could have potentially set us back weeks. Aaron Box, the General Contractor, managed to get the inspector to provide advice, submit an application and approve it within 24 hours. That is a fast turnaround!

We had many moments like that. Issues that could have potentially delayed us or cost me a fortune, only to find a way around it. Another was when the pony wall on the south side was unable to handle the weight of the glass blocks on top - it was tilting back at such an angle that if we wanted anything to go up against it, it had to be dead straight. Again, Aaron, set about creating a perfect brace that ensured the wall would never move.

This kind of luck comes down to the people you employ to get the job done. I was incredibly fortunate to have a set of people that took a very conscientious approach - all knowing we were a new small business with still a lot to prove in the Park.

all the electricians were brilliant and worked long hours. the mechanical guys from Mainline and Randi himself were fantastic and very generous with their time and effort. The millworker, Paul Vail from Cripple Creek, did an amazing job of creating a single sixteen foot counter that snakes along the edge of the kitchen. And the detail and finish are nothing short of perfect.

Finally Aaron Box, who as General Contractor, had to manage me as well as the project. He did what he was paid to do and got the job done in a time frame no one thought possible: 8 days. And thank you to his brother, Nate, who set me on the right path with a design that we thrashed out until it was solid.

Thank you to everyone. We really couldn't have done it without you.