Chapter 14

Carol arrived like the day before and I escorted her to the bar. Pete smiled, “My first returning customers. I feel honored.”

That made her laugh. “I liked the drink yesterday. Should I have another or try something new.”

“What are you in the mood for? Something sweet, fruity, sour, spicy, something that lingers like a fine Scotch?”

“What do you have that’s spicy?”

“I can fix a spicy bloody mary, a spicy margarita, a spicy old fashioned. Or I can make something up?”

“I’ve never had a spicy margarita but I do like them. That’s what I want.”

He looked at me and I said, “I guess I’ll try the spicy old fashioned since we’re feeling spicy today.”

He talked as he fixed the drinks. “I can muddle some jalapeno peppers in the bottom of the glass then mix the drink as usual. I strain the ice and peppers out as I pour it into a glass with fresh ice. Enjoy” was what he said as he presented the drink to Carol. “For the spicy old fashioned, I make our special house old-fashioned with rye, amaro and salted honey but we infuse the honey with scotch bonnet peppers.”

We both enjoyed the drinks and as other saw us at the bar they came over and ordered drinks. The bartenders got busy. As we went to our table, we met our lunch tablemates, the Remfrys. He worked at one of the banks nearby, I ordered a bottle of Champagne for the table and we sipped on it as we looked at the menu. I heard a few other corks going off as people followed what they saw us doing.

Carol led the discussion explaining that she’d eaten here for lunch the day before. We again tried to order different things so we could hear and see more variety. I tried the lobster and Carol had lamb chops. The Remfrys had scallops and a ribeye steak. I skipped dessert but had a cup of coffee. They all enjoyed theirs and we all enjoyed the flames from the bananas fosters being flambed around the dining room. After lunch, and after the Remfrys had left, I sipped my coffee and Carol said, “My driver said that he had the best hamburger he’d ever eaten yesterday.”

“Where did he go?”

“Here silly. They let him sit at a table in the kitchen. He said that it was like watching a dance as they cooked and called out orders. He said that Jay fixed it for him. I thought that was nice.”

“I didn’t even see hamburgers on the menu and I’ve been here for each meal. I’ll thank Jay for taking care of him.”

“So this is our last date. Will I ever see you again or were you just using me?”

“Some women like to be used.”

“Now you’re exciting me.”

“What’s your status?”

“What do you mean?”

“Carol, you’ve mentioned your husband. I met you at a club where you gave me your number. You’ve never asked me to be discreet and your staff has spoken to me on the phone and eaten burgers while we had a date. Tell me about you and your family.”

“Oh, I thought you knew.”

“I know your name and I guess based on the staff and car that you have some wealth. Other than that I’ve heard you were a nice person?”

“Who told you that?”

“The redhead at the club.”

“She’s a sweet girl.”

“She’s precious. But don’t let her change the topic at hand.”

We were the only table left and the staff was cleaning up and changing table cloths. “We should get out of their way.”

Standing I took her hand and led her over to a table out of the way in the bar. Pete came out and said, “You are now my first repeat, repeat customers. What can I get for you?”

She looked at me and I said, “Pete, you know us. Just some after dinner drinks.”

She looked around until he returned with a Baileys on the rocks for her and a snifter of brandy for me. When he was out of earshot, she said, “I was married, happily married to my husband. His family was very wealthy and I guess mine wasn’t too far behind. He graduated from Harvard and was in line to take over the family business. I was 22 when we were married and he was 27. We were so happy. You remind me a lot of him. He wasn’t as tall or as fit but his demeanor, his self confidence. Basically the way he carried himself. He was well liked and got along with most people.

“He was on a hunting trip with his father and brother a year and a half after we were married. He was shot. They were on public land so there is no way to be sure who it was. Was it an accident or was it on purpose? It may have been his brother who now runs the business. I was 24 and a widow. I got the house, his family gave me his inheritance. I think they suspected his brother but as much as they loved my husband they didn’t want to see their other son in jail or have the scandal so they paid me off. Between that, my family money and the life insurance, I’m well off and don’t work. I have plenty of time to let my mind think up wicked things to do.”

“We should go out on Friday night. We can start with dinner here and then see where the night leads.”

“I’d like that. Do you want to pick me up or meet me here?”

“I can pick you up or meet you at your house. But I don’t own a car here in the city. I have one down in Florida.”

“Meet me at my house and my driver can take us.”

“It’s a date.” She kissed my cheek and I walked her out to her car.

Wednesday night was interesting. Ron and his wife came to dinner and they sat with Mandy and her husband. Tony Del Rocco was there with his wife and sister Michelle and they sat with Eddie who’d flown in and had no clothes that were appropriate for dinner. We managed to fit him into some of my clothes and he was drinking with me until Tony showed up and he went to be with his table.

I was in the bar when Jennifer, Cathy and Cathy’s boyfriend showed up. His name was Kyle. He was into computers and worked as a data processing manager at some company. The dinner was great but we tended to get a little loud and were a lot less stuffy than some of the other guests. They all thanked me for the invite and both Jen and Cathy gave me kisses on the cheek as they said goodbye.

When the night was over we had a meeting with Jay, Gary, Phillip, me and my uncle Eddie.

Phillip asked, “So this is an owners meeting. I’m not an owner but I run the place. After four training sessions are we ready to open the restaurant?”

Gary said, “We’ve only filled half of the down stairs but all meals have worked well. I say we open.”

All the owners were nodding. Phillip said, “That’s good because we’re totally booked for the next two weeks and weekends for the next month between 6 and 8pm. I have a friend that’s a writer for the paper and he is going to write a piece after he has dinner tomorrow night.”

Jay said, “I’m sure it will die down eventually but I look forward to putting out the food. My team has learned a lot and are cooking well. I step out into the dining room and it looks like a dance the way all the servers move without running into each other. I want to hide in the kitchen.”

I said, “Jay speaking of that. I heard that you fed Carol’s driver a burger while he sat in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, he looked hungry. It’s what I do.”

“Well we don’t have any hamburgers on the menu.”

“We have steak and that’s what hamburger is made of. We have an oven for baking bread. I put some dough in the oven from our dinner rolls and made a bun and ran some meat trimmed from the steaks through the grinder. Add heat and serve.”

“He said it was the best burger he’d ever eaten and watching the crew cook was like watching a dance. Maybe we should put a couple tables in the kitchen.”

“Others have done it but I don’t want to worry about them. If we took some of the space in the back we could have a small dining room for the drivers and serve them something while they wait.”

He was surprised that I was laughing. “What’s so funny, Bull?”

“When I suggested serving cheaper food for the college kids, you didn’t want to do it. Now you want to sell the best beef in the city to drivers at a discount.”

“I’m still learning. I’ll see how much trim we have left over from the butchering and we can sell it at the bar.”

Eddie and I went out but went home alone at the end of the night. We had a beer and were in the living room when he said, “I have a date for the Friday night opening.”

“Anyone I know?”

“Michelle of course. The only other woman at the table was Tony’s wife and I don’t think I should be asking her out.”

“Good choice. Michelle is a nice lady and knows her way around a boat. You could do much worse. Should I find a place to stay in case you get lucky?”

“Shut up. I have my own room at your place and she has her own home. I’m not sure if getting lucky would be unlucky for me.”

“Did Tony like the restaurant?”

“He did very much and his wife let him know he would be taking her there regularly. I don’t know much about the restaurant business but I would say that the training was a big marketing event with word of mouth advertising.”

“I’m glad he enjoyed the meal. He’s one guy that I wish that I didn’t know but am glad that we get along well since I do know him. It’s been a mutually beneficial relationship but I never know when some FBI agent is looking into me because of him.”

“We live a different kind of life, both legal and illegal. We want to do what’s right but sometimes crime does pay. It’s a fine line we walk. I try not to be too greedy.”

“I call it dumb luck for me. I seem to have deals and flipped boats fall into my lap. Did you ever hear anything more about who owned the money that was on that boat?”

“Just, The Mexicans. I don’t know which cartel. They think that the coast guards took what they didn’t report. Since you didn’t walk into the Bahamas bank carrying their bags on the same day, they never really looked outside of the coasties.”

“That’s good to know. I still have twenty million down in the Bahamas. All the other banks, I’ve moved onshore and paid taxes on. I think I may keep it down there in case I ever need to get out of the country.”

“If you don’t need it, that sounds like a good idea. I should put more of my money to work. I’m glad to be a part of the restaurant. That was pretty cool eating at a place that I own.”

“Only 20%. I was thinking that the opening of the timeshare should be in the next few months. They’re shooting for August. That will be 200 families each week coming into vacation. It’ll take time to build up to those numbers but how many will want to go diving or fishing. You may want a fleet of boats with captains. You can go out when you want and collect a portion of each boat you aren’t on.” I watched him think. I could tell he was already thinking of boats, people and locations to make all that happen. “We could have a concierge at the timeshare to book the trips. You may want to keep some boats down on key largo and just have a shuttle bus to get them to and from the boats. It would save on gas and time getting to the reefs.”

“That sounds like a good idea. I know boats, fishing and diving. I could set up some boats. Maybe five for fishing and one or two for diving and make a couple hundred a day off of each. Work smarter not harder. August sounds so fast. Didn’t you just start those things?”

“I need to get down and see them but I meet with Amy on the phone three or four times a week. They’re almost entirely concrete to protect against hurricanes. After that it’s all finish work. Instead of running one crew they have like ten crews all working all the same time. The outside is going to have a cool pool with Jacuzzis and slides. There will be other things like a putt putt golf and beachside bar. There will be a restaurant on site and the oyster deck next door. They won’t need to leave unless they want to go fishing or diving. Amy even thought about hiring someone to give surfing lessons.”

After that we both went to bed. Thursday was the soft opening. Some people came in and ate both lunch and dinner but there was no big rush since the grand opening wasn’t until Friday. We had both lunch and dinner there but sat upstairs and looked down into the restaurant. I had a burger instead of the pre-fixe menu. Eddie followed my lead. Gary joined us and we talked about his thoughts on all three places he oversaw for me.

“Bull, they’re all different and all doing well. We have good people in place to run them and that’s the key. Ted stopped by and had dinner yesterday. When he saw how many staff were used to manage the service of meals and how complex the service was, he was happy to stay where he was. He didn’t understand that it was a different process and a different kind of dining. He could train to run to this place and get there but he isn’t there yet.”

Eddie asked, “How are they doing financially?”

Gary looked at me and I nodded. He said, “The yacht club is printing money. Selling memberships more than covered any costs in the build out. The monthly dues cover all the costs of the staff and maintenance. I think after food and liquor costs it profits about fifty grand a month. It may be a little bit more in the summer.

“Hemingways has done well. The menu has the restaurant filled most nights from the local families and businesses. The bar could do a little better but it creeps up a percent or two each month in profit. The build out took some capital but it should be paid off in another month or two. After that, the profit after cost should be about the same. To be split among the owners.

“Rockefellers is a different kind of beast. The cost of the build out here was about the same as at Hemingways because the building was already in place. Most of it was minor repairs and new equipment. The cost of a meal here is much higher, we should do a good business in wine and liquor sales. Business dinners make the average bill per person go much higher The cost of staff here will also be much higher. Even with most of the servers making their money in tips, the kitchen is bigger and staffed to run smoothly.” He paused and said, “Looking at reservations we should profit between a hundred and two-fifty a month here. it’s way too early to know what bookings will look like in six months.”

Eddie looked at me. “You could be making some cash.”

“I have an entire building rented out under my apartment and condos over at the yacht club. The building I own over by Penn station has two companies that each want fifteen floors and the building only has twenty-eight floors. What isn’t the lobby on the first floor has just leased to a 7-11 and the other retail space is signing a lease with a bakery and coffee shop. These will do for me as much if not more than the restaurants.”