We have a skeleton.

We are just over two weeks in and dear Mister Close has a skeleton.  Yippeee.  Coming from two guys that have never built a house or really renovated anything it has been a huge learning curve, but we finally can see it all coming together.  We have another 4 weeks to go and we are there.  We can put on our smart little aprons, fire up the two spanky black coffee machines, start cooking and meet our "adoring" public.  I have been wondering what to blog about to be honest.  No one really wants to read about our frustrations, self doubt and the delays we have encountered (well, not any more).  It is all about Mister Close now – what we have planned and the fact that we are peeing our pants in anticipation (not every day, we are grown men after all). 

It is such a bloody good feeling to know that all those hundreds of elements we have been working on for the last 6 to 12 months are all about to come together.  So now, as it stands on April 14 we are starting to talk to staff, our website has been developed (but not up yet), the menu has been fine tuned and everything is falling into place. 

The level of respect we now have for anyone who builds a business from the ground up is immense.  However the best feeling of all is when you are the throws of planning and talking about the fine details of the business.  I look over to Pete (a guy I have been mates with for 28 years) and think to myself I can't believe we are doing this together.  It is a bit of an out of body experience because not only do I have an overwhelming level of pride that we are still friends, but the fact that we are good business partners is spectacular.  Now let’s get on with it...

We get to build something... how very cool is that?

I had an email from an old work colleague from half way around the world today.  I was sharing my frustrations in the delay of us taking over the property because I have always been someone that has been in control.  "Control Freak"... I hear you scream, not so much as someone that likes to have an over all handle on things.  Through the back and forth emails she said   "I’m so excited for you. You are actually building a business with your own hands- I really want to see it someday" (she lives in Canada).    Then it hit me...  We (Peter and James) are actually building something.  Something that represents everything we want in a cafe, in service, ,in presentation, in the product, food  and brand - From the ground up.  How very cool is that?

For us this is huge.  It's not just taking over someone's business it is building something from the ground up, it is building a company and delivering a vision we have wanted to create for so long now.  Pete took over Arcadia and turned it around into what people enjoy today. Mister Close is different - we have to hit the ground running and just hope that everyone will love what we do.  It hasn't been easy, in fact far from it.  The amount of times you can doubt yourself is ridiculous.  Where is Oprah when you need her?

I am proud of what we are about to build on Tuesday and I know Pete is too.  Kind of weird to put everything you have into something like this and have so much faith in each other.  Simply the most exciting thing in the world - best part is the last 3 weeks have perhaps been the hardest for us because of the delays.  Losing our momentum, going a little stir crazy because we have to put things on hold until we know our open date, but the silver lining is obvious - it will just make our opening so much sweeter.  It has made us want this so much more.  We can't wait to properly meet Mister Close because up until now he has just been a figment of our imagination.  Up until now he has been 1,001 parts in our heads, on spread sheets, on architectural plans, in permits, colour swatches, website designs and cookbooks. 

We thank everyone for their continued support of us  (especially Fi and Ian) and what we are building.  I can't tell you how much we appreciate the love and encouragement from our friends and family.   It has been a huge challenge and we just can't wait for you to meet Mister Close (after Easter).  YAY!

Food Glorious Food

We (Peter and James) had an almost identical upbringing.  We grew up in the eastern suburbs, we both went to the same secondary school, our first job was at Kmart Doncaster (James, sporting goods selling ammunition and guns at 15 and Pete’s was in the garden department – both of which we knew nothing about), we then both left Kmart to wash dishes of all things.  Pete at the Mitcham Hotel and James at Babarinos Doncaster – both while studying.  Then we both scored jobs at Arabesque in Camberwell as waiters.  This little Arabian restaurant commenced our love affair with food and hospitality, but it is the love affair with food we are here today to talk about… (so lets fast forward 20 years)

Pete is the author of this entry - Mister Close will be an open cookbook.  My training in the kitchen and cooking for cafes has spanned over 12 years.  I guess life leads us in all directions and while studying in Sydney in my mid 20’s my love affair with cooking great food that people enjoyed progressed even further.  While I never set out to work an oven and run a café as a career, my heart told me otherwise.  With no formal training in food or even any experience working alongside other trained chefs, I have taught myself to cook the food that I love. Cookbooks have been my best ally in this endeavour and it's through these that I have honed my skills and my palate.

As we have mentioned Mister Close will be about the overall experience, but a HUGE part of that is the food.  I believe that food has to look fantastic (especially in the display counter) and why shouldn’t that extend to lunch in the city?  So that is why I go to great effort every morning making our food display cabinet look so good you want to inhale the whole lot.  Why shouldn’t food scream out to you “pick me pick me”.  I love to give people a difficult decision of what to choose to eat. 

What I love about our lunchtime display cabinet is that every day is open to interpretation. I may have eaten at a mate’s grandmother’s the previous night and try and replicate what I had, or a bargain tray of mango's might come in, begging to accompany some tuna fish cakes as a mango salsa or a huge crew of vegan's might make a booking early in the day (yes we even love vegans) prompting me to eliminate cheese, yoghurt and butter but still satisfy their hungry tummies.

Whatever situation I find myself in, with Mister Close’s food selection we will always be able to adapt. To be really honest, cooking the same food every day bores the hell out of me.  So that is why I work with this ever changing menu.  I like daily challenges, I like customer requests and I like spontaneous inspiration and with our food, I can put all of these into it - everyday!  Mister Close is about good honest food... glorious food.  Six more weeks and counting...

March 1 and we are still waiting...

Ok, so I am going to be completely honest...we are still bloody waiting.  Waiting on our tenancy to be handed over so we can start building Mister Close.  It is a nail-biting time because our grand plan was that we were going to start trading the first week of March.  Sure, we have watched Grand Designs and have had friends and family build homes that never go to the proposed timeline, but that would never happen to us.  SHIT HAPPENS, but it is also completely unforeseen and something out of our control.  So while it is not ideal it is giving us more time to plan, explore different suppliers, talk to many more cafe owners about their experiences and take all the steps we possibly can to make sure we open our doors with the best products and service we possibly can.  Paralysis through Analysis - is certainly a possibility, but we really believe in each other and know that every time we pick something apart it will be even better when we put it back together again.  So long as we don't dissect too many elements of Mister Close.

MMMM so what is new in our incarnation of Mister Close?  Gunmetal coloured coffee machines (a 2 and 3 group thanks very much).  We are working on our own blends of coffee (regular and strong - we want to keep it simple stupid)...  The development of our Sanger, Salad and Sweeety lunch box (shut up! no you shut up!).  Working closely with Creative Order who have taken Fiona's magnificent illustration and are incorporating it into our branding.  Signage, sourcing maps for walls, if I see another chair again I will burst, biodegradable cups, free range chooks, slowly gathering staff - but the best thing about it is that every time Peter and I (James) talk at length about Mister Close we get so damn excited.  We know we are doing the right thing, we know our hearts and passion are in the right spot and we know we are going to offer food, coffee, service and an experience you can't find in this part of Melbourne.  Pretty cool when you take stock of your friendship which is now a business partnership and you realise how much you respect each other.  In some weird way you think to yourself, perhaps this is the reason we met in the first place.  So while we are currently not in a "perfect world situation"- time can be a good thing.  Note to self - don't drink during the day or watch Kerry Ann Kennerly, that's a bad thing.  6 weeks to go (we hope) and counting.

Well Hello Handsome

He is almost ready to go.  The final designs are in and Mister Close is looking very handsome indeed.  While you can't really get an idea of the textures we are using (think rough / rustic wood, clean tiles - we hate dirty ones, concrete floors and ridiculously good looking staff).  The pic will give you an idea of how Mister Close will present himself to people walking by on Swanston Street.  The Black void above the floating ceiling is a high, exposed ceiling that the cafe will sit under.  Mister Close will seat around 65 to 70 people.  There is still quite a lot of fine detail to work out, but all I can say is I can't wait to get stuck into one of our Organic Stuffed Roast Chicken Rolls on Farmers Rye with rocket and home made Mayo, we know - YUM. 

Website coming soon...  can't wait for you all to meet Mister Close in person.  He is getting very excited.

All Boarded up with no place to go....

The transformation slowly begins.  The landlord's works have started to turn what is now an ugly office space into a handsome Mister Close.  I must admit - I have never built anything before except some quite excellent villages made out of lego for very small people, so this whole building process is full on.  Our tenders are due in this Friday and then our side of the build starts next week.  Our super architects Russell & George are a godsend.  Pete and I just saw all the materials that will be used to make Mister Close come alive and we are quite excited.  Mix this with bio-degradeable takeawy packaging, apron designs and material, what mini chopping board will we serve sandwhiches on, what will our website, menus and branding look like and how many cash registers do we need, you can pretty much guess what we have been doing for the last 2 days. 

A big thanks for all the support thrown our way as we get closer (pardon the pun) to Mister Close finally taking form.  The wig shop from out the front of our place is gone and now we have spanky new white boards with a little door in the middle... how very grown up.

Is it all about the coffee?

Can a cafe be as serious about their coffee as they are their food?  Well we are taking all the steps to make sure Mister Close is.  Peter K, our master of food, since taking over Arcadia, Gertrude Street came in contact with a Tasmanian boutique coffee roaster called Clique Coffee.  These guys are so passionate about their coffee is is inspiring.  Just by bringing the word 'coffee' up in coversation can have you sitting there for hours soaking in what Dane ( Head Roaster Guy and co-owner) has to say.  After tasting Clique Coffee's offering it came very apparent that we had no choice - it was fantastic.  Not only are we dedicated to supporting other small businesses, but when you come across a company that is so dedicated to the quality of their product it is a no brainer. 

We are so excited to have Clique Coffee on board and to be able to introduce Melbourne to our house blend and ever changing single origin beans that are selected from all over the world and roasted in Tasmania.  So while we have been preparing our menu for months we have not let the ball drop on our coffee.  We have two machines, 3 grinders and two Baristas on order - now we just need a cafe and hundreds of smiling, satisfied friends of Mister Close.  nom nom nom nom