punkin712

I'm in Central NJ, very close to Princeton. I'd be willing to work with someone who is located 20-25 miles away, as long as they are reliable, good at what they do and trustworthy.

No - I originally posted this on the Restaurant Life forum. Someone there suggested that I post in the New Jersey forum as well since there might be people here who have local recommendations. I've had a hard time getting good referrals. In fact, two of the three referrals I've gotten turned out to be junk. Unfortunately, I hired one and got in too deep with him before I figured that out. Accountants seem to be the hardest thing to come by. Lots of them do personal taxes, but not many want to do all the business-related stuff like W-2s, sales tax, payroll, etc. I was concerned about jumping around if a person didn't work out, so I have been making myself crazy trying to find the perfect person. However, it sounds like it's perfectly acceptable to switch if things aren't working out. Thanks for your advice!

I'm totally hooked on the Ultimate Apple Tart from the September/October issue of Cook's Illustrated. This will be my 5th in about 10 days. I'm going to try to shake it up a little and use bananas and brown sugar instead of apples - I'm trying to replicate a Bananas Foster type of thing. I'm going apple picking tomorrow so I'll probably make apple cake tomorrow.

Hi all! I'm a new member to eGullet, but a longtime lurker. I'm planning to open a small bakeshop in NJ in the next few months (my first!) and was hoping to get some advice from my new eGullet friends. For those of you who own foodservice businesses, how did you go about finding professional service providers such as accountants, architects, contractors, insurance, etc? I got a referral for an architect/design firm from a contractor (that I ended up not using) and have been quite disappointed. The whole experience has been very painful and, although the drawings are finished, I feel like it was a constant struggle. In addition, they repeatedly tried to charge me for things that weren't done properly or for things that should have been part of the process - for example, they tried to charge me $150 for a rough set of drawings that they printed out so we could review them and make any necessary changes prior to submitting final versions for contractor bids. Needless to say, there were ALOT of changes that needed to be made, not the least of which was the name of my business and my contact information! In addition, the accountant I had lined up decided to sell his firm and retire. I got a referral for an accountant from the branch manager at our bank, but he seemed a little too "in your face" for my liking. At this point, I'm tempted to just go with him because I don't know where else to look. I know that isn't the right thing to do, but I'm starting to panic. Is there a general pool of names and firms who provide services for food-related businesses? And, what is the best way to determine if it will be a good fit? I'm usually very analytical and tend to research everything as much as possible before making a decision, so this uncertainty is making me a little crazy. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Near Princeton...are you close by? ← Nope - I'm in Nutley near Newark/Montclair. Maybe try asking the question on the NJ section of this forum. ← That's a great idea - I think I'll do that. Thanks!!

Near Princeton...are you close by?

I grew up in Central PA and never heard of marinara on a cheesesteak. The only bastardization of the original I knew about was that most people used Velveeta instead of Cheez Whiz. If you asked for provolone or mozzarella, you were immediately declared insane and forced to relinquish your PSU season football tickets on the spot. Also, never saw one on a kaiser roll - where are these heretics of which you speak? "In the garden" sounds like they are asking if you want lettuce or some other vegetable topping. Not sure why that translates to "hoagie"...

That's exactly what's happening! I actually did a mock-up of the signs I wanted to install (both the facade sign and the projected sign) and reviewed them with the Zoning Official. He thought they were fine, but wouldn't give me a definitive answer about whether they would be approved because they weren't "official drawings from a sign company". ARGH! In fact, the Zoning guy encouraged me to do something a little more elaborate than what I was originally considering and was very excited when I mentioned the projected sign. All the while, of course, saying that he wasn't giving me a yay or nay on anything until he had something official to review. It's so screwy.

My husband and I went to Tre Piani for dinner (on the lower level) several years ago and, although the food was fine, the service was a bit obtrusive. At one point during our meal, a guy pulled up a chair to our table and proceeded to serenade us on the guitar. I didn't know if I was supposed to stop eating and watch him or continue with the meal. When he finished his song, he started chatting with us about where we were from, etc. I still don't know who the guy was - maybe an owner? Anyway, it was a bit unnerving. Also, our waitress was constantly at our table and made strange comments when we finished our food. For example, when she came to pick up our entree plates, she said to me "Boy, you cleaned your plate. You must have been hungry. Or did a bear run through here and steal your food?" Nothing like making the customer feel like a pig! I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I went to a fundraiser there a few months ago (in one of the upstairs rooms). Again, the food was fine, but the passed hors d'oeuvres were a little clunky - picture an enormous chicken skewer and a giant bruschetta with dribbly toppings. Perhaps the service is different upstairs vs. downstairs, but I'll need a few more reviews before I'd venture back.

Hi Stephanie! Thanks for responding. I've actually been following your shop's progress on your blog - I guess that whole "misery loves company" thing really is true! I have a contractor lined up. They have been in business for a loooong time and have done alot of commercial businesses (both food and non-food) in the area. They gave me a very fair price and have been very easy to work with so far. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind once the work gets started. They only asked for a 10% deposit and have provided me with a very detailed schedule for subsequent payments based on work completed. In talking to others who have worked with them, the general consensus is that they only charge for work completed and don't bill in advance like other contractors I spoke to. They have an entire crew of plumbers, electricians, etc. so I won't have to source them myself. And, I live 5 minutes away from where the shop will be located so I can visit the site on a very regular basis to make sure things are happening as they should. I'm very detailed oriented and, for lack of a better explanation, I like things the way I like them. While I appreciate other people's ideas, I don't like it when "experts" try to force something that I don't like. That's part of my issue with the architect. I had a very thorough meeting with them in the beginning of the project, provided them a sample menu, my business plan, etc. to get them off on the right foot. What they came back with was so far from what I described, I ended up doing most of the design myself. And, now that we are getting closer to construction, I feel like I can't get them to focus. Since hiring them, I have found out some pretty icky stuff about some of the people who work there and just can't wait to be done with them. Fortunately, I withheld 10% of the contract fee until permits are issued so they still have some skin in the game. Are you working with any signage companies? I want to install two signs on the facade of our building, one large "marquee" sign and one smaller projected sign over the front door. I met with a sign guy two weeks ago (a referral from the landlord) but I'm not sure if I'm going to use him. The meeting went fine and he seemed to get what I was looking for, but as we were wrapping up he said "I'll do a rough sketch and review it with the Zoning Official just to make sure he likes it before I send anything over to you." Hmmmm...okay...shouldn't the client get the first look? Our town is notoriously strict for things like signage, so I can appreciate that he wanted to avoid any zoning issues, but he's done work here before and should know what will fly and what won't. I have a feeling he and the Zoning Official will design the sign the way they want it and just expect me to approve it (that just happened with another tenant in this center). Not gonna happen! So, I definitely need a plan B for signage. I've been working on getting this business open for about 2 years - from initial planning to now - and while I'm excited to get started, I don't want to make stupid decisions for the sake of getting things done quickly. But, I also don't want to hold things up because of my own craziness. I'd love to hear more about your shop and the progress you are making. How far in advance are you going to begin interviewing potential employees? Thanks again for your post. Hope to hear from you again!

Hi all! I'm a new member to eGullet, but a longtime lurker. I'm planning to open a small bakeshop in NJ in the next few months (my first!) and was hoping to get some advice from my new eGullet friends. For those of you who own foodservice businesses, how did you go about finding professional service providers such as accountants, architects, contractors, insurance, etc? I got a referral for an architect/design firm from a contractor (that I ended up not using) and have been quite disappointed. The whole experience has been very painful and, although the drawings are finished, I feel like it was a constant struggle. In addition, they repeatedly tried to charge me for things that weren't done properly or for things that should have been part of the process - for example, they tried to charge me $150 for a rough set of drawings that they printed out so we could review them and make any necessary changes prior to submitting final versions for contractor bids. Needless to say, there were ALOT of changes that needed to be made, not the least of which was the name of my business and my contact information! In addition, the accountant I had lined up decided to sell his firm and retire. I got a referral for an accountant from the branch manager at our bank, but he seemed a little too "in your face" for my liking. At this point, I'm tempted to just go with him because I don't know where else to look. I know that isn't the right thing to do, but I'm starting to panic. Is there a general pool of names and firms who provide services for food-related businesses? And, what is the best way to determine if it will be a good fit? I'm usually very analytical and tend to research everything as much as possible before making a decision, so this uncertainty is making me a little crazy. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!