So you want to open a restaurant...........

.............then make sure you get somebody to work for you that knows how to run a kitchen - that is assuming of course that you, like me, had never even been in one......I just give thanks to God above that he granted me the intelligence to know that cooking the product is not enough, you've got to have someone to logistically map out the lunch/dinner rush. Today is the one year anniversary of our hiring of Wiley "Bo" Collier. I (admittedly) had no real idea what I was doing when I decided to open this place up. All I knew was that A: I didnt have much money, B: I knew I my BBQ was good and that I could cook a little, and that C: I was starting a new career as a restaurant owner, of which statistics tell you that you are an absolute dumb-ass for choosing that field of entrepreneurship (89% of all new restaurants go under in 6 months). The thing that is so funny is that the night I hired Bo I was in a bar (the old Radio Cafe) in east Nashville on a friday night at like, 9:30 at night. Being in that place at that time is about as common as me being in Key West in a loin cloth, pump heels with Elvis glasses dancing to Elton John. To make it even more unreal is that 2 of the guys with me (Ball & Lamb) were there also. I mean, if any of you even know us slightly then you know what I'm talking about. Now I'm not by any means taking a shot at east Nashville, I love it! The point I'm making now is that being in a bar at 9:30 at night is rare for me. I'm at a stage in life where I really like a couch, T.V. and a remote control - thats a great feeling. It was just so freakin' random for us to be there! At any rate, the only reason we were there was to support Ward Boone. I had promised him I'd come hear him out. -Hell......I'm not going to go through the whole story again, if you want to read it then just scroll down this blog to 08/09/06 and read it there, but it is really incredible that the first guy I thought about hiring ended up being one of the most reliable, lovable, foxhole bastards I've ever met in my life. Bo was there in the first few months when we'd get there at 8:00 in the morning and leave at 1:30-2:00 at night. For the first 2 months it was just he and I. I could write all night long about stories from the first couple-3 months of the start of this joint. He was there last August when I was building the place out. He was the one that helped me screw, glue, saw, hang, measure, screw-up, nail, paint.........whatever it was he was there long before we opened the doors. When I wanted 76 things on the menu, it was Bo that reeled me in. When I went to pick up "Mrs. Hattie" (the pit) it was Bo who drove with me to get her. We've cussed each other in the rush, only to laugh over a beer at the end of the night. It was Bo that I almost shot outside my house with a .45 ruger one night (loaded, cocked). If I had farted that gun would have gone off. I've got a lot of buddies but there are only a few that I can really say these types of things about. I mean, this is a "Bryan Chandler" type of effort I'm talking about here.........thats saying a lot! The good Lord has really blessed us, there is so much to come and we're by no means out of the woods yet.......but Bo's commitment and work ethic has been like manna from heaven..........and how ever high this BBQ joint/pirate ship takes me in the definition of success, so shall I drag his "dread-neck" ass right up there with me. Thanks Bo-cephus.