For the past year and a half, our family has been working on a new project. This project is completely different from our 30 years of experience in the publishing industry and 40+ years of concurrent experience in photography.
Rather the project is a dream that my son Paul and daughter-in-law Jessica have to operate a business that they’ve coined “a new American tavern”. For us older folks, we see it as a fancy bar. Others might think of it as a trendy gastropub. But whatever term you choose, the goal is for customers to see it as an eating and drinking spot serving health-conscience dishes using locally grown foods.
The project begins early in 2007 when we start scouting out locations for the business. Daughter Rachel, being involved in the local real estate market, is on the lookout for potential buildings. We have already decided that this is to be a neighborhood place to which patrons can walk. This criteria helps to narrow the search to our city’s central core and so over a period of three months we look at several buildings in the heart of Grand Rapids. Rachel finally negotiates the sale of a century-old building in an older area of the city that appears poised for renovation and rejuvenation and the sale is completed in August 2007.
(more…)
