Opening a new restaurant is an adventure with pitfalls and rewards. Andy and Carmen Bailey, the owners of Carmen’s Cooking, shared tales of both with WEMOCO Culinary Arts seniors.
Carmen’s Cooking features Puerto Rican food and unique sandwich creations. The restaurant opened in January and they describe it as “quick serve.” Their philosophy is to focus on the quality of the food and the quality of the experience.
The menu was created by Carmen and is based on her own recipes. Some are her interpretation of traditional Puerto Rican dishes and others are her own creation. As a home cook, she often cooked for large groups as well as family. In response to her delicious food, she was often asked if she would cater events. She gets great satisfaction when people enjoy what she has prepared.
Before taking the step from at-home cooking to serving the public, they did extensive research. Five different restaurant business models were analyzed. Then, a restaurant property became available, and it included all the kitchen equipment. They proceeded to research the surrounding area demographics and found the sales potential to be positive.
Wanting to bring the ultimate flavor experience to customers must be balanced with time and cost considerations. They started designing the menu five months before opening. Carmen said, “We had to make choices. I would prefer to make my own bread. But with the time it takes to make bread, it made more sense to outsource.” They tried eight different breads before finding the right one. The empanadilla dough, however, is made in house. They purchased some and determined their recipe tastes better and costs less to make.
Opening during COVID was a positive for the new business, according to Andy. “We decided if we open during the pandemic and we can create enough demand to cover our expenses, then we can grow in the future. Existing restaurants had to scale down due to the pandemic. We have the opportunity to scale up.”
It was a great learning experience for the students to hear about challenges and mistakes faced by the new restaurateurs. Planning food purchases based on expected demand was initially the most difficult task. In their first week, they overestimated the demand. They ended up purchasing too much meat and having to discard a large quantity. That kind of mistake will never be repeated. According to Andy, “The next time we bought pork, 40 pounds went right into the freezer.”
Carmen’s flexibility and innovative skills also served them when they were asked three times in the first two days “what do you have for vegans?” With some experimenting in the kitchen, Carmen created the shiitake pepper pita. It’s become a very popular item and highlights the versatility of the menu.
Andy and Carmen plan to establish co-op positions for WEMOCO culinary students. They visited in person so they could share their restaurant philosophy and goals. Both stressed how students will be contributing to the new business.
As Carmen is completely self-taught, she mentioned how they are eager to learn from students that have formal culinary training. Andy said, “What you bring to the table is formalized learning. You are learning things we’ve only learned through practice.” He emphasized to the students how fortunate they are to have participated in a culinary arts program at a young age. He referenced the WEMOCO Employability Profile for culinary arts, which details skills that students gain from the program. “Skills developed in your curriculum align with what actually happens in our kitchen.”
“Our goal is for you to come and work in a co-op with us,” Andy shared. “You’ll learn ‘I really love the restaurant environment!’ or ‘I enjoyed it, but it’s not for me.’ Knowing what you do not want to do is valuable too.”