Did you ever get an idea? You know, a really good idea. One that deserves to be brought to life. Not the, pretty good idea that would do just as well to fester in your mind for a while and eventually rot away and be disposed of into the good idea compost. I mean the kind of idea where all you need to do is come up with a plan of action and then pull the trigger on the whole thing. Get that ball rolling and the natural forces take over. You wonder back to that dream state for a moment and think...Inertia alone will bring your fetus of an idea to it's joyous birth. A can't miss. A sure thing. The mother load!
Let me just back up a minute and say, that for more than a few years now I have had the pleasure to create menus and events to make our customers feel special, happy, even excited to be coming out for the evening. And let me also say, I am the first to admit that we have a format. A format that, even though in constant evolution, is a pretty well confined playpen for us. We know what works and what doesn't. This is the price for such and such courses, beverage package optional, plus tax and gratuity. We just pick a theme or a cuisine and the rest takes care of itself. We get to go all creative on the whole thing. But, at the end of the day, it's a plastic turtle full of sand. I could add that through and through you have all liked what I've done with that sand, and I've enjoyed playing.
Back to the matter at hand... innocently enough a few months ago I had that "Idea". Wouldn't it be fun to throw a party? Like nothing else we have ever done at Andre's. Summer time, a few bands, some good food and a totally casual experience. Pull all the tables outside, kick in some awesome beer and, Ahhhahhhh... The immaculate conception, and we shall call it "Beer, BBQ & Rock-n-Roll". It seemed like a no brainer, perfect, all the little things will take care of themselves idea. A perfect game. A sure thing! So I came up with a plan and put the ball into motion, game on.
So, if you have ever had one of those ideas, you already know... You make a plan, put it into action, and that inertia kicks in. But that inertia is a bit lazy, not quite the be all and end all you thought or hoped for. Inertia doesn't get the job done, so much as it makes it impossible for YOU to not get the job done. After all you were the one who started it. It was YOUR IDEA!
So many times along the way I thought "what have I done, how will I pull this off?"
I won't go into my own self psychoanalization, but I will say that I was riddled with doubt. Coming up with new disaster scenarios, what ifs and potential fire storms everyday.
In the end, we turned away more people than we served. God I hate that. The fire alarm did not go off, a representative from the company was in attendance. The Police and Fire company also kept the peace or more importantly their distance. A lot of the last minute could go wrongs didn't. Well let me tell you, What a fun day! Mike Lawlor said it best " a bunch of real nice people came to partay!" And between the beer, the food and the music, well lets just say we set the house on fire!
I won't say the self doubt was for nothing. We definately made adjustments along the way. The original idea needed to be tweaked to make the whole thing work. But, I did a whole lotta worrying for nothing.
There were two great bands "cousins" and "Mike Lawlor Banned". Four breweries and 16 beers: Ramstein, Flying Fish, and Climax all from the Great State of New Jersey and representing the left coast- the beers of North Coast Brewing Company.
The menu consisted of duck fat popcorn...deviled egg salad...sliders...hot legs...BBQ ribs...bacon ribs...pulled pork sandwiches...cedar planked salmon...grilled wahoo...whole roasted pig...mojo sauce...macaroni and cheese...Brazilian baked beans...grilled vegetables...home made hot sauce...strawberry shortcake and mini chipwhiches!
It took till Wednesday to recover! The big problem to consider now is, do we fine tune the idea, make a brand new box for it and tell it how much we love it. Or, just let it grow, nurture it and let it have a life of its own, see how big she can get...
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