The Food Truck - 8. Chapter 8

As the year progressed, Paul graduated and would now head to college at the end of July. This meant another new hire as Paul was gong to attend a college close to where his mother lived. Jim needed time to hire and train before Paul left. The solution came from his old culinary teacher. He had a student who would be graduating but as the case was similar to Jim’s, he wouldn’t be going to college.

Jim went to interview the individual and to say hello to Mr. Dubois, his culinary arts teacher.

Arriving at the school, he was met at the door by Mrs. Lawson. “I see Mr. Dubois has talked to you. Paul told me you would be looking for his replacement.”

“Yes, Mr. Dubois called and I came to interview his student.”

“I think you’ll be surprised.”

Now I wondered what she meant by that comment. I tried to think who was in that class that he would consider recommending. I couldn’t come up with a name. There were only two girls in that class and they graduated with me. Walking into Mr. Dubois’s office, I saw his son sitting there. I remembered him.

“Jim, it’s good to see you, you remember Andre?”

“Yes, how are you Andre? Did you graduated this year?”

“Yes, Dad and I were talking about school or work.”

“Jim, Andre will graduate but his grades aren’t high enough for a scholarship. On a teacher’s salary, I can’t afford to pay. I know Paul is leaving you this fall, I wonder if you could take on Andre. He could sign up for on line college course while he works with you. Paul was able to do it, so I thought maybe Andre could do it as well.”

I looked at Andre and I swear his eyes were pleading for me to say yes. “I have two boys now who are taking their GED’s, so they’ll probably join you with your on-line college program. Would you stay with me or stay at home?”

Andre looked at his dad. “Do you have room for Andre?”

“He can stay in Paul’s room after he leaves. Why don’t you try us for a couple of weeks, if you like it and decide to continue working with me, then you can decide if you want to stay home or stay at the Park? You should bring your dad with you, he needs to see what his teaching has created.” I smiled as I said that.

“His finals will be over in two weeks. Is that alright?”

“Sure, give me a call and I’ll make arrangements to pick you up. In the mean time, you'll need a health certificate to work with food.”

On the way out Mrs. Lawson caught me, “Surprised?”

“Happily so, now if he’ll agree to my terms and obtains his health certificate he’ll be Paul’s replacement. Paul is schedule to leave end of July, if Andre starts in a couple of weeks, Paul may leave earlier to spend more time with his mother before school starts.”

That evening Jim told the boys about Andre. True to word, Paul asked if he could leave earlier. “It all depends on how fast Andre learns the job.”

By the look in Paul’s eyes, I knew that Andre would know the job in a week. Donnie smiled, he also knew. Looking at the boys, I realized the time may come when I’ll be replacing all of them. Not a pleasant thought.

Andre had two weeks to go before he could join the boys full-time. The weekend between those two weeks, the boys and I took him shopping with us. Donnie took him under his wing, so to speak, showing him where the items we’d be purchasing were located. He told Andre that next weekend he could take a more active role in our shopping adventure. No one was looking more for Andre to start working than Paul. He knew that within two weeks he’d be with his mother. He was very anxious to see her again.

It didn't take long for Andre to fit in, thanks to Paul and his crash courses. When it was time for Paul to leave, we had a going away party. The boys pitched in and bought him a laptop that he could use for taking notes and doing his reports when he’s at his university. Paul was quite pleased with his gifts. Dad and I gave him a check to cover his extra curricular costs during his first year at the university. I told Paul, if he wants to work during his summer break, let me know, he’ll always have a job with us.

Andre started working with us on the first Monday following his graduation. When Paul left, I offered him the option of living at home or staying in Paul's old room. “I’ll think about it but I need to talk with my parents. I’m sure my mom and dad would like to visit before making any comment.”

“I’m surprised that your dad hasn't already check out our operations. I know he’ll be pleased at what he sees.”

Our new kitchen proved to be a wise decision. As my baker began to offer meals, the availability of his ovens decreased significantly. In a discussion with the boys, we decided that we’d buy a bread mixer and make are own bread. Denny suggested that we make our own pies and cakes as well. That would mean that we’d need to work longer hours to ensure that we had fresh bread in the morning.

The first two weeks of implementing Denny’s suggestions where not very efficient, we still had to rely on our baker for that period of time. I think what push us over the cliff was the price hike on bread, pies and cakes. We no longer had a discount due to volume.

I needed one more piece of equipment, a dishwasher. I asked Denny to check the Internet for commercial dishwashers. He found one for a small diner that I thought would be ideal. Again another call to Dominic to provide water service and drainage for the dishwasher.

Within a month we were in full production, food truck bread, food truck pies and food truck cakes. We decided that we needed another room for workout equipment as all of us were finding our pants getting a little tight. When I told mom and dad they laughed. Although the boys stayed at the Park, I still stayed at home. Andre decided that he would stay with the boys doing the week and at his home on the weekends.

The 4th of July holiday, we had no catering so we decided that we would all celebrate together at my home. I told Andre to invite his family and he could show his dad how well he barbecued. This caused all the boys to laugh. Dennis sent a letter to Paul with photos telling him about our celebration. Paul called and said if he had known, he would’ve came.

Our catering business was not only limited to holidays. Customers ask us to cater birthdays and anniversaries. We also were asked to not only provide the food but also the service. Our problem concerned operating a bar at these events, none of us were twenty-one. Andre came to the rescue. He had a cousin who was twenty-five and worked as a waiter at the Country Club. I asked Andre to have his cousin to come to the food truck so we could discuss the possibility of him being a bartender at our catered events.

One day each month, I’d sit down with Dad and discuss my business. We’d look at the financial statements in preparation for filing corporate taxes. Dad offered that I could use his accountant to file the necessary paperwork. When I started the business, I didn't realize the amount of records I’d have to keep. I was glad that I had Dad as my advisor.

Business was doing well, I continued to pay the boys three fifty per hour. But at the end of the month, I’d give a bonus based on the sales for the previous month. This gave me sufficient time to do the books for the current month. The boys were happy with this arrangement.

At one of our meetings Denny brought up the idea that I pay them on a monthly basis based on an average work day. I spoke to Dad and he felt that any agreement that the boys came up with which would make the bookkeeping easier, I should considered it. I looked over the books and I decided that it would reduce the accounting load considerably. I spoke to dad’s accountant and he thought for my business it made sense as long as the boys agreed.

So starting the first of September, I put the new pay system in effect. It was a little difficult for the first month. To help them out, I gave them one-fourth of the bonus from the previous month. I told them that I’d adjust their bonuses each month until they became accustomed to a once a month payroll. It took two months for the boys to adjust to the new payroll system.

For Halloween, we offered pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pies and pumpkin soup. The boys thought it was funny, but they enjoyed carving out the pumpkin that sat in our window. They had to take pictures to send to Paul. Celebrating Halloween just reminded us Thanksgiving was right around corner. At the end of the first week in November, we began to get orders for Thanksgiving dinners. This year we had a competitor, our baker friend.

The week before Thanksgiving, we booked twenty dinners including Mom and Dad’s. I expected less with the baker being our competitor. With the new kitchen, we were able to prepare pies and cakes prior to baking the turkeys. This year we included a small relish tray as an extra incentive. We knew we were offering a better deal as compared to several supermarkets. The boys thought the relish trays would be the extra to compensate for the baker entering into the holiday catering business.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, the boys begin to prepare the relish trays. We had found at Restaurant Supply a perfect paper boat for the relish tray. As we finished the trays, we wrapped them in wax paper and placed them in the cold box.

On Tuesday, we bought twenty turkeys and prepared them to be stuffed on Wednesday. I found the inclusion of the cold box on the new freezer was a wise decision.

Wednesday was a busy day. As soon as breakfast was served I sent Donnie and Denny to start preparing the vegetables for Thursday. I showed Andre how to make the sandwiches and to pack them in the paper bags attaching the marked menus to the bags. The orders were placed in the electric jitney along with an urn of coffee. I called Donnie and Denny to come and help with lunch. Denny drove the jitney while Donnie and Andre helped with lunch crowd. When Denny came back I asked him to continue the prep work. I told him Donnie and André would be back to help as soon as we cleaned up the truck.

I didn't expect many for supper. I made several meatloafs I could heat on the grill along with a salad and mashed potatoes. I was surprised at the number men who showed up for supper. I had to call the boys back to help. The window closed, we did a quick cleanup, then the boys and I went back to our kitchen to finish the prep for tomorrow's deliveries.

That evening when I went home, Mom asked me if I’d need her help. “The boys have done a good job in getting the food prepped. If you have the time I could use your help in packing the boxes for delivery.”

“How many orders do you have this year?”

“Including ours, we have twenty.”

“I would’ve thought with the baker offering a catered meal as well, you would’ve had significantly less.”

“I thought so also, but this is what we had last year. This year as an extra bonus for our customers I added a relish tray. I didn't increase my price but next year I might have to as I noticed some of the food we bought this year was slightly higher.”

The next morning I arrived early at the truck, Mom said she would come over after breakfast. I started cooking breakfast at six and I turned the ovens on to allow them to reach the roasting temperature for the turkeys. About six thirty the boys struggled into the food truck for their breakfast. “Take your plates to the kitchen. When you’re done eating, we can start cooking the food for delivery this afternoon.”

Just as I was about to leave the food truck I heard I'm knock on the door. There were the two security guards asking if they could have a breakfast. So I quickly made two more breakfasts for them. They told me this was their first time getting food from the food truck. “We knew that you were selling food. But didn't realize how good it was until we kept hearing the workers talking about it. Guards on the other shift never mentioned it, so it was a surprise when we saw some of the men eating what looked like a home cooked dinners. Andy ask them where they got the food and they simply said food truck. We checked last night but you were already closed.” I didn't charged for the breakfast, I knew they would be back.

Walking into the kitchen, the boys were well into preparing the vegetables. Andre was making small bean casseroles, Denny was peeling potatoes, Donnie was making the stuffing. As I looked over my crew I smiled.

About ten o’clock, Mom showed up and was quite surprised when she saw the kitchen. I didn't realize this was the first time she had seen it. I handed her an apron and a set of gloves, I did not need to tell her what to do, she knew and pitched right in.

We took a quick lunch break and then we started to pack the boxes. Donnie and Denny had done this before, it didn't take long for Andre to catch on and join right in.

Dennis tag each box with the name, address and reheat instructions. We packed the car, rather than make two deliveries, we packed mom’s car as well. By two thirty all of the boxes were delivered, with the last box being delivered at mom and dads. Donnie and Denny helped Mom set the table, I reheated food. Dad opened a bottle of wine, the boys and I brought the food to the table.

“Where’s Andre?”

“He’s having dinner with his family. I did give him a couple of pies.”

Mom and dad complemented the boys on doing a great job. I smile thinking these two boys were not appreciated by their families only to be appreciated by my family and me. Dad offered a toast to the food truck crew, I smile as did the boys.