We are opening a new restaurant soon – early March hopefully – called Esquina (corner in Spanish). It is located on a prime corner in charming downtown Lawrence, Kansas.  The space is currently being build out, converting it from a drugstore to a hip and energetic Latin American restaurant and bar. Large windows were just installed along the north wall of the building, transforming the space, and they are beautiful.

The planning stages of a new restaurant remind me of being newly pregnant with your first child. Hours are spent thinking of the perfect name, shopping for those adorable outfits, and preparing the room for your precious child. Never mind the sleepless nights (I mean, how can you really know until you’ve had a few weeks of them), dirty diapers, or endless crying. All you can think about is how your baby will probably look just like you and even though you know they say it is just gas, they will give you a secret smile that could only be genuine.

And so it is with a delightful abstractness that we are choosing colors for the awnings, a font for the sign, and a material for the front door (wood or metal?) This is the fun part. But since that is not my first baby, I know what is to come – malfunctioning equipment, lost tickets, and late employees. And like all parents of more than one child, I happily dive in anyway. Where are those color chips anyway?