We started a new adventure this week. We opened a new Española business — a restaurant Apple Valley Kitchen — to be exact. With all of the excitement and anticipation we felt, we knew many in our community wanted to experience something new, as well, but with novelty, comes uncertainty. And uncertainty breeds envy, doubt and criticism. Do not fear. Do not succumb. For the spoils go not to the victors but to those who unceasingly strive to make a change, even in the face of failure.
“You should open earlier” was the first comment we received, followed shortly thereafter by “I’m glad you have good employees, but you should have kept so and so.” Then came a couple doozies like, “if you really want to be successful and make lots of money, you should serve lamb.” But what if we don’t want to serve lamb? What if we want to respect the former owners of Angelina’s because they did a darned good job serving lamb?
We don’t want to try and compete with them because we can’t. We’re not here to overstep boundaries. We’re just here at the advent of a new year, a new beginning, hoping that the old saying remains true: “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
When I was in high school preparing college essays, my guidance counselor said I should apply to the University of Pennsylvania.
“It’s an Ivy League school, they have a great financial aid package, and most of all, they have one of the highest acceptance rates!! That means you’re more likely to get in,” she told me.
I tore up the application. Even if that was the last school on earth, I wasn’t going to apply even though The University of Pennsylvania is one of the best universities in the world. The mere thought of resigning myself to accepting the status quo merely because it suggested the easiest path remained abhorrent to me then as it does now. The path of greatest resistance leads to unfathomed growth, spectacular experience and resounding fulfillment.
So, bring on the criticism. Bring on the unbridled penumbra that disguises itself as “friendly advice” or business savvy acumen. Your suggestions make us stronger and better and more importantly, bring us to a closer fulfillment of giving our community what it wants, deserves and needs. We love what we do.
Each and every day, the staff at our restaurants and the workers throughout our community wake up before dawn, prepare themselves for the day ahead and proudly work to serve, feed, clean, educate and propel our community forward.
One last critique received was from a customer upset that we didn’t have a few items on the menu. To be sure, we had placed a sign on the door asking patrons to be patient. We are in training.
Allow new staff members, many of whom have never worked in a restaurant, and us, to work out the kinks. One customer said, “You shouldn’t open a restaurant if you don’t know what you’re doing.” Fair enough. But where is the room to screw it all up? Where is the chance to get our folks to learn what it takes to get that “umph” required to handle new things and become better?
I make mistakes on the daily. But if I dwelled solely on the mishaps, the wrongs, the burnt potatoes, the employees I failed or the loved ones I let down, I would never get to serve the next plate of huevos rancheros. I’d never get to see the smile on the next new employee or the ones who have worked hard and had our back for over 24 years. Life doesn’t stop for mistakes. It stops when you’re tired of making them.
Go forth. Make mistakes. Face the darkness of pre-dawn with the hope that light comes around the corner. Screw it all up. Get dirty and shoot for the stars. Let it be known that many years later when I applied to business school, The University of Pennsylvania rejected me. Take that!
Javier Sanchez and Phillip Maestas also own and operate La Cocina. Sanchez is the former mayor of Española and a twice-monthly columnist for the Rio Grande Sun.