Chapman Chile Today

What Business Plans May Come

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:23:00 +0000

Hiatus.

We have come to the realization that Fran needs to delegate more of the day-to-day kitchen operations. She has spent the last year chopping onions, stuffing jalapenos and grinding toasted peppers while attempting to hold together a house with four young children. The problem is that even with our loyal customer base, the space we currently occupy just cannot generate the kind of income needed to employ extra help. Our much ballyhooed expansion seems to be on infinite hold as the owner of the building cannot decide if he should stay or go. We thought the return of the beer and wine license to the ghetto convenience store would herald an acceleration of the renovation but this has not been the case.

It is with light-hearted irreverence that we annouce our hiatus from Chapman Chile. That's right; we're taking a break. The simple truth is the Kitchen never made much money and frankly we are tired of subsidizing the endeavor. We know the problem - no seating and short hours. Without money we can not rectify those shortcomings.

Fran and I would like to sincerely thank everyone - even the person who told us buffalo were extinct. This has been an amazing experience. Lessons learned and contacts made will occupy the coming months as we formulate the next step; we are not done. Hopefully we will be back soon with a new space, the money and menu to give this a real go (if you have money let's talk!).

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep what business plans may come?

Call 214-887-8872 to get your chile and chili fix while you still can.

PS - Our sign has been tagged. Evero - I know you are a scrawny good-for-nothing white punk and if I had the inclination I would make you clean my sign and the telephone pole across the street. You are no artist. You make no statement. You are no more original than a 12 year old who thinks it's a riot to toilet paper the house of the head cheerleader. Revel in your generic non-expression you insignificant clone. I cannot begin to fathom the sheer insecurity of one who has to write his name everywhere. Oh! Did I make you spill your Pabst? Sorry! You know it's brewed by Miller right? Keep supporting those Canada-based multi-national corporations.

Love, Randal

Chicken Salad is Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Fran asked that I put a quick post up to say that the chicken salad is back. Hopefully she made enough to last a while but with my luck I'll be fresh out on my shift this Saturday.

$5.99

(yeah I know what the menu says - it lies)

Cowboy Karma and Wings Ahoy

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:34:00 +0000

Last Saturday we had more than one person come in and mention that our chili and stuffed jalapenos were good luck charms. Eaten no doubt in some arcane and complex ritual; I am not certain but had imagined monotonic chants, silver chalices and flowing garments. Some people will do anything for football.

As I rang up a couple of quarts and a six pack of peppers the person across the counter commented: "We brought some of your chili over to a friend's house when the Cowboys played the Saints and they won!"

"Oh, that's nice", I thought to myself. A little while later another person came in and declared that he and his family were going to have stuffed jalapenos for every Cowboy game from now on because they ate them during both wins against Washington and the Eagles. Evidently our chili and peppers contain some sort of magic so potent as to cure a 13 year playoff win draught. I am on board with this notion. I think Jerry Jones himself should enjoy some chili and peppers while surrounded by the astounding opulence that is his solid gold master stateroom in the new stadium. I am sure I would be arrested long before I got close enough to deliver any. If anyone has any ideas email me.

We have been trying to bring back the wings. The BBQ I had been using to smoke them was just an el cheapo Wal-Mart special, not suited to smoking 40 pounds at a time. I was using hardwood lump charcoal and it was a messy ordeal. After buying, and returning, two different electric smokers we still haven't found an answer that suits our space requirements. The units we bought were both defective, something I later learned is not uncommon to this particular brand after I wised up and looked at reviews on the internet. Wings will be back soon, even if I have to fire up the old grill and stand around poking at the charcoal fire in sub-freezing temperatures.

Lastly let's welcome Melissa! Fran met her at Mawker coffee at the Dallas Farmer's Market where she works weekends. Melissa will help out running the Kitchen and is the first new face in what will be more as we work toward the expansion.

Don't forget our expanded hours: Tuesday -> Saturday 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

New! Amazing! Website!

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:41:00 +0000

Be sure and check out our new amazing website. I think the PDF version of the menu may contain some lies (or maybe just half-truths) as I don’t know if Fran plans to continue making the chicken salad in its current incarnation. This definitely sounds like a broken record and I have long since given up asking for any kind of schedule but progress is still being made on the renovation. Hopefully we will have a dining room before I turn 40!

Speaking of seating Fran and I will be playing around with new menu items to feature when we become a bona-fide restaurant. Don’t be surprised if she offers up a free Serrano pepper stuffed with salmon mousse or something.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

Are Bison Extinct?

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Fran (answering phone): "Chapman Chile Kitchen - may I help you?"

Caller: "Yeah, uhh - your burgers... Are they buffalo?"

Fran: "Yes. We use bison in our burgers and chili."

Caller: "Are you sure?"

Fran: "Uh - yes."

Caller: "But they're extinct!"

I think our mystery caller may have been on to something because we have been trying to get an order of bison for over a week now. We are completely out and have no burgers and only mild chile at the Kitchen. This weekend we will be at the Dallas farmer's market as well as the Firewheel Four Seasons Market on Saturday and the Junius Heights Home Tour on Sunday. Fran may close the Kitchen tomorrow (11/04/2009) so she can drive to Fort Worth and see what is going on so call before dropping by. It takes a long time to make our chili and it looks like we will need 4 batches to cover all of our commitments. Getting our order tomorrow will be cutting it close.

In other news, I began a new contract this week. While it will bring much needed financial relief for the family, it leaves Fran and Melinda to take care of all the Kitchen duties. This will most likely mean an amendment to the hours we are open so Fran can pick the kids up from school. We still haven't figured out the whole thing and Fran is nearing the breaking point wondering how she will juggle everything. It could be interesting to see how she snaps; don't worry too much if you walk in to get a burger and find her in the fetal position or talking to imaginary friends.

On a lighter note we are exploring doing more catering. We handled the KNON event which was at least 125 people and have been asked to cater a luncheon for 250. This could be a real financial shot-in-the-arm for the Kitchen and allow us to hire more people, be open longer and move to a more suitable location. Things could get really crazy and Fran may even be able to take a day off; but just one. We wouldn't want her getting soft or anything.

Halloween Chili Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Over the past 13 or so years it has become tradition around the Chapman house that we make chili for Halloween. Two batches - one super spicy and one mild (ostensibly for the children). I brew a pumpkin ale (this year - pumpkin porter) and make homemade caramel for caramel apples. We invite a whole bunch of friends and their kids. Everyone takes turns walking with the kids to trick-or-treat; drinking pumpkin ale and eating chili all the while. A week or so ago a friend asked about our Halloween plans. Would we have the usual celebration? Would there be beer, caramel apples and ... chili?

Don't get me wrong. I love our chili - I still do "quality control" daily. The latest batch of mild I borrowed a brewing technique called dry hopping - hop oils, like toasted dried chile aromatics, are quite volatile and boiling drives them off. If you want an extra wallop of hop aroma in your beer (yes please) then you soak fresh hops in the beer while it conditions in secondary fermentation. I did something similar with the mild chili; fresh-from-the-oven ancho and cascabel aromatics are preserved, integrated and embedded in every bite. I love our chili. Love it! However - do I serve it for Halloween? I wonder if Ray Kroc served Big Macs on special occasions at his house?

So that is the question - should we continue our tradition or find some new scary spicy Halloweeny type food to serve? What would it be? Durian braised sweetbreads? Habaneros stuffed with ghost chiles? All suggestions welcome.

Start your own chili Halloween tradition! Come on by for 32 ounce containers - if you need larger quantities just give us a call (214-887-8872) and we'll work something out. Also, kids just love stuffed jalapenos in their trick-or-treat goodie bags! If you need chili or jalapenos at the last minute don't forget that Fran is down at the Dallas Farmer's market - even on Sundays! It's kind of like the liquor store being open an extra day - now you don't have to plan ahead for those last minute football parties.

A New Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:38:00 +0000

Since I was a pre-teen I have had an agreement with my mom. She worries incessantly about everything and I attempt to either foster that worry or convince her of impending senility. She used to keep a running grocery list on the refrigerator for weekly shopping trips. I practiced and could soon mimic one word of her handwriting, adding "eggs" to the list each week.

"Why do I have four dozen eggs?"

My mom reads this blog and has appointed herself chief grammar Nazi, combing sentence structures to find tiny mistakes that would make Jack Lynch smile. I guess it is only fitting that the intentional grammar bomb in my last post ("Our son, Graham, and me...") would end up getting propagated throughout the ether. An email with the subject line "Arrrgghh!" appeared in my inbox and I smiled because it was not the content of the post that caused the consternation. Satisfaction was fleeting as I read that this, of all posts, got forwarded to the D Magazine and Dallas Morning News blogs.

We want to thank everyone for the kind words and making the trip to the downtown Dallas farmer's market on Saturday. We had a great weekend and Fran plans on being there each Saturday and Sunday. The kitchen hours will remain the same. Hopefully we can build momentum from last Thursday's low point when we were ready to throw in the towel. I am writing a new business plan centered around finding a larger location; ideally in the same vicinity. We want to make sure anyone who bikes or walks to us now can continue to do so.

Fran says: "Thanks so much for buying peppers and chili this weekend. Continue buying peppers and chili."

The Will To Survive:

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:21:00 +0000

We may not be able to overcome the location, size and hours we are open. Our son, Graham, and me have had flu symptoms all week so I have not been in to help Fran. It seems clear that the owner of the building has no interest in renovation and therefore we will not be able to expand. I need to focus all my efforts on finding a job so we can at least keep our house even if we have to close the kitchen.

Fran had been doing well at the various farmer's markets but the health department effectively shut down Celebration and Green Spot by requiring vendors to have "mechanical refrigeration" (coolers and dry ice not being sufficient).

I apologize if this sounds doom and gloom but it looks like we need some kind of miracle.

First and Last Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Mondays we have to get the kids up and off to school so Sunday is our only sleep-in day. This past Sunday saw us up at dawn and herding the kids out the door to set up camp in fair park for the state fair chili cook-off.

We pulled into gate 11, found a space and unloaded our plethora of equipment. It looked like a pretty good turnout - maybe 30 or so other tents were already set up. I noticed that everyone seemed to know everyone else as I hauled the grill stand, chopping block and coolers out of the 4-Runner. After a brief battle with a borrowed Coleman pump stove we had the bison browning and I began to chop onions. I tossed the onions in the pot and started on the garlic. Another contestant, a cherubic middle-aged lady, made her way over to our canopy and peered in the pot.

"Uh oh! Ya'll are going to be DQ'd!" she said with an easy drawl. We looked at her quizzically. "Disqualified!", she exclaimed. It was around that time that I began to feel a bit uneasy, like showing up shirtless to a job interview. I was the only one with a cutting board and fresh vegetables. Fran and I watched as a few other cooks got out plastic bags with various powders and dumped them in their pots while stirring furiously. We turned back to the cook-off regular who was looking curiously at our stash of Holland habaneros. She had come from a very decorated canopy with many ribbons proudly displayed.

"Well, if we get disqualified, would you taste our chili?" Fran asked. "It looks like you've won a lot of competitions and we'd be glad for the input."

"Oh my!" said the chili veteran, "I don't LIKE chili! I just do this for the fun of it."

Let me take a step back and acknowledge that we should have studied more, we should have read all the rules. We didn't. We were totally blindsided by what has become a strange and insular culture of chili contests all culminating in a grand showdown in Terlingua Texas. Here's the deal; let's assume I paid off all the judges to vote for my chili. I would grease each palm with a genuine five dollar bill and say, "Just look for the sample with the jalapeno chunks!" The powers-that-be of chili contests have become so paranoid of such a scenario that they have systematically turned competition chili into a grand quest to duplicate Wolf Brand.

Anything identifiable is known as a "marker" and surely placed there not for flavor but to alert your carefully bribed judge to give you high marks. Red "gravy" and meat is all that is allowed to be sent to the judging tent. Needless to say, Fran and I were straining our chili into the Styrofoam cup. Our other major faux pas was spice; we added roughly the same amount of habaneros as we would add to our regular spicy chili at the kitchen. "The chili out here is pretty bland", confided another cook-off regular upon tasting our batch and reaching for his beer. At least we weren't disqualified. We didn't place, but we certainly shocked a judge or two. As an aside, I took a keg of homebrew - a basic red ale - which was very well received by the assembled cooks. Everyone was extremely friendly and I can certainly see how these competitions can become addictive; it would be easy enough to formulate a recipe which would please the judges and bring home ribbons - but why?

To quote the Beastie Boys "Sure Shot" -

You think I'll change up my style just to fit in?

Nah.

Football, Peppers and Notoriety!

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:04:00 +0000

We are now selling tamales from The Tamale Company - come on in and get some ready-to-eat doused in our chili or pick up a frozen dozen (or two).

Speaking of coming in - where has everyone been this week? Fran reported that she only did $38.63 in business on Wednesday. Should I blame the economy on the fact that I get to eat leftover stuffed jalapenos on slow days? When you pull up to the Taco Joint and the crowd is spilling out the front door remember we are right down the street on our "grungy" corner of Worth and Carroll. The magnificent ten square foot patio is particularly inviting on these early fall days.

David Lee Roth famously said, "People who say money can't buy love don't know where to go shopping" and we agree. Actually, you may not get love but we have reports of popularity, high fives and grown men reduced to tears when their humble football get-together is blessed with trays and trays of Chapman Chile stuffed jalapenos. This Sunday Dallas plays New York so get your order in as soon as possible - popularity for the mere pittance of one dollar per pepper.

Bison Rustling and Willkommen Christina

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:18:00 +0000

A call came in before the crack of dawn on Wednesday from our alarm company saying the motion detectors had been tripped at Chapman Chile and the police alerted. Someone had cut the power to the building and smashed through our laminated glass front door. Fran and I were wondering what they could have been after since the place barely makes enough money to pay for itself and we would never leave any cash in the register. A friend suggested they may have been bison rustlers - a possibility I suppose since Frontier meats told us we couldn't get any bison until Friday. On the bright side the power was restored before we lost any food.

I think I had the temerity in a prior post to suggest that disasters like this have been happening about once a month. I take it back! It would be nice to have an uneventful fall, although if things remained mundane for too long I would get really nervous that something truly awful was lurking right around the corner. I can picture the Guide headline: "Chapman Chile Kitchen Reduced to Smoking Crater by Mysterious Force from Outer Space!"

This weekend is the confluence of farmer's markets. Fran has bamboozled some good friends of ours into working the Celebration market while she toils at White Rock. If you read this and stop by Celebration, say hello to Christina - or rather say "guten tag." Christina and family are calling Texas home for a couple of years before returning to Germany.

The chicken salad has returned to the menu, so definitely give it a try. Another salad made with couscous, pomegranates and roasted nuts is coming later in the fall.

Wherefore art thou, green chile stew? I must apologize that with all the upheaval I haven't managed to roast any New Mexico peppers. Hopefully I can get that done this week.

Electric Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Sunday was Hannah's 9th birthday party, it was also our KNON event. Hannah's shindig was a pool party in our backyard. We tossed about 50 frozen water balloons into the pool; thankfully no one tried to throw them at each other until they thawed. After shooing everyone home we changed and headed down to the Kitchen to pack up our stuff for KNON.

We arrived about fifteen minutes before five and there was already a sizable crowd. The opening band was on stage and sort of noodling around. Fran was getting tables, warmers and the oven set up as quickly as I could haul them in. The first batch of peppers were in the oven. Chili and wings were in the warmers when the band fell silent. Our equipment had been plugged into the same circuit as the PA system. We unplugged our stuff, the band continued and a mad scramble ensued for extension cords and alternate places to plug in. After what seemed an eternity we were ready to begin serving. I looked up from our table in the back of the room and saw the line for food stretching nearly to the front door. Fran and I began to fumble with food tickets, serving bowls and lukewarm chili. We looked at each other with growing unease as the crowd loomed. That's when Paul stepped in and really saved the day.

Paul Wackym aka "The Baker Man" aka (on KNON's website) "Wackman" was with us to promote his cookies which we sell at the Kitchen. He was, of course, ready and waiting at the Pearl Room venue long before we showed up. Paul has helped in many ways; offering a table for the farmer's market, jumping in and helping us stock our large fridge after we had it moved in and giving us kind words and promotion.

Paul sensed our growing distress and positioned himself at the front of the line and expedited orders, collected tickets and handed out bowls and napkins. We finally got into a rhythm with me cooking peppers and warming chili (our warmers only hold about 10 servings of chili), Fran dishing up and Paul orchestrating everything. It took nearly two hours but we got everyone served and managed not to trip any more circuit breakers.

We got everything back to the kitchen by about 10:30 that night and went home exhausted. On Monday Fran went in and cleaned all the equipment. Today she went in early to make bison burger patties and stuff peppers. I got a call from an extremely stressed-sounding Fran. Evidently the workers gutting our new space had tripped a breaker (sound familiar?) and cut power to our refrigerators. Everything had to be thrown out. I suppose this is part and parcel of running a restaurant - disasters just come with the territory. The worst part is that Fran had to turn away some customers but as usual she had nearly everything back to normal by the afternoon.

Macho Posturing and the Expansion is Underway

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:47:00 +0000

In the mid-90's when Henderson was the "seedy" side of Knox-Henderson a few interesting places were scattered in among the taquerias, supermercados and store fronts to wire your dinero back to Mexico. The more memorable were Louie's, The Barley House and my favorite Yegua Creek brewpub. Fran and I lived a few blocks away on Miller and had been tinkering with various chili recipes of ever increasing Scoville units when we found out Yegua was going to host their first ever chili cook off. We decided to enter a particularly scorching batch - I don't really remember what the recipe was; it doesn't matter anyway because what stands out is what happened at the cook off itself.

We set up a table, lawn chairs, propane burner and pot of chili amongst the other contestants. Everyone was offering samples and I strolled around trying various recipes and noticing the different gimmicks each team used to attract attention to themselves. One in particular consisted of three guys talking about how incredibly spicy their chili was, and even had a glass jar displayed with fresh red peppers. As I strolled up they warned me about the heat level in their chili - saying the secret was the red peppers which one of them had homegrown.

"What kind of peppers are those?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure they were the relatively tame red fresno variety.

"We don't know!", one responded and added: "We put an ENTIRE PEPPER in this batch of chili."

I pulled one of the peppers from the jar and bit off more than half of it in one bite. I slowly chewed it, keeping eye contact with them the entire time. When I had finished the pepper I stood for a minute in their stunned silence. They couldn't believe I had just eaten one of their secret "killer" peppers. "You know who would like this?" I asked, "my WIFE! Hey Fran!" Fran walked over and I gave her one of the peppers which she ate, shrugged and said: "Yes I guess that's spicy." Those poor guys had gone from macho posturing to awestruck incredulity.

OK - enough strolling down memory lane. Fran and I visited the city planning office on Monday about our parking space dilemma and it didn't go so well. Basically they said we needed to have the required amount of parking spaces so as to not put "undue pressure" on the neighborhood. Fran pointed out that an abandoned laundromat with homeless people living in it also puts pressure on the neighborhood. I guess they didn't find that amusing and said we had to find parking space somehow. We decided to try a last ditch attempt and contact DISD about the old Davy Crockett school immediately south of us; when we opened it still had a few employees but is now used for storage. We learned that they will lease parking space; so we mailed off the application and hope to hear something in a few days but the outlook is very positive. Remodelling has begun on the space so maybe this expansion will finally happen.

Come try the latest batch of spicy chili. We lucked into some habaneros from Holland - very aromatic and Fran was quite heavy handed with them. Green chile stew is coming soon - I am working on getting a supply of green chile and I will be roasting them in the parking lot Saturday September 5th. Drop by for a fresh-roasted sample.

New Article and KNON Event

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:26:00 +0000

BlackWhiteRead has a very nice article about us; they reference the fact that authentic Texas chili is hard to find in Dallas. Hopefully we can continue to spread the word; it's easy to forget that we haven't even been open a full year with all the great support.

The KNON event looks like it will be a lot of fun. The venue is "Pearl at Commerce", a cool-looking space with a name which should appeal to the practical-minded as it is located on Commerce street & Pearl. Tickets are only $6.00 in advance and $10.00 at the door. We are selling advance tickets so drop by and pick some up.

On the expansion front, our landlord has pulled the permits and drawn up the plans for the building renovation. We have a slight problem in the number of parking spaces that will be required with our new space. The City of Dallas requires restaurants to supply one parking space per 100 square feet of restaurant area (not just dining area but kitchen and walk-in space as well). So even though we would still be a tiny restaurant we would need 11 parking spaces, which doesn't leave enough for the convenience store and whoever* else would want to lease the other two planned suites. Fran is going to head down to Oak Cliff Monday morning and plead our case so we can work something out. We've been told the city is very pro-development so maybe they will let us use some of the spaces in the all-but-abandoned administration building next door.

*Attention Mom - is it whomever or whoever here?

Markets & Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Last weekend Fran attended the local market held in the parking lot of the White Rock Greenspot. She sold take & bake six packs and 32 oz frozen chili; there was quite a crowd even though it was pretty sweltering by 10:00 am. The Greenspot is right down the street from the kitchen yet somehow I managed to be late and was scrambling around as our first, thankfully patient, customers arrived. Later that afternoon Fran packed up and headed over, I used some of the leftover dry ice to wow the kids and cool down a couple of Full Sail Session lagers.

This is just the beginning, next weekend she will be at Celebration Market on Lovers a few blocks west of Inwood. These little markets are great and foster a real sense of community; take that Austin! Coming August 30th we will provide food for a KNON 89.3 event - details coming soon.

Recipe Tweak and a New Way to Get Chili

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Fran, henceforth known as "Madame Blasphemer", made a change to the ingredient order in the mild chili recipe. This is what happens when I leave her alone to make a batch. I was home doing some "consulting" (yelling at the kids) when she called and asked me to bring her a couple of ingredients. I loaded up the children, bought the requested items and dropped them off at the kitchen. I noticed the large pot already simmering on the stove and was about to say something when Fran blithely dumped in what I had brought.

I stammered, "Hey you can't do it like that!" She gave me a kind, patient, knowing look and said: "Shut up, dear."

That mild batch of chili is wonderful. Anyone who has steered clear of the mild thinking that it is some sort of afterthought compared to the spicy should give it a try. There may not be the intense kick from the habanero and jalapeno however copious amounts of ground dried ancho and cascabel peppers lend a deep chile sensation offset by an almost citrusy cumin flavor.

In addition we have begun packaging the chili in 32 oz containers (you can still get just a bowl if you like). I pointed out to Fran that this conveniently equals 2.6 of our normal 12 oz servings. No one will be left with that nagging feeling of wanting just .6 servings more! At Chapman Chile we understand your fractional chili serving needs.

Tailgating? At Chapman Chile? It's more likely than you think.

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:36:00 +0000

Last Saturday some people came in and ordered a bunch of stuff. A few minutes later I had to go outside and noticed their car was still in the parking lot. They waved to me; it looked like they were standing around eating so I said: "I know it's not much but you are welcome to sit on the patio to eat." I looked a little closer - the tailgate to their SUV was down and I could hear music. Sure enough; they had a cooler, music and were relaxing in the scant shade. Needless to say they politely declined to eat on the patio.

Tailgating.

This has got some gears turning for Fran and I while we await the expansion renovations. Anyone interested in an event? Nothing is finalized but if we were to have some kind of tailgate event what would it be? People could bring coolers of the best adult beverages which go with chili, wings and stuffed jalapenos. It could be some kind of east Dallas bonding session. If anyone has any ideas or interest send an email to mailto:chapmanchile@att.net and let us know.

Hot Hot Heat

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:38:00 +0000

Fran is clean! We all suspected it was true but now she has the official certificate from the health department to prove it.

We had our first inspection last week; Fran figured it was coming since the $300.00 check she paid to the city for the privilege had only cleared days before. We got dinged for not having the lights on in our coolers. Who knew? When you have 3 feet to maneuver between warmers of hot chili and a blazing grill you try to minimize your heat sources. Anyway I guess the city assumes if you do not have well-lit refrigerators then you might accidentally grab the refrigerated rat poison instead of the hamburger buns. Oh, I'm only kidding - we don't refrigerate our hamburger buns.

July has been a hot, slow month for us so far. We did less than $100.00 sales today (7/22/2009) - inside seating is coming we promise! Thanks to our regulars for your continued support.

Expansion

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:38:00 +0000

We talked with our landlord about taking some more space from the vacant spot next to us. We are going to take a third with the idea that since we are bootstrapping this venture ourselves (savings, we hardly knew ye) we don't want to overextend. Renovation is supposed to begin within a week or so with a projected completion date sometime in September.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support and ordering bowls of spicy chili when it's 104 degrees out. We are working on some summer-friendly menu items so stay tuned.

Downsized!

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:57:00 +0000

Anyone need a top-shelf software developer? I suppose the perceived competition from the Kitchen was too much for my regular job (and they claimed they wanted entrepreneurs!). I was informed last Thursday that my position had been "eliminated" - Fran said I should have been cheeky and said something like: "Wow, great. So - what's my new position?"

Thanks so much for the support, I'll be helping Fran out full-time now. I will be sure to lob unsolicited Sql Server and software architecture advice while stuffing peppers or flipping burgers.

Guidelive Article

noreply@blogger.com (Randal) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:56:00 +0000

The response to the article in the Dallas Morning News Guide has been
amazing and overwhelming! We want to thank everyone for their patience
after the series of disasters that led up to it.

The article was to come out on Friday, so of course after the storms on
Wednesday the ceiling in our old building had leaked and water was everywhere.
As Fran went in on Thursday to open up and do prep the power went out. Thankfully
the power came back on a few hours later. Friday came around with a large crowd
only to find that we had no air conditioning! Fran and Melinda worked in a 90+
degree kitchen and spent the day apologizing. Saturday was the "Day of the Take
and Bake" - we cleaned and stuffed an entire 40 pound case of jalapenos (normally
this would have lasted us a week) and sold all of them in one and a half hours. By
2:30 that day we had sold out completely.

This coming week we will be ready! Fran hates telling people we are sold out of
anything especially when so many people make a special trip to our little tiny
sliver of a kitchen. Speaking of tiny kitchens, we have made plans with the landlord
to expand. In a few months we should have tables and (dare we dream)
a Walk-In fridge :-)