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Jinnie stepped off the Virgin flight to Montreal, passed through immigration, and headed for the WestJet internal connection to Ottawa. Travel had told Jinnie that Virgin had just launched a new service to Montreal and Toronto, and they could book her Premium knowing she would be automatically upgraded to Upper Class. The connecting flight from Montreal to Ottawa was on Virgin’s Canadian partner WestJet and although they didn’t offer Business Class on the short 40-minute leg, because she would be flying Upper Class she would be in their Premium Class. Jinnie was quite happy to slum it in WestJet Premium with a cup of indifferent coffee and a packet of cookies.
Molly was waiting for Jinnie when she came out of arrivals at Ottawa International Airport and was grinning happily as they greeted each other. Jinnie said “You look happy, I take it things are going well.” “Absolutely,” replied Molly as they made their way to the short-term car park. “Despite the weather, business couldn’t be better. I knew you would be interested so I was busy counting branches this morning, with the 12 franchises we opened in Toronto this week it’s now 69 owned or franchised outlets in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto and 22 independents we supply in Ottawa. We are talking to 3 more businesses in Montreal that represent 5 outlets about becoming franchises and we are building 2 of our own.”
“That’s a pretty rapid expansion rate,” said Jinnie. “I know,” said Molly as they drove out of the multi-storey car park onto the snow-ploughed highway into the city. “But that’s not all, we have 2 more branches under construction here in Ottawa and we have agreements with 15 restaurants to become franchisees in Vancouver when we can get the chicken processing plant sorted out. We are close to an agreement to purchase a plant via what is now Bearcat Chicken Processors.”
As she drove Molly said “It’s a good job you suggested we expand the chicken processing plant, if we hadn’t started straight away we wouldn’t be able to support the current number of outlets, let alone what we have planned. The place is magnificent, sparkling clean, and the new mezzanine is incredible. They started building the final third on the first working day of the year bang on schedule. All the steelwork was on site before we had this heavy snow and as it is all indoors it hasn’t affected the build process. And the plan to ship chicken pieces to Toronto and Montreal and store them in chilled containers is working wonderfully. It has bought us time to build or buy new processing plants.”
“Excellent,” said Jinnie, “but how about finances? Is your cash flow sufficient to support the expansion or are you having to borrow?” “We are doing OK,” replied Molly. “I’ll show you the detailed costings projections when you are in the office tomorrow. But we are not projecting needing to borrow anything. In fact, we are projecting a small end-of-year profit which will go into reserves. It’s really the franchisees buying in that have made the difference.”
***
The following morning it was still snowing lightly and freezing cold, so Jinnie had the hotel’s doorman whistle up a cab to take her the short distance to the Bearcat offices. She hurried across the pavement from the cab and into the building’s shared warm reception and told the receptionist that she had an appointment with Molly Baker, the Bearcat Foods FD. The receptionist used her computer to find Molly’s internal phone and a young girl arrived to escort Jinnie to the Bearcat offices. To get through the entrance turnstile Jinnie had to use the visitor pass she had been issued and was soon seated with Molly enjoying a decent cup of coffee and looking at the financial predictions spreadsheet Molly had talked about the previous day. Just as Molly had said, it showed a profit of just over CAN$1.2 million at the financial year end. Of course, Jinnie recognised that a spreadsheet is only as good as its inputs and formulae and questioned Molly closely and was eventually happy that, based on current performance and expected events, the predictions were quite robust and Bearcat (Canada) should not need any further cash injection from the parent company this financial year.
Not seeing Jack in the office Jinnie asked if he was expected in and Molly explained he and Brooke were in Vancouver with the Managing Director of Bearcat Chicken Processors and a couple of lawyers completing the purchase of the local chicken processing plant that was the key to their expansion into the city. They were booked on an early afternoon flight and should be back in good time for them to attend the opening night of the Ottawa Continental Restaurant. In the meantime, it had been arranged for Jinnie to visit the work in progress at the Ottawa processing plant.
***
Molly showed her company ID to the gate guard and drove in to the Bearcat Chicken Processors visitor parking. Getting out of Molly’s car, Jinnie couldn’t help but notice how much busier the plant was than on her last visit. There were two huge trucks in the snowy yard that, from the names on the side, were delivering chickens from the slaughterhouses, and another truck was backed up at a bay labelled ‘Goods Inwards’ from a dry provisions supplier. The workers’ car park was busy and there was a load of contractors’ vans in a compound. As they walked to the visitor entrance, Molly pointed out what she called a ‘semi’ coming in the gate and Jinnie saw what she would have called an articulated lorry. It backed up to a ‘Goods Outward’ loading dock and Jinnie watched as a telescopic cover was run out to cover the trailer’s rear door so it could be loaded, protected from the lightly falling snow.
Molly said, “That one of ours.” Jinnie read Bearcat Foods Inc. on the trailer’s side and the tractor unit’s door. “We have had to increase our truck fleet,” continued Molly, “we now have 5 big rigs and 4 light trucks for local deliveries in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. We worked out that it was easier and cheaper to buy extra chilled trailer units for storage in Montreal and Toronto. We use a tractor unit to take a trailer to, say, Montreal and leave it there, hooked up to mains power, to serve the local outlets while the tractor unit brings back an empty trailer to reload. That way we didn’t have to buy fixed chilled units or unload into them.” They signed in and Molly led Jinnie through a door into the warehouse.
Jinnie looked around and said, “Gosh this has changed.” She was in the new production area and everything around her was new and sparkling. There were easy-clean surfaces everywhere, even the suspended ceiling tiles and lights. A man joined them, and Molly introduced him as Nathan, the factory manager, and he and Jinnie shook hands. Jinnie said “My, this place has changed.” Nathan replied “Yes, I’m happy to say we have been able to go to town on Health, Safety and Hygiene at no extra cost as it all had to be ripped out and rebuilt. The city council is delighted and use us as an example of just what is possible.”
They were stood under the new mezzanine, and it was just like any other factory but with a forest of large steel rolled hollow section legs holding the first floor up. There were several production lines, arranged to miss the mezzanine supports. Molly pointed out to Jinnie: boned chicken pieces, boneless chicken fillets, chicken nuggets, wings, chicken burgers, wraps, even fries and corn cobs. Jinnie was especially interested to see a line producing the Aunty JoJo’s spicy batter mix. But there was still space to expand. At the opposite end to where they had entered the building was a floor-to-ceiling semi-transparent polythene sheet wall taped down to keep dust out of the production area.
Molly took Jinnie up to the mezzanine level and this time Jinnie saw a vast open area. Once again the walls and ceiling were wipe-clean surfaces, but the floor was still bare plywood but with rows of floor boxes. Molly explained basic power, data, compressed air and water and drains are all installed under the floor and lighting in the ceiling, then added “The reason the floor isn’t finished is because we are not sure yet where we might need 3-phase power.” Once again there was the sealed polythene wall between the nearly finished area and the mezzanine being built on the other side of the polythene wall.
Molly led Jinnie out into the yard and back into the other side of the semi-transparent wall. This time, as it was a construction site, they had to don hi-viz jackets and hard hats; they also had to sign in. The CDC site manager took them on a tour of the works. The final section of the mezzanine was, to Jinnie’s eye, nearly complete and there appeared to be a single steelwork bay between the existing and the new sections to complete the structure. It was a similar case with the ceiling and wall panels; everywhere was nearly complete. The site manager said they had some first-floor electrical and data cabling work to complete and the old production lines under the mezzanine to be reinstated and in about two weeks they would have a 3-day weekend when production would be shut down and they would work 24 hours a day for those 3 days to link everything up and do a full deep clean and the plant would be handed over. Then he would move on to other projects until needed sometime in the future for the installation of new production lines on the mezzanine floor.
Jinnie asked the site manager how he had found the change to working for Wright Refurbishment. He smiled and replied “It’s all been pretty smooth. We had no experience with mezzanine floors, but they had. They did all the layout drawings for us to go out to tender and then reviewed the quotes and advised on picking the winner. Their job planning has been spot on, telling us what to do and when. Our planning people have never tackled a job like this, and I must admit neither have I. But it has gone like a dream, one of their site managers, Richard, came out for a couple of weeks and my, for a young chap, did he know his stuff.”
“I know Richard and yes, he is probably Belinda’s top site manager, whom she uses on all the big, difficult jobs,” said Jinnie. “She had another manager, Peter, who she loaned to our Barbados company, and he chose to stay there permanently.” The site manager grinned and said, “I think I might choose to work in Barbados, they don’t get snow there and it’s a bit warmer.” “Just a little,” said Jinnie.
***
Jinnie and Brooke met up in the hotel reception and shared a cab to the new Continental Restaurant Ottawa. It was a freezing cold and snowy evening, and a doorman in a thick overcoat, top hat and gloves opened the cab door and led them to the entrance under a large umbrella emblazoned with the Continental logo. Trevor was waiting in the reception area and greeted them both enthusiastically. He told them that despite the bad weather they hadn’t yet had a single cancellation from the guests.
Jinnie and Brooke checked their coats into the cloakroom and, as company directors, joined the receiving line along with Trevor, Liam the newly appointed manager and Belinda who whispered, “I couldn’t get a room at the Maddison Bonvoy, did you?” “Yes,” replied Jinnie, “but I booked two weeks ago.” “So did I,” said Brooke, “but I’ve got one of their gold cards as I’ve been there that often.” “No Brian?” said Jinnie. “No,” replied Belinda, “he’s tied up with the final negotiations for the next Ennios in London.” “Oh,” said Jinnie, “I thought discussions were still in the very early stages.” “They suddenly accepted our offer,” replied Belinda, “I think they realised it was a good offer, and they weren’t going to get our bid up any higher, there is quite a lot of refurbishment needing doing to get it to Ennios standard.”
They were joined by Monica who came in shivering and saying, “This is awful, I’ve never been so cold in my life. Patrica said she refused the invitation because it would be so cold, and I didn’t believe her.” Jinnie chuckled and said, “She is a wise old lady, and I don’t blame her in the slightest. It’s just a pity the opening wasn’t in the summer. It can be glorious here then.” A waiter arrived with a tray full of filled champagne flutes and, after handing glasses out to the reception line, went and stood by the entrance to the dining room ready to hand out glasses to guests once they had checked their coats.
Slowly at first the guests started to arrive, but the numbers soon picked up. There was a mix of those on the guest list and those who had paid for their dinner, who were easily identified by pale blue or pale yellow invitations. Jinnie had nearly finished her second flute of champagne, and her hand ached from shaking hands when Liam had a conversation with the receptionists and said, “We are nearly there, we are eight short of a full house, two of whom are on the top tables, Ryan Gosling and Justin Bieber.”
Liam had just finished talking when the door opened, and Ryan Gosling walked in, closely followed by a group of four yellow ticket holders who were covered in snow and had clearly been waiting for Gosling. When Jinnie was introduced to him as a Continental director and the COO of the ultimate owners, the TT SuperBurger Group, he asked, “Is the TT, Trattoria Trevi?” “Yes,” replied Jinnie, “we also own SuperBurger, Artisan Sandwiches, Aunty JoJo’s, Sybaritic Restaurants and Ennios Hotels. And we are currently looking at the mass catering market.” “Gosh,” he said, “I’ve eaten at the Trattoria Trevi in Manchester several times when visiting Wrexham and it is a superb restaurant, probably my favourite.” “Well, I hope you find this chain is as good,” said Jinnie. “Continental is our North American and Caribbean chain and I believe it is of the same standard as Trattoria Trevi. Perhaps you can tell me what you think after the meal.”
Gosling was shown to his table and, to Jinnie’s relief, the final guests were shown in, two girls covered in snow and the final celebrity, Justin Bieber. The directors were each on a table of invited guests, and Jinnie was delighted to find she was on a table for eight with Jack and Molly, Ryan Gosling, a couple who turned out to be the Mayor and Mayoress, and a leading industrialist and his wife whose company was involved in access management software and had been a supplier to the restaurant. Jinnie made small talk with the industrialist on one side and Gosling on the other as the waiters fussed with iced water, napkins, bread and finally menus.
Gosling said, “I’m liking this already, this is top British service.” Jinnie smiled and said, “That is the intention, having visited Ottawa several times most of the restaurants are based on US standards and, as good as they are, I personally think we are better.” The Mayor flinched a little and said, “Personally, I have always found our restaurants excellent.” Gosling asked, “Have you and the lady Mayoress ever been to Britain, France or Italy?” The Mayor said, “No, we haven’t had the pleasure.” Gosling grinned and said, “I think you are in for a treat.” Joe, the industrialist, joined in saying, “My wife and I stayed at the Courtyard Hotel at Gatwick, and it was good but we went for dinner one evening with the client we were visiting at the nearby Trattoria Trevi and it was just the best meal I ever had and the service was unbelievable, I think this could be similar.”
When the menus arrived, Jinnie realised it was a repeat of the opening night menu at the Continental Barbados. The starter was Old Bay Seasoned Crab Cakes or a Vegan Market Tasting Plate of roast peppers, tomatoes, olive tapenade, buffalo mozzarella and butternut frittata. Then came a small Lemon and Lime Sorbet palate cleanser. The main course was Garlic and Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with seasonal vegetables and mini–roast potatoes, Jinnie was happy to see the menu said it came with a choice of English mint sauce or American mint jelly, she adored lamb and mint sauce and hoped this wouldn’t disappoint. However, she knew lamb was considered niche in the US and Canada. Even the vegan choice of Sage and Pumpkin Ravioli looked good.
It was the individual Banana and Dark Rum Crumble served with what the menu said was thick English custard that Jinnie remembered had been the best item on the menu. Finally came a selection of British cheeses and biscuits followed by petit fours and a choice of coffee or tea. Jinnie didn’t say anything, but a passing Trevor whispered in her ear, “Do you recognise the menu?” “Of course,” whispered back Jinnie, “I only hope it is as good as the last time.”
Gosling said, “Gosh this looks good, I adore rack of lamb.” The Mayor said, “I don’t think I have ever eaten it, is it very British?” Before Jinnie could answer, Jack jumped in saying, “Lamb is a fantastic meat, it’s eaten all over the world but for some reason the US and us Canadians don’t eat it often. Despite all the sheep we raise it is not a cheap meat in North America. I have had it several times and I just love it with the mint sauce, I think you will really enjoy it.”
As the orders were taken and the starters appeared almost immediately, everyone soon cleared their plates, which were cleared the instant the last person on the table finished eating. As Gosling sipped his chilled Chardonnay, he said to the Mayor, “Tell me, have you ever had better crab cakes?” The Mayor replied reluctantly, “They were very, very good, but I don’t know where Old Bay is.” Jinnie tried to keep a straight face and answered, “Old Bay is actually the seasoning. It’s very popular in the United States.”
The sorbet was just as refreshing and tangy as Jinnie remembered it. The lamb then arrived very quickly and Jinnie was happy to see the tinge of pink. While the waiters buzzed around the table serving the potatoes and vegetables, Molly said, “Golly this lamb has been cooked perfectly. I now need a dribble of mint sauce, and this will be my ideal meal.” Jinnie replied, “I thought you North Americans went for mint jelly.” Molly answered, “Not this North American, mint jelly doesn’t have the flavour.” Jinnie continued, “I like to make my own mint sauce with fresh mint from my garden. It’s actually very easy.”
The lamb was as good as it looked, and the Lady Mayoress said, “I really can’t understand why that is not more widely available, it was quite delicious, the vegetables were perfectly cooked and the service was faultless, now I am itching to try the crumble as I don’t think I know what it is.” Molly said, “I learnt what it was when I was on holiday in the Caribbean, it’s what you probably know better as a ‘crisp’.” “Now that makes sense,” said the Lady Mayoress, “it has a crumbly crisp topping.”
If the crumble had been a huge success, the English cheese and biscuits had been a spectacular success. It had come round on several trolleys with whole cheeses including a Stilton. Jinnie asked for two scoops of Stilton and slivers of Wensleydale and Cheddar. Jinnie asked for cream crackers and was delighted to also receive some pats of butter, a small bunch of grapes and two sticks of celery. The waiter made his way around the table and Jinnie noted that nearly everyone went with the more usual cheeses, Cheddar (which Jinnie noted was pale yellow cheese, not the orangey American version), and Connage British Gouda, but Jack had some Bath Soft and Ryan followed Jinnie with the Stilton saying, “Now that is what I call a cheeseboard, some cheese with real flavour.” Jinnie accepted a glass of rich ruby port to go with her Stilton and recommended a tawny port to those having Cheddar and that Jack should join her with the rich ruby.
As the coffee was being poured, Ryan said, “That was absolutely fabulous, quite on a par with Trattoria Trevi, I shall definitely be coming back.” Jack chipped in saying, “I couldn’t agree more. It’s just what Ottawa needs, a really high-class restaurant. I’m sorry Mr Mayor but I must disagree with you, there is not a restaurant in the city that comes anywhere near this for food and particularly the service. We had the privilege to dine at the Continental in Barbados and it was the best restaurant I had ever eaten at. Now I reckon this is on a par, it has set a new standard for the city.”
Joe said, “Well, my wife and I would like to thank Dame Jinnie for inviting us this evening, I don’t think we have ever had a better experience at a restaurant. We have eaten at Michelin-starred restaurants all over the world and this is easily their equivalent, and it’s only the opening night, I can only imagine just how good it’s going to be when it has got the wrinkles ironed out. I can only echo Ryan; I shall be back and this will be the place I’ll be bringing my special visiting clients.”
Trevor appeared behind Jinnie and whispered, “I am going to say a few words to the guests in a minute or two, do you want to speak? You don’t have to, it’s only if you want to.” “I would love to,” said Jinnie, “but it will be off the cuff and very short.” “That’s OK,” said Trevor, “if you’d like to join me on the little dais, the microphone is set up.”
Trevor tapped the microphone and said, “Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am the Managing Director of TT Continental Restaurants, and I promise this is not going to be a long boring speech. Thank you for joining us on this opening night. I am sorry about the weather this evening, but I can tell you that it didn’t put a single person off, everyone who was expected turned up. I hope you have enjoyed the evening, and our special menu. Our regular menu will be available when we open tomorrow evening and tonight’s dishes are all included on it, but it is much broader than the narrow one tonight. However, I have to tell you that we are fully booked for the next week, but there are tables still available the week after. Now I would like to pass you over to Dame Jinnie De Luca, who, as the Chief Operating Officer of TT SuperBurger Group, is my boss.”
Jinnie took the microphone and started by saying, “Good evening everyone, in case you don’t know, Continental Restaurants is a company within one of our operating groups, so I guess that does make me Trevor’s ultimate boss, which is why I am here tonight. I am based in England, so I am used to cold weather, but nothing like this, but can you imagine how bad it is for Trevor, who is based in Bridgetown, Barbados.”
When the laughter subsided, Jinnie continued, “In Europe, our restaurant chain is Trattoria Trevi and we are approaching 40 branches, several of which have a Michelin Star. In fact, the original restaurant now has 2 stars, so I think we know what fine dining is. Continental Restaurants are our North American and Caribbean brand. Although this is only the 4th in the chain, I am certain they are of a similar quality to our European chain. The food and service tonight was, in my opinion, nothing short of superb. Several people on the table I had the honour of hosting this evening have already told me they will be returning to eat here at a later date. Now that is what I like to hear, as it is our regular customers that pay my wages.”
Again, Jinnie waited till the room quietened down before saying, “But seriously, I understand that there are quite a few people representing the media standing outside in the cold while you have been in this beautiful restaurant, in the warm, enjoying a fine dinner. It is possible someone may want to do a quick interview as you leave. Please tell them the truth about the food, drink, service and décor. If you honestly hated everything, tell them, we read every review and you might be pointing out something we could put right, equally if you enjoyed every moment, please tell them, we can do with the publicity. It only remains for me to say thank you for coming along tonight, I hope you have enjoyed yourselves. Now please linger for another coffee if you want. The coffee is something I am particularly proud of; we only use Jamaica Blue Mountain at our premium restaurants. It is too expensive for most of the competition. If you think you have found something better somewhere else, please let me know so I can compare it. I will give it an honest try. But I warn you, it is going to have to be extremely good. Now it only remains for me to wish you all a good evening and a safe journey home.”
Jinnie sat down to thunderous applause and Ryan leant over to her saying, “Tell me you had prepared that speech and committed it to memory.” Jinnie smiled and said, “No, it was totally off the cuff, I’m sure you saw Trevor ask me to say something moments before I spoke. Well, that was the first I knew.” Ryan said, “Well I’m impressed. I think I might well be one of those people who gets stopped and interviewed on the way out. Have no fear, I will be giving a rave review, but not until I’ve had another cup of that delicious coffee. I have often thought how good it was when dining at the Trattoria Trevi. First thing tomorrow, I shall be instructing my housekeeper to get some.” “You may not find it easy to get in Canada,” replied Jinnie, “I understand not much is imported.”
Most of the invited guests had long gone and the other directors had drifted over to Jinnie’s table when Jinnie suddenly remembered a thought she had earlier. Turning to Jack and Molly, she said, “Tell me, are you guys doing anything special at Easter? If not, why don’t you fly over to England and spend the holidays with Paolo, the kids and me. We have three spare bedrooms since we had the house extended, so we can easily accommodate you. The twins will love to see you and they can practise their French, would you believe they now have a Parisian accent. We can do the sights of London, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament — I might be able to get you inside, my dad is an MP now — the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels, a trip on a red double-decker bus, a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich and the Cutty Sark, and a trip to the Harry Potter Experience at the studio where most of it was filmed. Paolo’s embassy has a box at Arsenal, so we might get to take in a football match.”
“Oh yes,” continued Jinnie, “don’t forget your swimming stuff, we can use next door’s indoor pool, Nigel won’t mind, in fact he will probably join us. One final thing — we can try some of our restaurants, there’s a Trattoria Trevi close by, there’s a Sybaritic a few miles away, and if we are lucky, we might be able to pop down to Southampton, stay in an Ennios hotel and watch the cruise ships. Please say yes.” Jack and Molly looked at each other, Jack nodded, and Molly said, “We would love to accept. The kids will be super excited when we tell them they are going to Europe.”
In Chapter 12 – Two months later
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