Exactly what is it you sell?

There is a food trend making the news in Denver right now that isn't about food, its about selling food from trucks. Here is a blog post from Westword about it and there are a ton more. I've only eaten at two of them, Biker Jim's, and Pinche Tacos. Biker Jim, with several years under his belt, is one of the veterans and, I might add, is going to open a restaurant just two doors down in this same building sometime this fall. Pinche Tacos is relatively new, opening this spring with trailers around town. It was started by Kevin Morrison, a Denver restaurant veteran, one of the founders of The Spicy Pickle, and a former employer of mine. Both Jim and Kevin serve excellent food. Both have great, simple menus. What are they selling? Food. Experience. Service. Quality. They also sell something that I strive for and that is Clarity. I think one of the most common mistakes made in this business is failure to provide clarity: failure to deliver what is promised, failure to tell the right story, failure to be an advocate of the customer. There are restaurants that have done well on quality alone, experience alone, but none can survive without Clarity.

A restaurant just up the street from us closed its doors last month, just shy of 6 months in business. What did they sell? Well, I had only been in there two times and never really studied the menu, but I can't tell you what their specialty was. They had some of this and some of that, but I think clarity would have helped them immensely. We are always in the mode of trying new things, and one of the things I strive for is clarity. Does this flavor help tell my story? Does this sandwich make sense with the rest of the menu or does it get in the way? An extreme example of clarity would be McDonalds. You know exactly what you are getting when you order there. You've had it a million times and know what to expect. They are excellent at selling clarity.

I recently switched credit card processing companies, and have been very unhappy with the new one. Why did I switch? A promise of savings on the fees I pay to accept credit cards. Why am I unhappy? Lack of clarity. Many "rules" weren't explained, no phone numbers were given for assistance, and my questions go unanswered for days at a time. I no longer know what to expect, I don't know where to turn, and I'm unhappy with what I'm getting. I feel like they aren't on my side. Clarity is what I'm seeking and not getting. So be in the business of selling clarity. It cannot hurt.

Breakfast Got Better

Subject: Breakfast Got Better


Baking Genius Gingerbread cookies, wintery treats, and fruitcake that's a little slice of heaven. All of these are available for the holidays in our pastry case. We'll special order any of our breads and goodies for you, along with our heavenly Challah and newest, bialys!

You should know Hi*Rise delivers! Free! Whether you just want lunch brought in, or if your office has Bagel Friday every week, we can help you out. We also have pastry trays for morning meetings, as well as sandwich trays and box lunches for larger meetings. Call us at 303.296.3656 and get Hi*Rise when and where you need it!

Keep up with us! On Twitter we are @Hi_Rise. On Facebook search for Hi*Rise and look for our logo so you can become a fan!

Breakfast got better Our new release this month is a set of fantastic breakfast sandwiches! Bigger, better, and full of flavor, we're sure you will like them as much as we do.

-Breakfast Panini We went back to the drawing board and created a new focaccia we're really excited about! Moist, tender, and flavorful, it goes with just about everything. For our new breakfast panini, we load it up with sausage and a fresh cooked egg, then spread some Spinach and Artichoke Cream Cheese and grill! Delightful! Or, go with tomatoes and Jalapeno Cream Cheese for a lively kick of a sandwich.

-Stuffed Cinnamon Toast Question - how do you make something sweet but not too sweet, gooey but not too gooey, creamy but, well, you see what we were up against. That's what we created with our new Stuffed Cinnamon Toast. Warm and buttery, cinnamon toast is essential comfort food. It may be the first thing you learned to make yourself. We start with our softest focaccia, grill it just right, then add your choice of Strawberry Cream Cheese, Sweet Ricotta, or Honey Walnut Cream Cheese. A little butter, a little cinnamon sugar, and just like that, an old favorite becomes a new favorite.

Our latest lunchtime offerings, the Chicken Pesto Panini, the Cuban, and the 5 Spice Beef Panini, have become favorites for many, and still just $6.50 each!



Thanks for supporting your neighborhood bakery! Doug and the Hi*Rise team



Hi*Rise Handcrafted Bread 2162 Larimer Denver CO 80021

All Angles

How good is good enough? When do you stop fighting and just go with it? When do you toss the whole thing out and start from scratch? Came close, but not yet.

Talking about bread, and the realization that we've modified every formula we have in the past few months. Clearly better products are the result. I have to start with a note of thanks to Chad White, the Certified Master Baker at Udi's. Chad came into Hi*Rise on business when we first opened, and he's been a good friend and invaluable resource ever since. This is a man so into baking he can critique both recipe and technique by looking at a slice of bread, let alone tasting, smelling, or touching it. I describe talking to Chad about bread being like trying to drink from a fire hose. So my thanks to Chad for the many conversations we've had about bread.

Instead of a litany of changes, here are a few highlights.

Baguette - discovered that in our attempts to "age" the dough for a sourdough-like flavor, we were letting the yeast create acids that were making the crust too hard. Solution - fresh starter, shorter fermentation.

Pugliese - This bread has gone from the bottom rung to the top with the simple realization that it wants to be ciabatta. More hydration, a light touch, and plenty of time to rise have made this bread more popular than ever!

Buttermilk biscuit - somewhere along the way the original formula for this biscuit get adjusted to the point of being unrecognizable. We went back to the first version and got exactly what we wanted - a light, rich biscuit that melts in your mouth!

9 Grain - our most popular bread was having growing pains. Undesirable flavors and textures were creeping in even though we hadn't changed the formula. What to do? Again, it came down to timing. How long to soak the 9 Grains? Just long enough and not a moment more.

Upshot - keep it simple. The dough will tell you what it needs, just gotta have the right ears to hear.

This is the latest email sent out to our mailing list. Thought I would share it here:

Hi from Hi*Rise
We Love to Talk In addition to this long form update, we throw out a few specials and Tweet almost daily on Twitter.com. Sign up to follow us @Hi_Rise. We're also on Facebook. Just do a search for Hi Rise and look for our logo.
A Belated Congratulations to our Lead Baker, Sammy Marquez, for winning Best Overall in the cupcake contest at A Taste of Colorado! You can get the best cupcake in Colorado almost every day (almost - if we haven't sold out), and it really is a treat. Chocolate cake and rich chocolate icing! Congrats again to Sammy for beating out nine other Colorado bakeries and cupcake shops!

New Flavors We've been serving our version of the classic Cuban sandwich for a few weeks now, and it is a definite hit! Smoked ham, roast pork loin, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard and dill pickles, all pressed together and served hot on crusty bread. No wonder its a classic!

Starting this week we have a new Pesto Chicken Panini, featuring tender chicken breast, house made basil pesto, smokey roasted tomatoes, and Provolone cheese served hot on our Italian pugliese bread, a tender white bread similar to ciabatta. This one is all about big flavors, and nothing but smiles from the lucky ones to have sampled it for us!

We're happy to debut our new 5 Spice Beef Panini, which our crew already refers to as the Pho-nini. Served on our soft focaccia, this sandwich starts with a sesame flavored mayonnaise, thin sliced roast beef, scallion, and dash of Chinese 5 Spice seasoning. If you've had Pho, you'll recognize the flavor immediately! We grill the sandwich panini-style, then finish it with fresh arugula and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.


Catering /Free Delivery many of you have already taken advantage of Hi*Rise delivery. It's free with a minimum order ($25) and available pretty much anywhere in or close to Downtown Denver. In a bind for breakfast? We can bring bagels, pastry trays, even coffee and OJ to make the morning sing!


Next Up Exciting new breakfast items are on the horizon, plus special holiday items you'll want to pre-order for your feasts!

Thanks for reading and we'll see you in the shop soon!
Thanks for supporting your neighborhood bakery! Doug and the Hi*Rise team

Really. 3 months. Impressive. Promise I'll be better.

The "WhatsHerName" contest got a good amount of interest from our customers. Over 30 entries were received in the shop and by email. A few names were received multiple times. "Lola" was entered 3 times. A name we like, but also the name of another restaurant. "Heidi" got a couple of entries, specifically "Hi Rise Heidi". One "Hi Rise Hanna", two "Hi!Lary" (Hillary), a "Latte Lana". Some others in no specific order:

Javina Schmearma (fun!)

Naan Lavash (bread joke - look it up)

Lenore

Rexene

Persephone

Neandertall

Cup-a-Jo Anne

Stella

Our patio is in place and getting good use. It's in a fantastic shady spot along the Larimer side of our building, and with umbrellas in place its an oasis all day long.

Ch ch ch ch changes

All (minor) hitches aside, we've been open for 12 days and we're on the right track. Thank goodness for our crew of bright, friendly, and interesting people. Their many hands make light the work and I am thankful for them. In off moments the conversations run from food to family to food to who has tickets to the upcoming Phish shows and back to food. Always food. It's the one interest we all have in common and so many experiences and so many stories are always interesting.

Rule #1 - pay attention to your customers

We've gotten feedback on topics from coffee cups to wifi to wall coverings. There is no universal theme, no cosmic path revealed, which is both comforting and frustrating. Comforting that we don't have blinders on to a glaring omission. Frustrating that, as with most businesses, we need to continue forward step by step, finding our way amid the landmines. Feedback is the key here, both in what is said and what is not said by our customers. It's fairly obvious when a menu item is popular. But why is it? And what is it that makes another menu item unpopular? Ah, the mystery continues...

Couldn't post without adding some photos. Fancy interior shots coming next time.

Seriously Open

3:48AM Just shy of 2 hours before we open for the first time. An hour ago I parked in my now regular spot (thanks landlord) and started the block to the shop. Realized its my first time here at 3AM. There's a trailer parked next to one of the pawn shops with a neon "OPEN" sign glowing, and painted on the trailer is "Chicken and Waffles". I have no cash and no time. Mental note: leave early tomorrow and bring $. Larimer is quiet except for a few cars several blocks up. Lights are still on in the Whiskey Bar, chairs are up on the tables, and I can see people inside sitting at the bar. They're on the end of one day and I'm on the beginning of the next. Baker is at the door waiting for me. And we're off.