New Years Dinner !!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

We wish you All a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you to All, who made my Dream come true and Everyone who came this last month and tried my food!! Hope to see you All again soon,

With our Best Wishes,

Denisa and Staff

Our Santa is soooo real!

We are so pleased having SANTA with us for Breakfast on Sunday! You still have time to come and see him this coming Sunday the 19th! Come in and enjoy our French Toast a la Denisa and take some pictures with Santa!

Our first Fondue customers!

Peggy and Mark enjoyed the Tomatoe Fondue on our first day of opening up the Swiss Chalet! Olivier and Vonda with her children Stephen and Clair were our first Customers for the Raclette.

Thank you for coming and spreading the Word!!

Breakfast with SANTA !!

We will have Breakfast with SANTA this coming Sunday and the next !! You can take pictures with him at the Fire Place and Christmas Tree in the Chalet room!! So why don't you bring in your little ones or big ones and they will all receive a little gift from Santa....

HO... HO.... HO.....

We will be open for FONDUE Night this Friday!!

It's finally here, we are opening our Swiss Chalet this Friday for Fondue nights and Racletts! Come and enjoy the warmth at out Christmas tree with the Fireplace and have a nice hot Cheese Fondue!!! We are taking Reservations, so don't forget to call ahead at 630-208-1594 !
Hope to see you............

WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!!

It's finally here, we are open for business on the 1st. of December!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope Everyone will come enjoy our FOOD and Atmosphere. I will post my Menu too, soon as I figured out how. lol. That should be a small thing, after ALL what we accomplished!!

So today is the Soft Opening!

What can I say? We are all nervous and I don't know what to expect. Hopefully everything will go smoothly, the Guests will like my food, and that we have enough!!! That's my only concern.

A Soft Opening!

We will be having a Soft Opening on this coming Sunday the 28th of November! If you are able to come, please let us know a.s.a.p. and make Reservations. Phone: 630-208-1594 or 815-210-6603. It sarts at 12:00 until 3:00 pm. At Denisa's Crepes & Fondues, 227 South 3rd Street, Geneva, IL.
I am looking forward seeing you All some Day. LOL. Let us know and

a bien tot,

Denisa

Open Doors on the 1st of December!!

So, it looks we will be opening up on the 1st of December. If everything goes well with all the permits, that is our DATE!!!
Today, we had our Staff Meeting, and it went very well, a big Thanks to Gaby! They all tried my Crepes and they loved it! :)
We are going to have Training the next week on Saturday! I think we will be set by then.

I have to express a big "Thank You" to Larry Rijk, who build my little Dream Chalet/Cabin, exactly the way I imagined. He works Wonders! If you need in future a Contractor, he is the Man to go with "ArchiTechnique". Thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn't have done it without all of you People, that's for sure. Erin and Laura good friends of mine, Shelly (wife of Larry) and their sons, my little Missy, Jason, Shane and especially my Mother. A Thank you to Bruce, Judy (my moral support)and Caitrin, Nathaniel and Mark, for all your helping Hands.

Now I am Ready for a New Journey of my Life.............

Getting there, slowly though...

The Crepe Maker came last night, but now I need the electrician come put the right plug in. And there are sooooooo many little things, what takes for EVER!! I am not sure if we will be open on the 23rd now. I should give myself one more week, to plan things out and get more organized. I want it to be P E R F E C T......... ;)

New Picture!

No Crepe Maker yet! :(

I don't believe it, my Crepe Maker isn't ready yet. I can not start without it, thats my LIVE. lol. They promised though for tomorrow, but I don't believe it until I see it..............
My mother L O V E S the Restaurant!! Who doesn't? So many people are coming by and asking us, if we are open yet and for Jobs too? I have so many people lined up now, and good people, I can't wait to train them all and have them taste my Crepes.
Soon............

Picking up my Investor! lol.

I am picking up my mother from the airport today! Today I had to have my car fixed and can not believe it I wasn't at my Restaurant, at all! That never happened, since I took over. Well, at least they dropped of all the Chalet Chairs and Booths and Larry finished up the Build Out of the whole Chalet. Now the real fun will start, when we can start to decorate and COOK!
Tomorrow they will hook up my Stoves and all the machines and my Crepe Maker should be coming in too!
The boys are doing fine, and I can only thank the Lord for it and SEAT BELTS!!!

Wake up call!

I had a terrible night! My sons got in a car accident and the car was totaled! It wasn't their fault, somebody rammed them and they spun out and hit a huge light post. It was a hit and run. The police is looking for them. When I got to the scene, I didn't believe my eyes, how bad that all looked and they are fine. God was definitively with them or maybe the Guardian Angels!
How I will work today and the coming weeks, is a big question. It shook us up a quiet a bit..........

Getting Closer!!!!!!

Yep, it's looking good. And it is coming sooooo fast!! We hope now to be opening on the 23rd of November if I get all the permits in on time!!! I can't wait seeing you all sitting finally down and enjoy my Crepes. I hope it is going to happen on that DAY.
I forgot the Camera again to take with me! Must be the Stress and Tiredness. I definitively will make pictures tomorrow and post them, or do you want to wait and see on your own??? lol. Go on my "Comments" and let me know....... ;)

one more!

A couple pictures!

How I promised, I am posting a couple pictures! But soon no more peeking.

The Floor is IN !!!!!!!!

Finally, the floor is down. But believe it or not, I was so busy with it, I forgot to make pictures. lol. Maybe tomorrow....
Tomorrow I have to interview at least 12 people for all kind of positions in my Restaurant. I hope I will have the Service, the way I want it for my Clients!!

Thank you Nella for joining, that was a nice surprise. And YES, I think we will make it on the 20est.
I had somebody come take a look at the other room, for the build out! I can imaging I won't have time to do it, down the Road...... I think we will be pretty busy serving my Crepes instead.

Getting Help!

Last night I called for some Help, since I need to get going with other arrangments and plans. I am starting Interviews on Wednesday for some positions. I need to concentrate on some Paperwork and no more building out the Restaurant. We are getting there, very close though. I will make some pictures today and post them tonight.

It's HARD!

OMG, I didn't know it's gonna be soooo hard to build everything out like that!!
I start to doubt, that we will be open in 3 weeks?? ;( I try my best, but the floor takes for every and then all the other things around it!! The Place was so dirty, I am cleaning everything I see to the point, my fingers bleed! I hate a dirty kitchen!!! Not in my Restaurant, it has to be so clean, I can eat on the floor. lol.

Slowly it progresses, people are coming in and out to see it and can't wait until we serve MY FOOD!! Even me, I start to crave it. hahaha.

Thank God it is Saturday, I sooo hoped my Family will help out this long weekend, BUT it looks, they have other Plans.....
What ever, I put myself into this Mess/Stress, even this I will handle by myself, like allways!

Today I tiled !

I went this morning to the Liquor License Law Meeting! It took 21/2 hours, I mean the Meeting. lol. After that I headed out for my Place and started the Tiles around the Sink and finished some of the Wallpaper. I took it easy and went home to cook finally a good Meal for my Familly. Tomorrow I make something fast for dinner in the morning (Chicken Orzo) and then go buy more Flatware and Table clothes etc. AND Finally start with the Floooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!! I can't wait until this is done.
After the Creperie part is done, we have to make the Chalet Room!

What a Mess up!

This week-end was bad! We got the wrong paint from the Store and when we finished Faux painting, it looked like .....!! I was not happy at all, the way it looked. Not at all the way I imagined. Ok, so the whole day was waisted. Now what? We came home at 11pm and I noticed, my bag with all the important papers was missing? OMG, did I forgot it by the car, when we entered the Van? So what I had to do, I had to go all the way back to find my bag (my whole life)! Jason came with, since I was so tired.
Once we got there, the bag was gone. I could pass out!!!!! So I am going back up to the Restaurant and opened the door, and THERE IT WAS!!!! Thank GOD. After all, I had not taken it with me, and I thought somebody took it, including with my Camera. But everything is fine now.
On Saturday, an other friend of mine came and helped me fix up the place. It took us the whole day to figure out what to do with all that!! But finally, it started to look really good.
Yesterday, my son Jason painted the whole kitchen. A big Thanks to him!! That was a lot of HELP. Missy and a really nice girl helped to paint the trim and doors, again, Thank you All for your Help, every little thing counts and is appriciated.
Today I have to do some paperwork and order some more things and then I am heading to do some touch up with paint and soon I can lay the Floor in.
Pictures will fallow..........

an other one!

I don't wanna give away much more though!

some pictures!

Up we go again!

There is sooooo much to do! Today we need to have the Paintjob done and by this weekend the Floor put in!!! OMG, I hope I will get everything done, before the Chairs and all the stuff is coming in???
My friend Laura will help me today the whole day until late night. And tomorrow I have an other friend helping me out, Erin. Thank God for GOOD FRIENDS!! I owe you guys a lot.
We have to do it all by ourself, since it is a startup business and I can not afford the Contractors!! Sorry. Maybe one day if I buy something on my own, after making money with my Restaurant, I will have it build out to perfection! lol.
Yesterday, I did all the prep work. Primed all the walls, and the windows and the doors and the whole kitchen. Phuuuu, I was pretty tired and left earlier than suppose to. I came home at 8pm.
What made my Day yesterday, was, a phonecall to my Restaurant's phone number!! I don't wanna mention any Names, but you know who I am talking about.... Thank you so much for your Wishes!!

Today the Floor was delivered!

Today I hoped to do a little more than I really did! There was such traffic in my Restaurant, the people from the Yellow Pages came, the AT&T Guy came and hooked up my phone lines and Wifi, than a Food distributor came and the Owner and the Appliance Guy and the Floor was delivered and and and! Lol.
But to my surprise, Laura came and helped me with the most important Thing in my Place!!! Our Surprise and theme in my Creperie!! sorry, I can not put any pictures up yet, or I would give it away. ;( Soon though.

Came home late today!

I wanted to post some pictures how we progress in the renovation of our Restaurant! But it's sooooo late now, that I have to do it tomorrow.
Missy and Shane were helping out so hard sanding down the black doors yesterday. Today, Jason had to come to help them out, so at least I could primed the kitchen and two windows. I am very greatful to my kids, since any kind of HELP is welcome!
Tuesday is the Floor beeing delivered and our new Phone lines will be installed. So the new Phone no. will be: 630-208-1594 and 630-208-4811 ! You can do Reservations on these numbers. lol. NOT YET!!!!!!!!!!!!
So watch out for the coming pictures!

Ok, ok, ok!!

I know you are all eager to find out! How is the Place going to look like, what is the Food going to be and WHEN are we going to open the doors? Well, pretty soon! lol. My chairs are coming in next weekend already and I still have to finish the Floor and some matching up to do with my SURPRISE! I will be working Day and Night for the next week, that's for sure. I am posting some picture then and after how it's going to look. Hope you enjoy it!!

Today is the DAY!!!!!!!!

Today is finally the Day everyone is waiting for: We are signing the Lease for the Berry House in Geneva, IL. My Restaurants name will be: Denisa's Crepes and Fondues. We have big plans for the inside, so we will keep you posted until the DOORs are going to OPEN!

Florida is beautiful!

I am here to recharge my batterie before opening my NEW RESTAURANT. Yup, you heard right, it's coming to town "Geneva"!!!!
We all hope to be open before the Christmas Walk on the 3/4th December!! I will keep you posted, so watch for the Grand Opening!

Bye for now.....................

I am getting ready for Florida!!

Getting ready for 60//70 hours of work for the Creperies and for somebody else? Or for my own Place? Guess you will find out next week, when I am in Florida!

Keep looking into my Blog and you will find out......

I wish everyone a nice week and see ya soon.

I will try to relax and hope no Hurricane will come, during the time I am there!

Now it depends!

I gave them an other offer.....

On the End, looks I will end up anyway in Florida for 8 months!??

(This is our famous French Toast! Mmmhhhh.....)

Hope I can make these one day for you ALL.

Feeling today much better!

Now I have to wait again, hope it works out this time. If it doesn't, down the Road it will, some day, eventually. I promise. I stay optimistic.....

I love you all and thank you for reading my Blog, I saw I had over 300 viewers already. That was a pleasant SURPRISE. I have to apologize for my mistakes though.

I made a Proposal!!

Hope we will come to an agreement! I am willing to negotiate.... And I will take care of that Place like my own Baby! lol.

Keep praying and never loose Hope!

I was thinking to go to the Market this Weekend in Geneva, but it all depends how I will feel. This strange Cold or what that is, is dragging along now for a week and it really doesn't get better. My lungs hurt and I have difficulty breathing? I never get sick!!! Why NOW?? I can't use this...........

I am leaving soon for Florida, so maybe I will get better and come home refreshed and start finally my Business.

I have a big Surprise for EVERYONE!

Looks, we won't need to wait any longer for........my Dream to come true?! I will keep everyone posted soon as I know more.

I know it's a short message, but I am so excited, I can not write much more about it!! Not yet....

My postponed Plans...

How most of you already know, I am going to be back at the Markets.
If everything goes well, I will be at the Downers Grove Market on the 11th and 18th and in Geneva at the French Market on the 12 and 19th. That will be it for this year!

My flights is set for the 3rd of October and I am getting more and more nervous, coming closer to that DATE. We had to postpone the Date, since the Creperies are not very busy. The High-Season is starting the End of October and going through until after Easter, the End of April.

My husband bought me a "Kindle" for my Birthday and I am very busy reading in it, all about Business Plans and running a Restaurant and soooooooo much more. I love this thing. lol. Isn't that the coolest invention? I still have to learn how to get around with this thing.

Yesterday I observed something really sad. There was a man (homeless man), which came to my booth and asked for a phone call from my Cell phone. I made the call for him and left a massage. The person on the other line called me back and only asked if he was ok? What the problem was? The man only wanted to see if she could come and see him. She apparently said NO. During that time I made him one of my Buckwheat Crepe and gave it to him. He was surprised that I would give it to him for Free? I felt so bad for him, that nobody wanted to see him (help) him, not even a Family member? How should Homeless people get better, if nobody helps them to get back on track. There should never be anybody left behind like that...... and especially we should never give up on them......
It did give me a lot to think about; how well we are doing and should never take anything for granted....

I met a couple from France (l'Alsace) yesterday, that was so nice, talking to them in French and about the Places I grew up. Like Colmar, Strassbourg, Mullhouse, Altkirch etc. the Memories were coming back, when I went with my Dad Mushroom picking in the Woods and we were selling them to different Restaurants in Switzerland. So far as I remember, I was always working as a little girl (around my daughters age) with my Dad, on the weekends and on vacation and earned my spending money that way. I spent it on my Skating Lessons, until I was 17teen. I enjoyed spending my time with my Family to the last minute, when I left for Lausanne, Geneve and Montreux (the French Part of Switzerland).

Looks I have to wait a little longer. I got a call yesterday, that the Creperie is pretty slow for the moment. Over Summer everything is pretty slow anyway. So they said they call me in two weeks if there is any change. The High Season doesn't start anyway until the end of October, so I can wait.... (at least I am still with my kids). But I do really want to go....

The time beeing, I have an other choice. There is the Fire & Stone Pizza Estraordinaire Restaurant. The owners are good friends of mine and asked me to come down and help them out. I never saw a Place sooooooo busy like they are. The Parking lot is always completely full, every day of the week and no matter of SEASON! What a business. And I am honest, this Pizza of theirs is the BEST I've ever eaten in my Life! I ate Pizzas in Switzerland and in Italy, but this Pizza is so good, I can eat it every day. I do look forward going only to Florida eating their Pizza.

So I have to make a decision before the 29th, other wise I have to go back to my old Job. My Weekends at the Markets I will attend how much I can.

It's how I say, I shouldn't get tooo excited until I am there and do my Job. Hopefully I don't need to wait too long.

I am counting the days to go to Florida and start a new journey. Getting a little nervous about my kids though, I don't know how I will be without them?

We had a great day at the French Market in Geneva, yesterday. We met a lot of people and they knew exactly where I am going to be for the next 8 months. Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island and Sarasota... I did notice a few times now, how our world is small? The people spent Vacation on Anna Maria Island or they have family living there or they are from Sarasota or going to be there over the Holidays. They promised to come and see me at the Creperie, when they get there. It's like, I never left Illinois then......

The Beginning

I can only ask you: People, please don't judge me, only listen (read) and learn from my mistakes and experiences. It's the first time writing down my Stories, Wishes, Dreams, Happenings and so much more.

Friends they know me, are asking me for years to write a book, since so much has happened in my life. And it still is, it's like a Soap opera. I experienced it, practically, all, or maybe, not yet ?

I still have to sort it out in my head, where to start? I only know, I want to start writing, when I get to Florida for a great Opportunity to learn and cook until I drop. I am going there for becoming a Chef and how to run a cute French Creperie! My Dream .... ? We will see. I know it's going to be hard on me, since I am leaving my three beautiful children behind. (Not my decision) I would take them all with, but that's an other story.... I have to stay for approximately a year, over the high Fall, Winter and Spring Season. I will miss my family, dogs and the Snow around the Christmas time, a lot! But, I think, I will be sooo busy (40-60 hours a week), that I won't have time to think much about all that anyway, I hope?

Yes, that is my Dream. One day, I want to run the best Creperie and Fondue Place in town. I am a pationate cook, learned it all, since I was 17teen in Switzerland, close to the French border. I talk five languages: Czech, German, French, English and Italian. I understand some Polish, Ukrainian and Spanish too. If I do mistakes in writing, please excuse me, but I am not perfect.
The only Person I know is perfect, is GOD! And why? There I have an other story to tell, since I believe in Angels and met one, a long time ago!

I hope I will be ready soon to continue with all my Stories, but for now, I am eager to start a new Beginning in Florida.......