Inspiration and Primavera

A few weeks leading up to the launch of our current season at the restaurant, Primavera, I stumbled through the following conversation with a friend. 

The conversation began with the obvious question of why we close our restaurant periodically to revamp and launch new seasons. Follow up questions concerned themselves with the profitability of this “business model”, as well as how and why we choose to throw away perfectly good systems and rhythms in pursuit of greener grass. Later in the day when I had found a moment of quiet, I realized that subconsciously woven within the questions and conversation we had, were my own concerns and doubts surrounding this “strategy” and trajectory of the business. 

Couple this with the constant questions I face about my prior experience cooking or running restaurants (which are answered by none and never); as well as the completely separate line of questioning concerning why we abandoned our real estate business and life of freedom, and you will find yourself with no logical answers at all….but maybe something better. 

At least in my wife and I’s life, inspiration is not merely the fuel that keeps us going, nor even the vehicle that carry’s us, it’s also the destination. 

Contrast these three epistemological metaphors with a prior view of work/ life obsessed with “arriving”, “retiring”, and “freedom”, and you’ll end up with the following summarized explanation of how we got here. I think like a lot of people, we had to travel the road of seeking a destination before we learned that life is most likely much more complicated than the quantifiable linear journey we imagine it to be in our youth. 

Let me circle back from the whisky influenced digression to my original point. The reason why we close our restaurant, leave behind our “successes”, throw away our systems, reduce revenue while maintaining our staffs salaries, and start from scratch over and over; is because we fundamentally don’t believe there is a “destination” to arrive at with this restaurant. For us, we truly believe that not only does this journey have so much more in store than merely accomplishing a managed and profitable business, but that the pursuit and challenge of chasing inspiration, as well as living within its ebb and flow, is well worth it. 

With this business we are so grateful to pursue a tangible intersection between past experiences, history and culture, stewardship of the land, good times, and serving people. While as a team we do operate with a framework of profitability, it is far from our purpose. 

I’ll finish this rant with a final thought. Inspiration is not a “fluffy” word characterized by an ethereal conception of hopes and dreams. It is not merely a word for creatives or youth too innocent to know better. And it’s definitely far more than the fleeting moments of bolstered courage and excitement from watching or reading our favorite movies and books. Inspiration is a choice, an action, and a realization that nothing is random and everything is connected. 

For us and our team, this means that “being inspired” is a constant pursuit and goal in itself. It means we will never arrive, we will never succeed, and that we will constantly choose to find joy and value in creating new and exciting experiences for our guests. 

Thanks for reading, I look forward to serving you during this season of Primavera, and the many seasons to come.