Aroha Restaurant: Floors are In, Sign is Up!...What's Left?

The clock is really ticking down now! Later this week, we'll be announcing our official opening date, along with a few signature menu items. I am eager to announce it but I also know that once we do, everything else has no choice but to fall into place.

For those of you wondering where we're at right now and why we haven't announced our opening date yet, here is what we're waiting on:

• The gas company. We've been in contact with them for the past month to have the gas line run to our restaurant so we can use our stoves. This is probably the most important thing on our list right now, as you can imagine! They're working on it and hopefully this week it will be completed.

• Internet. We're waiting to get the lines installed. Again, this week should be the week.

• Our Furniture. This I can give a definitive time table on! Our indoor furniture will be ready tomorrow, and our outdoor furniture will be ready on both Wednesday and Thursday!

This past week has been incredibly intense. As the countdown begins, it feels a little bit like an episode of 24. There's only so much time left in the season and still so much we need to complete by the end. It's all absolutely doable. If it wasn't, we would hold off on deciding our opening date. However, we have a date in our heads, and we are 95% sure that we'll be ready to open by then. It still doesn't stop us from having that ticking clock sound in our heads, though! In reality, our list is a lot less than it was a month ago. We started last month with a list of at least 40 reminders and this month, we have about 10 to complete. The hardest part for me is most of the things we're waiting on now, relies on other people. As confident as I am (deep down inside!) that they will be done by their deadlines, relying on other companies to get a job done always feels like a wildcard to me. But honestly, there's nothing I can do at this point to make these things happen any sooner, and I have to accept that.

Last week, we had our first round of interviews and I am beyond excited to say that we hired the shift leader for our front of house team! We will be interviewing a lot more employees this week and can't wait to have the full team together. In other news, we also met with our supplier and rep from World Wide Produce, Lynde, and gave her a list of all of the items we're going to need. There were some very interesting garnish items she had that we are also eager to try and hopefully serve to our customers! Last night, we received a copy of our wine list. We're ecstatic to announce that 60% of our list will offer New Zealand wines and all of our By the Glass wines will be from New Zealand! Besides a 60% New Zealand wine selection, all of our beers will be from New Zealand, as well as our soda and juice selection provided by Aroha Drinks. Speaking of, we got a sampler pack in the mail over the weekend:

Aroha Drink flavors include Sparking Blackcurrant, Sparkling Feijoa, Sparkling Rhubarb,
Ginger Lemon & Honey, Sauvignon Blanc & Saffron, and Elderflower & Green Currant

Construction wise, the flooring has all been installed, the LED lights are up on the soffits, the outdoor fountain is up and running, and the fencing has been put in for our patio! In the upcoming weeks, we will be getting our countertops, shelves, cabinets, and host station! We also received our menu booklets the other day. Our pet rabbit, Willow, is excited about all of the boxes of menus in our entryway! She's been enjoying climbing on them and even tried to open them herself.

The outdoor fountain

Over the weekend, we set up our phone. We had quite a fun time trying to get the answering machine to work! After Gwith recorded the greeting five times to get it perfect, we realized he recorded it in the wrong spot somehow. So, it took another five to ten tries just to get it right! We are happy to say the recording is finished, our phone is in, and it no longer makes loud obnoxious noises and speaks when someone calls to leave a message! YAY! The unfortunate part is, once we announce our opening date, we'll have to re-record the message...and then re-record it again when we open. It's okay though. He's doing it, not me...which means I just get to stand next to him and be entertained!

The best news of the week however is that our sign went up on Friday! We are so pleased with how it turned out! When we first looked at the property, this was the very first thing I envisioned. It's been amazing watching the entire vision of the restaurant come to life but seeing the sign, exactly where I pictured it back in March, is amazing.

As of today, this is what our restaurant looks like, pre-furniture (except for the outdoor couches and end table currently sitting inside!), with the complete wood floors and LED lights turned on!

We are so excited to finish the construction process and focus on our future customers and service! Stay tuned for the opening date and soft opening announcements!

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Aroha Restaurant: We're Opening in September!

Hi everyone! It's insane how busy these past couple of weeks have been. I've barely had time to think, let alone type a blog. So much as happened. I barely know where to begin with all of the updates.

Our past few weeks have been primarily focused on the final stages of the restaurant's construction. We made our final decisions on the floors, the wall colors, etc., and we've purchased our equipment and 80% of our furniture. We decided to forgo vinyl booths for the outside and instead have beautiful couch-style banquettes surrounding the back patio. We have a meeting next week for the shade sails that will be installed above the front and back patios...and then we have to find misters. We're still searching for our tables and chairs for the outdoors, which is why we're holding off on announcing our official opening day. We have an idea in our minds, but we don't want to make it official until we know our customers can actually sit and eat!

The completed walls and ceiling!

Aesthetically, the walls and ceilings are now complete...and our 10 foot long water feature has been delivered. Yes. I know I kept saying it was 8 ft but apparently a mix up made it 10 ft. Luckily, it fits. It did take six guys though to move it, and it was not easy! Gwith was actually too scared to watch.

The 10 ft long water feature being delivered.

The kitchen's tile floors are also done and the speaker system has been installed as well. We spent about an hour this week just searching for and downloading over 24 hours of Kiwi music. Our most exciting news however, is that we now have two completed rooms! The bathrooms! They are fully tiled and painted, and they look awesome.

Interior of the women's restroom.

This week, we also picked out our plates, silverware, and glasses. Gwith entering that shop was like a kid entering Disneyland. There were so many types and shapes to choose from. I have also ordered all of our menu covers, which will be a nice black leathery material, with our logo in silver. In bigger news, we purchased our POS system, which will be complete with a Guest Services System where we can take down our customer's allergies, preferences, birthdays and anniversaries, etc. With this system, we are excited to be able to implement a high level of customer service at our restaurant. Our system will also feature a large number of dish modifications so we can easily let the kitchen know about allergies.

This past month, we also brought on board our awesome wine director and sommelier, Jordan Grieg. He is searching far and wide to ensure that we have an amazing wine collection, with 50-70% of our list being from New Zealand. It's not easy to find in the USA and he is working his hardest to make this happen.

Throughout all of the craziness, something had to fall through. As I mentioned in the previous Aroha blog, we were hiring a muralist to paint the Auckland skyline. Unfortunately, a situation arose and this hasn't been able to happen. We are still hopeful to get a mural or large canvas painting done for the restaurant before opening, however, getting everything else done is our first priority!

We're getting down to the wire here and will be placing ads for our employees very soon. In between all of our meetings and decision making, I've been writing the employee handbook and training manual. It has been time consuming but I think it will pay off to have those available.

I officially feel confident now in announcing that Aroha will be opening in September! We have a majority of the furniture and equipment arriving by mid-August, and once we have the rest of our furniture ordered and begin hiring employees, we will officially announce our grand opening date.

That's it for our latest Aroha updates! We are so glad we got to get away to Catalina Island earlier this month. The vacation time was much needed and refreshed us for at least the following 24 hours! I would love to say that I'm only kidding, but it's actually kind of true! Hopefully within the upcoming days, I'll be able to blog about our Catalina trip, as well as continue my European Adventure blogs!!

Catalina Island July 2014!

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Aroha Restaurant: Our Westlake Magazine Cover & In Other News: Interior, Meetings, Phone Calls, Repeat

This week has been one of the craziest, if not the craziest of the summer. I'm trying to think of the last day we weren't in constant meetings or on lengthy phone calls regarding Aroha.

We began the week meeting with our good friend and mentor, Elie Balas, of Menchie's Frozen Yogurt. After weeks of going back and forth on whether or not we'd need to hire a general manager, Elie's advise convinced us that we could in fact run the restaurant on our own. It's funny. That was our original plan. However, somewhere amongst the hectic summer days, we began to question if we'd need another hand. When there's enough time to overthink everything, plans can change drastically. Thankfully, Elie brought us right back to our original focus. We honestly couldn't have asked for a better mentor and are so thankful we met with him before this hectic week truly began.

The rest of this week has been a lot of running around and a lot of interior design. First of all, we found a fantastic muralist here in LA to paint the Auckland Skyline within our restaurant. He begins sketching it on Monday and we cannot wait to reveal it! Our 8 foot long water feature is also nearing completion. For the last two days, we drove back and forth around the valley looking at flooring, picking up samples, checking out equipment, meeting with various people, and spending our in between time on the phone or emailing. Among other things, we picked out the bathroom tiles and stalls this week. It's funny how when you plan to build a restaurant, there are just certain things you don't think about in terms of the design. I'd have to say that bathroom stalls were definitely one of them! Who knew there were so many different types and colors to choose from?!

We also picked out our beautiful floors and walls. We are still working on figuring out the cabinets and counter tops! Luckily, we're not quite there yet, so we have a little bit of wiggle room.

On Monday, the wires for the sign will be installed. We are still trying to determine when we want to put the sign up. Originally, we were going to wait until opening, however, with all of the buzz, we're now starting to think we should put it up sooner.

Construction wise, everything is progressing like crazy! At the beginning of the week, the crew was working on installing the air conditioning and heating system, as well as finishing the walls. By yesterday, half the ceilings were already up and the hood system was being installed! We are currently talking with someone to install our sound system and will hopefully have that underway next week. I am so excited for everyone to see the restaurant when it's completed.

Typing all of this, I'm still not sure how we've done so much in just a weeks time. Besides everything mentioned above, I have also created all of the employee job descriptions. They are now ready to go and we will most likely begin our search within the next two weeks. As of yesterday, we now have a very talented man creating our wine list.

Next week, we will be looking at more equipment, as well as picking out our seats and tables! We're cramming in a whole lot on Monday, as on Tuesday, we're taking off to Catalina Island for our final three days of relaxation.

If there wasn't any better way to end this crazy week, our cover story in Westlake Magazine came out yesterday! We are so pleased with the article and would like to thank everyone involved for this incredible opportunity including the magazine's founder Rebecca Grossman, writer Charly Emery, photographer Jane Gibson, makeup artist Nicola Gerboc, reporter Robyn Flans, and Liz Barrett from the Chamber of Commerce.

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Aroha: Light Speed Ahead!

Big changes are now beginning at Aroha. During the week, our final permit was checked off, giving us the go ahead to continue and finish all of the construction! As of next week, we will be ordering our equipment.

Before the rest of the walls go up, we stopped by the restaurant with my parents and wrote our names on the inside of the wall, along with an "In loving memory..." for my grandpa and Gwith's mom. It's nice to know this will always be there, inside our restaurant. We are so grateful for all that Pa and Janet did for us and we know they would be proud. On another note, check out our beautiful artwork! Stick figure smiley faces and heart faces have been a long standing tradition in my family since as long as I can remember. It seemed only natural to draw them on the wall as well...and of course, we couldn't help but draw Willow too!

It's amazing how fast time has flown by. In just a few months, the place has gone from an empty space, to full framework, to plasterboards and soon enough, it will all be complete. It's crazy how in just a few days, the rest of the walls and the ceiling will be covered! Once it's finished, I will be posting photos of each of the steps!

This past week, Gwith and I finalized each of the menus and we are excited about our unique twists on a few Kiwi classics! We want to keep you guessing and in suspense until the restaurant opens, so we can't give anymore details beyond that. All I can say is though, the menu sounds delicious. We've also worked on plating styles (YES! I said we!). I'm still very excited that some of my styles will be at the restaurant. Honestly, since I'm not a chef, I didn't expect that. However, I sat down next to Gwith and started drawing some styles and he really liked them!

Other exciting news happened to us this week but we can't talk about it for another few weeks. It's incredible though and we are beyond flabbergasted about this opportunity!

Next week, Westlake Magazine hits local stores, offices, and hotels with our cover story! We can't wait to see what it looks like! If you live in an area that receives Westlake Magazine, be sure to check it out. If not, I think they also have an online version to view.

Time is moving fast now and in just a blink of an eye, we'll be opening. We are still expecting the first week of September but we'll officially announce a date as we get closer.

Switching topics from the restaurant, I'll give a short update too on one of our leisurely activities of the week! At the end of last week, my sister's fiancee, Miles, hosted an incredibly fun interactive murder mystery party! We searched the house for clues, trying to regain our memories, and figure out which one of us was the killer. The best part, however, had to be when Gwith, our friend Ben, and I were running around the backyard trying to escape being chased by a crazy person (aka my sister). When we heard a noise, Gwith ducked to the side of the house, hiding in the shadows, while Ben and I hid under a tree. Suddenly, we saw my dad walking by. Oddly, he looked straight at Ben and I, didn't see us, and continued to almost walk past Gwith too. Gwith, being the silly guy he is though, decided to jump out and scare my dad. Little did he know my dad was actually the killer of the evening! My dad taps Gwith, walks off, and Gwith sits on the ground. Ben and I came over to grab him, when he looks at us and says "I'm dead." Whoops. The rest of the evening, every time my dad tried to lure us away, we'd eye him and shake our heads. He had no idea we saw the whole thing go down! It was hilarious and way too much fun! Miles plans to eventually sell some of his murder mystery games. I will keep everyone updated on their availability in the future. They are great for parties and we may even host one at the restaurant someday!

Anyways, that's it for this week's update! Next week, the news and updates will be flowing as Aroha really begins to take shape! Tomorrow, I will be releasing Part 3 of my European Adventure blog, so please check it out when you get the chance!

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Huge Updates as Aroha Moves Forward

It's hard to believe we've only been back from our incredible European tour for two weeks! So much has been going on, I don't even know where to begin.

We arrived back on May 28th and went straight to the restaurant. While we were away, there was a lot of progression. The construction crew has finished up the gas lines, some of the plasterboard is already on the wall frames, and as of yesterday, they have completed the plumbing system.

The construction team working on the plumbing lines. 

Plasterboard on the Walls!

Amongst all of the progress, we were also happy to take our Beer & Wine notice down. We are now in the final stages of getting our license! In the upcoming weeks, we will begin refining our wine list and testing other wine suppliers in California. We are excited to bring a range of organic and biodynamic wines from New Zealand, California, Italy, and France. After our wine tour in Italy, we can not wait to add a few delicious Chianti wines from the small wineries! We also were able to tell a noticeable difference between natural sulfite and artificial sulfites in wine. The most noticeable observation we had were the lack of headaches! While most imported wines have artificial sulfites added for preservation, we are making it our mission to only provide wines with natural, organic sulfites from the grape skin.

In other beverage news, we're going to be importing sodas that are exclusively available in New Zealand called Aroha Specialty Sodas! Not only is the name obviously perfect, the flavors are unique and delicious as well. Some of the flavors include rhubarb, feijoa, elderflower, and green current.

This week, we've had some amazing opportunities arise thanks to our lovely friends at the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, which I can't wait to announce in the upcoming weeks! Due to all of the excitement, I did a full update on our website with all new information about the restaurant and New Zealand cuisine. The logo got an update as well: I changed the heart to red to match our future building sign! We are also getting closer to pinning down our opening week. Currently, we're eyeballing the first week of September but depending on our progression, it may be as early as mid-August.

Yesterday, thanks to Westlake Magazine, we attended our very first polo match in Santa Barbara! I wish I could say I watched the game, but Gwith and I ended up having such a good time chatting with the other guests that we probably only watched the match for a couple of minutes. I did go out on the field during halftime though and stomp on the grass. I had to. I grew up on "Pretty Woman" and I'd be lying if I said I didn't always watch that scene thinking it looked like fun! The strangest part of the day was when we met a man named Howard, and we were told his family invented the earplug. I almost fell over because my grandfather had told me for years that our cousins invented the earplugs! My grandfather was first cousins with his grandmother, apparently. It was such a surprise to end up meeting a distant family member who I had only heard about! It's such a small world. The real irony is on the drive up to Santa Barbara, Gwith turned to me in the car and said, "I wonder if there will be anyone we know there?" I told him how unlikely that was... I'll never doubt the possibility again.

Gwith and I at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club

As I was dawdling on the internet before, searching our restaurant on Google, I came across an article written three days ago by Conejo Valley Guide talking exclusively about Aroha! We are over the moon about all of the publicity the restaurant is already getting!

Thats all of my updates for today but I do promise to sit down in the upcoming days and talk all about our trip, because there is so much to talk about!!

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Let the Construction Begin! PLUS: Anzac Day and Our Wine Tasting!

It's May 4th and in the past two weeks, Aroha has really begun to take shape! We have been so busy with our permits, construction, wine tasting, designing the sign, networking, etc.

Last Tuesday, Gwith got a call from our contractor, Ashour. We had been so busy running around the week before, that we hadn't been to our space to see the progression. The last we had seen it, the walls were sitting on the floor, waiting for the permits to be approved. When Gwith told Ashour we hadn't been there yet, he laughed. We were in for a big surprise.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were blown away with how much had happened in just one week. Half of the wall frames were already up! As the week comes to a close (and we've been stopping by every day), the construction team has finished the framing (walls, ceiling, and soffits) and was last seen putting in the light fittings.

Tuesday, April 29th (the walls are going up!) 

Wednesday, April 30th (the soffits are going up!)

Thursday, May 1st (the pass is up!)

Friday, May 2nd (95% of the soffits are done!)

Back tracking to last Sunday, Gwith and I went to the commemoration of ANZAC Day in Westwood. For those of you unfamiliar with ANZAC day, its the national day of remembrance for members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought during World War I. After the commemoration, we joined the New Zealand Consulate-General at his residence for drinks and snacks. As luck would have it, we sat down at a table with a number of prominent Kiwis who live in the Westlake Village area. After a couple of very interesting conversations, we are hopeful to have some exciting announcements for our restaurant next year.

Last Monday, we had our wine representative over to our house for a tasting. In four hours, Gwith and I, joined by my parents, my sister, and her fiancee, enjoyed taste testing 26 different, organic, wines. They were incredibly tasty and we are excited to offer the majority of them in our restaurant. Before the tasting, we bought a selection of cheese to keep us (well, me in particular), from falling asleep from all of the wine! Somehow, I managed to make it through the tasting! I'm pretty sure though, that even when you're just tasting and spitting into a cup, you're body is absorbing more alcohol than you realize. I definitely felt like I drank two glasses of wine by the end of it. Gwith, on the other hand, did drink the majority of his half glass tasters! My dad drank the first 5 tasters or so, and then disappeared for a nap! Other than Gwith, our family is clearly a bunch of lightweights!

To complete an already eventful week, we woke up this morning to find out our restaurant has been mentioned in the Ventura County Star! We are ecstatic to have a shout out so early on for our restaurant!

"Back in Westlake Village, former 9021PHO neighbor The Counter: Custom Built Burgers (30990 Russel Ranch Road, Suite B, 818-889-0080) won’t be lonesome for long. Suite C, which has been vacant since the debut more than five years ago of the three-suite center near Pierce Bros. Valley Oaks Memorial Park, has been claimed as the future home of a restaurant specializing in New Zealand and Pacific Rim cuisines. Named for the Maori word for love, Aroha Restaurant is slated to open this fall. Husband-and-wife owners Gwithyen and Justine Thomas, both in their 20s, are posting construction updates and photos to the restaurant’s website (http://www.aroharestaurant.com/) and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. Justine, a singer-songwriter, is also blogging about the experience of opening a restaurant (http://bit.ly/SeFnkt)."

In one week, Gwith and I will be leaving on our very early anniversary trip to Europe! We are extremely excited for our trip but we also can't wait to see what our restaurant looks like when we return! During this next week, we will continue to stop by our restaurant and post pictures on our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, so be sure to keep checking those for updates!

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Restaurant Floor Plans...and wait, We're Taking a Vacation?

This past week, we were constantly discussing with our contractor the floor plan and the use of soffits. Therefore, I took it upon myself to make a 3D design of his floor plan.

This was the first time we got a look at what our restaurant would actually look like! It was exciting to finally see our vision come to life. Of course, certain things may be subject to slight alterations, but we expect the final product to look fairly similar to these images. Our restaurant will seat around 80 customers, between our indoor and spacious outdoor seating.

Yesterday, we took a drive over to the restaurant to see what had happened so far. The metal walls were all stacked inside, ready to go, and the floor was chalked up with lines for each wall and the soffits. I'd be lying if I said we didn't pretend to sit in the seats and hand invisible plates over the pass. We also couldn't resist the chance to write on the bare walls - "Gwith and Justine Were Here - 2014".

There's not a lot more restaurant news to report at this point. Everything is progressing well and I can't wait to share more photos once the walls are built up!

In the meantime, Gwith and I are planning our first trip to Europe as a couple. We were originally planning to go for our anniversary this year, however, since we're opening the restaurant, we decided to go before. Next month, we'll be going to Italy, Switzerland, France, and Belgium! I'm excited for everything but Gwith is most excited to eat chocolate in Belgium and Switzerland, bologna in Bologna, and a croissant in Paris. He's a chef, so what else can you expect! We'll be doing a cheese and wine tour in Florence, which should satisfy his craving to try the wines and my craving to eat as much cheese as physically possible. I'll also be enjoying the many gluten free options that Italy has to offer. Apparently, they're very GF friendly! I can't wait to have a GF pizza in Italy!

Our other trip highlight includes a dinner cruise along the Siene River. After taking a dinner cruise on the bay in San Francisco, I decided that we now have to take dinner cruises in every beautiful city that offers one. Words cannot describe how excited I am to ride along the river, looking at Paris lit up at night. It seems magical, just dreaming about it.

By the time we've arrived back, I'm assuming the restaurant will have progressed quite a bit. As much as I love seeing it day by day, it will be incredibly cool to see it jump from one look to another in a matter of weeks!

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

The First Day of Construction at Aroha

Yesterday was the first day at our restaurant, opening the doors and letting the construction process begin.

The day before, Gwith had a locksmith come to the location who quickly saw the "For Lease" sign and asked him, "Are you sure this is your spot? There's still a for lease sign in the window." Gwith looked at the sign, turned to him and said, "Is it? Not anymore!" and ripped it from the window. I'm a little jealous I wasn't there for that moment but unfortunately I have had the flu all week and wasn't able to go.

I was on my way to recovery yesterday and decided to go the space with Gwith to meet Ashour and take some photos. I've never seen something built from the ground up before so I'm excited to watch this entire process unfold. Once we were there, we walked through with Ashour and he drew up the chalk lines for each of the walls. Gwith and I both had some fun posing in the "rooms". We also picked up the "For Lease" sign and tore it in half together.

After our meeting, we got the chance to meet the CEO and Vice President of The Counter, as they were stopping by next door. Gwith and I are firm believers in making positive relationships with the local businesses. Besides, we're really not competing for their customers (our restaurant will not be offering burgers and french fries). Not to mention that ever since we got this property, we seem to be eating at their restaurant, A LOT. What can I say though, I've always been a fan of The Counter! My mom and I used to dine there regularly in Colorado and we even filmed our TV show pilot, "Little Blossom" at the Park Meadows location (when it still existed). I have to admit: it's incredibly peculiar to me how many of my career milestones all connect to The Counter in some way! Even at my last job, we dined at the Studio City location regularly and a past co-worker was/is best friends with the CEO. It seems incredibly fitting that our first restaurant would be located right next door to them!

Once we left our location, we headed to the Chamber of Commerce. It was great hearing about what they can do for us. I, of course, was most ecstatic about the ribbon cutting ceremony when we open. I mean, honestly, who doesn't want to do that??

Back at the office (aka our home), Gwith has been coming up with recipe and menu ideas, while I've been working endlessly on our social media. It's amazing that we just announced Aroha on Wednesday and we already have 187 likes. We are incredibly lucky to have so many amazing and supportive friends and family members! We also got a shout out in the Kiwis in LA newsletter!

We've known about this and been preparing for the restaurant for months but it didn't feel real until this week! I'd like to thank everyone for letting us include you in our journey! Sharing this experience with all of you has made it even more meaningful.

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.

Finding Our Location! (Aroha Restaurant)

These past couple of months we have learned A LOT and there is no doubt there's much more to follow.

First of all, although we've only been working on finally starting Aroha (pronounced Uh-Row-Ha, in case any Americans were wondering!) for the past two months, we had drawn up our business plan  notes over a year ago. So in some ways, we already had a majority of the ideas done and out of the way. However, there's a lot that goes into starting a restaurant. To say the least, we've been busy and we've been moving fast.

At the very beginning of February, after Gwith left his last job, Gwith and I decided together that it was time to start Aroha. After years of working endless hours for other people and barely seeing each other, we decided that if either of us were going to work long hours, it should at least be for us and with each other. We've always seen eye to eye with our management styles and as long as he cooks the food and I taste it, we'll be fine. Me cooking on the other hand would be a terrible, terrible mistake. Crockpot, anyone?

On February 4th, I was already drafting up the entire 16 page business plan and our projections for the first three years. It was done by the next day and we were ready to start scoping out properties. Amongst our search, the one thing we were certain about was we did not want to be in the heart of Los Angeles for two reasons. One, LA's restaurant scene is very trend based. What's popular is popular (such as the current gastropub scene), what isn't isn't, and by next year, it will all flip to something else. The other reason is traffic. We didn't want to commute on the 101 or the 405 for three hours every day. To us, this only meant one thing, moving further from LA and more towards the coastline.

On February 11th, we brought a broker on board but continued to search on our own as well. We were primarily looking for turn-key operations or locations with the basic restaurant equipment and plumbing included. Amongst our search, we set our sights on Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. We saw a lot of locations. Some of them were in fantastic spots (and were already taken) like the spot next to The Melting Pot in Westlake. Some of them were in questionable locations, like the one in an industrial park that we couldn't quite figure out why anyone would travel there for dinner. Then there were the restaurants that just have you scratching your head: like the one in the beautiful town of Santa Barbara that looks run down and is somehow on the only street in Santa Barbara that doesn't look taken care of.

By February 19th, we had set our sights on one location in particular. Of course, this location wasn't exactly what we were planning on. It's an empty shell. What does that mean? It means there's literally nothing inside. No bathroom. No grease trap. No ceiling. Of course, that also means this location can be turned into anything we want. Our vision can be created. In terms of the spot, this place couldn't get any better. It's in the first center off the freeway exit on Lindero Canyon and it's surrounded by notable restaurants including burger restaurant chain The Counter and Westlake's #1 restaurant Lure, as well as plenty of surrounding businesses. Upon visiting this location with a friend of ours (a residential real-estate agent who lives in Westlake), we became ecstatic about the space! He mentioned to us that just up the street, Westlake is building the largest Target west of the Mississippi. In other words, any one going to this Target, will be driving past this restaurant location. Did I forget to mention that this restaurant space also has the corner spot and is the first place any traveler will see walking or driving down the street?

After balancing out the pluses and the minuses of this location, we realized we had to go for it. While discussing the lease for the past month, we've been meeting with everyone from contractors, food company reps, insurance agents, to permit lawyers. As of this week, we have finalized the lease and we're ready to move. Our business cards are complete, our website is almost done (although you won't be seeing anything other than the Coming Soon page until we open), and our social networking is just beginning!

Our amazing contractor Ashour (Ashour Construction) had a completed floor plan for us over a week ago and we are excited to be working with him. We will be starting construction within the week and we are excited to share the process with all of you.

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30990 Russell Ranch Rd Unit C, Westlake Village, CA 91362
© 2014 Aroha Restaurant.