Rare sappy personal thread. Four years ago today, I opened a restaurant, a dream I had had for years. Two years ago today, I closed that restaurant. I’ve just been accumulating thoughts since then, so here they are. 1/

My first thought is of my wife and sons. I regret the stress I put them through. I worked 70+ hours a week for about three years. My wife supported our family and my youngest was born just before the restaurant opened. I missed out on so many memories of his development. 2/

I got home between twelve and three o’clock any given night, and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I couldn’t answer the bell at six or six-thirty. I knew we had obligations, and we mostly met them, but meeting them took a toll on me. On my wife more than me. 3/

I never knew there was a “first year twenty.” I learned later that restaurateurs joke that you lose 20 lbs the first year opening your new place. I was lean when we started, so I wound up severely underweight. I am 6’3” and at the peak of it all I weighed just under 170 lbs. 4/

My motto in taking care of my employees was “the house always eats last.” It was a good metaphor, but I hardly ever ate. I drank. I knew the wakeup call was coming in a few hours, and I needed to decompress from the mania of the floor. 5/