I was looking through some old pictures and it made me smile. Thought you may enjoy these pictures as well. Here is a little picture diary leading up to our July 25 opening:

This is Dave, our contractor. Missing his tape measure that day so he was using his arms. I little scary but everything worked out perfect in the end. As he loves to say “its all good.” In the end, I begged him to never repeat those words to me. There were many days when it really wasn’t all that good and I wanted to choke him every time he said that. His new slogan: “What Bryan does to food, I can do to wood.”

This was a wall that was cut out for one of the openings. Headed for the dumpster, we saved it as the perfect wine tasting tabletop for the wine cellar. This cut still had original chalk marking on it from construction in the 1890’s when the mansion was built.

The fashion show. Choosing the uniforms took weeks. I’ve heard people commenting about our uniform choices. Well, it would have been the easiest to dress everyone in black pants and white shirts. Can’t go wrong with black and white. But we wanted to incorporate our colors into the uniforms.

This is Natalie, our model. She was a really good sport. This is one of the better outfits she tried on that day.

Actually, looking at it now, this outfit is kind of hot. Thanks for the pose Graeme. Note to self - We may need to reconsider.

Oh the bar…I saw this bar top in a magazine from a club in Tokyo. After designing it and redesigning it, the great Charlie Perla, our architect, was able to replicate it. Actually, Bryan was key man on-site in re-engineering the bar…who knew? We all held our breath as pieces of the glass top were put into place.

The NOODLE. This was one of our scariest purchases. It was pricey, completely custom made and a big unknown. We started referring to it as the noodle because it was our chandelier for the kitchen. We needed a piece that would link the chef’s dining room to the kitchen. A piece of art that was functional, cool and well…VOLT-worthy.

The crate the noodle arrived in was pretty imposing, heavy and gigantic.

The grand lift to the top. Getting this to balance straight was much more difficult than imagined.

YES….the permits office. That’s me with Sandy from the permits office holding our permit of occupancy. For the past year, I pretty much lived at the permits office. Shout out to Sandy who made the visits so much more bearable.

The moment of truth…the liquor license. In all of her years at the liquor board, Kathy said no one had ever taken a picture with her when they picked up their license. Isn’t that odd? I mean the liquor license is the end-all. You pick up your liquor license when you are completely finished with renovations, health department, occupancy, fire marshall, design, engineering, on and on. All of the months of planning and work boils down to the liquor license. I picked this up one day before opening. Which meant, all of the liquor rolled into town and into the mansion the morning of our opening.

Here we go stocking up.

The VOLT bartenders! L to R - RN-Benjamin who is studying to be a nurse, Professor Dennis - champion swimmer and tenured professor at Shepard University and The Chad, who farms and brings us lots of organic produce and surfs in the Dominican when he is away from the bar. Get their full story next time you’re at the bar. Each of them so very interesting.

Some of our partners and our first lounge guests.

Our first dinner guests and loyal VOLT fans…Carrie and Eric, Dennis and Scott (who was our great force behind local press).

Hello ladies…our beautiful PR machine, the ladies of 2911.

Opening night toast! Wow. How totally amazing was the lead up? Really very cool.

December 25 marks our six month anniversary. What an incredible milestone for us and a great day to stop and reflect on the last six months at VOLT.

To our employees - thank you. The last six could not have been possible without you. Also, thanks for coming outside on this very, very cold day to pose for this picture.

To our guests - it has been a pleasure having you at VOLT. We look forward to seeing you again in the new year.

To our regular guests - we love seeing you and hearing about your day. We really do miss you when you skip a day or two. You have become part of our extended family.

Cheers and looking forward to the next six months.

On December 21, marking the winter solstice and my birthday, we launched TABLE 21.

TABLE 21 is for the guest who wants to experience creativity in food. There are 21 courses prepared directly in front of you. You will be dining in the kitchen (not the Chef’s Dining Room) but on the line. Our custom-made table seats up to four. If you make a reservation for any number other than four, you may be sitting with another couple (which could make for an even more interesting evening). Advance menus are not available as Chef will be crafting each course during your dining experience.

For all of you reality show fans, we have installed a camera in the kitchen. So please join us in the bar and watch all of the kitchen action while sipping on your favorite cocktail.