Favorite Dish at Chon Som

This is hard to decide. I've been trying everything in the menu. If it's from the sushi menu, I would say Kanisu. On a hot Texas day, it just hit the spot. Kanisu contains crab, cream cheese, and masago rolled in paper thin cucumber soaked in a refreshing light Japanese rice vinegar.

From the hot kitchen, I would say Pad Thai. This is a popular dish in most Thai restaurants. It's a hard dish to make it perfect. The heat and the sauce have to be just right. Alisa got it down! Yummy

What is your favorite dish? Please post a comment to this blog.

Word of Mouth

We've been open a little over a week now. Things are getting settled with staffing, process, kitchen, sushi bar. We are all pretty excited and happy. Why so happy? What we have is very unique. We have great food, great staff, and great ambiance. Not only that, people come in and see familiar faces all around the room. The most important thing is that people are leaving with a big smile on their face. Thus, we are starting to get regulars. Friends bringing friends which bring their friends. I believe in Chon Som. I feel the energy!

Thank you for everyone's support, it really means a lot.

The creation of Chon Som

Chon Som is built on love, passion, and friendship. On June 12th, we had a happy hour to announced to some of our friends that Nat and Alisa just purchased a restaurant. All of our friends knew that it's our dream to open our own restaurant.

...and so it begins

That night we "brainstormed" and started a work crew. We created an online workflow where I (Marisa) send an email everyday and update the calender. Yes, I turned into the project manager. The email would contain a funny summary of the night before, news update on Chon Som, and goals for the day. We gutted everything from inside to the outside in the course of 2.5 months. By the end of the renovation period, we had a workcrew of over 60+ volunteers. Chon Som is special because it's really built with love. Everyone is a part of it.

This past week, August 21, 2006, we had our soft opening. The week went by smoothly. The food is awesome, the ambiance is warm and inviting, and the energy is high.

Thanks to our friends for making our dreams come true. Without your support, Chon Som wouldn't be this beautiful! Below is just a very small segment of the renovation pictures.

Nat (executive sushi chef), Marisa (public relations), and Alisa (executive chef in the hot kitchen)

Flash Slideshow

Chon Som Hours

Lunch

Monday - Friday

11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m

Dinner

Monday - Thursday

4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Friday

4:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m

Saturday

12:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m

Sunday

12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Location Location Location

Chon Som

2013 Wells Branch Pkwy #109

Austin, TX 78728

512-989-5559

We are located on Wells Branch between I-35 and MoPac next to Citgo gas station.

Pass Initial Health Inspection

As of 8:45 a.m. this morning, Chon Som can officially serve/sell food. When the health inspector says that he will come back to eat, it's a good sign! There is no scoring for the initial health inspection but if he had to score, it would be a 97. We would have lost 3 points for the sanitizer that has moisturizer in it.

Moving forward to a great beginning.

Soft Opening

Soft Opening August 21st! Call 512-989-5559 to RSVP today.

Marketing

Do you know what marketing is? Apparently, I don't. Last night I got the run down from Slezak. He started with me describing Chon Som and why it's unique. After 1.5 hour of grilling me, we came up with a unique selling point (USP). From there, everything flows together such as activities, the atmosphere, the service, the character of the restaurant, the promotion, etc.

I didn't realize that marketing has such a big role in the overall place. It covers everything from presentation of the food, menu layout, look/feel of the dining area and the bathrooms, business cards, art, colors, website, etc. He will be meeting with us every 2 - 3 days for at least 1 hour to make sure we're focused and insync. I am impressed!

Parting quote "How many times do you get to make a first impression?"

Start of Chon Som

Hello,

I couldn't post pictures to the other blog. Thus, I decided to keep it simple and use blogger. Welcome to Chon Som Blog.

First week of April, my mom told Nat & I about 5 Spice being for sale. Of course, we immediately said no. We were determine to get into the Domain and had investors lined up. We were disappointed by the Domain not welcoming small locals such as us.

Second week of April, as I was driving into work. Waiting for the light, I stared straight into 5 Spice. I thought to myself, it wouldn't hurt to find out how much. Mama, Nat, and I went over to take a look and talked to the seller. To our amazement, it's not as bad as we anticipated. This would be a great startup without investors. Why not!

Third week of April, Alisa flew back to Austin. She sees the potential too. Lets get the game movin'.

The next 2 months we spent researching,dealing, negotiating, making sure we're not getting scammed, etc. We also started our relationship with Josh Cantrell, one reliable lawyer!

On June 12, 2006, we finally signed and purchased the assets from 5 Spice at 5 p.m. Of course we had to celebrate. We gathered a few friends up and had a happy hour at the restaurant. More pictures will be posted soon.