Yes, it’s here…..the new Schnitz Wesbite:

www.schnitznyc.com - CLICK TO CHECK IT OUT!

For the past 8 months, we’ve been using Launchrock which is a service that let’s people design splash pages by leveraging high resolution photos. Our menu and business has developed and we’ve outgrown our splash page. No longer are we in a “Coming Soon” phase. We’re alive and well and we needed to have a more robust website.

Over the last week we’ve been experimenting with a couple of different layouts and we’re happy with what we’ve launched. The homepage maximizes a lot of the content that we want visitors to see without having to scroll or click. Our locations, a nice splash photo, our twitter feed (where we are very active) and navigation bar are all easily accessible the minute you hit the site. The challenge in building a website, and more specifically a homepage, is including as much information on the top half of the screen (or what they call “above the fold”) yet still giving a clean and uncluttered design. The key things we want to highlight are our locations which is important for us as we’re a mobile business and people want to know where we are on any given day; our social activity which is something we emphasize; and our style which is where the splash photo comes in.

We used a service called Wix to design and develop the site and I highly recommend it. It’s a website creation tool that can be used by non-programmers, which means you don’t need to know HTML code. You may need to watch a couple of video tutorials to tie up some loose ends but for the most part its very straight forward. Other similar tools are Yola, Weebly and Moonfruit. These services typically come with beautiful templates which have been created by professional designers. You may still want to consult with a designer for advice but for $8.50/month, you can go live with an extremely professional website in a matter of days! Ah, the power of technology.

The site is in HTML5 so it should be viewable on your mobile phone without any issues. It’s also rather easy to update the content which is extremely important. We want to be able to implement new ideas and update the site with new press or media coverage.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment or email us. We’re all ears!

My Fellow Schnitzers,

Another week in the books and yet another important lesson learned.  As has been well documented in this space, Schnitz has certainly been riding a wave of good press as well as high praise from our customers and supporters.  In addition to the write-ups and interviews we have done recently, our sales have also been quite good.  Smorgasburg in particular has been very steady for us.  Even on a cloudy day, the foodies over in Williamsburg make it out to the water to get their fix.  Hester has been so much fun and awesome, barring any rain we are always poised to kick some ass even with the shorter time span (4-9pm).  We at Schnitz obviously pride ourselves in being one of the freshest, most delicious and efficient stands at any market we are involved in.  We do this by working our asses off every week.  It’s that simple.  We never take short cuts, and we never settle.  The only factor that is entirely out of our grasp is the weather.

This past week, both Thursday and Saturday brought some erratic weather.  There were some sprinkles over at Hester during the beginning of the event, which also happens to be the same time most midtown workers are set to go home.  Saturday was generally gloomy and showered us for a good twenty minutes.  Neither days featured torrential downpours, but were enough to make an impact on potential visitors.  Being in the trenches, I sometimes get frustrated on these types of days when business is slow.  This is completely unfair.  The logic here is fairly easy to understand; no one wants to stand outside and eat food in the rain. 

Such is the business that we have chosen.  Right now, Schnitz’ livelihood relies entirely on weather and we must plan accordingly on a week to week basis.  Some weeks the weather looks utterly spectacular throwing our plans into overdrive as we prepare to break our previous gross record only to be greeted with rain in the morning.  Other times, it’s the exact opposite; we are cautionary not to overspend due to impending thunder storms only to see sunshine throughout the day.  While the latter isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it usually results in us selling out too early thus leaving some cash on the table.  Nevertheless we continue to make the necessary adjustments every week and fine tune the operation as much as we can to make our product and customer experience the best it can possibly be.  The key to our success has not only been to roll with the punches but to never grow complacent and never stop improving.  No matter what the weather looks like, you can bet your ass we will be out there. 

It also makes me feel better that this Thursday and Saturday look like Pleasantville type days…hope I didn’t just jinx it! 

A lot has happened since we last spoke.  The past week has felt like a real leap forward for Schnitz and I couldn’t be any prouder of all the good ol’ fashioned hard work we’ve put forth to get here.  It hasn’t been easy and there is still plenty more to come, but in the next few paragraphs I’d like to take a minute and update our loyal supporters.  As many of our readers know, Schnitz has seen an astonishing level of press recently.  It all started several weeks ago when Mario Batali graced us with his jubilant presence at Smorgasburg.  We knew then that we had to parlay his tweet into something bigger, and that ABC was planning on using the footage they shot of our booth in some way on “The Chew”.  Things were certainly on the horizon, but nothing could have prepared us for the news we received last Wednesday.

Waking up that morning, I received a text from my girlfriend, Angelina, that seemed strange; “Hester??  You’ve got some scrambling to do…”  Curious, I grabbed my phone and saw no emails from anyone at Hester Street Fair’s camp regarding our application status for their new “Night Market” we so eagerly awaited.  I then checked their website which made my jaw drop.  There it was, on their official vendor lineup for the grand opening of Hester Nights, “Schnitz”.  Oh boy.  My next move was to call Donna and see if she knew anything.  She didn’t.  A few minutes later she calls me back, her tone was way more desperate.  “Yoni, holy shit.  I just saw that I got an email from Jane at 3am, a vendor cancelled last minute and we’re in!!”

A logistical nightmare began to take shape. How on Earth can we pull this off?  Less than 24 hours’ notice, kitchen is NOT stocked, and we have no commitments from any friends or workers to help us.  I started the day thinking of ways to gently tell Hester that while we are more than thrilled to be participating, we may not make it for opening day.  At this point I figured they’d understand and hopefully we can lock down the spot for next week, and maybe the rest of the season.  Then the next big email dropped in.

As it turns out, ABC’s “The Chew” had been working on the footage they shot of us (and several other vendors) for a segment that will be part of their summer fun program.  They want us to prepare 5 Bamberg sandwiches for the hosts to eat on the show after they show the segment on Smorgasburg.  The episode is set to air on June 22^nd, but the taping was for the next day.  Yea, same day as our supposed premier at Hester Nights!  The proverbial shit had hit the fan…quickly.  I had no choice but to leave my day job early and run over to our kitchen space to begin prepping the sandwiches for ABC.  All the while, we awaited a response from Hester regarding whether or not we could start the following week.  Then at around 4pm, just as I had finished putting together a cooler of the mise en place for “The Chew” hosts, they gave us their response.

Being that it is their grand opening night, Hester is expecting a lot of press to show up and an empty booth is simply not an option.  Jane, the organizer, made this point very clear. Even if we could simply throw something together that would be fine, the main issue is that we show up.  We now had no choice but to start clambering everything together.  On top of this, Donna and I were scheduled to arrive at ABC studios on 67^th street the next morning at 7am.  Needless to say, I had a long night ahead of me.  We decided to just offer Bamberg at Hester so I headed to Trader Joe’s (which ain’t that cheap!) for all the veggies and dairy we would need to prep that night.  Due to how late in the day it was, bread and chicken would have to wait until the next day.  I sent our sales reps over at London Meat and TomCat bakery an emergency email notifying them of our predicament.  Then I crossed my fingers.

The next morning I picked up Donna at the ass crack of dawn and we headed to Long Island City to pick up some fresh pretzel bread for “The Chew”.  Batali must NOT have crusty bread!  As we pulled up to the side entrance of ABC, iron chef Michael Symon was just finishing his morning cigarette.  Donna and I exchanged looks of excitement, “here we are!!”  Once we found parking, Donna and I were greeted by associate producer, Dan Aldworth (aka the sweetest man in the world).  Dan escorted us through the set and into the kitchen where Donna and I would explain the sandwich assembly in detail to their kitchen staff.  Once they had been given the run down, Dan brought us to our seats where the Bon Chovie team was already hanging out.  It was then when we learned that of all the vendors Mario Batali visited, they chose only three to feature on this segment; Schnitz, Mighty Quinn’s, and Bon Chovie.  This morning, we were rock stars.  Surrounded by some of the most talented culinary minds in the world and it’s us they want to talk about!  Before the audience began filing in, the producers played the video of the Smorgasburg segment for us as a sneak peek.  I’m not gonna give anything away because you all better have your DVRs set, but it was nothing short of awesome!  Chef Batali describes the markets and their spirit in such perfection it nearly gave me goose bumps.  They show our booth, some of my interaction with the iron chef and of course the sandwiches.  We are more than pleased with the way it came out, but the entire segment was genuine, tasteful and conveys exactly what these markets are trying to accomplish.

After the taping of the actual show (and some dancing with Carla Hall), we left the studio on an absolute high.  Both Donna and I had huge smiles on our faces as we walked over to the car.  However this moment of sheer joy was quickly replaced by worry once we headed over to London Meats.  I didn’t have to time to call ahead so we had to bite the bullet and just show up.  Hopefully they will still have some boned out thighs for us!  On the way over I got a phone call from Jamie, our sales rep at TomCat, with some great news; they have some extra pretzel dough left and can fill most of my order for Hester Nights!  Phew!  Now all that is left is chicken.  Donna managed to get a couple of our prep guys to come meet me at the kitchen to pound the chicken and then head straight over to Manhattan to set up for the night market.  We now had only 2 hours.

Even the good vibes I had gotten from our taping at ABC couldn’t bring my nerves down.  We managed to find the last box of boned out thighs London Meats had to offer and sped all the way to Greenpoint with them.  I had the guys (DVD and Angel) pounding it as fast as they could while I started to load the car.  The minutes kept ticking away and I was feeling the pressure now.  Even with the torrential downpour consuming the entire city, we kept pushing forward.  It is now 1:15pm, chicken is pounded and tender, bread has arrived nice and fresh, sauces and pickles are also loaded and ready to go.  As soon as I clapped my hands together in my patented “here we go!” fashion, my phone buzzes. It’s Donna. I can already tell that something is up before I slide my finger across the screen to read the text; “They cancelled!!!”  

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt a small wave of relief.  Yes, I had just sacrificed sleep, money, and sufficiently pestered all of my vendors but it was at this moment that I could finally stop moving and breathe a bit.  We unloaded everything, cleaned up and I bought the guys some pizza (the perks!) for all their hard work.  That evening, after I had settled everything, I called Donna and asked, “Did that day really just happen?”

My Fellow Schnitzers,

  It comes with great pleasure that I present to you the official rendering of Schnitz’ brand spanking new canopy, set to debut this Saturday at Smorgasburg!  We just received word that it has shipped and should arrive this evening or tomorrow.  See you there!

Check us out in todays Manhattan section! We couldnt be more thrilled!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/nyregion/in-new-york-dining-the-appeal-of-exclusive-and-artisanal.html?src=me&ref=nyregion

In other exciting news, Schnitz will be joining the much hyped Hester Street NIGHT fair at the Hotel Eventi in midtown.

We were not very prepared for this news as we recieved confirmation last night at 3am so we are scrambling to get sandwiches ready for not just The Chew taping, but also to have some schnitz to sell tomorrow night for the opening. It is super important for us to be there as TONS of important press are showing up.

Not only do we not know how we’re going to prep all the pickles, sauces, and schnitz, but we are not sure about staffing. Hopefully all will work out, I have faith in our little Schnitz Team that we can accomplish all with a smile on our face.

Check out some links below about the HSF Night Market!

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2012/04/hester-street-fair-opening-day-food-vendors-artisans-chinatown-outdoor-eating.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/new-york-weekend-events-april-27-29_n_1459739.html

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2012/04/a_first_look_at_6.php

http://www.openingceremony.us/entry.asp?pid=5590

We got some amazing news this afternoon from the producers over at The Chew that we just had to share!

They will be doing a live taping tomorrow morning at 8am in the studio and Yoni and I will be bringing over samples of our Bamberg sandwich so that each host gets to try some on air!! We also get to be part of the studio audience :) 

Right now Yoni is over at the kitchen prepping some awesome sandwiches to bring over tomorrow, finding out where we can get some fresh pretzel bread from a TomCat retailer, and finding the nicest chicken thighs available in the Tri-State area.

The episode itself will air Friday, June 22 so mark your calendars and we will be sure to post about our adventures tomorrow morning. 

Wish us luck!