Serving at the Sundowner

The time had come.  It was our turn to give back to the Ocean Beach Main Street Association's Sundowner.  While we still didn't have a place of our own, we agreed to team up with host, Culture Brewing Co. & cater July's business mixer at their place.

Kate & I had been to many of these events.  If we didn't have a gig booked for the last Thursday of the month, we made an appearance.  

With free drinks & snacks it was an easy sell to stop by for an hour or two at a business in OB & shoot the shit with local business owners.  Obeacians are pretty easy to talk to & it was nice to know most business owners were in the same boat as us- just trying to survive & thrive at the beach.    

Besides, we paid $80 in annual dues to the OBMA, so we figured we'd reap all of the benefits of our membership.  And, there was always a raffle at the end.  All you needed was to remember to bring a business card.      

We brought plenty of them for this particular setup.  Along with Cheezer placards that Kate wrote up beforehand to describe some of our most popular sandwiches of the summer:

The heat was on that night.  Even though we were setup next to the walk-in keg cooler, the humidity & the electric griddle didn't help cool down a large crowd of people at dinner time.  

To make matters worse, the buttered sourdough was taking forever to turn golden brown & crispy.  We started calling this, "ginger-bread syndrome" after the fact.       

At least I was able to assemble the three different cheezers with factory line speed.  It was the first time we chose a limited menu of Cheezers to serve & it was a great all-round decision.  One we still use to this day, when doing catering setups.  Less supplies to bring & less time for people to waste on choosing from eight or more Cheezers.  A valuable lesson learned.

We didn't win the raffle (since we weren't eligible) that night.  But, we did give away a few "Cheezer Coupons" that were cashed in down the road at the OB market.  

It turns out free food is a great way to promote your business.  Even if they don't buy it, they at least got to try it & then, you're on their radar.