Vincent Fernandez with C’est La Vie Restaurant

Intro: [00:00:07] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:18] Welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs in the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I’m your host, Sharon Cline. And today on the show, we have one of the owners of C’est La Vie restaurant in Canton, Georgia. It’s a gourmet French restaurant with a really nice romantic atmosphere. I was just in there. It’s beautiful. Please welcome Vincent Fernandez.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:00:42] Hello.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:43] Hello.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:44] What’s so cool is you have the nicest French accent. This is so fun for me. Thank you for coming in. I know your wife, Leticia, was hoping that she could come today, but she had a lunch rush, which is.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:00:59] The lunch rush. And we also have the first Friday in Canton. So then we have to set up a tent over there, so.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:05] Okay. Yeah. So I can see how it doesn’t always work out. But that’s how business ownership is, right? You just roll. Roll with the punches. Okay, So I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things. One is that, first of all, your restaurant is just so beautiful in Canton and it’s in this nice older looking house that’s got such charm to it. But when you walk in, it’s really feels like you’re visiting a completely different land. It’s like the esthetics that you chose and the colors on the walls and the wood tables and it’s just beautiful.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:01:37] Yeah, that’s exactly what we what we when we visit the first time, the house, you know, we see this historic and beautiful house then we don’t have in France, you know, that kind of architecture doesn’t really exist. So that’s the image then we have from the US. So as soon as we visit this house, we walk in, we feel the history and we really fall in love and we straight project on a project, the restaurant in it. Wow. And after that it was just a lot of work to make it happen. Oh, I.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:12] Bet. I bet so. Well, let’s talk a little bit about your history and how you got from France to Georgia. Okay. All right. So I did a little research on on both you and the teacher. And so I saw that Leticia has a master’s degree in communication and marketing and that you were involved in studying. Is it racehorses?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:02:33] Yes, exactly. I was a jockey from 14 years old to 18 years old. You were a jockey? Yeah. And the best in France in 2003 from The Apprentice. So after I met Leticia, I was 19 years old, so I stopped the horse race before because, you know, there’s a moment then you are young, you take some decision and you say, okay, I’m done with that. A lot of work, a lot of, you know, when you are young, you not always take the good decision.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:06] But sometimes it’s dangerous, right? It’s dangerous.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:03:08] It’s it’s dangerous. And also, it’s a lot of work. You know, you have no day off from 14 to 18 years old. You know, it’s the moment when you’re supposed to enjoy. So 18 years old, I say, okay, now what I’m going to do.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:23] So then you met Leticia.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:03:25] And I met Leticia and I. I decided to I was kind of entrepreneur already when I was young, you know, very young. I started to, to, you know, exchange products and product. So I we decided to together to because she had the job at one hour and a half from from where I lived when we meet and I tell her why not your father have a pizza business, why not to take this advantage, to to learn about it and go by yourself. And we will see what happens.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:00] And that’s how it started. You got started in a pizza restaurant?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:04:04] Yes. Yes. We had a pizza place for about ten years before to get very boring and say, okay, we pay a lot of tax in France. Oh, we don’t make so too much money for the. So we we decided and we wanted to see something else also and we we look all the, all the map, the world map and we say, okay where are we going to go? And so we tried different country and the US was, you know, it’s a kind of dream, you know, when you are a kid, you see this flag, this beautiful flag, you know, it’s all we have from Europe about us is, you know, that’s that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to try so to come in Georgia when we were in France. The US is a big country and a lot of diversity. So we did a kind of poll with all the French people lived in us, all the people we know, all the people we don’t know, the people they live to work, the people live to just visit or something like that. And the funny thing is, George. It was number one.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:16] No way out of the people that have been to the US and they’re back in France. They said, come to Georgia. Yeah.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:05:22] Oh, even the people living in a different state, you know, it was almost 80% of the people told us.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:30] Wow, who would have known? Yeah. You were in Avignon. Is that correct? Yes, exactly. And that’s a coastal town, is that right?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:05:37] No, It’s about 45 minutes north of the Mediterranean on the on the Rhone Valley.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:42] Because I was looking at some of your history about what you were when you were making pizzas and you were able to kind of use some of the Mediterranean kind of spin on on food, right?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:05:53] Yes, exactly. And, you know, in the Mediterranean, all the coast, we all have the same influence. You know, it can be Spanish, Italian, Greek or north of Africa. You know, everything is kind of coordinated. You know, of course, there’s there’s some famous when the people talk about the prosecutor. Yes, it’s it’s Italian, but also we have the German crew. You go in Spain, you have the how we call that. You know, you have the same it’s exactly the same process, the same product. But of course, the prosecutor have a have a better name in us. But everything is about the same all around the Mediterranean. You know, it’s a lot of history. History. It’s everything is based on the same Everything was built on the same.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:43] Like recipes and things, Right. And ingredients and. Yes. And seafood and different things that are all around there. That makes sense. All right. So you decide to come to Washington, Georgia. That was your first spot. And did you know you were going to open your French restaurant?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:06:58] So so first we didn’t pick only Georgia because we wanted to visit everywhere, right? Of course I would. But so we we just visit the Colorado and the Georgia. And so Colorado was too cold. So we spent three weeks in in Atlanta. And after that, we we traveled for a week in in Denver. And as soon as we land in Denver, I had to run to to rush to buy a jacket in the end of September. So I said, okay, it’s maybe too cold when when my friend probably a month later send me a picture with probably a hint of snow. I was like, Oh.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:47] If you want to ski, it’s a great place. Right? And lots of wonderful things about Colorado, but definitely different temperature wise. So so you come here and it felt more like home to you or felt comfortable to you.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:07:58] I think what is great is we still have the season. Yes. Yes. That we we feel a little bit like in France because, you know, it’s not like Florida when it’s summer all year long and it’s very green. The I think the lifestyle is it’s great. The cost of living is great, too. So it was what the all the French people say about the Georgia and is booming also. So that’s exactly what we see since we are here and that’s why we we love Georgia. Yay. And about Washington. So I have my friend from Colorado when I tell him, you know, Colorado is too cold. Okay. Yeah. The friend in California invest in Washington. And he brought me over there. Then, you know, I was not ready for this first time.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:50] Yeah, I’m sure it’s a culture shock, too, you know, It must seem so different.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:08:53] Oh, yes, Yes. But I mean, we are from a Avignon is still a small town. And. And, you know, we we were. I was. I raised in a. In a small town. So it’s kind of. It feels the same. Yeah, it’s pretty similar. Everybody knows everybody, you know, I mean, in Washington, because, of course, it’s it’s only 3000 people. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:18] So you opened your first restaurant there. It was the same. Was it say, La vie was.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:09:22] Yes, it was La Vie. We start the first restaurant there, and it was, for us, a good opportunity to try your product without, um, without a big expense because the city wanted us over there. So we say, okay, but, uh, you know, we don’t have a big, um, let’s say a big amount of money to invest. And, you know, we arrived, I had zero English, my wife had a little bit. So on the, on a letter of ten, I had zero and she had probably 2 or 3. Oh, my goodness.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:02] Oh my goodness. So you didn’t speak any English when you came over here? No, no, no. Oh, my gosh. You speak so well now. It’s only been like three years or four years. I don’t know, something like that.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:10:12] Four years. And, you know, Washington was great because they have so deep Southern accent. Then I think I learned on a on a kind of rough, you know.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:25] Well, sometimes you can’t understand southern accents even when you speak English so well. So do you think you learned? Well, you don’t sound like you have a Southern accent right now. You sound. No, no, no, I may.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:10:35] I may. It doesn’t mean I have the accent, but I understand. Oh, you.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:39] Understand it because it’s so different. Oh, I got you so it’s so difficult to even learn. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. I didn’t think about that. That’s funny. But listen, did you learn? How did you learn? Was it just being here and interacting with people?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:10:50] Yes, I learned I think we we both learned by the hard way. The hard way. The people tell us, oh, I will charge you $1,000 to make you a drywall wall from probably three feet, something like that. And I was like, Oh, yeah, sure, sure. We thought you understand because I understand you wanted to charge me only $40. You know.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:14] You can say there’s a lost in translation of whatever it is. Oh, that’s funny.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:11:19] So yeah, it was so we learned pretty quickly. And we also had to learn about how to run a business all the, you know, all the paperwork and all this thing pretty different than in France. So easier, so easy then. I mean, so easy to, to go open a business, run a business. Then you feel like you miss something all the time, right? You worry. Yeah, You worry because you say, oh, I miss something, I miss something. And and of course, we miss many things. You know, the first, uh, when we open after three months in France, you know, you have to pay your, your cell tax every three months. And for me, I didn’t even think about it. So after three months, we receive a, um, a letter from the IRS and say, Hey, you should have to pay. If you pay, you’re late. But the CPA, you know, didn’t even think about I mean, she made told us, but we didn’t understand. So we were just, oh my goodness late on few things. But we we learned and everything was okay. It was not a big consequence on it then. Yeah. We just went through and now. Now it’s okay. We know everything about everything.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:28] Well, you, you learned the hard way, like you said, but that there’s a lot of fear that comes into play when you are coming to a country. You don’t have the language down. You don’t speak English. You don’t understand all the laws. I don’t understand all the laws either until you have to. Right. So how did you what made you so brave?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:12:49] Uh, the craziness.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:51] Maybe you’re a crazy, brave person.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:12:55] Brave? I don’t know. But crazy. Yes. I think you. When you. When you want to do something, if you want this thing happen, you need to make it happen. You know, it will not happen by itself. So we wanted to move. You know, Leticia and I, we have different, uh, temperament. Yeah. Temperament. Yeah. So she’s a lot more she feels to need safe. Uh, she, she she’s not a risk taker. And. But she, she, she really enjoyed the. All happened since. Since we started. But. It was very different. She was very scared. I was very excited. And yeah, I work. I mean, we work both together very hard to go through. First, this language problem, this all all the administrative thing and leaving the family living. You know, before that, we my parents live at, what, a half mile from my home? Oh, wow. Uh, Leticia was probably ten, 15 miles from home, so we were. Very connected and we decide to leave. So from one day to another, we had the kid. 24 hours a day, seven, seven days a week. No way to to to have a free time or and in the same time running the business. A lot of energy. But, you know, uh, as we say, no pain, no gain.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:33] So that’s a good phrase, a good English phrase to say. Oh, okay. So how did you come up with your items that you’re having on your menu? All the different recipes and your ideas of how you wanted to have your restaurant.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:14:49] So what what we wanted when we opened this restaurant, it was having something like correspond to us. Yes. And we we really wanted to have our image in a restaurant. The people like when we receive them, we receive. We receive them at home, you know, like they can sit with us and we can, uh, so at the beginning we find out it was a very different culture because in us, the people, uh, sometimes they hit like, uh, like they go to fill the gas at the gas station. Then in France, you know, when you go to the restaurant is to spend our and our and our just talking, debating or something like that. So at the beginning we had to adjust, but a little bit by little bit, you know, the customer came and after that they know why they came. We had to explain the way, the way then we are, the way then we see the the restaurant and I think the people really enjoy it now. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:51] So they come and they stay. They talk to you. They don’t just come in, eat and leave. Oh, yeah.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:15:55] No, not anymore. The first restaurant was a little bit like that, so we were kind of, uh, you know, the people was like, Oh, it’s not quick enough. It’s not quick enough. Oh, my goodness. And now they say, Oh, already here. Really?

Speaker3: [00:16:08] That’s funny.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:10] Well, I had gone to your restaurant the other day and just because I wanted to be able to talk about it when you’re coming on the show and I got I had soup, but they brought a bag or half of a baguette. Half a baguette. It seemed huge, but it was half. And I didn’t know that. The baguettes that you have are very special. They’re not made here. They’re made in France, right?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:16:33] Yes, exactly. We we begged them. Uh, they’re like.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:38] Half baked.

Speaker3: [00:16:39] Over there and they finish here.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:16:40] Yeah, because the. The problem is about the flour and the, you know, the raising and all this thing. You know, there’s different wheat. Different. Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:48] The wheat is different.

Speaker3: [00:16:49] Everything okay?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:16:50] And, uh, we can. We can. We don’t have a time to do the, you know, in France, the the guy that they make the bread, you know, they wake up at midnight, you know, raise it and cook that at 6 a.m. You know, it’s take an hour. And our it’s a real job by itself.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:05] So just to make baguettes.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:17:06] Yes.

Speaker3: [00:17:07] Holy cow. I had no idea. I don’t think I’ve appreciated the.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:11] Baguettes that I’ve. Well, having them at your place, I could tell it was different. Plus, I mean, the gentleman who was explaining to me about baguettes, he was saying that they need to be proofed and baked where they were made. Like you don’t mess with it. So it’s a very serious it’s definitely a level of seriousness with food.

Speaker3: [00:17:29] Oh, yes.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:17:30] I mean, the bread is something very important. You know, bread, wine. I have my, uh, wine distributor come to me and come with some wine. They don’t understand. There’s some details. Then. I’m very picky about it because, of course, it’s like the bread, wine, the cheese. It’s a product. Then we cannot. You know, when you are French, you know, you. You cannot.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:51] Can’t cut corners.

Speaker3: [00:17:53] Yes, exactly.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:54] I was looking at I was looking at your menu. And I see you have some different kinds of things on your menu than than what’s typical. Like you have octopus on your menu, right? Yes. Where do you get this octopus from?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:18:05] From Spain. Oh, really? From Spain?

Speaker3: [00:18:07] Exactly. Does it come in.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:09] Like every day?

Speaker3: [00:18:10] How does that work?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:18:10] No, the octopus come frozen because anyway, when you know, when I was in France, I do spearfishing. So I collect a lot of octopus. But to cook it perfectly, you need to freeze it before it breaks the fiber. Oh, I got you. And after that, you have to cook it like, uh, for a certain time and slowly and to make it very, very tender.

Speaker3: [00:18:32] So what’s your.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:33] Favorite thing that you serve on your menu?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:18:36] You know, I’m I love too much food, so that’s why I do this job. Oh, all we have on the menu is all we do is what we like. So that’s why I don’t make the dessert.

Speaker3: [00:18:51] Oh, really? You don’t like the dessert?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:18:53] No, I like a savory food. I like, uh. I like the butter. I like all these things, you know? But you cannot put me to make dessert, because first, I don’t like it. I don’t feel a pleasure on it. So, Leticia, if she was there, she will tell you she’s very like, organized. A gram is a gram then for me. A gram, you know.

Speaker3: [00:19:17] Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:18] So there’s baking and then there’s cooking, right? Yes. Baking. You have to be so specific, but cooking you can just add.

Speaker3: [00:19:23] Oh, yeah.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:19:24] You have an idea? Oh, it’s okay. Five minutes later, you can arrive at the idea with any. I mean, you have no, uh, specific technique. You can create a technique. You know, it’s just you go this way and you say, Oh, I create a recipe. I didn’t know this thing exists, but you made it. You don’t know how, and you try to redo it the day after, but it doesn’t work. So but the most important is the work one so.

Speaker3: [00:19:53] Well, I think it’s interesting.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:54] It’s like you may love something, but then you don’t remember. You don’t remember how you made it.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:19:58] You know, that’s why I never write. I almost never write my recipe. Oh, wow. And sometime I take a whole menu. Then we have in the first restaurant and I find out and I read and I say, Oh, okay, that’s interesting. I may do it again, but every time then I redo. It’s never the same as I never write the recipe. You know, it’s, uh, almost impossible. And every, every day you, uh, you, you learn about test, you learn about, you know, the, the the food is unlimited. And, you know, you work in another restaurant, you work in another market, you find the spices, you find the test, and your test will change and evolve with you every day. So sometime I do some plate. Then I did one in my first restaurant and I feel like, okay, it’s a totally different deal because I changed the paper because now I have my test like this or and and it works. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:59] Well, you’re creative then.

Speaker3: [00:21:00] You’re creative.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:21:02] I mean. I try. I try. But, you know, it’s not I would say it’s not about creativity, but it’s about what you really love. And, you know, as your test change, one day you will want something like this. And I just go to it and I say, Oh, and you know, with all this show on the TV, on the Internet, it gives you a lot of inspiration about plating, about test. Also push you to to to go deeper on the on you know on the details. Yeah then it’s great I think the level of the cooking go a lot higher with all the show.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:46] I agree with that and people can see what’s out there outside of what they grew up with, what they thought was normal, which I love that you’re in Canton, Georgia, because that’s a very southern town. I don’t know that. I don’t think there are any other French restaurants anywhere near where you are. Like, I can’t even think of one.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:22:04] No, I think there’s a there’s one in, uh, I think in Buckhead. Oh.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:10] That’s pretty far from Canton.

Speaker3: [00:22:12] Yeah. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:13] So how nice for you that you get to introduce a whole area to authentic French cooking. That’s very satisfying.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:22:22] Yeah. I mean, we just do what we love to do, so it’s kind of for us, we don’t see like a introduced to the people. Like I tell you, we just take the people and bring them home and see them on the table and create a relation. Because you know why we pick Sylvie for the name of the restaurant? It means for me, Sylvie mean. You know, to to live. To live, you need to feed yourself. So that’s the first meaning of it. But the the second meaning meaning is you sit around the table with your friend, with your family, with your boyfriend with, and you just have a good time. You know, you that’s the moment. Then you see it. You you stop to think about all the parasite around and you just enjoy the time. Talk, drink good wine with a good food and. And just. That’s. That’s life. Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:23:15] Enjoy your life. Exactly.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:17] Okay, so what what would you say is the biggest mistake that you’ve made as you were opening your restaurant?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:23:24] Uh, the amount of work.

Speaker3: [00:23:28] You didn’t think.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:28] It would be this.

Speaker3: [00:23:29] Hard? No.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:23:30] The thing is, when we start, it was a small restaurant. So smaller. The restaurant, it is more. You need to work.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:38] That’s interesting. That’s interesting to think about. The smaller the restaurant, the more you have to work.

Speaker3: [00:23:42] Yes.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:23:42] Because you know what, you pay a chef. I mean, pay your chef, pay some critical position. You need to make. You need to make a sale.

Speaker3: [00:23:55] Yes, you’re right.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:23:56] And lower the sale. You cannot pay a chef for 50,000 a year if you make only 200,000. If I mean you can, but you will not make any money and you will probably, probably lose some. So that’s that’s a very good calculation then you need to have. And so now when I start, it was a small restaurant, so it was kind of hard. We we had to do everything. The only position then we had to pay was, uh, then we were able to pay. It was a dishwasher and, and the waiter. And for the rest we did all the. We did everything. Wow. And after that, of course, we grow. We move to Marble Hill. Marble. Right. So it was the problem then we had in Marble Hill was about the employment. Oh, okay. Yes. Because there’s not many young people, uh, around there. Uh, because, of course, the young people now go closer to the city, they make more money, it’s easier. And the young people stay, you know, they, they don’t care really about the restaurant, you know?

Sharon Cline: [00:25:03] True. That’s interesting. Where you put your restaurant, you have to be able to draw from that group in order to employ. Yes. Have employees.

Speaker3: [00:25:11] Interesting.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:25:12] And we can also it’s a gated community. So great because you have the customer. But the only problem was the employment. Wow. Because we were able to pay people. But the problem is it was nobody to pay. And the only people then we had there, they had no talent, you know, they, um, you know, they just do it to, to make money, not to put their heart in it. And that’s important because we have a product and we made with our heart. And if it’s not sell by heart, you know, of course we, we had, uh, one of our employees, if you go to the restaurant clock, the, the, the server then serve you last time. Yes. Then it’s great because he understand first he love it. He loves to hit and he really love the food. So he talked with his every time. Then he will talk to you about the plate. It’s going to be with dessert. And I can tell you, you have his eyes shine every time then. And that’s and for me, that’s that’s. That’s what I’m looking for on the on the people who work for me. If they don’t have these sparkling eyes, you know, it makes no sense because that means they don’t understand what we do.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:26:22] And it’s a small it’s a small business family owned. So you need to care about the people that you work for. You need to care about the product you have. And that’s the most important because if you are not able to. To to explain to your customer what we do, where we come from, what is the story behind that? It’s it makes no sense because we we sell experience. We don’t sell a plate. We sell experience. I think to sell plates you go and maybe McDonald’s. You know, you don’t need to ask anything. You know, the people know what they want. They they don’t they will not experience anything when they come to us. You know, they work in a romantic atmosphere, like you say. You know, we we dim the light down. We tried to keep it very like cozy, a very good feeling. And when you have the plate coming up, we try to in a plate so test then you probably you know, you’re not used to it and in the same time. A different product. Also, we try to have a different product always. And and it’s just us, you know, it’s just us in a plate. So we are different product. We have a bad accent.

Speaker3: [00:27:41] No, a good accent. It’s so fun to listen to you. It’s great. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:46] No, well, I think that’s important. You’re talking about investing your heart and everyone that you have around you. You want them to have that same heart associated with how much they care. And when they come to work, what they’re serving, interacting with people, knowing that they love it just as much as you do. And that makes a nice feeling, a nice atmosphere in the restaurant. Just just the people, not just, you know, the music and the food, but the whole atmosphere feels like everyone really loves what they’re doing.

Speaker3: [00:28:18] Oh, yes, exactly.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:28:19] And, you know, Clark is is is a part of the family because, you know, he can tell you a story about us. I can tell you a story about him. You know, we are really like, you know, when you sit with Clark on the table, it’s like you sit with me, You know, it’s really, you know, everything about us in it care a lot about everything. You know, I was surprised because a week ago, I have some friends from France visit us and we sit at the table and I say, okay, Clark, can you serve us? And that’s what he did. And I live I live a crazy experience in my own restaurant. So I was very surprised I was there. The guy come to me and talk to me about the bread. Then I didn’t even know. I mean, it’s something that we know, but something then I never.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:14] Yeah, you never experienced. You were the customer. Yeah. You got to see it as if you didn’t know anything.

Speaker3: [00:29:19] Yeah, and you.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:29:20] Got to know. But even what he told me about the bread, I was surprised because that’s true. But I never explain him. I never talked to him about it.

Speaker3: [00:29:27] How did he know that then?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:29:28] Because he loved the food. He loved the food. And he tried to understand why this bread is so good, why this bread is so good. That’s why he tell me why this bread is so good. So he take his phone and research online, online, why? And on on his Google on on his search. You say why the French bread is so good. So it was it was a lot of fun.

Speaker3: [00:29:50] But those are.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:51] The kind of people you want in your restaurant.

Speaker3: [00:29:53] Exactly.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:53] People who Google. Why is this so good? And then they can talk about it and explain it and you can appreciate it. I didn’t have an appreciation for it, and now I do. So it’s nice.

Speaker3: [00:30:03] Yeah.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:30:03] And that’s and every customer, when they see it, like I was hiding and I listened to him talking and he was saying, you know, he said to the customer, you know, I’m the only American here. So it was funny, but I can tell you everything about the food, about everything. I never leave the country, but I know everything about it. You can also say the crossword.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:26] What did your friends that were from France and had dinner with you? What did they think of your restaurant?

Vincent Fernandez: [00:30:31] Oh, they just think it’s so. I have a friend. Then you have a restaurant. And when you tell me I don’t have any background in. In cooking.

Speaker3: [00:30:40] And in.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:30:40] Cooking. Yes, Um, you tell me. Really? It’s only four years, and you are this lover.

Speaker3: [00:30:49] That must have felt so good. I mean.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:30:52] For me, I don’t see. Like, I don’t see like this. For me, it’s nothing exceptional, you know? I just do what I like. And of course, I read. I try. You know, the most important is trying, you know, because you can read a book, you can do whatever. If you don’t never try, you will. You will never know.

Speaker3: [00:31:07] So. Exactly right.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:08] So that’s what I like to talk about on the show is how you deal with the natural fear that comes with opening your own business or with you even coming to the country and being not a native speaker. So I know that you said, you know, not so much bravery, but you just wanted to try it so badly. What would you say to someone that’s out there who might want to open their restaurant or try a business and they and they just I don’t know, don’t know what to do.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:31:36] So first of all, we wanted to do a restaurant because I think the restaurant was the the easiest thing to do to change country. Um, so for a few months we go to work for free in France in a restaurant to learn about it. That was so smart to learn about the basics because the knowledge of, you know, the, the knowledge is priceless. So, um, what we did is I say to, to, I work in a restaurant and I like what they did. And I go there and I ask, I say, Hey, can I come with you? And I don’t know. You don’t pay me. You. I just come. I see what you do. If you want to teach me, I’ll be happy. But I just want to see all the things. How to organize the thing in the kitchen or the service. The service needs to be done because you know the pizza. The pizza business is different than cooking, you know? It’s a different job. It’s is nothing like it’s nothing like a like a kitchen, you know, pizza. It’s easy. You have no worries. We have no I mean, you have a little prep, but it’s it’s nothing if we.

Speaker3: [00:32:45] Everybody likes.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:46] Pizza. It’s like everybody’s happy. But this at your restaurant, you have so many different kinds of foods, too, right?

Speaker3: [00:32:52] Yes. Yes.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:32:53] And so I went for three months. I learn, learn, learn everything. And I feel like I really love what I learn and I keep going on it. I didn’t give up. It was very hard. And we arrived here in the US and that’s the the first moment. Then the restaurant was ready to run because we opened on Valentine’s Day. Oh my. I think it was the the biggest mistake.

Speaker3: [00:33:20] Probably all the.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:22] People want to go to a romantic French restaurant for Valentine’s.

Speaker3: [00:33:25] Day. Exactly. That was your opening day. Yes.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:33:28] First it was that. And second thing is, when you open a business, uh, like a restaurant in a small area, there’s a lot of buzz around. Yes. And everybody is ready for it. So when we I remember when we opened, I was in a kitchen, like, I’ve never been alone in a kitchen. I never. I was stressed. Like. Like you go like like somebody’s ready to go on the stage with a 60,000 people in front of him. You know, you feel like, okay, now it’s time to go. What are we going to do where I have to start? So.

Speaker3: [00:34:05] Oh, my.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:05] Goodness. Okay, so. So advice do not open a restaurant, a French restaurant on Valentine’s Day.

Speaker3: [00:34:11] Never. Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:34:15] And and after that, you know, it’s like everything in life, you know, you you make mistakes, you learn, you modify what you make it wrong, and you keep going, keep going. And sometimes it’s very hard. You have some very, very low. Then you just keep going. If you believe on what you do, if you have your heart in what you do, it’s going to be hard for sure. It’s everything going to be hard. You have no no reward without, uh, without, without pushing.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:46] But that’s an important concept. So to know that it is going to be hard work, but that’s expected if you own a business and. But you get to have that that reward, that satisfying feeling at the end of the night when you get to close down, everybody’s been happy and fed and that must be what it’s all about.

Speaker3: [00:35:02] Yeah.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:35:03] And you know, the I think the the thing then we really enjoy is when somebody walks to the kitchen and say, hey, it was the best thing that I never had. And you feel like proud because that’s what you want to do. You know, you do this job for this, you know, and when some people you know, I have a friend one time and now he’s a friend, but he was not at this time and he and he come to me and he say, my wife will do something for me, but I don’t know what it is, what is in this plate. And he looked like this, this lamb Oh, lamb, I never I hate lamb.

Speaker3: [00:35:39] No. And I say.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:35:40] Oh, I’m sorry you had that. I’m very sorry. And he said, No, it wasn’t. It was crazy. And after that, he go on the cruise and and he he tried lamb again with the cruise. And he told me it was awful. I could not hate it. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:56] So you made him like lamb. Your lamb. Just your lamb. Not everybody’s.

Speaker3: [00:36:00] Lamb. I mean, the.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:36:01] Wedding is marinaded. And you bring you know, it’s like everything if you take a raw product sometime, you just need to know how to how to make it right or to flavor it without to be. Yeah. And also, the cooking is a is a big deal. You know, right now on the menu, we have a monkfish. Okay. And a monkfish is a hard fish to cook because it can be very delicious, but it needs to be cooked right. And it takes two seconds to overcook it. And as soon as you overcook it, it’s like shibui and possible to it is tough. So that’s that’s that’s all about it. Most of the time, you know, you miss the cooking and and the plate you can feel like it’s it’s never it cannot be good but it can.

Speaker3: [00:36:52] If.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:52] You do it the right.

Speaker3: [00:36:53] Way.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:36:53] If you’re in the right. Yes, exactly.

Speaker3: [00:36:55] Well, I also.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:57] Saw that you have a mother’s Day menu, that you’re coming a brunch. Yes. Right. Yes. And then you also you are in a magazine, Taste of 575. Exactly. And then you’re going to be part of Taste of Canton next week.

Speaker3: [00:37:10] Or is it next week? Next week.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:12] So you’ve got lots of ways that you’re able to advertise and and encourage people to try your food like in samples and things.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:37:20] You know, opening a business is very, very I mean, now we are in Canton. Canton is a bigger city than. Any any place than we were before. So on the smaller city, the bus comes by itself. So you don’t really need to advertise because anyway, it’s a big cost. And when you are in a small area, you will not have this money back because you know the bus will do it by itself. But in a bigger city like Canton, you know, there’s a lot of competition and the people have the habit. Then you need to find a little spot on the on the schedule to bring them here. And it we need a lot of advertising also. We don’t have a sign now. So it’s kind of from outside. You don’t really know. That’s a restaurant.

Speaker3: [00:38:11] You have a.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:12] French flag and a United States.

Speaker3: [00:38:14] Flag. Right? Exactly.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:38:15] Exactly. But we work on the extending the deck outside and the sign is on a is on the way. And we will be a lot more visible from the from the street.

Speaker3: [00:38:26] Oh, that’s.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:26] Smart.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:38:27] So for now, for now, we are kind of in between. For now, the customer we have are happy. You see them coming back, come with their friend and and and keep coming and keep keep coming back. So that’s a false that’s a good sign. Well we are very grateful about it and yeah, but at the beginning it takes time to it takes time to grow. We are lucky because we have a kind of different product. So when the people want to experience something else, we are lucky also because we are French and the French have this reputation of a romantic of. So like you say, Mother’s Day, uh, Valentine’s Day was, you know, the people, they, they came because they had to find a they had to find the spot. A special spot.

Speaker3: [00:39:22] Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:22] Something special and yeah, unique. Exactly. Because there’s nothing like this around us anywhere really? Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:39:29] That’s so great.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:30] That’s so exciting. What a great spot that you’re in, too, because you’re not too far from the highway, but you’re in a nice little part, like a little downtown part of Canton, which is historic. And they film movies all around there too. So it’s must have a nice little draw of different people and.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:39:48] Yes. And and the mayor do a great job to make the, uh, the city, uh, more dynamic downtown, more dynamic. So that’s, that’s great because we can see that, uh, every day there’s a lot more people coming up, a lot more walkers. So that’s, that’s very important for us because, you know, when the people just visit the city, they they find us and they feel like, oh, I didn’t know it was that and that’s good. And and they will coming back, coming back and that’s good.

Speaker3: [00:40:16] Well, this.

Sharon Cline: [00:40:17] Is so exciting to talk to you. I’m so excited for you to see how it grows and the influence you have on the community and knowing that you’re expanding horizons, you know, people’s palates and exposing them to some part of the world that they may never really get to go visit in France, but they get the feeling of it right here. So that’s very cool.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:40:40] Exactly. We try to give them experience. Um, travel without flying. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:40:46] Wow. That’s awesome. Okay, so if anyone wanted to come to your restaurant, if. Is there a way they can find you on are you on Facebook or do you have your website?

Speaker3: [00:40:55] Yes, we.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:40:56] Have on we’re on Facebook, Sylvie, Canton, Georgia, something like that. We have a website. You put French restaurant Canton on Google, Only.

Speaker3: [00:41:05] One that’s going to come. Yes.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:41:07] Maybe. You see, I don’t know. Maybe you can put that on a French restaurant in Cherokee and maybe we’ll be the only one. I don’t know.

Speaker3: [00:41:14] I think so. Maybe I never.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:41:16] Tried, but maybe.

Speaker3: [00:41:17] We’ll try it.

Sharon Cline: [00:41:19] Okay. Well, Vincent, thank you so much for coming in and sharing your story. It’s been so fun to talk to you and imagine what it’s like to be you coming from a different country and and having a dream in your heart and now it’s a reality and everyone can enjoy it.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:41:33] That’s a yeah, that’s a great experience. And I hope if you have a dream and if you want to open a business because I know opening a business is very, very exciting. My wife may say the opposite, but she may say it’s stressful. But for me, I leave that like an excitement every day. Every day. Then you wake up, you will have something, something new show up. You have to face, you have to face the problem, go through. And sometimes it’s not a problem. Sometimes it’s a good surprise. And you know, when a when a customer smile and say thank you and they really love it, you know, that’s the best reward we can have. So that’s, that’s, uh, when you want something and you put your heart in it and you never give up, I think it will come. It will come.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:21] Oh, I love it. It’s such good advice. And I’ll come and meet your wife, Leticia. I can’t wait to meet her and have another. They’re wonderful meal with you. And maybe we can sit down and you can pretend I’m family, too.

Speaker3: [00:42:32] Yeah, exactly.

Vincent Fernandez: [00:42:33] That’s what we’re going to do next time.

Speaker3: [00:42:35] Okay. We’ll plan it.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:36] All right. Well, thank you so much for listening to Fearless Formula. And again, this is Sharon Cline reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.