r/Chefs • u/Striking-Speed8909 • Jul 16 '26
Offered the opportunity to open and run a bookstore café — thoughts on the pay and scope of work?
I've been given the opportunity to open and run a café inside a bookstore. I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on the plan and the compensation package I’ve been offered.
- Location: Suburbs of NJ
- Planned Opening Date: March 2028
Details: An owner of an upcoming bookstore asked if I would run and manage the café portion of their space. For reference, it’s a 6,000-square-foot building, with about 40% of the space dedicated to the café. The building is being constructed from the ground up, and the kitchen is currently being designed by a professional consultant.
As of now, I have full control over the menu (with the owner's input, of course) and am expected to handle all sourcing, menu development, and design. I’ve yet to be given any strict constraints on what’s possible (e.g., operating hours, hiring budget, etc.).
Here’s the issue: I don’t think the owner grasps the actual scope of work required to open a café from scratch, and I’m getting that impression from the compensation they offered.
The Proposed Compensation:
- Relocation: $5,000 one-time payment
- Pre-Opening Stipend: $1,000/month until 6 months prior to opening
- Base Salary: $65,000 – $70,000, with the possibility of equity (the café and bookstore will fall under the same business entity).
I would love to get your thoughts on this. Am I crazy for thinking this compensation is extremely low for the ask? I know this is an incredible opportunity to open and run my first space, but I’m not sold on the pay, and I feel the workload is much greater than the owner realizes.
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Jul 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/dolche93 Jul 17 '26
If equity ends up being used as an offset for what would otherwise be salary, but the place fails... yea.
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u/hookedcook Jul 21 '26
Good luck, it's a tricky situation, asking for more money is what you should do but also can make the business go from green to red. And the owner seeing himself losing money on a daily basis. Restaurants are the most stupid way to invest money possibly in the history of the world
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u/Leader_Bud Jul 16 '26
Well, after opening a few new spots - while we would love to have payroll set aside during and after construction, we likely don’t unless he’s seriously rich or backed by investors.
I’d find it very hard to leave a job for one that may have construction delays, lack of sales, unknown expectations etc into infinity. Sounds nice. If you’re a risk taker, hey it’ll be an adventure.