News - Archive
December 29, 2005
In
further support of youth empowerment, the "Nirvana Creativity
Challenge” is launched. The monthly contest is designed to
empower children by fostering imagination and inventiveness as they
create their own ice cream flavors and submit them for consideration
by the Nirvana team. One recipe will be selected each month,
produced in a limited batch and served in Nirvana restaurants, with
the winning child receiving $100 for their originality and effort.
November 13th, 2005
Nirvana
turns its private room into an “empowerment zone” when
CEO Scott Shickler delivers a one-hour teacher training workshop
to over 20 teachers from Crabapple Middle School. As the teachers
enjoyed lunch, Scott shared winning strategies and techniques they
could use to infuse practical business skills into their existing
classes.
November 9, 2005
Nirvana
is featured in the “Roswell Neighbor” newsweekly
in an article titled, “A State of Nirvana.” According
to writer Joan Durbin, “The eatery, which serves high-quality
coffee, sandwiches, bagels, and extraordinary ice cream, has been
successful almost from the first day it opened.” Click here to
read PDF
October 17, 2005
Nirvana CEO Scott Shickler delivers a youth empowerment seminar
to over 250 4th graders at Sweet Apple Elementary School. Through
the use of educational games and activities, students experience
what it means to think creatively, work as a team, and increasingly
tap into their full potential.
September 13, 2005
Nirvana
sponsors the Centennial High School Labor Day festivities for Roswell
residents. As
families gather and celebrate, Nirvana serves fresh gourmet sandwiches
and mango-iced tea.
August 28, 2005
Nirvana
forms a partnership with Roswell High School, kicking things off
with a luncheon at the restaurant for all new teachers in our private
room – also known as the “empowerment
zone.”
July 10-16, 2005
Nirvana
is featured in “The Sunday Paper” newsweekly in an
article titled, “Frozen and Fabulous.” According to
writer Elizabeth Bergman, “The folks behind Nirvana, a new
fast-casual eatery in Roswell that may soon be franchised, really
did their market research. (This) slick prototype creates sublime
ice cream products.” Click here to view PDF
July 4, 2005
Nirvana sponsors the 4th of July fireworks exposition at Roswell
High School, serving its award-winning Chocolate Nirvana ice cream
to families enjoying the show.
June 19, 2005
Dads
are special at Nirvana every day - and on Father’s Day,
Dads eat for free!
June 7, 2005
Nirvana forms a partnership with the Roswell Parks and Recreation
Department. In an effort to help fund youth development activities,
Nirvana will donate a percentage of all summer purchases made by
card-carrying members of the park.
May 19, 2005
Nirvana
wins the “Best Dessert” award at the Taste of
Alpharetta food expo, attended by over 60,000. The winning entry,
Chocolate Nirvana, is made with Ghirardelli chocolate and created
using Nirvana’s
proprietary recipe of marrying traditional gourmet American ice
cream with European gelato. The judges called it “Pure Heaven!” Come
in and try it for yourself.
May 8, 2005
Moms
are special at Nirvana every day - and on Mother’s Day,
Moms eat for free!
April 10, 2005
22 3rd graders from High Meadows School gather at Nirvana for a
poetry reading. In support of youth empowerment, Nirvana hosts the
students and their families and provides the young artists with free
ice cream following the original and creative readings.
March 29, 2005
Roswell Mayor Jere Wood cuts the ribbon and helps celebrate the
official Grand Opening of Nirvana.
March 1, 2005
Nirvana
is featured in Atlanta food service industry newsmagazine “Hudspeth
Report” in an article titled, “Nirvana Found in Roswell.” Click
here to view PDF
March 1, 2005
Nirvana
is featured in “Points North” magazine in a feature
titled, “Finding
Nirvana.” According to writer
Heather Brown, “Synonymous with words like dream, heaven and
bliss, the aptly named neighborhood coffee shop opened its doors
last December. Customers have been deliriously happy ever since.
And no they don’t call it Nirvana for nothing!” Click here
to view PDF
February 3, 2005
25
Kindergarten students from the High Meadows School visit Nirvana
and use mock “credit cards” to
purchase homemade Nirvana ice cream. Later in the week, Nirvana
CEO Scott Shickler visits their classroom to discuss the business
of ice cream.
January 28, 2005
Jaxson
Shickler, the original inspiration for Nirvana, turns 9. As a special
birthday treat, Jaxson created his own ice cream flavor – “Jax
Trax” – made with vanilla ice cream, fudge, peanut butter
cups, heath pieces, and a touch of caramel. It’s already
a top seller, come in for a try.
January 27,
2005
Nirvana
is featured in the “Atlanta Journal-Constitution” newsdaily
in an article titled, “Bite of Heaven.” According to
writer H.M. Cauley, “The eatery wants to be a food lover’s
hangout, with breakfast served all day, big sandwiches and an even
bigger ice cream dessert.”
December 27, 2004
The
day has come. Nirvana launches a “Soft-Opening” to
quietly begin serving guests while the restaurant employees continue
their “on the job” training. To the team’s surprise,
1,500 guests come visiting during the first week. WOW…a place
of bliss, delight and peace. This is our Nirvana. What’s Your
Nirvana?
November
17, 2004
Professor
David Pavesic joins the advisory team to help Nirvana organize
and layout our menu boards, catering literature, and take-out menus.
David is a professor of hospitality at Georgia State University
as well as a seasoned author & consultant on restaurant menu
planning and operations.
November 3, 2004
Local
Chef Andy Badgett joins the advisory team. Andy is the owner and
chef of the Fickle Pickle and he was previously chef/operator of
Asher – one
of Atlanta’s most treasured restaurants.
Andy is lending his expertise and a test kitchen so Nirvana can focus
on the finer details of creating hot and tasty gourmet sandwiches,
wraps & salads.
October 7, 2004
John
Collins becomes the Managing Partner of Nirvana. John is an absolutely
fantastic addition to our team and he will not only operate Nirvana
(in Roswell) but he will prepare us for National expansion. John
has over 25 years experience in the restaurant business and he
has opened and operated over 100 restaurants for Wendy’s & Cinnabon.
August 24, 2004
Malcolm
Stogo joins the team as our ice cream advisor. Malcolm is one of
the World’s leading experts on the production of
premium ice cream and has strategically assisted several international
ice cream companies including Haagen-Dazs and Columbo. Malcolm will
specifically help Nirvana create proprietary, homemade ice cream
recipes that will totally wow our guests!
May 7, 2004
Grady
Regas joins the team as a critical advisor. Grady is one of the
most respected individuals in the hospitality field. He is most
widely known for Grady’s American Grill and of the
Regas Restaurant fame but his impeccable touch for guest satisfaction
and attention to detail has earned him a warm place in our hearts.
Grady will help Nirvana fine-tune our menu and guide us through the
restaurant start-up phase.
April 10, 2004
Restaurant
Consulting Group is selected to design and build both the exterior
and interior of Nirvana One. RCG has exceptional experience in
designing and building over 100 restaurants in the Southeast. We
break ground on April 27, 2004!
March 26, 2004
After
an intense search, we find a wonderful location for our first Nirvana
Restaurant. We decide to build Nirvana One in Roswell, GA in the
Village Festival Shopping Center at the intersection of Highway
92 (Crossville Road) & Crabapple
Road.
February 6, 2004
Master
Chef Tony Seta joins the team as an important advisor. Tony is
a certified Master Chef by the American Culinary Federation and
has 30+ years experience in menu and kitchen development with many
national brands in the food industry. He has worked with hundreds
of restaurants including Sonic, Olive Garden, Applebee's, Perkins,
Shoney’s
Arby’s, Fazoli’s, and Pasta Connection.
September 13, 2003
The
name for our restaurant is born - Nirvana! After many iterations
and brainstorming sessions, a spark of genius hits Rand Cabus.
Nir·va·na…1)
A place of bliss, delight and peace 2) A completely enjoyable experience
3) Pure pleasure. We later added our tag line…”Heavenly
Bagels, Sandwiches & Ice
Cream."
August 11, 2003
Jeff
Waller, a friend and gifted financial & market
analysis expert, joins the team. Jeff immediately begins a thorough
market analysis of competitive concepts and begins to work on our
restaurant business plan. Jeff brings over ten years of consulting
experience in the areas of raising capital and the design of financial
and operational models. He has assisted over 20 companies through
his work with Accenture and IXL Consulting.
June 29, 2003
Rand
Cabus, a friend and talented marketing & creative
design specialist, joins the team. He immediately begins working
on a name for the restaurant as well as our potential “look
and feel”. Rand brings a unique & savvy talent to the team
that he honed while assisting such organizations as Paramount Pictures,
NBC Vivendi, Viacom and Giant Studios.
January 4, 2003
My
good friend Mike Schaefer suggests we form Global Gourmet Group
as the parent company for our restaurant concept. Mike becomes
an active partner and brings tremendous business acumen to the
company. With over 25 years of executive management experience
at Fortune 100 companies, Mike delivers real-world know-how. At
one point in time, he managed over 300 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants
for PepsiCo!
June 27, 2002
The “Nirvana
Concept” is born…on this day,
my six-year old son said, “Daddy, maybe we could open a restaurant
and serve the best ice cream in the world.” An interesting
idea, I thought…especially if we added coffee, sandwiches,
soups and salads. We started to dream of a “third place” – a
place away from home, school, or work. A place that was comfortable,
peaceful, and filled with delicious experiences.