Today we’d like to introduce you to Tifiny Rose.
Hi Tifiny, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My husband Earl decided that he needed to leave law enforcement after we moved to St. George from Salt Lake City. He had been commuting for 6 months when this decision was made and it was taking a toll on our family. We had 14 children at that time and we had no clue what we would be doing for an income. One day we went to the Tuachan Farmers Market with our family and I realized they didn’t have any food vendors. I said to Earl that we should sell crepes. Earl would make me the most amazing crepes for Birthdays and special holidays. Earl is the type of person that can make anything taste amazing even though he has never had any formal training.
We gave it a try and shortly after, we started having regulars. People would always ask us where our restaurant was located, and responding that we didn’t have one always came back with “well you should”. A few months went by and on one of our Saturdays, we had a gentleman come up to us and ask if we would like to come and look and a perfect spot for a restaurant. After the market, we drove down the street to the old tithing granary in historic Santa Clara, Ut. He told us we could turn his carport into a kitchen and that seating could be all around the Granary. We took him up on the idea and went to work. We started in July and opened in September.
After only one week we had a secret food critic come in and do a big write-up on us. We had no idea and were very surprised when customer’s were all ordering the same two items. One of those customers said, “yep it is as good as the review said it was”. From that moment on we were busy every day. From this location, we moved to a larger indoor location in St. George. We were inside a kitchen store and made this location into a cute European Cafe. We were approached by the Green Valley Spa to come and take over their restaurant and jumped at the chance. One day while working I fell and broke my shoulder in several areas and was told not to move it for 6 months. I turned this location completely back to the Green Valley Spa and within a couple of months, Tifiny’s was closed.
During this time Earl returned back to law enforcement and worked the remainder of his 3 years needed to receive his retirement. Towards the end of his 3rd year, we both knew that Tifiny’s needed to be opened back up. We found the location we are currently in, taking 1 month to renovate before reopening Tifiny’s, and have been here for the past 4 years.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been anything but a smooth road! We were inexperienced in the restaurant industry and felt that we needed others to help us. Unfortunately, this allowed us to be taken advantage of financially. When we first opened the restaurant in Santa Clara, the health inspector came through and suggested that Earl get a food safety manager. Earl appreciated the suggestion but did not hire a food safety manager, only to find out that the inspector’s ‘suggestion’ was actually a requirement.
In the beginning, we hadn’t hired any staff. We assumed it would be a fast-casual establishment, but the customers wanted full service. The first day we opened, people would come and sit at the tables waiting for us to take their orders. We had no idea what they were doing. Within 30 days we had hired 30 employees.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Because I moved a lot through elementary school, even though I was shy I acted as if I was confident.
I always liked helping children that had disabilities. As a teenager, I swore I would never work in the food industry, and kept that promise to myself until we opened our first restaurant.
Contact Info:
- Website: tifinyscreperie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tifinyscreperie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TifinysCreperie/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tifinys-creperie-st-george
