Married life begins 6th January 1970
Our first home, William St Rose Bay.
William St Rose Bay was a two bedroom flat off Old South Head Rd. We had a double bed with matching dressing table and cupboard, a Laminex kitchen table and four green chairs, a fridge which was a wedding present from my mum and dad and not much else. Our dining room table was a round card table that had mismatched folding chairs, a present from Melbourne relatives. The couch was borrowed.
The Taxi
Helen was teaching in Moriah College’s primary school and I was working the computers in GSI. Because of my system of shift work, two out of six weeks were ”normal” living and the other four were not conducive to a new marriage situation. After about three months we concluded that either my job goes or the marriage will suffer.
Having driven taxis casually previously, I knew that there was money to be made there but not something that you would become rich from. We sat down and pooled our resources, and decided to “have a go”. I gave very short notice to GSI and left with a nice payout which included all my entitlements. After emptying out our three bank accounts, one cheque account and one savings account each, leaving one dollar in each of these accounts, we bought a taxi. The plate was T-5003, a restricted City of Sydney plate. The car was a clapped out Holden that had to be upgraded. We invested in a new “Taxi Pack” Holden that had heavy duty features to make it suitable to be a taxi. The debt was enormous. We had to borrow from Beneficial Finance to finance the loan which was for a 5 year term and for two years we had to have a second mortgage on top. It was a killer. To keep up with the monthly repayments I occasionally had to drive on Sunday as well, making it a thirteen day continuous stretch without a day off.
The day we bought the taxi, we had $3.00 in our bank accounts and I had about $5.00 in my change bag. That night we went to mum and dad for dinner because we were so broke.
I drove six days a week and where possible had night drivers. It was a tough grind. The back injury I sustained when I started my first job in G.D.Searle lifting a heavy box made prolonged driving quite an ordeal and I had to have many breaks to stretch my back.
We had a great celebration after 2 years when the second mortgage was paid off. It was a huge financial relief and we were able to relax a bit and start saving. At this time we were in Rose Bay and paying rent so now we started having serious thoughts about buying a house. The Eastern suburbs prices were prohibitive. It didn’t take us long to work out that we needed to look north side if we wanted to buy a house.
Our first house
Tambourine Bay (Lane Cove)
After looking for several months we zeroed in on the Lane Cove area where the prices were within reach and the area had a lot going for it as well as being very beautiful. We were negotiating for a place but the deal fell through in the last minute. We were very disappointed but another place came up almost immediately and we knew we had to move fast. We were given an impossible time frame in which to settle. Just one week. We didn’t even have our finances in place yet. It was a challenge.
We filled in the application form which I took to the finance company, GIO, late Thursday afternoon. They said it now has to go to a valuer. I begged and pleaded to be allowed to take their letter of instruction to the valuer to expedite the process because of the urgency of the situation. No way they said. I am not even allowed to know who the valuer is. I promised to deliver the letter without speaking to anyone. I begged pleaded and promised and they actually believed me. I waited while the letter was prepared.
First thing Friday morning I was at the valuer’s office, spoke to the valuer himself, begged and pleaded and he actually agreed to do the valuation that same day. I also extracted a promise from him to have the valuation ready for me on Monday. It needs to be mentioned that the rain that day was torrential and I had my doubts that he would keep his promise.
I was at the valuer’s office early Monday morning and was totally amazed that the valuation was done, and I was handed the certificate. I went back to GIO and the fellow I spoke to on Thursday. When I handed him the certificate, he gave me a look that said “I know what you’ve been up to”. Of course he was right.The committee that passes the application sat on Wednesdays so I got the news Wednesday afternoon that all was well and Thursday morning I had the cheque in my hand and with only a couple of hours to spare took it straight to the solicitor. The exchange took place on time and we let out a deep breath and became the proud owners of our first house.
39 Wangalla Rd Lane Cove.
Our first guests in our new home.
David D Nellie Helen Debbie Kim and Mark Helen Nellie dad Mark mum and Kim
Our house had three bedrooms, a lounge dining room, kitchen, sunroom with a laundry and second toilet in it, bathroom, back patio and a good back garden with a mulberry tree that gave us a great crop every year (and stained washing on the line). We also had a nice front garden and a single garage.
So now we had a mortgage on a house plus a second mortgage, and we were still paying off the taxi. Now things got tough again.
Shortly after we moved in, I started the long task of painting the place from top to bottom except for the lounge room and the second and third bedrooms which were wallpapered. The kitchen was the biggest problem. There was grey lino on the floor and the cupboards were painted grey inside and out. We put new lino down, a darkish reddish floral pattern.
Being a kitchen, we decided on oil paint. I gave it a coat of special white undercoat but there was a lot of grey showing. I gave it a coat of off white colour paint but the grey was still quite visible. A second coat made it almost passable so I gave it a third coat. Total of four coats of paint.
The inside of the doors of the cupboards we decided on a reddish/orange colour to match the lino. Together with red matching door knobs made it quite presentable. The walls in the kitchen and bathroom were cream coloured.
This whole process together with painting the rest of the house took the best part of six months as I could only paint in the afternoons and weekends. During that time Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” was high on the hit parade charts and was continuously being replayed on the radio. I renamed it “The Dulux Song” in honour of the Dulux paint I was using. The rest of the house was plastic paint so the going was much easier.
The wallpapering was also a saga. With one coat of an anti-fungal solution applied with rollers, one layer of lining, and finally the wallpaper using a plumb bob to ensure it was hanging straight. In the second bedroom we hung a beautiful wallpaper which was a floral orange/tan toning with big white flowers. Matching the pattern was a very difficult job but the end result was worth it. In the third bedroom we hung a blue geometric pattern wallpaper to possibly promote a male progeny. It didn’t work, but the pattern was very nice.
At a later stage, we laid down a camel coloured carpet in the lounge room and sanded and Estapolled the sunroom making it our main living area.
We now had a beautiful house to live in.
Kim marries Peter Jablonka
Kim married Peter Jablonka On the 5th January 1992
Mark marries Ivy Waingarten
Mark married Ivy on the 5th April 1992
Mark married Ivy on the 5th April 1992
Aron Shapiro passes away
On November 18th 1973 Aron Shapiro, Helen’s father, passed away.
Aaron Shapiro was a hardworking man who supported his family in fine style. Being a very devout Jew, he was in shule morning and evening every day of his life. He was on the board of the Caulfield Synagogue and then became a founding member of the Mizrachi Synagogue. He was held in high esteem by all. Towards the end, when he was too ill to go to shule, a section of the congregation came to his home to be with him for the services.
At the minyan after his passing, the Rabbi referred to him as a Tsadik. He was indeed a very righteous person.
The family gets together
24 July 1974
The clan is over to celebrate my birthday. Ann and Alec, Natalie and Michael, mum dad, Galia,Nellie, Mark and Kim.
Note that two years after we bought the house the dining room table is still the round card tableand the extension is our kitchen Laminex table. The chairs arestill the green chairs and the mismatched folding chairs.
We are pregnant
In 1975 we became pregnant. Baby expected early February 1976.
December 1975 Booba came to visit
The harbour with the Opera House makes a super setting.
A few days in the Dee Why motel prior to the big event.
Booba, Debbie, Dahlia (1 year old) Helen
Helen finishes her teaching career.
Helen commenced her teaching career in Melbourne. While she was doing her prac. teaching at Mount Scopus, Helen met Harold Nagley, a new arrival from the UK who was just appointed Deputy Head Master. In 1961 Helen commenced her first fulltime teaching at Brighton Boys Grammar but in 1962 switched to Moriah College Melbourne because she felt more comfortable in the Jewish environment. She stayed at Moriah College till September 1966 when she got an offer to come to Sydney to teach at the King David School. This was a small school that was amalgamated with Moriah College at the end of the year and together they were now situated in Vivian St Bellevue Hill. Helen again met up with Harold Nagley who was now the Head Master of Moriah College Sydney, and he gave her upper primary to teach. Towards the end of 1975 Helen gave notice to Moriah that she will retire at the end of the academic year as she was pregnant.
At the end of year concert and prize giving, Helen was on stage giving out the prizes. She was big, due in a few weeks. Harold Nagley spoke very nicely about her and I remember Booba sitting next to me kvelling. I too was very proud.
Babushka passes away
On the 14th of February 1977 Babushka passed away.
Babushka is buried in Rookwood Cemetery
Babushka saw Naomi at Montefiore in Hunters Hill but missed out on seeing Ruth.
End of the taxi
At the end of 1976, by which time we had finished paying the taxi off totally, we decided that the taxi had served its purpose by giving us a base, and that it was time to move on. So without a clear idea as to what we wanted to do next we sold it and then started looking for a new direction.
David Deston was involved in the café/restaurant business and we spoke many times about it so we figured on a modest beginning in that area.
Jobs were never an option for me. I preferred to make less money but be independently secure.
The Sandwich Shop
Silverwater Catering Company Pty Ltd
In the beginning of 1977 we bought our first business. A grubby little sandwich shop in the middle of Silverwater, an industrial suburb in the western suburbs. We registered a company in the name of Silverwater Catering Company Pty Ltd, a name we used throughout our business ventures.
Being in the industrial area, we operated from 6.30 am till 1.30 pm Monday to Friday, but it took a further 2-3 hours after we closed doors to clean up and prepare for the next day.
It was a very busy shop. We bought it from a Greek who ran it quite well and I was a novice. There was a steep learning curve. We had 5 excellent staff, some who had been in the shop so long they couldn’t remember the names of all the owners who were there over the years. The oldest 2, Phyllis was 68 and Marge was 72. Helen came in on Mondays and Fridays, the busiest days.
Despite the fact that it was a busy shop to start with, I increased the turnover by 50% in one year by offering delivery service to every factory in the area. It became hectic.
The early starts were killers. When the weekends came, I slept in till midday and beyond, both Saturday and Sunday. We lasted one year and towards the end of the year we put the shop on the market.
We got a new lease from the owner on the condition that we took a black cat from a litter he had in a box under the table. I agreed, and so we became the proud owners of a jet black cat we named Tooly Layman. The name Tooly was derived from the Hebrew word for cat which is Chatool.
We sold the shop just before Christmas 1980 and were now ready for the next step, but now with some basic food handling experience.
Double Bay Steak House
Early 1978 after looking at many cafés all over the place an agent suggested a Double Bay Steak House. There were 9 at the time and the franchise of the one in the city was for sale. The idea appealed because the backup from the franchisor meant that you did not need much experience in the restaurant business to be able to run the steakhouse.
We went to dinner at the Steak House at the Lane Cove River Park to see how a Steak House operates. The restaurant was full, the bar was full and the place was buzzing. It too was for sale. So we aborted negotiations for the one in the city, and even though this one was considerably dearer, we made an offer and we had an agreement. While the finances were going through with the bank I got a crash course in cooking, a condition for owning the franchise.
Helen used to come to the restaurant where she tended the bar and the cash register at lunch time Monday to Saturday. This was a seven day a week operation and the franchisee was obliged to be on site while the restaurant was open. I was there every day, but came in late mornings on Saturday. Once a week on Saturday, if lunch finished early, I used to load the oven with potatoes and race across to mum and dad’s place in Bondi, slurp down a cup of coffee and then race back to the restaurant. That was my only time off.
First day in our restaurant
This was a writeup from Peter Clouston, the restaurant editor for the North Shore times. We were the cheapest restaurant on the North Shore, and because the prices for every item were the same, a guy bringing a date did not have to worry what his date picked from the menu. We would do 300-350 people on Friday and Saturday nights which is pretty solid going on a 104 seat restaurant.
During lunch the prized seats were along the windows overlooking the river. It was very pleasant.
The barmaid is entertaining the boss in her bar.
Only our manager, the caretaker and I were allowed to handle Sabre. Everyone else had to steer well clear of him. He was dangerous.
All was going well for about 4 years. I hit on the idea to print our menus and go door to door to all the business houses in the whole North Ryde industrial area and give a sales pitch to the most important person, the girl on the front desk. I left our menu with her and she did the selling for us. Within two weeks we were packing them in every lunch time. Our sales were such that the owner of the chain came to see what I was doing to bump up the sales to this level.
Then we had a major catastrophe. We had some staff members who lived in the flat under the restaurant. We got a call at 1am from one of them saying that the restaurant was on fire. The next six months were probably the most difficult time we ever had. Fighting with head office, the insurance company, the owners of the building, the builders, the accountants and the lawyers.
While all this was happening two of the other franchisees kindly let me work in their restaurant because the insurance policy taken out by the head office for all the franchisees was inadequate so I had no income coming in. During the years of our association with the steak house Helen ran the household like a single parent. It was very difficult for her. On special occasions she brought the kids to the restaurant for a special treat. This gave me a great deal of pleasure.
The relationship with the head office was going from bad to worse to the point where we wanted to sell. Head office had to approve any buyer and they were being very uncooperative about it.
Salvation arrived when the franchisee of the St Leonards branch went broke and left the country. Helen and I were getting desperate to disassociate ourselves from the Double Bay Steak House chain. I made them an offer to exchange our restaurant, which was the flagship of the whole chain, for the defunct St Leonards restaurant, but without any ties to the chain whatsoever.
Lenny’s Restaurant
In the beginning of 1983 we commenced operation in our new restaurant in St Leonards. Our new restaurant was on the corner of Christie and Atchison Streets in St Leonards, around the corner from the train station. We were right in the middle of the business district so our lunchtimes were usually quite busy.
We came up with the name Lenny’s from the name St Leonards but many people assumed my name was Lenny so rather than go into explanations I answered to the name Lenny.
We created a function room upstairs which in hindsight was a very expensive mistake. We fell on very hard times and in the end had no choice but to sell our house in Lane Cove and move to a rented flat in Killara. This was a very traumatic time for our family.
Lenny’s was a steak and seafood restaurant and at the time there were only two other restaurants in St Leonards, a Chinese and a Japanese restaurant, so the choice was limited. While we were busy at lunchtime, we were never able to establish ourselves as a popular night spot. It was a reverse situation from the Double Bay Steakhouse.
Towards the end of 1986 our Labor treasurer Paul Keating declared that “there are no more free lunches” so that business people who used their credit cards to entertain family and friends on company accounts could no longer get a tax deduction. Because we were in the business district and depended mostly on business people for our trade, in the space of two weeks we went from being a busy lunchtime restaurant to being almost empty. The last week before Christmas was the first time since the new rule came in that we broke even. Also in that time we went from being a 7 day account with our suppliers to being a 90 day account. No one would extend to any restaurant credit past 90 days. We were looking at a total disaster. We tried various incentives but none of them worked.
In desperation I talked to David Deston and asked his advice. He came to the restaurant with his manager to look at the situation. When his manager walked in he immediately asked the question which I remember to this day. “What’s your edge?” He stressed that you need something to distinguish you from the others. I had no such edge.
I was talking to Helen about our predicament and what we should do. I suggested that if we charged 1 dollar for all main courses that we would have a full house no matter what the tax laws were. This however was not feasible. So I asked Helen what would be a price we could come down to for our main courses, to bring the customers back. We had a flat price of $7.50 for all main courses for both steaks and seafood, so what could we charge to make it attractive for the customers yet for us to still be able to make a profit? In the end I said we should bring the price down to $5.80 keeping in mind that all other items’ prices will stay the same. Effectively we would be giving a $1.80 discount. Average spending was $18-20.00. I reasoned that seeing as we got no more than about forty customers for Monday and Tuesday combined, we would be losing no more than about $60.00 per week.
Helen and I never raise our voices in argument nor do we ever slam doors. Helen said “I don’t have money to buy the children shoes and you want to give money away”. She then stomped out of the room saying “if you want to do it, go ahead and do it” and walking out slamming the door behind her. That was a first.
Just before Christmas I went to a sign writer and commissioned two placards six metres long by one metre wide. They said “Monday Tuesday Special , all main courses $5.80”. I then placed an ad with the North Shore Times to appear once a week commencing the third week in January. I never said a word to Helen.
After Christmas we closed the restaurant for 3 weeks. As St Leonards is a business district, everyone goes away on holidays for most of January.
When we came back, I hung the placards on our building, one facing Christie St the other facing Atchison St. Cars turning from the Highway into Christie St on the way to the expressway would see the white placards with the red and black writing. You would have to be blind not to see them. In addition, there were two sandwich boards with the same information.
Helen reads newspapers from cover to cover. When we came back from our holidays she was reading the North Shore Times in the usual manner when she came across the ad. “You went ahead and did it” she exclaimed. I said “You told me to go ahead and do it”.
The first Monday we had about ten customers for lunch. Helen was hostessing and said that she was telling the customers about the Monday Tuesday special and no one knew about it. They will all come back, she said, just wait. We are going broke, I said, we can’t wait.
On Tuesday we had seventy nine customers which in a one hundred seat restaurant made it look like a full house. Wednesday and Thursday were quiet, and Friday was barely half full. The following Monday and Tuesday we were packed out and I was able to start paying outstanding bills again. That’s how it continued. Monday and Tuesday full houses, the rest of the week quiet. After another month we went to Wednesdays with the special, and gradually we got back to having full houses like before the Fringe Benefits Tax.
I found our edge.
The last twelve months took an emotional toll from us and while I was reluctant to make any moves, Helen started agitating to get rid of the restaurant. But interesting things started happening around St Leonards that made me want to wait and see. The post office next to us had a change of ownership. The office space above the post office was sold for a large amount, and finally the building at the end of our block went for a staggering 1.35 million. All these places were too small for redevelopment without our building so I was not in a hurry because we had an excellent lease and we were in a controlling position.
I negotiated a new lease before moving from the Double Bay Steakhouse to St Leonards, a 4 X 4 X 4 lease, and I asked for a clause giving me first right of refusal in case they wanted to sell the building. This clause turned out to be a gem.
At the beginning of 1987, I got a call from a real estate agent in Crows Nest saying he had a customer interested to buy our restaurant. I smelt a rat immediately because he was a real estate agent and not a business broker. In the most offhanded manner I could muster I told him the restaurant was not for sale. He kept calling me every few days to pressure me. My answer was always no.
A courier delivered a huge packet of documents from my landlord offering me first right of refusal in accordance with my lease. Our building was being sold for 1.75 million. Without collateral I had no chance of raising that sort of money.
Behold, out of the blue arrived a delegation of 5 “suits”. They knew about the first right of refusal clause in my lease, and proposed that I take it up, that they would pay for the building and I would stay on as a tenant and get a $50,000.00 present from them for my trouble.
I was not even tempted because I was aware of what happened with Debbie and David Deston’s restaurant when their building was sold. The building was to be renovated and was surrounded with hoardings which effectively made them invisible and killed their restaurant. I knew that the owners represented by the “suits” would be able to make short work of me just as easily.
Finally, around May, the real estate agent called and asked “If I would sell, what would I want for the restaurant?” I multiplied what Lenny’s would be worth on the open market times 4 and told him not to call me any more unless they were interested. He called back less than an hour later and said they agreed. In the end we settled on approximately 3 times what the restaurant was worth.
We were asked to leave 3 days before Christmas so I started running the stocks down but there was a huge stock of wines that my manager, who did the buying, was storing in the attic which had a tin roof. In the summer, the attic was like an oven, so the wine up there was probably worse than vinegar.
In the last three days prior to Christmas, when we had already ceased trading, I was standing in the kitchen and cutting up the remainder of meat that was left and putting it into the freezer. We were taking it with us when we were going together with our girls on our first holiday since we were married. A man walked
in and said that he came to do the stocktake. I asked “Stocktake of what?” We never negotiated “stock at value” which is a common practice in contracts for the sale of businesses, so I was very surprised when he said “The liquor”. Till then I still had no idea who was buying our restaurant, but it turned out to be the Tavern from across the street. The owner was used to buying and selling pubs and paying for stock at value was the norm. We got “book value” for all our wines which gave us an unexpected bonus of just under $18,000.00.
The entire deal was a huge windfall for us.
Having a go paid off again.
The flat we were living in came on the market so we bought it without needing to get finance and we bought Helen a new Holden station wagon to replace her car which was my ex taxi.
Nellie and Geron very generously offered to take us into partnership with them in their belt and button business called Perlmans. We had enough money for a half share in the business and when Geron turned 63 he planned to retire and we would become sole owners.
So we went on holidays without business worries and secure in knowing that we were coming back to an established business with an assured income.
Debbie and David Deston
We have always been close to the Destons. I knew David from our days in Betar as well as his sister Miriam and later to be her husband Henry Briggs.We were married within 3 months of each other and were in each other’s bridal party.
Our children grew up together, and went through Poppy Cottage and Masada College. We enjoyed many family gatherings on Shabbat, chagim and simchot. In later years after the children grew up and went on their merry ways, Debbie, David, Helen and I enjoyed going out often and going away on holidays together.
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