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TotC2009 notes: Banging Out Drinks Like a Maniac

The first session I actually made it to, “The Fine Art of Banging Out Drinks Like a Maniac“, was Wednesday afternoon at 16:30, led by Dushan Zaric (owner of Employees Only) and Philip Duff (owner of door 74 and Liquid Solutions), on the topic of how to run a high-output & fun bar, which Philip asserts that Dushan does and he (Philip) does not. Page numbers in my notes refer to Philip’s slide deck.

• first restaurant (by Boulanger) served a “special soup” that would “restore” (thus “restaurant”) you, begets menu, begets speed problem
• speakeasies were fast but lousy: the attraction was sexual energy / tension; Dushan: there are only 4 bars in NYC like that one in Once Upon a Time in America

(First tasting, Pisco Punch, turned up. Quite nice.)

• Progression has been:
  • singles bars in the ’50s & ’60s
  • discos ~ 1977 – Philip: “like singles bars on crack … You were bangin’ out drinks like a demon… and all of them were rubbish.”
  • neo-speakeasies, dating inception from Milk & Honey
  • TGIF et al used to have really good bar education programs teaching, eg, free pour, which is nearly a lost art now (almost no one in the room came up through such a program per show of hands)
  • 1985 at the Atlantic Bar & Grill is when (Philip says) the old speed skills Died
• in order to turn drinks over quickly, good staff especially barbacks, are required: bartender should never be looking for ice, fruit juices, etc.
• “The Rules, Then as Now”:
  1. Better drinks faster
     Philip “bar shows have contributed to slower service” (because presenters stand up there and make a drink slowly, explaining all the steps, and young bartenders think that’s what they’re supposed to do at work)
  2. Quality when it pays off
     • if puree is as good as fresh fruit, use that
     • you already tweak recipes to make them your own: adjust them for speed instead
     • Dushan: “What goes into the register must be greater than what comes out.” – if it takes you five minutes to make every drink, you won’t make as many drinks, but the cost of your ingredients doesn’t go down at the same rate
  3. Bartenders are not tortured artists
     Philip:
     • no need to taste every damn drink (probably also because of bar shows)
     • CLASS magazine (url?) article about straw-tasting a G&T

     Dushan:

     • it’s a “trade” not an “art” (except in rare moments)
     • pass on your skills to an apprentice, that’s how you learned, so give it back

Case study: Employees Only (East Village, NYC; Dushan Zaric’s place)

• opened in response to Dushan’s time at Pravda, pouring vodka martinis and Cosmos
• If you wanted someone to blame for the vodka craze, “that was us”
• busiest bar in the US per m2
• 1200 ft2, open 70 hours / week
• in 2008, served 139,443 cocktails (number excludes anything that doesn’t touch a shaker, so no build drinks, highballs, beer, etc)
• $97,098 in highballs & straight liquor (beer, wine still excluded)
• earns $12.08 / guest / hour
• 2008 spirits revenue total $4,620,000 spirits
• Dushan: “On Friday and Saturday nights, most people are out to get laid.” — views it as his job to help them
• on a busy night, there’s one barback, labeled apprentice, one stocker (just runs liquor and juices from the kitchen/storeroom)

(Around here there was another tasting with passion fruit juice, G’Vine gin, and champagne on the side)

The other case study, door 74 (Philip’s joint in Amsterdam)

• It is “halfway between the Times Square of Amsterdam and the Gay Village” (which is “REALLY gay!”)
• 700 ft2, open 37 hours a week
• 32,727 (there’s a sizeof() joke I wanted to make here but nobody in the room would have gotten it)
• projecting $500,000 in revenue for the first year (just opened)
• $7.30 per customer per hour

Sell better drinks faster:

• pg. 75 in slideshow for 2.9 route to $1,000,000 just on drinks
• beverage management & speed are absolutely necessary, but nearly lost arts
• cocktail menu should be balanced in price and variety, some window dressing
• choose more profitable drinks for the menu
• profit’s lousy on a Red Bull & vodka v. chocolate martini – pg 82
• Manhattan @ EO – pg 103 – $11.33 profit
• G&T @ door 74 – pg 110 – profit margin 87%
• to improve performance behind the bar, mark off the stations with duct tape, if the bartender has to leave that square, you need to duplicate or move something
• @ d74, beer glass rinsers behind the bar save time over a rinse sink, pg 117
• @ EO, glassware’s washed in the industrial kitchen dishwasher, allowed to cool before returning to the chiller
• chiller instead of icing glass is faster
• all house drinks should be made in 2 minutes MAX
• completely spec everything out for employees, Philip’s list for a bartender, first item is “Approach the building.” – pg 120
• 3 second delay = $27000 loss a year – pg. 129
• bottles on the backbar should always be full
• make the customers feel that someone is taking care of them (Dushan)
• wow factor matters:
  • beautiful glassware
  • ice balls
  • “better” ingredients (liquor & fresh juice, etc)
  • mise en place!
  • glassware freezers
• first drink FAST is crucial
• menu text should be simple, clear, not a history lesson
• have a cocktail of the day, helps people decide
• waitstaff should garnish at tables (again, someone taking care of you), or bartender should finish the drink tableside
• you have two hands: use them; if you can’t make and serve 4 highballs at once, learn to; 4 drinks @ $11 apiece, $44. In 10 seconds.
• one-stop shopping: retrieve all the bottles from the backbar you’ll need at the same time
• clean everything as you go
• solid recipe knowledge required in staff
• work like a swan – “All serenity on top, paddling like a bastard below” (Philip)
• drink re-engineering for speed, see pg 150 and on a bit

Full slide deck is available:

http://www.slideshare.net/philipduff/the-fine-art-of-banging-out-the-drinks-like-a-maniac

(as are all of Philip’s presentations), so I skipped writing down some of the numbers that just went past on the screen: skim through there to check them out.