Bar Business October 2017

October 2017

THE HOW-TO PUBLICATION

BAR BUS NESS MAGAZINE

DESIGN TAKES Flight

The Monarch reinvents the center bar’s form and function.

Profit From

POS Systems Page 16

Beer & Whiskey

Why they’re the perfect pair

Fall Cocktails

Recipes to celebrate the season

SteadyServ iKeg

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Contents How Tos

16

Putting POS Systems to Work

October

How hard is your POS system working for you?

24

Turn Up the Heat

28

A Perfect Pair

32

Tuning Up: Video Distribution in Restaurants and Bars: Part 2

Extend your patio season with the use of heaters.

It’s time to take down the wall between beer and whiskey.

The pros and cons of video distribution techniques.

Departments

4

From the Editor

6

On Tap

A letter from our Editor Ashley Bray.

Industry news & announcements.

10

Behind The Bar

14

Happenings

In-depth analysis of beer, wine & spirits.

Important dates for the month.

44

Bar Tour

48

Inventory

52

Q+A

An architect looks to reinvent the bar experience.

Featured product releases.

Myriam Hendrickx – The Netherlands’ Rutte Distillery

Features

36

Seasonal Cocktails: Must-Have Fall Recipes

40

In Case of Emergency

The leaves are changing and so are the cocktails.

Is your bar ready to handle an emergency?

Cover photo: Aaron Leimkuehler Contents photo: Brandon Cummins

barbizmag.com

October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

1

THE HOW-TO PUBLICATION

BAR BUS NESS MAGAZINE

OCTOBER 2017

What’s your favorite whiskey cocktail?

Vol. 10

No. 10

Bar Business Magazine (ISSN 1944-7531) is published

by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004

subscription department 800-895-4389

executive offices President Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Publisher Art Sutley 212-620-7247 asutley@sbpub.com

editorial

Editor Ashley Bray 212-620-7220 abray@sbpub.com

“Old Fashioned with rye.”

Contributing Writers Emily Eckart, Lance Glasser, Keith Labelle, Jeremy LeBlanc, Rachael Robbins

art

Art Director Nicole Cassano Graphic Designer Aleza Leinwand

production

“Honey whiskey and ginger ale.“

Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com Digital Ad Operations Associate Kevin Fuhrmann

circulation

Circulation Director Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com

advertising sales

“Whiskey sour.”

Art Sutley 212-620-7247 asutley@sbpub.com

Bar Business Magazine (Print ISSN 1944-7531, Digital ISSN 2161-5071) (USPS#000-342) is published February, April, June, August, October, and December. January, March, May, July, September, and November will only be offered in a digital format at no charge by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 55 Broad St. 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices. Pricing, Qualified U.S. Bar Owners may request a free subscription. Non-qualified subscriptions printed or digital version: 1 year US $45.00; Canada $90.00; foreign $189.00; foreign, air mail $289.00. 2 years US $75.00; Canada $120.00; foreign $300.00; foreign, air mail $500.00. BOTH Print & Digital Versions: 1 year US $68.00; Canada $135.00; foreign $284.00; foreign, air mail $384.00. 2 years US $113.00; Canada $180.00; foreign $450.00; foreign, air mail $650.00. Single Copies are $10.00 ea. Subscriptions must be paid for in U.S. funds only. COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact: Art Sutley, Phone (212) 620-7247, or asutley@ sbpub.com. For Subscriptions, & address changes, Please call (800) 895-4389, (402) 346-4740, Fax (402) 346-3670, e-mail barbusiness@omeda.com or write to: Bar Business Magazine, SimmonsBoardman Publ. Corp, PO Box 3135, Northbrook, IL 60062-3135. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 3135, Northbrook, IL 60062-3135. Instructional information in this magazine should only be performed by skilled craftspeople with the proper equipment. The publisher and authors of information provided herein advise all readers to exercise care when engaging in any of the how-to activities published in the magazine. Further, the publisher and authors assume no liability for damages or injuries resulting from projects contained herein.

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Bar Business Magazine

October 2017 barbizmag.com

from the editor

From The Editor

We must respect the past and mistrust the present, if we wish to provide for the safety of the future.

- Joseph Joubert

4

Bar Business Magazine

W

e’ve had quite the weather over the last few weeks, and my heart goes out to anyone affected by the recent storms.

As bar owners and operators, I’m sure the issue of wild weather has been weighing heavily on your mind as well. You can plan for challenges like slow nights, delays in inventory, and staff shortages, but you may feel helpless when facing a weather occurrence like a hurricane. This is where insurance can play a big role in securing some peace of mind.

Insurance is something we’ve covered in these pages before (“Are You Covered?”

March 2017), but it’s a topic that seems more timely than ever as we face what early reports are saying may become the most expensive hurricane season ever.

Now may be a good time to pull out your insurance policy and make sure it covers every “what if” situation.

For one, building coverage will vary based on whether you own or rent the building your establishment is in.

Aside from that, you need to protect the assets inside the building that allow you to run your business—especially food service equipment. Be sure your insurance covers damage to any equipment you own.

Some insurance will even compensate you for lost income if you have to close due to equipment failures.

Food spoilage can come with equipment failures, so be sure your policy covers this possible loss. Insureon, an agency made up of food service business insurance experts, says on its website, “Usually attached as an endorsement to a property

insurance policy, spoilage insurance covers perishable stock located at your business establishment and can safeguard your perishable property should your equipment or power fail, or if your inventory is contaminated. The coverage would compensate your business for the cost of replacing your food, produce, or product, and even your lost income, depending on the limits of your policy.”

Consider separate insurance for business interruptions or lost income if you have to close. This type of insurance would assure a continuation of income so that you can cover payroll and operating expenses.

A final consideration is flood insurance. Trusted Choice, a company that connects individuals and businesses with independent insurance agents, says on its website, “It is important to know that in most cases, flood damage is excluded from your property and assets coverage. If you are in an area that is at even a moderate risk for flooding, a business flood insurance policy may be an important investment.”

The above are just some suggestions to get you thinking about your insurance policy. Be sure to talk to your insurance agent about what coverages may be best for your individual establishment.

Ashley bray, Editor

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Tobin Ellis, founder and CEO of BarMagic.

Imagine bar equipment conceived by a renowned bartender, and built by Perlick Perlick’s new Tobin Ellis Signature Cocktail Station is a breakthrough achievement in underbar design resulting from an ambitious collaboration between 6-time national bartending champion and celebrated bar designer, Tobin Ellis and the award-winning engineering team at Perlick.

“Together, we’ve built a cocktail station that’s perfect for everything from craft cocktail bars to high-volume nightclubs and 5-star/5-diamond hotel environments. It’s the tricked-out station every serious bartender has dreamt about and every savvy operator has hoped for.”

Tobin Ellis

Exclusively from Perlick Contact Perlick today to learn more! perlick.com • 800.558.5592

ON TAP

From ON TAP The Editor

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit can provide $1,200 to $9,600 per qualification.

magine having two patrons walk away from their tabs at your establishment every single night and the amount of missed revenue that would add up to by the end of the year. Chances are you may be missing out on an equivalent amount of money—not from patrons walking out on tabs, but from missed tax credits.

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is often overlooked or missed completely by bars and restaurants. The federal credit is designed to encourage employers to hire new employees from “targeted groups.”

There are more than 2900 qualifications, and targeted groups include food stamp recipients ages 18-39, veterans receiving food stamps, those on parole, ex-felons, and more.

The tax credit amount ranges from $1,200 to $9,600 per qualification.

“It’s a huge miss in bars,” says Ryan Black, District Sales Manager at Proliant, a company that provides turnkey workforce management solutions for businesses. “The reason 6

Bar Business Magazine

is it’s just very specific. And quite honestly, collecting that information is a pain.”

Proliant automates the collection of that information, making the entire process easier for bars and restaurants.

Proliant handles everything for businesses from payroll to Affordable Care Act paperwork to electronic onboarding, which is where they gather the information needed to find out if an employee qualifies for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

“When an employee gets hired, they go into our system and do electronic onboarding—fill out demographic information, sign the W4 and I9. While they’re doing all that, there’s a small questionnaire of information we haven’t already collected through demographic information,” explains Black. “With that information, we’re able to determine whether or not the employee is eligible for those credits. So it’s all done electronically when the person is hired, and it takes just a couple of minutes on the employee’s part and no time on the

employer’s part.

“What we find here, at least in the central Texas area, is about 11% of employees that you hire are eligible for some sort of credit.”

Proliant goes further than identifying the eligible credits. They also obtain information to apply for the credits, complete the numerous forms required to apply for the credits, follow-up with the appropriate government agencies for certification, and calculate the credit for the company’s tax return on the 8850 tax form.

“Some of your smaller independent bars and restaurants—even if they get one credit—$1,200 or $2000 is a lot of money for them,” says Black. “It’s free money being left on the table.”

Whether your bar or restaurant chooses to do the legwork yourself or hires a company like Proliant to automate the process, it’s worth investing some time into looking for tax credits. proliant.com

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Shutterstock/ kurhan.

I

Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

Almost as Good as a Day at the Beach The Paradise POS system is a complete wireless peer to peer database driven point of sale solution. It is arguably the easiest to use POS on the market today. If you can use an iOS Device, you can use our system.

Affordable Simple Interface Online or Offline Mode Easy to Learn and Use

paradisepos.com • 1-877-777-5530

From ON TAP The Editor Spice Up Simple Syrups

S

imple syrup is an essential ingredient in crafting everyday cocktails.

Pinnacle® Vodka joined forces with Spike TV’s Bar Rescue Mixology Expert Mia Mastroianni to offer tips and tricks on creating flavored simple syrups with ingredients found in your bar’s kitchen.

Choose your Sweetener. Different sugars yield different syrups. The most common sugars behind the bar are white sugar, brown sugar, agave nectar, and maple syrup. These sugars can be made into simple syrups following the basic recipe of a one-to-one ratio of sugar and water, stirred gently over heat.

Fresh Picked Herbs. Add a fresh, aromatic layer to cocktails. Start with a basic simple syrup recipe and add your herb of choice. Mint, rosemary, basil, fennel, or lavender are perfect for simple syrups. Simmer for about a minute then remove from heat and let

the herbs steep for about 30 minutes as the syrup cools. Once cooled, strain through a mesh strainer into a glass bottle or jar. Refrigerate up to a month.

Fresh Fruits. The best fruits for simple syrups are blueberries, blackberries, cherries, lemons, limes, peaches, and raspberries. Start with the basic simple syrup recipe and then add about one and a half cups of preferred fruit. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer.

Allow to cool fully and then store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Cups of Tea. Earl Grey, English breakfast, chamomile, chai, rooibos, and matcha teas all work perfectly for infusions. Again, use the basic simple syrup recipe, but add four teabags or four tablespoons of loose leaf tea.

Remove from heat and allow to steep

for at least 10 minutes. Strain and let the concoction cool fully then refrigerate.

Spices. Simmer preferred spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, star anise, or peppercorns, along with the basic simple syrup recipe. Remove from heat and allow steeping for about 20 minutes. Strain, cool, and store in a clean glass jar in the refrigerator.

Visit barbizmag.com to try out your simple syrups in a recipe for the Pinnacle® Vodka Collins.

from cauliflower, carrot, and beetroot to coconut foam, ice cream, and soju-pop rocks (Hanjip in L.A.). Some mixologists have even taken libations to the next level with CBD marijuana-infused cocktails (Gracias Madre in L.A.).

2. Spirits Du Jour. New York is seeing a revival in bespoke takes on spirit-mixer classics, with high-minded versions of rum and cokes, whisky-sodas, and gin and tonics. There’s been a rum resurgence, boosted by the Tiki-bar boom of the past few years, as well as a solid showing from the natural-wine movement in the outer boroughs (Time Out sees the same trend in Chicago).

Mezcal is alive and well in Chicago

(think Mezcaleria las Flores and Mezcal Bar at Quiote), while wondermint malted shakes and shots of Angostura bitters on draft delight patrons (Best Intentions).

3. Theatrical Presentation. In Miami, bartenders are doing over-the-top presentations by experimenting with garnishes, bespoke ice cubes, and different glasses or tubs. It’s not unusual to find origami animals or even a plastic shark in a drink these days. New York impresses with cheeky cocktails inside perfume bottles, lightbulbs, conch shells, and boba-tea cups. The Aviary in Chicago offers a cocktail that is served inside a sphere of ice, which guests can crack open with a slingshot.

2017 Bar Trends

T

ime Out, the global media and entertainment brand that inspires people to make the most of a city, has revealed the 2017 global bar and cocktail trends. We detail a few below.

1. Quirky Ingredients. This year has seen cocktails made with everything

What’s Trending On BARBIZMAG.COM Halloween havoc

Want to scare up a good time?

Toggle over to the Holidays section of our Recipes page for seasonal takes on cocktails that go beyond pumpkin and give a whole new meaning to the word “spirits.”

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Bar Business Magazine

Leading role

Thirty-five years after appearing in Blade Runner, Johnnie Walker Black Label returns to the big screen in the sequel Blade Runner 2049. View a video to learn about the inspiration behind the new bottle design.

Looking for something?

Start your search for products, equipment, and beverage suppliers with our online buyer’s guide. Search by category or for specific products. Keep an eye out for our VIP Buyer’s Guide coming out in our December issue.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

NEXT GENERATION

IN ENTERTAINMENT

®

877-792-1101

Behind The Bar: Punch

Let’s talk

Punch Large-format cocktails can be crowd pleasers.

BY Rachael Robbins

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Bar Business Magazine

B

igger is always better. You know what I like better than drinking my favorite booze?

Having them in a giant, large-format cocktail!

Let’s start with you removing this image from your mind: me, sitting alone in my apartment with one of those enormous gag-sized glasses in my hands, getting sloshed.

OK, now that we have a clean slate, picture this: three to six people sitting around a punch bowl enjoying a communal cocktail. It’s an eye-catching, fun, interactive way to make drinking in your establishment a memorable one!

The word punch is derived from the

Sanskrit word “Panchan,” meaning five, which were generally how many ingredients went into a recipe. The first record of punch was around 1632.

Unfortunately, most people associate it with the “kitschy” sherbet-colored drink of choice at most 1960’s ladies’ gatherings.

Fortunately, I associate it with The Dead Rabbit because this is the first place I was ever served punch. The Dead Rabbit was awarded The Best Bar in America from 2013-2016 and World’s Best Bar in 2016. Clearly they know what they’re doing. So I decided to talk with one of the owners, Jack McGarry, and ask what inspired him to bring punch into the modern cocktail scene.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

All Photos: Chris Capaci.

Behind The Bar: Punch Jack said, “It was about reinforcing the communal aspect of drinking. That’s what large-format punches do. I loved the quote that Wondrich said about it, ‘At it’s peak, the ritual of the Punch Bowl was a secular communion, welding a group of good fellows together into a temporary sodality whose values superseded all others.’ We felt punch set perfectly with that philosophy.

“On top of that, we offer a small sample of punch to every guest who comes into the Parlor. We did this originally to educate our guests on what punch was, but it took on it’s own life and actually acts as a breaking the ice and sense of belonging. So it’s really important for our bar experience.”

There you have it from the Rabbit’s mouth. Punch = awesome!

Batching punches allows for two very important things: consistency and speedy service. When the weather starts to cool, throw a punch in a crockpot and you’ll create a delicious aroma wafting through your bar that will have customers ordering with their noses before they even look at the menu!

“Simmer” is a key word in crockpot (or stove top) large-format cocktails. If you boil them, the alcohol will evaporate.

And no one is in the business of wasting good alcohol!

Serving large-form cocktails is also economical. “On the money side, punches are great business,” says McGarry. “They are made in advance and are therefore very easy to execute for your guests. They provide a wonderful opportunity to use day-old juice that would otherwise be thrown out. Punch is like a soup or stew, if kept right, it actually improves with a few days age so much so that it tastes like lemonade and people drink it so.”

I asked Jack what he would make for a chilly fall Sunday. Check page 12 to see his recipe for Irish Whiskey Punch.

Lets get back to my favorite alcohols!

When I started to think about my best-loved cool weather recipes for punches, my mind went right to hot toddies. That immediately made me think of that delicious bottle of Corgi Spirits Earl Grey Gin sitting on my bar cart, which is from a test batch I was able to get my hands on in advance.

Why spend all the time brewing tea, www.barbizmag.com

when Corgi Spirits has already done it for you? Creator Bob Hagemann combined his Harvard business degree with his love of fine cocktails and opened a distillery turning out some very alluring gin flavors. I used it to craft my own variation on a hot toddy: Tea For Two-many.

The next fall staple is mulled cider.

This is the perfect opportunity to use my favorite VDKA 6100. This New Zealand distilled vodka is made out of whey, which gives it a smooth, creamy texture. Gluten, dairy, additive, preservative, and sugar free, it’s the cleanest vodka on the market. VDKA 6100 blends easily with your cocktail ingredients, so you won’t have to contend with hiding a strong alcohol taste. I use chai, eliminating the need for all those mulling spices. Check out the recipe, November Rain, on page 12.

If you regularly read my articles, you know that I approach most things with a sense of humor. The same goes for Peter Spicer, the creator of Dumbass Whiskey. His other flavors are called Firecrotch (cinnamon), Whiskey Dick (cherry), and Bee-Otch (honey). Fortunately his funny is backed up with excellent quality whiskey. They are actually whiskies with flavor versus flavored whiskey (which can taste artificial).

What made me fall in love, however, was his butterscotch flavor. “It’s the only butterscotch whiskey on the market.

It’s so hard to replicate butterscotch in spirits while avoiding artificial flavors, but I use all natural ingredients,” says Spicer. “You will get undertones of vanilla and caramel in this bourbon whiskey from the charred barrels, which naturally accentuates the butterscotch flavor.”

Hot Buttered Rum, a warm cocktail classic, is kind of a pain to make, and it calls for butter, which alienates any customer who is dairy free or on a diet.

Why not just use butterscotch whiskey!

I couldn’t do an article on largeformat cocktails without including the most festive of all—Tiki. This is compounded by the fact that I’ve recently gotten my hands on a bottle of L’Orgeat, an alcoholic orgeat made by Jen Baker and Kevin Saharin. These two former bartenders understand that

At it’s peak, the ritual of the Punch Bowl was a secular communion.

The word punch is derived from the Sanskrit word “Panchan,” meaning five, which were generally how many ingredients went into a recipe.

Punches and large-format cocktails are fun, eyecatching, Instagramable, and economical!

October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

11

Behind The Bar: Punch

Tea For Two-many

32 oz Corgi Spirits Earl Grey Gin 16 oz lemon juice 16 oz honey syrup (equal parts honey and water) 32 oz fresh squeezed orange juice 32 oz water Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and simmer on low. Serve in a mug with a twist of grapefruit and a star anise.

Rachael Robbins

November Rain

Irish Whiskey Punch

54 oz VDKA 6100 27 oz chai concentrate 27 oz apple cider 6.75 oz vanilla simple syrup 13.5 oz lemon juice Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and simmer on low with cinnamon sticks. Serve with a fresh cinnamon stick.

Rachael Robbins

Zest of 36 lemons Zest of 18 oranges 450 grams of superfine sugar 10.5 oz honey syrup (2 parts honey, 1 part water) 27 oz fresh orange juice 27 oz fresh lemon juice 108 oz hot English breakfast tea (strong infusion) 108 oz Jameson Original Irish Whiskey 45 dashes Angostura Bitters

Muddle until all the oil has been extracted from the citrus peels. Add honey syrup.

Add orange and lemon juices, tea, and sugar. Stir until all the sugar has been dissolved. Add whiskey and bitters. Stir the mixture through a chinois. Finish with two freshly grated nutmegs.

Jack McGarry, Owner of The Dead of Rabbit

Ticket For Two

2 oz L’Orgeat 3 oz Appleton Signature Rum 1 oz Cruzan Blackstrap Rum 1 oz Giffard Banane Du Brésil 1/2 oz Wray & Nephew 2 oz lime juice 1 oz pineapple juice 1 oz honey syrup Shake all ingredients and pour into a hollowed-out pineapple over pebbled ice.

Aileen Drum, Bar Manager, Cellar 335

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Bar Business Magazine

orgeat is very difficult to make and that mass-produced syrups have a terrible marzipan flavor. L’Orgeat is made from California almonds with notes of orange blossom and rose water. It doesn’t go bad, adds consistency to your cocktails, and is absolutely delicious!

Plus it’s 40 proof!

I contacted my favorite Tiki bar, Cellar 335 in Jersey City, and asked Manager Peter Arnone why largeformat drinks are great for business. He gave me a one word answer: “Instagramability.” It’s that simple.

Bar manager Aileen Drum created a cocktail especially for Bar Business with L’Orgeat (Ticket For Two).

Let’s recap! Punches and large-format cocktails are fun, eye-catching,

Instagramable, and economical! They also create a festive environment in your bar, improve service speed, and ensure consistency. All of this will put money in your bank and butts in your seats.

Rachael Robbins owns Chickologist, a cocktail consulting company. Her main objective is to infiltrate “the boy’s club of mixology” and show the world that chicks can mix a mean drink too. She’s tended bar in NYC, Miami, LA, & NJ for 20 years.

She opened a speakeasy in Jersey City and began creating innovative cocktails.

She is the in-house Mixologist for VDKA 6100. Reach her at chickologist.com or @ chickologist. Find Chris Capaci at @ capacityimages or capacityimages.com.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Happenings November 2017

November 24 Black Friday After a day full of standing in line for the best bargains, shoppers will be looking for one final deal—on a drink!

8

November 8 National Harvey Wallbanger Day Resurrect this easy, threeingredient cocktail. While you’re at it, maybe invent a story or two for the drink’s mystery namesake.

November 1 & 2 Day of the Dead Honor Mexican culture by crafting cocktails from quality tequilas or mezcals. Look back at our August Behind the Bar for inspiration.

Honor those who have served with discounts and special offers today. Mix up some patriotic cocktails for the rest of your patrons.

November 7 National Gin Day Give gin some time in the spotlight today. Then turn to page 52 to read our interview with Rutte Gin’s Master Distiller.

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Bar Business Magazine October 2017 barbizmag.com

All Photos: Shutterstock.com.

November 11 Veterans Day

Happenings

Upcoming

23

EVENTS

November 23 Thanksgiving

November

Thanksgiving is a great family holiday—and for that reason, you may find your bar a bit crowded on this night. Have beer and afterdinner cocktail specials at the ready.

On-premise adult beverage Conference November 5-7, 2017 Cape Coral, FL http://bit.ly/2uijiES

Craft Beverage Expo

November 1 National Vinegar Day

Portland, OR November 7-9, 2017

Don’t add vinegar to any cocktails, but do mix up some shrubs. Turn to page 28 to read about shrubs made from beer.

craftbeverageexpo.com/

January

22

November 14 National Pickle Day Picklebacks are an easy go-to today, but try also adding pickle juice to cocktails like Bloody Marys or martinis.

15

San Antonio Cocktail Week San Antonio, TX January 10-14, 2018

www.sanantoniococktail conference.com

January - February Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Supply Show Mytrle Beach, SC Jan 30-31 & Feb 1, 2018 http://www.hmrsss.com/

November 15 Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day Use today to clean out the fridge and other areas of the kitchen— don’t forget the ice maker!

barbizmag.com

October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

15

How To

How To: POS Systems

How hard is your POS system working for you?

Putting POS Systems to Work 16

Bar Business Magazine

By Ashley Bray October 2017 barbizmag.com

How To: POS Systems

T

Photos: (left) Shutterstock/ AntGor; (right) HarborTouch.

o the patrons of your bar, a point-of-sale (POS) system is just that—the machine that processes their orders and their payments. But the name can be a misnomer to the bar owner, as today’s systems can do so much more.

Before selecting a system, make sure it has the functionalities that will best serve your business—today and in the future.

Hardware Traditional stationary countertop units with a large touchscreen are no longer the only options to choose from now that tablet solutions have entered the market.

What may work best for your bar depends on a combination of hardware and software fit for the type of service and performance your business demands.

Traditional POS systems offer greater reliability and performance through touchscreens that hold up against wetness and fingernails, wired networks so WiFi issues stay out of play, stronger computing, and durable enterprise-level hardware.

Companies like HarborTouch and 2TouchPOS offer these traditional units.

SmartTab offers a modernized hybridtraditional POS unit with the option to include tablets as add-ons. Daniel Baron, CEO/Founder of SmartTab, says the traditional POS unit’s all-around performance makes it more desirable behind the bar. “For people who are knowledgeable in our industry, they want resistive-touchscreens that always respond to any touch, they want wired networks, they want the larger screen size, they want durability and performance,” says Baron. “What they don’t want is anything that slows them down or introduces potential latency.

We’re targeting customers that are highvolume, high-velocity first.”

Baron also says that tablets come into play for mobility where operators can easily setup pop-up bars in different locations, or servers can take a mobile unit along with them on the floor to take orders and payments from anywhere.

SmartTab even offers a bouncer app that scans IDs and tracks customers along with their age and location.

Tablet-based solutions offer a mobile, wireless approach. They have a reputation for lacking in performance barbizmag.com

HarborTouch recently introduced its “smart” POS system.

and functionality, but Paradise POS systems is looking to change that perception. “Most of the tablet-based POS systems on the market are scaled-down software. Therefore, the reputation tablet POS solutions have gotten in the market is that they are of lower quality than a traditional windows-based POS system,” says Jeh Holsomback, president of Secure Payment Solutions, Inc., which produces Paradise POS systems. “There’s really no reason for this as tablets have as much, or potentially more, computing power than most Windows units in the market.”

Spotty WiFi signals can also cause problems that plague tablet-based systems, but when the Internet goes down entirely, it’s a big problem for a bar or restaurant no matter the type of POS system they’re using.

Baron believes this is one of the reasons why it’s important to have a system that is a hybrid of both local and cloud. “A local server ensures that you are always operating locally with an onsite server at your brick and mortar location, which means even if your Internet goes down, your POS is still up and operating,” he says.

The cloud server allows a bar owner to work offsite. “A cloud server offers you the ability to access all of your data and manage your entire business remotely through the web, untethering you from having to physically be onsite to run your business. Operators spend enough time onsite and shouldn’t have to be on location when they want to perform a back-office task” says Baron, who explains that everything from creating new menu items, adjusting prices, adding staff, running reports,

looking up a customer check, or setting up happy-hour prices can all be done in a back-office entirely on the web. That means you can run your entire business remotely on any web-enabled device, even your mobile phone.

Paradise POS makes use of a peer-topeer system so that its POS system is never down. “Most POS systems advertise that they operate in offline mode, however, that is a misnomer because what really happens is that you have limited functionality and communication,” says Holsomback.

“With our peer-to-peer network setup, our iPads communicate with each other, and the system functions with all features even when in offline mode.”

Add-Ons & Software You want a strong software offering from your POS provider that not only takes orders and payments, but also provides add-ons and other useful features.

Baron from SmartTab believes it’s important the system has what he calls “smart logic.” “If you’ve ever operated a smartphone or have used the Internet, then you know what smart logic feels like and you’ve come to develop a certain expectation of how things should work,” he says.

According to Baron, that means the system is finely tuned to anticipate your behavior and has predefined your needs to bring better context to your actions so that you feel like the system is as intelligent as you are. You can lead by your past experiences and serve them accordingly through basic but key functionalities like one-click tab instant tab search, easier splitting of tabs, and a robust bar tab management system. “It’s the user experience, the responsive user interface, and the animation effects that give gestures, emotions, and suggestions to people,” says Baron.

Baron also cites the example of SmartTab’s drag-select feature, which allows users to select multiple ticket items in a single gesture. “SmartTab moves at a completely different speed,” he says.

Baron also recommends using a POS system specifically geared to hospitality.

“Instead of developing POS for multiple verticals and delivering mediocre and lackluster functionalities targeted to a October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

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How To: POS Systems

broader group, we remain highly focused and concentrated on bars, clubs, and restaurants,” he says. “We’re hypersensitive to their pain points, and that’s how we know how to build good product.”

In addition to basic functionalities, add-ons, such as inventory management or staff scheduling, can make running your bar easier. “With Paradise POS, customers and their reseller partners can have confidence that all the basic functionality required to run a successful business is included in our POS software at one low fee,” says Holsomback. “The POS system easily pays for itself by improving order accuracy resulting in less ‘breakage,’ inventory tracking to prevent over-pouring, speeding up table turnover, preventing theft by employees, and payroll efficiencies.”

Paradise POS’ newest feature is a proprietary liquor inventory system. “It allows users to weigh their liquor bottles and then provides accurate reporting on 18

Bar Business Magazine

what the actual usage is,” says Holsomback.

“It takes the guesswork out of figuring out what you’ve used versus what you’ve sold.”

Other POS providers work with best-inbreed technology companies to provide their users with desired plug-ins. “[Those companies] are just going to have a better concentration, a better focus,” says Eric Elwell, CEO of 2TouchPOS. “They’re going to solve more of the smaller problems that have a bigger impact.”

2TouchPOS is currently focused on working on their application programming interfaces (APIs), which is the code that allows other software programs to communicate and connect with 2TouchPOS systems. “2Touch has the business logic and the automation that runs the restaurant, and the other applications need to talk to it,” says Elwell.

“So we’re working on APIs that we can provide the other developers in the ecosystem to connect with 2Touch easier.”

HarborTouch also partners with best-in-

breed technology. It recently unveiled its new Bar and Restaurant platform, which makes it easier for third-party apps to integrate with the POS system. “We started from scratch with a brand-new platform rather than trying to bolt on some of these third-party things to a Tablet-based POS solutions are now available to bars.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photos: (top) Shutterstock/ wavebreakmediaw; (bottom) Paradise POS.

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How To: POS Systems

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discovery with some of this stuff,” he says.

“So our approach is much more curated.”

The platform is cloud-based, which makes plugging in easier. “With the cloud-based infrastructure, once the [third-party partner] integrates it once, we can turn it on for any existing location that wants it,” says Lauber.

The newest version of Harbortouch’s Lighthouse management and reporting tool will bring these third-party apps and modules onto one interface. “We’re going to take a lot of those Internet-connected modules and things that typically operators don’t have time to do,” says Lauber, “and bring it right into an interface that they’re used to being on, which makes it super easy for them to handle those tasks that normally they’d have to go to different places to do.”

Data A POS system and its propriety or thirdparty app integrations also collects a ton of data on your bar.

“We collect everything from sales data to customer data using our internal loyalty and gift program that includes email marketing capabilities. Through our online reporting portal, or locally on the POS system, a user can have a complete picture of what’s happening in their business,” says Holsomback. “The use of data from the POS system empowers users to make smarter, more informed business decisions.

“Whether you’re looking for sales by category, item, hourly data, payroll, or inventory, it’s all at the tip of your fingers.”

SmartTab takes an altogether different view on data and sees it as a social network construction. “We got this idea that hospitality venues are actually a social network,” says Baron. “Our system collects all regular reporting but also pays attention to this social data and basically constructs a social network of all the component relationships. And we focus on customer profiles, their product mix— what people are drinking and consuming.”

Baron is currently exploring the best ways to “Zuckerberg” the hospitality industry and use this data to serve his customers. “There are some nextgeneration ideas we are developing and implementing slowly, and it’s just the beginning of what might change the

October 2017 barbizmag.com 2/8/17 11:18 AM

Photo: 2TouchPOS.

traditional onsite type on-premise system,” says Brendan Lauber, Chief Technology Officer, HarborTouch. “We’ve taken the time to build a really cool ecosystem around it where we’re just starting to invite in select third-party partners.”

Lauber says HarborTouch’s approach is to work as a curator in choosing the best third-party apps. “We’ve found that unlike consumers, bar operators don’t do self-

2TouchPOS offers new data analytics.

How To: POS Systems hospitality landscape,” he says.

Currently, SmartTab offers data in digestible, dynamic charts where in a swipe you can go from viewing a week’s worth of data to a year’s worth. “You can see trends appear with SmartTab that in other systems you might not see at all because you wouldn’t know how to find them,” says Baron. “Unstructured data presented in a very cumulative fashion is worthless.”

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Bar Business Magazine

2TouchPOS also recognizes the power in properly organized and analyzed data, and it recently introduced its Microsoft PowerBI interactive dashboard aimed at bringing data to life. The system gives users control of the data and the freedom to customize and create their own dashboards and charts.

The data is interactive and can be easily broken down into smaller parts.

Take a chart on credit card sales by customer. You can easily see what menu items are most popular, and by clicking on a particular item, you can see which of your guests is purchasing it and how much they’ve spent on it.

Elwell sees marketing opportunities here. “I’ve got a vision at some point here that we’ll be able to collect e-mail addresses and have that tied to the cardholder’s name,” he says. “Now you can start to really fine tune your targeting.”

Elwell also sees opportunities to use data to make small tweaks that add up to big revenue changes, “Owners need to use the POS system to go through what they’re selling things for and find where they can add those nickels and dimes.

We’ve got great menu engineering reports so you can tell what is moving and what’s not, and if you use that to just slightly tweak your pricing, it can ring a lot more revenue out of your business.”

HarborTouch also sees big potential in small changes. It partnered with industry professional and Bar Rescue star Jon Taffer to create a new “smart” POS (sPOS) system that analyzes data to find issues.

“Jon Taffer has built a whole arsenal of tools for improving revenue generation at its core at bars and restaurants. He’s built these time-tested formulas and very small and easy-to-act on ways that bars can improve their revenue, tweak their marketing programs, and things like that,” says Lauber. “We’ve taken that database of knowledge and we’re building it deep into the POS system itself.

“We look at the most important pieces of data from the system then proactively alert,” continues Lauber. “And that’s really the differentiator. The smart POS is actively looking for these kinds of things, it’s constantly analyzing and alerting you right when it matters.”

Those proactive alerts could include anything from suggestions for promotions to ways to improve your online reputation.

The sPOS takes the guesswork out of analyzing data. “A lot of times it’s on the bar owner to go and dig into that data and try to understand it. In the real world, there’s very rarely time for an operator to do that,” says Lauber. “It’s being that analytical force that larger operators may have to identify trends and bringing that down to the independent operator.”

October 2017 barbizmag.com

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How To

How To: OUTSIDE DESIGN

Turn Up the Heat Extend your patio season with the use of heaters. y October, autumn is in full swing, making many bar and restaurant owners think about closing their outdoor spaces. But don’t give up on your patio just yet. Heating elements can keep the chill at bay and extend your outdoors space’s usability by up to two months.

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Bar Business Magazine

Hot Companies Companies like Schwank (schwankgroup. com) and IR Energy (irenergy.ca) offer a wide variety of heaters.

Schwank’s line of patio heaters, patioSchwank, specializes in overhead infrared radiant heaters.

“Infrared heaters heat like the sun,” explains Andrew Aceti, Marketing Manager at Schwank. “[They] do not use mechanical air circulation, similar to how a heater would work in your car. There is no air movement—you simply feel the heat on your skin like you would on a sunny day.”

With offices in Georgia and Ontario, patioSchwank’s products include the overhead heaters bistroSchwank and supremeSchwank, which are made from Marine Grade 316 stainless steel.

PatioSchwank has served several large and well-known customers, including Whole Foods, Applebee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and others.

IR Energy is a division of the family-

run company Superior Radiant Products, and they design, test, and manufacture their products in Canada.

As Andrew Merritt, Business Development Manager at IR Energy, says, “Our products undergo life cycle testing in a fully-exposed environment in Ontario, Canada, where ice, snow, and rain are a part of everyday life.”

IR Energy offers three types of infrared heaters: the wall, ceiling, or post-mounted evenTube and Habanero, and the evenGLO (pictured, left), a freestanding dome-style heater.

IR Energy’s clients have included Wynn Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels, Ritz Carlton, and others.

Selecting a Model There are various decision points that come up when selecting a heater.

“Some factors are based mainly on the layout of the patio, while others are optional to the customer,” says Aceti.

“In order to get the proper heating

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photos (top to bottom): Schwank; IR Energy.

B

By Emily Eckart

How To: Outside Design coverage for your patio, factors such as how high the structure is, where the heat could escape (doors, windows, etc.), and the overall shape of your patio are all very important.”

Schwank provides complimentary designs to its customers to make sure their patios are optimally heated.

Additionally, patioSchwank offers heaters that run on either gas or electricity, depending on your venue’s individual needs.

Merritt says, “There are a couple key factors to take into consideration: [First], geographic location, elevation, and exposure. How cold does it get? Is it prone to high or constant wind? How long do they want to keep the space open? [Second], design and functionality.

What is the height and availability of hanging points? How intense does the heat coverage need to be?”

For example, the Habanero is IR Energy’s high-intensity heater. It would be appropriate for a space that gets colder or has fewer places in which to mount heaters.

A more enclosed or warmer space might not require something as intense as the Habanero. The evenTUBE might be a more appropriate option, which Merritt describes as “ideal for heating large areas with soft heat disbursement.”

Design becomes a factor in a few ways. First, certain models of heaters, such as the Habanero and evenTUBE, require a wall, ceiling, or post as a mount. Others are freestanding, such as evenGLO. Second, the heater’s visual compatibility with your space matters as well.

For example, Merritt says one of the major benefits of evenTUBE is its sleek design. “With the most compact design in the market, this heater is discreet, quiet, and efficient. It practically disappears into the background and lets your guests focus on each other, not the temperature.”

For patioSchwank, Aceti highlights electricSchwank as a unit with a sleek, visually appealing design. “They are available in multiple colors and can be flush mounted to a structure to provide a nice, clean look.” barbizmag.com

Setup & Maintenance IR Energy has designed its units to be easy to set up. “With our portable models, set-up is easy, taking 20-30 minutes to assemble,” explains Merritt.

“Fixed heaters require a gas line and a 24V power supply. Because our heaters are easy to install, our clients do not require a specialist to complete the install—any number of experienced

Heating elements can keep the chill at bay and extend your outdoor space’s usability by up to two months.

contractors would be able to have our units up and running in no time.”

Still, most heaters require a contactor to install, and Aceti highlights the importance of finding a qualified contractor, “In order to install a gas or electric unit, a licensed contractor is required. This is to ensure that the unit is installed safely and properly according to Schwank’s design layout

and local building codes.”

IR Energy designs its products to require minimal replacement of internal components. “The value realized by our clients is derived from reliability,” says Merritt. “Our units come with pushbutton ignition as well as remote ignition options. Maintenance is easy with the ongoing service options that IR Energy provides.”

PatioSchwank’s models are also easy to maintain. “All that would be needed is an annual maintenance check to ensure the heater operates correctly and safely and a proper cleaning,” explains Aceti.

Return on Investment How do you know whether prolonged patio revenues will offset the cost of your heaters?

“A good rule of thumb to determine increased ROI on your patio is to assume that your patio will be open an extra month before and an extra month after patio season,” says Aceti. “This means an extra two months of revenue on your patio that you would have otherwise lost. Patio heaters would also allow customers to stay longer during those cold summer nights.”

Aceti finds that most customers see ROI fairly soon, “We typically see that due to the increased revenue from installing patio heaters, most customers pay the heaters off within 1-2 patio seasons.”

That means happy patrons and, in the long run, increased profits.

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October 2017

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How To: OUTSIDE DESIGN

B

Light It Up!

eyond heat, an outdoor space also needs light. Jasco’s Enbrighten LED string lights are a long-lasting, energy-efficient solution. The bulbs don’t shatter, remain cool, and can be left outside year round. Jasco even has a series of color-changing LEDs. Kearsten Howland, Marketing Coordinator for Jasco, says, “Enbrighten LEDs are guaranteed to last a lifetime and never have to be replaced, which means no labor or maintenance costs for businesses once they are installed. With LED lighting, you can enjoy the energy savings even under heavy use.

Enbrighten LED Cafe String Lights use next-generation LED technology and premium optics to create a beautiful ambiance at a fraction of the energy cost

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Bar Business Magazine

compared to incandescent string lights. Using less than 1 watt per bulb, an entire 48-foot strand with 24 bulbs draws just 18 watts of power and can be run 365 days a year for under $10 annually.”

The lights are specifically designed for easy installation.

“Designed with a strong universal keyhole above each bulb, the lights can be mounted on a flat surface or hung from above using screws, nails, hooks, zip ties, or guide wire,” says Howland.

The Enbrighten Seasons colorchanging LED lights offer 16 colors and more than 120 color combinations. They come with a remote control that turns the lights on and off, changes the color, and adjusts the brightness. They meet UL 153 standards for permanent

outdoor installation and are the only LED color-changing string lights currently on the list.

Bars can use the changing colors to decorate their patio for everything from holidays to game day. “Choose from a single solid color, any two-color combination, or various preset color modes like red, white, and blue for the 4th of July, festive orange and yellow during the fall, red and green for the holidays, and more,” she says.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

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How To: beer

How To A PERFECT PAIR

It’s time to take down the wall between beer and whiskey.

T

his is an article about beer, but it’s also an article about whiskey. You may be thinking: outside of a boilermaker, that’s an unlikely pairing.

I’m here to change your mind.

To start out, it will help to break down the division between spirits and beer. “When I was behind the bar, that separation between spirits and beer was always something that stuck in my craw a little bit,” says Eric Rosentreter,

Pro Tip Beer and malt whiskey share the common denominator of water, malted barley, and yeast, which provides myriad opportunities for delightful pairings.

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Redemption Whiskey Brand Ambassador.

“Rather than having a shot and a beer next to each other, it’s breaking down that wall and encouraging people to be creative. There are no rules with this.

And the cocktail culture being what it is, I think people tend to get a little pigeonholed and possibly intimidated by what they think they can and can’t do.”

Now that we’ve broken down that proverbial wall, let’s take a look at why beer and whiskey complement each other. “At the most basic level, beer and malt whiskey share the wonderful common denominator of water, malted barley, and yeast, which provides myriad opportunities for delightful pairings,” says Glenmorangie Ambassador Clarke Boyer.

“Additionally, the hops used for beer brewing and the wooden casks used for whiskey maturation both bring wild depths of complexity to the glass, just begging to complement one another.”

In pairing beers with Glenmorangie’s whiskey, Boyer says he looks for complementary characteristics. “The best pairings succeed because flavors complement one another,” he says.

“There are some beautiful citrus esters in our whiskey that pay great homage to the bright, citrusy hops in many IPAs. “Great pairings also have a sort of yinyang factor, where certain elements are in opposition but work in tandem to create something really amazing.”

Sessionability can also come into play when pairing, according to Rosentreter, who often chooses to pair with a lowerABV beer. “I tend to not pair whiskey with barrel-aged beers and things like that because you have one round, and you’re going to be completely sideways,” he says.

Both Rosentreter and Boyer offered up some suggestions for pairing their brands of whiskey with craft beers: • Redemption High Rye Bourbon with Stiegl Grapefruit Radler

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photos: (left) Shutterstock/ Brent Hofacker; (right) Glenmorangie.

By Ashley Bray

How To: BEER “You have the high acid of the grapefruit in a Radler and that goes really well with the spiciness of the high-rye bourbon,” says Rosentreter.

• Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or with Colorado’s Great Divide Titan IPA. “This is a very aggressively-hopped beer with a sublime malty undertone,” says Boyer. “At 46% ABV and no chill-filtration, the Nectar d’Or really stands up to this ballsy beer. The rich honey and lemon meringue notes in the whiskey are the perfect dance partners for the big hop bomb that is Titan. IPA is fizzy and cold, whereas Nectar d’Or is high-proof with a lingering dry tannin on the finish—stunning to enjoy together.”

• Redemption High Rye Bourbon with Saisons “I like farmhouse ales, like saisons, with our rye. French or Belgian saisons just add that rustic sort of taste and a pretty unique flavor profile. It really brings out the rye sharpness and even a little bit of the dill aspects of the spirit,” says Rosentreter.

• Glenmorangie Signet with Samuel Adams Nitro Coffee Stout. “Signet is very unique in the single malt world in that it is driven by whiskey made from high-roast chocolate malt, weaving toffee, Turkish coffee, and dark chocolate truffles,” says Boyer.

“Paired with a velvety stout, this whiskey really shines.”

A simple way to serve pairings of beer and whiskey is similar to a boilermaker—encouraging guests to alternate sips of the two. “While beer and whiskey may share similar tasting notes, the mouthfeel, temperature, texture, and weight of each is completely different,” explains Boyer. “To experience the pairing, you must first taste the beer, allow it to coat your taste buds, noting the finish. Then, on your next sip, taste the whiskey and allow it to mingle around your mouth a bit. Note the finish there as well.

“By layering sips in this manner, you can really create some fun interplay between the texture of the liquids and notice the complementary flavors.”

This tasting experience is what Glenmorangie’s Dram & Craft program—which pairs single malts with barbizmag.com

craft beers—offers to on-premise guests.

Surprisingly, this program isn’t too far of a leap for the whiskey brand, as before 1843, the Glenmorangie distillery was a brewery, built on the site that shared the farm’s Tarlogie springs water source.

The program was inspired by the company’s Director of Whiskey Creation Dr. Bill Lumsden, who often enjoys a craft bar with his dram of Glenmorangie. But it was also spurred

Experiment and have fun with beer & whiskey pairings.

on by the proliferation of craft beer.

“Dram & Craft is the result of something we’ve been quietly doing for a long time: enjoying our lovely whiskies alongside a delicious beer,” says Boyer.

“There is no denying the prevalence of craft beer in the on-premise today.

Simply stated, our thinking was why not attach our star to that and provide a really fun, new way for consumers to

understand their dram.”

The program is one that any bar can implement in their own venue, especially if your staff has a passion for beer and whiskey and the desire to facilitate new tasting experiences.

“We can offer training and really cool assets that showcase the pairings. For example, we have these really neat metal neck badges that can be hung on our bottles denoting what type of beer goes best,” says Boyer. “We can also produce menu inserts and other assets that advertise the program.

“This is all about creating an experience for guests that they will remember and come back to try again.

Given the limitless possibilities for whiskey and beer pairings, the opportunity to get creative and encourage guests to explore can certainly lead to increased sales.”

Rosentreter agrees. “People respond really well to fun, creativity, and new experiences.”

Boyer also noted that Glenmorangie is interested in teaming up with regional breweries to seek out new pairings with their whiskies. “Bars and restaurants are often in the best position to facilitate these partnerships,” he says.

There are other ways beer and whiskey can be brought even closer together, as Rosentreter has demonstrated with his beer syrups and shrubs.

Nectar D’or paired with

ipa

October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

29

How To: beer

signet

paired with

stout

For syrups, he replaces the water in simple syrup with beer. “Depending on the style, I’ll use a little less sugar because most simple syrups that I do are a one-to-one ratio,” he says. “Since

beer is naturally pretty sweet and there’s a lot of sugar in there, by weight I’ll do a half portion to a quarter portion of sugar to beer and boil it down. It’s definitely a low, low boil. It

DOUBLE BACK

takes a little bit of time, but it’s a really cool thing.”

Rosentreter cites the example of a recent Old Fashioned he made where he replaced the simple syrup with his raspberry tart beer syrup. “It brings out different flavor profiles,” he says.

Shrubs can also be made with beer.

Since they tend to be a bit more sour and acidic thanks to the vinegar, Rosentreter chooses to use sour beers like a Gose or Berliner Weisse. He’s even used sour beers to replace the citrus in a cocktail.

“At first, you think beer is a lot more expensive,” he says, “but then you start to factor in the time it takes to juice citrus, and that’s where it starts to level off a little bit with the cost of beer.”

Above all, both brand ambassadors said bar owners shouldn’t be afraid to experiment with beer and whiskey pairings. “I always try to encourage people to experiment,” says Rosentreter. “Just practice, have fun, and don’t get discouraged.”

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October 2017 barbizmag.com

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Tuning Up

How To: Tuning Up

HOW TO

Video Distribution in Bars: Part 2 The pros and cons of video distribution techniques. ntroduction Audio Everywhere provides Wi-Fi audio in sports bars and similar locations so patrons can listen to any TV on their smartphone. We recently examined techniques for the companion challenge of video distribution. Previously we explored five typical configurations. In this

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Bar Business Magazine

follow up, we’ll evaluate the pros and cons of each.

Venue owners must translate the radio frequency TV signals coming into the establishment from a satellite antenna or cable or both, bringing in hundreds of channels per coaxial cable, to multiple TVs, all of which need to be visible to customers.

Centralized vs Distributed Receivers Separating the various channels from the RF cable requires a collection of receivers. One choice: to distribute receivers near the TVs or centralize them in one location. The built-in receivers on TVs won’t usually decode the copy-protected and encrypted program content that sports bars show,

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Shutterstock/ Yevgen Belich.

I

By Lance Glasser

How To: Tuning Up so external TV receivers are the focus.

An additional challenge: HDMI signals do not like to run a long distance.

Generally, TVs outnumber the channels being consumed. A moderately large sports bar might have 8 to 16 receivers and 25 to more than 100 TVs.

• Description: Basic signaling mechanism used by cable TV and similar systems that typically runs on 75-Ohm RG6 coaxial cable.

• Pro: Inexpensive and widely available.

• Con: Needs an end-point receiver with a way to pick the channel.

Physical Distribution Architecture The choice of where to locate the receivers impacts the entire system.

Type: Composite Video.

The yellow wire.

• Description: Carries all video information for one cable.

• Pro: Cheap.

• Con: Low quality. Will not do high-resolution.

1. Co-located TV receivers. An option is to locate receivers close to TVs, usually attached to mounting brackets in back.

• Pro: Allows a short receiver to TV HDMI cable to provide the highest resolution image.

• Con: Difficult to return audio to a central location.

• Pro: Minimizes central points of failure.

• Con: The venue must pay for extra receivers to serve every one or two TVs. • Pro: Extra receivers offer low cost/ high-resolution solution.

• Con: Common control solution is having waitstaff grab remote controls to aim at the receiver behind the TV, which is error prone and not a valueadded use of their time.

2. Centrally-located TV receivers.

Receivers can instead be centrally located in the venue.

• Pro: Control is more uniform, centralized, and even programmable.

• Con: Single point of failure.

• Pro: This solution can tile four, nine, or 16 TVs into one image for a big game.

• Pro: It allows for putting any channel on any TV even from different providers, e.g., DirecTV and Comcast.

• Con: Harder to distribute highresolution video because HDMI does not support long distance runs.

• Pro: Easy solutions to problems such as “put the game on that TV over there on this TV over here.”

Transport Mechanism Three signals need to be moved around the facility: video, audio, and control.

Video Type: RF signal from the cable or satellite receiver. Can carry one to many stations. barbizmag.com

Type: Component video.

Three cables per channel.

• Description: Reasonably high-quality video; generally highest singlechannel analog method.

• Pro: Good enough for many sports bars. Lower cost than HDMI and other digital techniques. Runs long distances well.

• Con: Cannot do the highest resolution images.

Type: HDMI • Description: Standard consumer digital high-resolution video distribution standard.

• Pro: Highest quality.

• Con: Only runs short distances.

Splitters and extenders can have issues with copyright protection mechanisms (HDCP).

There are many types of

video signals to choose from

Manage your TVs with

controllers

Type: HDbaseT • Description: Mostly for streaming uncompressed video over CAT 6.

• Pro: Highest quality for long distance.

A standard, lowering costs and improving compatibility.

• Con: Switching is somewhat expensive.

Type: HDbaseT over IP (emerging competitor is SDVoE) • Description: Combination of HDbaseT and video over IP. • Pro: High quality and a standard.

Lowers costs and improves compatibility.

• Con: Very new. Best with 10 Gbit Ethernet.

Audio CAN STREAM to the PA system or over Wi-Fi to

smartphones

Type: CAT 5E, CAT 6 • Description: Computer networking October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

33

How To: Tuning Up individual line-of-sight interactions and isolating signal from the other receivers. Contortionist skills are useful.

Method: RF remote controls, e.g., those from Home Theater.

• Pro: Does not require line of sight.

• Con: Intensive setup. How to get the IR signals to the receivers?

Type: SDV • Description: It’s broadcast quality standard.

• Pro: Losssless, i.e., no compression.

• Con: Expensive.

Audio Audio generally streams to two places: (1) the (possibly multi-zone) PA system or (2) a Wi-Fi audio to smartphones system such as the ones offered by Audio Everywhere. Co-located receivers, (e.g., in a rack in the back) are easy to implement. It is more difficult if receivers are located near TVs. Line level audio signals generally need to be sent back from TVs in balanced mode via a “summing balun,” a device used to transform single-ended analog left and right stereo signals from the (red and white) audio connectors to a single summed balanced signal suitable for running long distances, i.e., more than 10 meters.

Modern TVs often have no analog 34

Bar Business Magazine

audio output ports but rather use TOSLINK optical outputs, which can be simple S/PDIF digital format or more complex, e.g., Dolby. LG brand TVs won’t even output stereo S/PDIF signals on their optical outputs. Sports bars generally only need mono, and don’t want to pay for expensive converters. S/PDIF (also called PCM) outputs in stereo are available on Samsung and most other TVs, but they still need a device to transform from TOSLINK to electrical analog because the multimode plastic fibers used for TOSLINK are only good for about 10 meters of travel.

Centrally located receivers allow audio to be grabbed right there, but some centralized receiver systems, such as those in our second example, do not have a local audio output, necessitating bringing the audio back from the TVs anyhow. For example, ZeeVee has this challenge.

Control Are you confident that a distributed system without a master controller will get the right programs on the right TVs? Or do you want to have a plan and control the chaos? Below are some of the methods and their pros and cons.

Method: Staff-operated remote controls.

• Pro: Inexpensive, equipment-wise.

• Con: Not labor-efficient; requires

Method: Brand-specific controllers; included on matrix switches and receivers such as those from DirecTV. • Pro: Complete solution.

• Con: Limits you to that brand.

Method: General purpose controllers, such as Control4, Crestron, AMX. • Pro: Programmable, powerful solution for controlling the chaos.

• Pro: Tiling TVs into composite images is a great feature.

• Con: Expensive to very expensive.

Conclusions I hope this evaluation of video distribution helps you ask the right questions to achieve the system you want without encountering too many land mines. Good luck!

Lance Glasser is President and CEO of ExXothermic Inc., a consumer electronics company, doing business as Audio Everywhere (audioeverywhere.com), which is the leading provider of highquality Wi-Fi audio solutions. Glasser thanks the following for their advice and teachings: Richie Normand of RichieAudio, Rick Marks of Homesmart Central, Jeff Graham of Alaska DTS, and Jeff Mayes of Sportsbar-TV.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Shutterstock/ Maksym Poriechkin.

cable, can run long distances. Used in conjunction with HDMI modulator/ demodulator pairs, whether component video, video over IP, HDbaseT, or SDVoE. • Pro: Inexpensive and easy to find people who know how to install. It’s digital, so no loss of quality due to the wiring.

• Con: Conversion devices to and from HDMI can be expensive.

Method: RF remotes with IR transmitters on modulators.

Applicable when converting from HDMI to CAT 6 and then back. Some modulators/ de-modulators have IR receivers built in.

• Pro: No line of sight required.

• Pro: Converting to IR to control the TV-end receiver is taken care of.

• Con: Intensive setup.

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October 2017 barbizmag.com

Seasonal Cocktails

A

s the summer comes to an end, we embrace the change of seasons and the warm flavors that the fall offers us.

Crafting a seasonal menu is the popular craze throughout the bar community, and what your patrons want are those local, fresh, and seasonal ingredients.

Natural mixers and local ingredients are the backbone of any bar program. Patrons have become more educated on what’s being served by their favorite barkeep, and they’re always looking for the next best flavor to elevate their experience at your establishment.

Bob Peters, Head Mixologist and Creative Director of Bar Operations at The Punch Room, Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, says, “Having seasonal ingredients for a cocktail menu is incredibly important if you are trying to connect with your guest on an emotional as well as an intellectual level. Making those connections with your guest through cocktails is as enticing in the fall as any other season.

“Fall cocktails are my favorite of all the seasons because the beverages get a little darker, a bit more spirit forward, and are often stirred to a silky perfection.”

In this feature, we provide you with a list of the “must-have” cocktails of the season. This incredible collection of extraordinary drinks are examples of what mixologists around the world are creating for their bar programs.

The next time you’re out on the town at your favorite local watering hole, be sure to reference some of these mind-blowing concoctions.

must-have

fall

recipes Photo Credit

By Jeremy LeBlanc

barbizmag.com

Photo: Carla Gradiski.

The leaves are changing and so are the cocktails.

Jeremy LeBlanc designs cocktail menus and consults for bars internationally.

He has published three craft cocktail books and is trained and certified by Academia Mexicana del Tequila. He is President of TIN PLAY Precision Pour Flair Tins, LLC.

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Seasonal Cocktails

Tiki Monkey

1.5 oz. pisco .75 oz. orange oleo-saccharum .75 oz. Lemon juice .75 oz. sandalwood sugarcane syrup 1 egg white 1/2 tsp ITO EN matcha green tea Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an egg shell by using a clothespin to clip it to the side of the coupe glass. Fill the eggshell with soy matcha lecithin edible foam and a seasonal edible flower.

Tenzin Samdo, Bar Director & Partner, Café ArtScience, Boston, MA

15 th-century

Shake ingredients in a Boston shaker and then pour IPA into the tin. Strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice. Garnish with orange zest and then discard the zest.

Smoked Honey Franciulli 2 oz. Turning Point Carolina Rye whiskey .25 oz. Krupnikas .25 oz. Fernet-Branca .5 oz. Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth

Stir all ingredients into a shaker tin and strain into a Nick and Nora glass.

Smoke with North Carolina pecan wood.

Eddie Avila, Bar Manager, WhisknLadle, San Diego, CA

Bob Peters, Head Mixologist & Creative Director of Bar Operations, The Punch Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, NC

African Junipe Smooch

The Golden Ticket

1.5 oz Triple Three Estate Distillery Gin 3-4 dashes homemade bitters (rosemary + cinnamon) .75 oz elderflower cordial .5 oz simple syrup 1 sprig rosemary 2 sprigs thyme 2 pinches Himalayan pink salt Pour and add all ingredients and botanicals into a shaking tin and fill with ice cubes. Shake vigorously for four seconds and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with sprigs of rosemary and thyme.

1.5 oz. Agave de Cortes .5 oz. fresh lime juice 1 oz. coconut cream/milk 2 dashes Scrappy’s Cardamom Bitters 1-2 kaffir lime leaves .75 oz. golden beet juice .25 oz. allspice dram 1 egg white

To make the coconut cream, blend one can of Coco Lopez and one can of coconut milk together using an immersion blender. To juice the beets, use a Breville centrifugal juicer. Clean the beets well then run them through and fine strain the mixture before using. Combine all ingredients in shaking tin and dry shake. Add ice and give it a hard shake. Double strain into Nick & Nora glass or a coupe. Garnish with cinnamon stick.

Andrew Larson, Bar Manager, Proof at The Hake, San Diego, CA

Dieter Werner Diederichs, Master Mixologist, Cape Town, South Africa 38

Bar Business Magazine

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Justin Driscoll.

1 oz. rye whiskey 1 oz. Aquavit .5 oz. fresh lemon Juice .5 oz. rich vanilla syrup .5 oz. Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur 1 oz. Societe’s The Pupil IPA

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security

In Case of

I

none of your business. You are f you’ve ever felt the need to experiencing the Bystander Effect. contact 911 in case of an We’ve all heard about the fight or emergency, chances are you’ve flight phenomenon, but study after experienced an overwhelming study has shown that most people feeling of dread wash over you. confronted with a traumatic event That proverbial pit in your stomach physically freeze up. And while no one is the feeling of trauma people often Jeremy LeBlanc wants to have to consider a worst case experience when in theBy midst of dealing scenario happening at their bar or with any emergency—whether it be club, experts say that practicing for a their own or a complete stranger’s. You catastrophe is exactly the best way to may be afraid for your own life or for ensure events are handled in the safest someone else’s. You may hesitate and and most appropriate manner possible. wonder whether or not to get involved.

As children, that’s why we do fire You may not consider the event to be an drills—so if the real thing ever emergency or perhaps you think that it’s

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Bar Business Magazine

happens, we’ll be ready. That’s the premise of a new way of preventing that “deer-in-the-headlights” feeling associated with any type of emergency.

It’s called Bystander Intervention.

Restaurant, bar, and nightclub owners can and should implement emergency service protocols, train their staff to recognize and respond to dangerous situations, and teach bartenders how to safely intervene in cases where a customer may be at risk of alcohol poisoning, overdose, sexual assault, or dating violence.

But how do we ensure all of our

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Shutterstock/ By Barbol.

emergency

SECURITY

Is your bar ready to handle an emergency?

Photo: Shutterstock/ Aleksandra Gigowska.

BY Keith Labelle

patrons are trained to respond to a worst-case-scenario situation? Are they able to call for help? Do they know the address of your establishment? Can they recognize the signs of an overdose? Are they simply afraid of overreacting so they decide not to get involved?

Wendy Geller, CEO of Safely Social (safely.social), has developed a new smartphone app, Silent 911, that solves this very dilemma. The best part is, your patrons don’t have to be experts in emergency response, Bystander Intervention scholars, or technology gurus in order to utilize it. They don’t barbizmag.com

even need to know the street address of the building they are in. Your customers don’t have to text or talk to anyone to explain the emergency. They don’t even need to know how to speak English. As long as someone has the ability to trace a shape and has WiFi on their phone, every single person who enters your establishment could potentially be a lifesaver.

Safely Social is a technology company based out of Charlotte, North Carolina that provides software development and licensing to federal, regional, and local emergency service providers. Safely Social has developed a patent-pending technology that provides emergency responders with information about a victim’s location through a silent application that allows the responders to view/receive the exact location of the reporting victim through different modes of transmission.

“This Silent 911 invention evolved from a desire to do more to protect victims, the general public, and emergency responders with a higher level of safety,” says Geller. “This Silent 911 technology takes into consideration abuse, bullying, active shooters, assaults, overdoses, and crime victims, as well as bystanders of these situations, all contacting 911 in realistic circumstances.”

When citizens do contact 911 the oldfashioned way, by calling, their GPS location services ping the nearest cell phone tower, but not the cell phone’s exact coordinates.

The Silent 911 app allows anyone to silently and discreetly contact the authorities simply by tracing a shape that appears on their phone. Better yet, the phone’s location is geo-tagged by authorities and emergency management services can pinpoint your exact location without having to text, type, or talk.

Bar managers, restaurant owners, or staff could have the technology installed on their POS systems to immediately contact a 911 Call Center by tapping one of four buttons to send police, ambulance, fire, or to file a bystander report discreetly and immediately with the exact location of the emergency.

“Knowing a mobile caller’s location

would save an estimated 10,000 lives a year and $92 million through faster EMS response times,” says Geller.

There have been an influx of 911 smartphone apps lately, but none have seriously taken into consideration the Bystander Effect where individuals are much less likely to contact authorities for help due to several key factors.

First, there is a diffusion of responsibility in a large group setting like a bar or club where everyone thinks it’s somebody else’s responsibility to call for help or falsely assumes that someone else already has noticed the incident.

Many people don’t want to get involved or don’t interpret the event as an emergency and therefore won’t assume responsibility. It may be even more difficult for staff to decide how to provide assistance and have confidence in their ability to help.

One of the most pervasive crimes that active bystanders could prevent is intimate partner violence.

The sad reality is that sexual assaults and dating violence incidents are happening at epidemic rates.

Statistically, 1 in 4 women is sexually assaulted during her lifetime, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Similarly, 25% of women are physically abused by a partner at some point in their lives.

The overwhelming majority of assaults occur when alcohol is involved.

No responsible bar owner wants to see anyone hurt in their establishment. The number-one violent crime that occurs with adults who have been drinking is

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security physical altercations, which bouncers and security staff have been well trained to break up and diffuse. However, a close second is sexual assault.

Parking garages and dark alleys are scary places in the movies, but in reality, sexual violence occurs in places where large groups congregate and feel comfortable. Once that comfort is shattered by an accusation of sexual assault, often the establishment is placed with just as much blame as the actual offender. The vast majority of assaults occur between two people who are acquaintances—not boogey men jumping out of “rape vans” or dark alleys. And if such an event happens in your place of business, the perception may quickly form among your customers that something bad will happen to them if they frequent your establishment.

In order to stop sexual assault in its tracks, we need to train and educate.

This education begins with providing your entire staff, not just security, with the skills to recognize the signs of sexual violence and the tools to prevent these crimes from taking place. This training should be mandatory for every person in your employ from business owners to busboys.

Does your staff know what to do if someone is being assaulted? Can they recognize the signs of dating violence or date rape drugs? Preventing sexual violence by training your staff to become active bystanders is as simple as remembering the three D’s of Bystander Intervention: direct, delegate, distract.

As owners or managers, we need to ensure that your staff—and by extension, your patrons—know how to notice certain telltale signs of sexual violence, interpret that event as an emergency, assume responsibility to take action, and confidently decide which of the three D’s to implement to prevent the behavior from escalating.

Direct. The first “D,” which calls for a direct confrontation of a situation, is by far the most difficult. Actively intervening by confronting the couple, especially when alcohol is involved, can be tricky. If your staff notices an obviously inebriated woman being plied with more and more drinks by someone who seems sober, that is a major red 42

Bar Business Magazine

flag. Training your staff to check in on the couple by directly confronting them isn’t easy, especially if the relationship appears to be ambiguous to the untrained eye.

Delegate. Delegating the handling of a situation to security staff, bouncers, bartenders, friends of either party, or possibly even the police is the second “D” of Bystander Intervention.

Ensuring that your patrons know they may solicit the assistance of any staff member is critical to preventing predators from roaming free in your nightclub, bar, or restaurant.

Distraction. Finally, creating a distraction to draw attention to the alleged perpetrator by striking up a conversation with the intoxicated

Remember the three D’s of Bystander Intervention: direct, delegate, distract.

woman or asking pointed questions, like if she’d like to go to the bathroom, or how she’s getting home, are good distractions to utilize.

Luckily, Geller’s Silent 911 App addresses all three of these Bystander Intervention solutions. Your establishment can put this app to use on any touchscreen surface—including personal tablets or smartphones—and make all three D’s of being an active bystander easily take place with a simple tap of a button and trace of a shape.

Safely Social will provide any bar or restaurant with Bystander Intervention training for all staff members so they have the skills necessary to safely intervene in any case of sexual violence.

Restaurateurs who utilize the Safely Social App would have access to a whole range of promotional materials to put in the office, back of the house,

or even in restrooms.

Additionally, at a time when our nation faces an opiate overdose problem of pandemic proportions, customers inside your establishment would have the tools to discreetly call for immediate help in the event of alcohol poisoning or overdose.

“To further protect victims and bystanders from violent repercussions, all Silent 911 alerts disappear once sent,” explains Geller. “It is the easiest, most discreet way to reach out for emergency help when talking or texting info could provoke personal danger. “[Also,] it practically eliminates baby, pocket, and butt misdials to 911 by updating the emergency button click.”

“This new patent-pending technology, for which the developed prototype has been engineered for demonstration purposes and is ready for testing, provides Equal Safety For all,” says Geller. “Once implemented, anyone— adults, children, seniors, those with language barriers, persons with hearing or speech disabilities, the many of us that fear-freeze or panic unexpectedly… would all be able to contact 911 silently.”

This level of technology is so advanced that Apple recently announced filing a patent for very similar technology, validating Geller’s technology concept. Whether it be a fire, an overdose, an active shooter, or an act of sexual violence, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Safely Social will soon have the capacity to provide exactly that sense of safety and security to your customers in the very near future.

Keith Labelle is Supervisor of the Bystander Intervention Program and the URi-STANDers at the University of Rhode Island (URI), which is a team of specially trained students who educate and increase awareness about sexual violence campus wide. He also serves as Advisor for the mentoring organization We’re Offering Women Wisdom. He presents annually to the National Football League on violence prevention issues and has presented and conducted trainings on sexual assault, domestic violence, and substance abuse since 2001.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Bar Tour

Bar Tour

T The Monarch

Kansas city, missouri

An architect looks to reinvent the bar experience.

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he Monarch Cocktail Bar & Lounge took flight this past August, but the journey to get there was a long one.

The design and build process was much longer than is typical in the bar and restaurant world—one year and nine months. But then again, Architect David Manica isn’t the typical owner. He poured his vision into the bar’s details over a nine-month drawing phase. “Since my office designed it and detailed it, we were able to spend a lot of time in the drawing phase,” says Manica.

Shipping logistics also lengthened the timeline, as many materials were imported—like the white marble for the main bar, which came from Italy.

“Those kinds of issues were challenging to work around but we were able to accommodate it,” says Manica.

That time spent on the details translated into a fairly smooth build-out process on the other end.

“It’s been a long project, but the biggest reason for that is we didn’t want to cut any corners,” says Mark Church, General Manager of The Monarch. “If we

were going to do this, it was going to be set up so that we’d be successful in the short term but also successful in the long term with how we structured things.”

The first order of business was finding a location, and Manica choose a building in the West Plaza neighborhood of Kansas City, which also gave the bar the opportunity to fill a void—the neighborhood is an entertainment hub with many shopping and dining options but no real cocktail bar options.

The building also checked all the boxes in terms of structural needs. The Monarch features the Main Bar, the private Parlour Room, and an outdoor patio called the Monarch Terrace.

Manica’s goal in designing these spaces was to create a social setting that reinvents the idea of a bar.

A large part of that is the main room’s center bar, which lacks one main feature—the back bar. “The idea of pushing a bar up against a wall and having a big wall of liquor and that tried-and-true approach to bar design is something we wanted to rethink and reinvent,” says Manica. “I don’t

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photos (left and far right): Aaron Leimkuehler.

By Ashley Bray

Bar Tour A large, stone fireplace in the Main Bar also helps to give the room the comforts of home. “Getting a fireplace in was one of our biggest challenges,” says Manica. “We specifically brought in a gas line to the space from the city main for the fireplace. Getting the fireplace to pass all the building code regulations and all that was challenging, but we

We hope the guests notice the culmination of our efforts.

fought for it. I think it will really change and help support this feeling of comfort and sophistication in the room.”

In contrast, the invitation-only Parlour Room features a black-on-black aesthetic.

“There’s no natural daylight back there anyway, so we just made it really dark and intimate—the opposite of the Main Bar,” says Manica. “The way those two things sort of counterpoint with each other has been interesting to play with.”

The Parlour Room offers eight cocktails exclusive to the 22-seat room, which are

all named after Aesop’s Fables. A curated, rotating list of vintage and rare spirits and fine wines is also available.

The Monarch Terrace offers outdoor seating. Since it’s at the base of a very tall building, Manica first set out to change the scale of the patio. “What you want to do is create a sense of room there, and the room needs a ceiling on it, so we created this canopy that creates that sense of space for the patio itself.”

The canopy also gave them the opportunity to add glass. “It’s not an enclosed patio, but it has a glass covering to protect from snow and rain. So if it’s sprinkling outside, you can still be on the patio,” says Manica. “It also gave us the opportunity to add fans, speakers, lights, and radiators so we can extend the use of the patio to closer to nine months.”

Operable drapes also help to extend the use of the patio. “On a chilly night, we can draw the drapes, turn on the heaters, and knock that wind off and try to make it more comfortable,” says Manica.

Even the bathrooms feature a thoughtful design. “I think bathroom design is one of the things that is becoming a big trend in restaurant and hospitality design,” says Manica. “So we spent a lot of time in there as well.

There’s this beautiful glowing wall of stone glass that’s backlit.”

The attention to detail isn’t limited to The Monarch’s design, it also carries over into the service, which is an important part of the bar’s culture. “We take care of

Photo (right): Brandon Cummins.

particularly like bars like that because you end up just facing liquor instead of the room and the people.”

With the back bar absent, nothing obstructs the sight lines, which allows for eye contact from all vantage points.

It also puts the bartenders “on stage” as they mix up the drinks. “I think it’s a much more interesting and dynamic way to experience an evening,” says Manica.

All of the liquor bottles are stored in secured display cases in the hallway leading to the Parlour Room and the bathrooms. “We have various ways to display them. Some of them are just simple shelves, some of them are special cases where we can put more expensive bottles and highlight those,” says Manica. “They’re all under special lighting and behind clear glass.”

At the Main Bar, light colors like white, ivory, and soft golds and champagnes combine with warm woods and the marble bar to create an opalescent color scheme that achieves a warm, shimmering aesthetic. An art installation of 1500 monarch butterflies—a nod to the origin of the bar’s name—takes flight above the center bar.

“What’s also really amazing about the space is the light changes throughout the day. So we have daylight during the day in the bar then as night comes and the lights come up, it takes on a different atmosphere,” says Manica.

“That was important for me—I wanted the atmosphere of the bar to change.”

barbizmag.com

October 2017

Bar Business Magazine

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Bar Tour

Owner/Architect

A

n architect walks into a bar may sound like the start of a joke, but it’s simply the start of The Monarch’s story.

David Manica is the owner/ founder of Manica Architecture, one of the world’s leading designers of luxury sports and entertainment arenas with offices in London, Shanghai, and Kansas City. He is also the Lead Design Architect for Chase Center, the new home of the NBA Warriors in San Francisco as well as the new NFL stadium for the Raiders in Las Vegas.

His work has taken him around the world, and he’s experienced many high-end cocktail bars.

His trips abroad and visits to patio bars in Moscow and establishments like The Connaught in London influenced his luxurious, welcoming design of The Monarch. “There is this feeling when you walk into a place like that that you’re going to be taken care of,” he says. “It’s that feeling of hospitality and being wrapped in that welcoming, sophisticated experience that I wanted to take away from it.”

He decided to bring an establishment with that same feeling back home to Kansas City. “There’s nothing like it here, and I just decided I’d open a high-end cocktail bar myself,” he explains.

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(Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Aviation Gin, blanc vermouth, and acidulated fino sherry, and Boylan’s Tonic) and Jaliscan Cup (cucumber and lemon balm-infused Tequila Ocho, Pimms No. 1, and housemade ginger soda).

Bottled cocktails will also be served, and they include Seveneves, which is a mix of Crown Royal Rye, barrel-aged RC cola reduction, and vanilla-infused Cocci Dopo Teatro. “That one is served in prohibition prescription bottles that we seal with wax and then it’s just poured over a cube,” says Schulte.

Another unique feature of The Monarch is the bar cart in the Main Bar area, which is used to bring a bartender to guests. Bartenders craft cocktails tableside from a cart outfitted with six Negroni variations. “We wanted to hit as many palettes as we could using the Negroni as a model,” says Schulte.

The variations include The Monarch Negroni, which is a layered interpretation of the cocktail that features multiple gins, vermouths, and bitter components homogenized with toasted Alder wood.

Snacks, skewers, desserts, and small plates made by Chef Theresia Ota are also available, which are meant to complement the cocktails.

“We hope that the guests notice the culmination of our efforts,” says Church, “and that we really have tried to pay attention to every detail when it comes to the serving of drinks and the service.” themonarchbar.com

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photo: Brandon Cummins.

David Manica

our staff first and foremost, our staff then takes care of our guests, the guests take care of our bills, our bills get paid— it steps down in service that way,” says Church. “Unless you take care of the staff first and build that culture early on, you’refighting an uphill battle.”

Speaking of service, with the absence of a back bar at the center bar in the main room, Manica knew he had changed the way his bartenders typically operate. So he worked with them to custom design an under-bar cockpit.

“The plan is to batch the cocktails as much as possible,” explains Brock Schulte, Bar Manager of The Monarch.

“Basically where I would normally only have room for one spirits bottle, I’m putting four smaller bottles behind the bar and then I’m training my bar back staff just to keep those topped off and move them in and out as much as possible as we need.”

The Monarch’s bar program (led by Schulte and Church of Liquid Minded Concepts) takes the migration of the Monarch butterfly, which can travel up to 2,500 miles in a season, as its inspiration. “For us, it was identifying these paths that we could take inspiration from and then finding regional flavors and spirits that complimented those paths to create a drink around,” says Schulte.

The Monarch offers four draft cocktails on tap and a few Terrace-only selections.

At the Main Bar, the draft cocktail selections include Kansas City Ice Water

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Perlick’s Heavy-Duty Column Wine Refrigeration

Perlick, a leader in total package bar equipment and beverage dispensing systems, debuts its energy-saving line of heavy-duty column wine refrigeration. Perlick’s seven-foot-tall wine column refrigeration with 24-inch-by-24-inch footprint combines attractive exteriors with tight control of the storage environment to preserve the quality of fine varietals.

The eye-catching look showcases wine with 99-bottle maximum storage, adjustable shelves to angle up or lay bottles flat, and triple-pane, low-E, bronze-tinted glass that blocks UV light. The interior protects the taste and aroma of reds and whites with automatic humidity control and temperature control in dual or single zones with auto alarm for correct storage of reds and whites between 40-68˚F. The eco-friendly powerhouse saves energy costs with a variable-speed compressor for slower, quieter operation and reduced energy consumption as well as a R600A isobutane refrigerant with no ozone depletion and low global warming potential. perlick.com

The Walter Collective’s Modern, Small-Batch Spirits The Walter Collective Gin & Vodka

The Walter Collective is releasing ground-breaking, small-batch, modern spirits, each made from distinct and exceptional ingredients. The result is uncommonly smooth spirits that bring entirely new sensations to the palate. The Walter Collective Gin (pictured) took more than a year and 300 variations to finalize. It’s a deeply complex gin featuring the smoothness of Italian juniper, the subtle warmth of cassia and cardamom, and the brightness of grapefruit and lemon.

The Walter Collective Vodka is made with a unique blend of grains: spelt and triticale. Spelt is an ancient grain that imparts nutty sweetness.

Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye that brings smooth complexity. The vodka is distilled twice— once for purity, twice for smoothness. This process results in a special vodka with character and flavor. thewaltercollective.com

Johnnie Walker Adds a New Innovation to its Limited Edition Series of Experimental Whiskies Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Wine Cask Blend

Johnnie Walker welcomes Blenders’ Batch Wine Cask Blend, the latest U.S release in the experimental Blenders’ Batch series. This welcoming blend includes whiskies matured in wine casks. It is crafted with malt whiskies from the Highland such as Clynelish and some from Speyside such as Roseilse. It also includes creamy grain whiskies, such as those from Cameronbridge. The result is a light and vibrant whisky with notes of orchard fruit and red berries. “With these new whiskies, we wanted to make blends that can be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere, and especially by those who might previously have thought that whisky isn’t for them,” said Aimée Gibson, who led the experiment in maturation which resulted in this particular blend. Wine Cask Blend is designed with bartenders and whisky enthusiasts in mind. It is exceptional mixed in classic whisky cocktails, or simply enjoyed with Ginger Ale over ice. Johnnie Walker Blenders’ Batch Wine Cask Blend will be available for $29.99 (750ml) while supplies last. johnniewalker.com

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Bar Business Magazine

October 2017 barbizmag.com

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY’S FIRST SMART POS. BAR BUSINESS MAGAZINE sits down with Jon Taffer to discuss his partnership with Harbortouch. This short video dives into the powerful revenue-generating tools the new Smart POS system delivers to owners and managers. The Smart POS system is a true business partner that delivers analytics, customer promotions techniques, and most importantly, solutions, to help owners run their businesses more efficiently.

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JON TAFFER Executive Producer & Host of Spike TV’s Bar Rescue & Hospitality Consultant

ART SUTLEY Publisher Bar Business Magazine

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51

with MYRIAM HENDRICKX

Master Distiller of Rutte Distillery (Dordrecht, Netherlands)

M

yriam Hendrickx carries on the nearly 150-year history and traditions of Rutte Distillery, a small botanical distillery known for its celery gin and genever (a Dutch spirit made with malt wine that’s a precursor to gin). She’s a food engineer who has been a teacher and consultant on all aspects of the food industry from dairy to sweets to beverages. But it was the spirits industry that kindled her passion.

“In the spirits industry, we don’t know everything, unlike in the dairy industry where we know every molecule,” she says. “Ask a distiller why he does something, and he won’t always know because often it’s an old recipe or an old method. The old craft and the mystery around it fascinated me.” She became an expert on genever, and when an opportunity opened at Rutte, Hendrickx took it, “It was the chance of a lifetime.”

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What’s your day-to-day like?

It’s a couple of days a week developing products and looking at the quality of the products we make. I have a product distiller who works with me, and he spends a lot of time at the pot still, but we always check together if the taste and the flavor is good, and if things are done according to the guidelines. Developing new products and experimenting with botanicals is an ongoing thing. Ideas can come out of my brain or from the team’s, but there’s also a nice cooperation with the marketing team of our mother company DeKuyper Royal Distillers that looks at cocktail trends worldwide and feeds us with ideas. I also spend a lot of time teaching for schools, hotels, etc.

We have consumer visits everyday and for that we have a team of five people, but all the professional visits I try to do myself because it’s good to be able to talk profoundly with bartenders and spirit professionals about our common love for taste and craft.

2

How do you uphold Rutte tradition while adding your personal touch?

When I came on, there were all these old recipes, and I had to analyze, put together, and figure out what the old Ruttes meant when they put down a word or something. We still make the old recipes; we have over 60 recipes.

But even when we make something new, like a genever or a gin, we go back to the old recipes from the generation before us, and we use that core. So you get a modern twist off their old recipes. For me, it’s an honor to progress their knowledge and creative work as it’s all there.

3

Have you observed a growing interest in Rutte?

We’ve really seen increased interest, especially in America, as it used to be such a big thing here and for almost 100 years it’s been gone. For Americans, it’s new and yet it’s so historic. [Note: Genever was a popular spirit in the U.S. in the mid to late 19th century.] In Holland, it’s still the national drink, but in the U.S. we’re just starting. We’re seeing an interest definitely as gin is such a big thing, and people look for the roots and they get to the forerunner, which is

genever. I find it important to not just promote our brand, but to promote the whole category. I think education is where it starts. There’s a whole world to discover in Dutch genevers, and I even tell my competition to go out and export because the more brands you have, the more it becomes a category.

4

What’s next for Rutte?

We are botanical distillers, so we will always experiment with new botanicals and with different mixes.

And then there’s the malt wine: the grainy base that gives genever its full-bodied flavor. We experiment with different percentages of malt wine and with new types of grains.

Also, for generations, we’ve made sloe gin, but we call it liqueur as sloe gin has sugar. We have international products, national products, and local products that we just sell in our historical shop, and the sloe gin was a local product. But now we’re going to make it available internationally.

This is one of those examples where we’ve been making it for generations, but for the international version, we brought some nice twists to it to give it an even more fruity flavor.

5

Any advice for other distillers?

Believe in what you do—whether it’s making big volumes or whether it’s making small batch stuff like we do—do it well and do it with your full passion. It’s a beautiful industry and an amazing craft—give it your all.

6

Any advice for other women in our industry?

Go for it, be bold, and approach the sometimes awkward situations with humor and understanding.

Rutte’s Celery Snapper cocktail.

October 2017 barbizmag.com

Photos: DeKuyper Royal Distillers.

Q&A

1

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