Bar Business Magazine March 2012

Number 02

Welcome to the March 2012 issue of

The How-To Publication

BAR BUSINE$$ March 2012

M A G A Z I N E

www.barbizmag.com

TEQUILA:

Bar Business Bar Business Magazine

This digital edition is brought to you by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation

Lively Lists:

Seasonal cocktail menus and other ways to keep things fresh.

Not So Scary Anymore

ma rch 20 12

how to: wine ideas Big Six: los angeles How To: debit fees

BAR BUSINE$$

On Tap March 2012 february 2010

CONTENTS

30

making the Cocktail menu

23

20

Fractions of sense

With new legislation capping debit card fees for businesses, you need to be sure you’re seeing all those little decimal points add up.

2

HOWTO TO HOW

23

26

Gone By the glass?

Bounce around

Is wine by the glass a notion that has passed by bar owners in 2012?

We look at reasons to preserve bottles in order to expand your menu.

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

Keeping your customers and staff safe is vital to success.

So let the bouncers themselves tell you how it’s done. www.barbizmag.com

On Tap

BAR BUSINE$$

CONTENTS

Features 30 menu review

Departments 6 Bar room drawl 8 Booze News

James Bond and Heineken, together again; Caorunn Gin wants your best recipe; Liquor lawsuits; Glacier cubes a no-no; Wine fire justice; Dumbells and drinks.

12 liquid Assets

The terror that was tequila no longer need be, and many are moving past the myths to create premium offerings in the category.

17 Tuning up

TouchTunes is taking your digital jukebox for a spin to create a truly interactive experience on-premise.

12

Creating interesting cocktail menus can keep customers coming back. Here are some ways to do just that.

34 Little tips

We bounce around the bar with Bob Johnson to pick up some random ideas for improving business.

38 Big six

With the world’s biggest DJ’s regularly playing unannounced gigs, you never know who you might see at Los Angeles hotspot AGENCY.

42 FOUR CORNERS

We check in on the nightlife in New York State’s capital city of Albany, where the college kids are really mixing it up on-premise.

46 Inventory 49 holiday happenings 42 Owning Up

34

A multi-venue Florida bar owner considers franchising his brands.

38

ON THE COVER: Tarantula Azul, a blend of tequila and citrus liqueur.

“Bar Business Magazine” (ISSN 1944-7531 [print], ISSN 2161-5071 [digital]) (USPS# 000-342) is published monthly except combined in January/ February, July/August, and November/December for $45.00 per year by Simmons-Boardman, 345 Hudson Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10014.

Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2012 Simmons-Boardman. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in any fashion without the expressed written consent of Simmons-Boardman. Qualified U.S. bar owners may request a free subscription. Non-qualified U.S. 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 and 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 each.

Subscriptions must be paid for in U.S. funds only. For Subscriptions, address changes, and adjustments, write to: Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Instructional information in this magazine should only be performed by skilled crafts people with the proper equipment. The publisher and authors of information provided herein advise all reader to exercise care when engaging in any o 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. All rights reserved.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010.

4

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

www.barbizmag.com

Bar Room Drawl

By Chris Ytuarte Editor-in-Chief

Bar Math and Other Numerical Endeavors I’ll be honest with you: math is not my strong point. Despite my appealing to scholars such as Caesar over a beer (below), math and I just never saw eyeto-eye, which played a crucial role in my choosing journalism as a major at the University of Maryland.

That said, I’m fully aware this business, and many others, come down to the numbers at the end of the day. For most bar owners, the bottom line is full of pretty important digits. What I’ve always liked about bar math, however, is that it never seemed to require the kind of exactness in its computations as that of, say, NASA's calculations of gravitational forces necessary for successfully landing a manned space shuttle. I mean, we’re just serving drinks here, right?

So I always like it when someone in our business does take a close look at the numbers, and I like it even more when that numerical examination is related to a cover story we ran back in the November/December 2011 issue on portion control. Here’s a letter we received from a reader who, in response to that feature, wanted to make sure we took a good look at what he sees as the vital math of that methodology: “I own Kurtz's Pub & Deli in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The business was founded by my grandfather in 1904. Forty or so years ago when the first measured pourer came on the market, my father 6

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

bought a dozen and put them on the rail liquors. Prior to that we never had a positive balance in the checkbook after paying the bills. Within two months of having the new pourers, we suddenly noticed there was a balance of $2,000 after paying the bills. It was a revelation, and we've had this control ever since.

“The reason I am writing is to point out an error in the article ‘When to Say When.’ People often inflate the savings [from pour spouts] by using the selling price per shot, which makes the payback much shorter. If you overpour 25% of every bottle and then put on the automatic pourers, what you saved is not the selling price per drink multiplied by the drinks you saved. It is the cost to replace that overpoured liquor. So if you are charging $7.50 per drink and saving six drinks per bottle, and your cost per drink is $1.50, you have saved the $9.00 that it will cost you to replace that overpoured liquor, not the $45.00 selling price. The selling price has nothing to do with the overpouring or the number of drinks you will sell that day.

“Don't misunderstand me. As I pointed out above from our own experience, the savings are significant. And if you should be in Two Rivers anytime soon, stop in and I'll buy you a beer. We just tapped the seasonal Hacker-Pschorr Maibock from Munich. It is to die for."

— Jim Christensen Thanks for the invite, Jim! And my mathematically challenged gray matter thanks you for pointing out that it’s not just the numbers, but the right numbers, that really matter.

Though my math skills still languish, we revisit this vital notion of bar numbers in this issue with an important look at the Dodd-Frank legislation and the 'Durbin Dollars' from your debit transactions. Not sure what I'm talking about?

We talk to some credit processors who explain every last cent.

Remember, it all adds up.

BAR BUSINE$$ MAGAZINE

March 2012, Vol. 5, No. 2 Bar Business Magazine (ISSN 1944-7531) is published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 345 Hudson Street, 12th floor New York, NY 10014 executive offices

President and Publisher Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Associate Publisher Arthur J. Sutley 212-620-7200; fax: 212-633-1863 asutley@sbpub.com editorial

Editor-in-Chief Chris Ytuarte 212-620-7223; fax: 212-633-1863 cytuarte@sbpub.com Assistant Editor Sara Kay 212-620-7220; fax: 212-633-1863 skay@sbpub.com art

Corporate Art Director Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com production

Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com

circulation

Circulation Director Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com

advertising sales

Art Sutley, West Coast 212-620-7247; fax: 212-633-1863 asutley@sbpub.com Darlene Balzano, East Coast 440-263-2595; fax: 216-916-4480 dbalzano@sbpub.com circulation department

800-895-4389

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Booze News

BONDing Over Beers for 15 Years

Heineken® recently announced that it has extended its 15-year partnership with the James Bond franchise as the company introduces an unprecedented and innovative global marketing campaign to support the launch of the newest Bond film, SKYFALL. This is the 23rd film in the James Bond series, and the sixth consecutive James Bond with which the Heineken brand has been involved.

Heineken brand’s global SKYFALL marketing program will include a wide range of promotion and activation rights in and around the film, including, for the first time, the participation of James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, in the brand’s worldwide campaign. It will also leverage its global relationships with Facebook and Google to ignite digital conversations about SKYFALL amongst its adult consumers.

“When two great brands like Heineken and James Bond 8

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

join together, excitement is guaranteed,” said Alexis Nasard, Chief Commercial Officer, Heineken. We are proud of our long-standing partnership. The trust that we have built has allowed us to take the partnership to a new level by linking SKYFALL directly with our award winning global ‘Open Your World’ campaign. We are confident our activation plan will ignite the conversation with our consumers and film viewers.”

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Bond franchise, which is generating enormous levels of consumer interest in SKYFALL. It is one of the most anticipated and talked about films this year, providing Heineken with the opportunity to truly engage consumers. The campaign will be accessible by more than 170 countries around the world where Heineken is enjoyed.

“The level of collaboration with Heineken is unprecedented,” added SKYFALL producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. “We are excited by the global reach and the creativity that the Heineken team is able to deliver.”

Heineken will launch its marketing campaign to support the partnership with James Bond in September 2012. The brand will focus its efforts on creating new levels of excitement for the film in on-premise establishments and retail stores across multiple markets.

www.barbizmag.com

Liquor-soaked Lawsuits

T

wo recent New York City lawsuits stemming from some standard bar room activities illustrate the many things an owner should be considering when it comes to on-premise entertainment and the legalities and liabilities involved.

Manhattan tavern Wicked Willy’s, a favorite of students from nearby New York University, last month won a court room victory when a judge rejected a case involving a man who cited the bar’s beer pong tables as a direct of cause of a drunken accident that occurred miles from the tavern itself.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lucy Billings threw out a lawsuit filed by New Jersey resident Alan Berger, who claimed he was struck by a car while drunkenly crossing a highway after spending the night playing beer pong at Wicked Willy’s. Berger’s suit suggested the bar should have been monitoring the beer pong games to ensure players were no getting too drunk. Judge Billings disagreed.

“Despite the game tables, cups, and alcohol [that the] defendant bar made available to plaintiff and other bar patrons without serving the alcohol or monitoring its consumption, plaintiff voluntarily engaged in the drinking game” and “consumed alcohol to the point of diminished capacity,” Billings wrote.

Elsewhere in New York, a Brooklyn bar that has Skee Ball machines on-premise and promoted its own league for patrons to participate in “BrewSkee Ball” tournaments, was sued last month by none other than Skee Ball Inc., for trademark infringement. “We think they’re trading off the Skee Ball name,” company lawyer Richard Idell told the New York Post.

The Full Circle Bar is often packed with young customers enthralled by the age-old Skee Ball games, a fact the bar’s attorney is not overlooking. “Full Circle has done as much as anyone to promote Skee Ball as a sport,” said Robert Harkins. Likewise, many patrons suggest the Skee Ball company relent and instead sponsor the bar officially as the city’s Skee Ball central. Let’s see if cooler heads prevail, or if this suit is allowed to roll on.

www.barbizmag.com

Glacial Garnish

A

ccording to ABC News, a man in Chile was busted by local cops for removing five tons of ice from the Jorge Montt Glacier, part of the protected Bernardo O’Higgins national park. It is suspected the thief intended to use his frozen loot to create designer ice cubes for upscale cocktail lounges in the country’s capital of Santiago.

Wine Fire Comes Back to Burn A rsonist According to a report from the Scripps Howard wire service, a California man was sentenced to 27 years in prison for intentionally burning hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of fine wine.

Paying the price for what some have called the most costly disaster in the history of the American wine industry, Mark C. Anderson, 63, was also ordered to pay $70.3 million to clients of the Vallejo, California wine storage business he burned down, in addition to spending a near three decades in jail.

They do not serve wine in prison.

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

9

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Booze News What’s Your Best Gi n C ocktail ?

Are you a bartender who also happens to consider yourself a gin connoisseur? A lover of the classic gin martini, or maybe you like to mix up a few original concoctions using this juniper-based spirit? Caorunn Gin has the perfect opportunity for you to show off your gin skills, and go to Scotland to prove just how good you are.

Caorunn Small Batch Gin has just launched the Storytellers Cocktail Competition, a global cocktail competition that is searching for the best gin bartender who can not only make the best gin cocktail, but can also tell the best story to go along with it. From February 13, 2012 until May 20, 2012 bartenders can enter via video submission in order to tell their gin cocktail story for a chance to compete at Tales of the Cocktail 2012 in New Orleans, as well as at the Global Finals in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the global winner will receive a cash prize and have their drinks forever known as signature Caorunn cocktails.

“The Caorunn Storytellers competition underscores the bartender’s key role in a person’s drinking experience,” said Pat Graney, President of International Beverage USA. Want to tell your gin story? Enter at www. caorunngin.com/ storytellerusa for a chance to become a global gin legend.

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Bar Belles, Unite!

In New York City, some exercise entrepreneurs are bringing beauty and the bar together.

The ladies of Rogue Female Fitness began offering a new collection of classes called Raise The Bar, feeling a great workout can be followed by social interaction between the participants.

The gym’s owners, Leanne Shear, Katie Currie, and Helena Wolin, were inspired when a yoga class they were taking in Central Park was suddenly rained on, and the attendees ran directly to a local bar. “Women who were total strangers before became friends,” Shear told the New York Post. “We liken it to when guys shoot hoops with their buddies, then go out for beers.”

The group created classes called “Workout and Wine,” “Bootcamp and Beer,” ”Workout and Whiskey,” and “Sweat, Spa and Sip,” and continue to work with local bar owners to host the postworkout gatherings.

The smart bar owner might consider approaching his local gym owners to discuss similar partnerships.

www.barbizmag.com

Adjust lighting and temperature settings from almost anywhere*

Call 800.588.1971 or visit www.ADTpulse.com/smallbiz.

*Cellular data providers may charge data transfer fees for accessing system on wireless devices. May not be available in all markets.

License information available at www.ADT.com or by calling 1.800.ADT.ASAP.® FL: EF0001121. ©2012 ADT. All rights reserved. ADT, the ADT logo, Pulse and 1.800.ADT.ASAP are marks and/or registered trademarks of ADT Services AG and are used under license.

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

11

Liquid Assets

HAVE NO FEAR,

Tequila is Here Over the last few years, tequila has gone through what can only be called a revolution; finally, this notorious spirit can be truly enjoyed and savored as a mature indulgence rather than a one-way ticket to pain. We’ll look at the ways some tequila producers are removing the fear factor from the equation.

By Sara Kay

T

he tequila brands that are gr gracing racing the back b ar th these d ays are ffar more ultra-pre bar days ultra-premium than those introduced in the past, mos mostly because of the care and attention give given, from start to finish. Going down to Mexico aand picking out the exact agave, as well as monitoring the fermentation process very closely, is now second nature to those in the tequila business. This attention to detail is something that James Moreland, a bar and lifestyle expe expert, finds to be an incredibly important part of the process of mak making Inocente Tequila, an ultra-premium brand made from 100 100% blue gave. Like many tequilas being produced today, Inocente weber ag agave. i best descri ribeed as sipping tequila. is described “We’re fin indi din ng this new category of tequila connoisse finding connoisseurs who ar moving to that ultra premium category, and with eve are even more value and respect for tequilas, whether it’s silver, reposa reposado or anejo,” says Moreland. “If you’re serious about tequila, y you’re talking about 100% agave agave, and the best agave usually co comes from small boutique farms where you can control the quality.”

12

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

www.barbizmag.com

Inocente is a perfect example of a tequila that is very serious when it comes to production. As a boutique brand, the ingredients are carefully selected and monitored throughout the entire process, ensuring that each bottle of liquid is flawless. Inocente also goes through a process after distillation that is unique to the tequila category, making the liquid softer and more relaxing.

Blood Orange Margarita 1½ parts Tequila Avión ¾ part Cointreau Orange Liqueur 1 part blood orange juice ½ part fresh sour mix In a cocktail shaker add all ingredients with ice.

Shake and strain; best served over fresh ice and garnish with an orange twist.

“If you’re serious about tequila, you’re talking about 100% agave, and the best agave usually comes from small boutique farms where you quality.” y can control the q y “Once it is finished in distillation, we let the tequila sit for a while, top open, and let it settle,” says Moreland. “Like a wine taking time to age, it gets better with the years. When tequila first comes off distillation it is still very angry, so we pass it though small micro-bulbs of oxygen that help to soften and relax the tequila and smooth it out, helping to release some of that anger.”

An unfortunate truth about many tequilas on the market is that they are advertised as “top

shelf,” and yet the minute you take a sip and that unsatisfying burn slithers down your throat, that tequila suddenly seems more suited for the bottom shelf. However, Tequila Avión, similar to Inocente, is produced in such a way that the burn is eliminated during the fermentation process, resulting in a pleasant drink rather than a roaring road trip from mouth to stomach.

Ken Austin, co-owner and founder of Tequila Avión, takes great pride in the production of his spirit for this exact reason.

During the cooking and fermenting process of the agave, the bitter parts of the plant are removed, resulting in smooth tequila that doesn’t burn. While removing this element of the agave results in a yield that is 25-30% worse than other tequilas, Austin finds this to be just another “inefficiency” that makes Tequila Avión a coveted spirit, to the point that it was used in the winning margarita in a competition judged by none other t than the legendary Dale DeGroff.

“To someone who wants to create some something special, inefficiency is a great thing,” says Austin. “The glass we use costs mon the process that we’ve gone more money, ro through to roast the agave and have a longer aging process takes m more time, but that was the goal, and we accomplished it. The proof is in the pudding—you aren’t named the best margarita in the world for no reason.” in the world of HBO, the name Tequila For anyone tuned into co Avión automatically connects to the hit show Entourage, on which Tequila Avión ha had a regular spot during the sixth and seventh seasons. This fortunate public boost for Avión was provided by one of Aust Austin’s friends, who just happened to be a writer for the show. Wh While this promotion of the brand was helpful, Austin insists tha that it’s the liquid itself that has earned it all the acclaim.

Tarantula Aqua Tini 1 1/2 oz Tarantula Azul 3/4 oz Cointreau 1/2 oz simple syrup 2 lime squeezes 1 llemon emo on squeeze Combine C Comb ombin ine all ingredients in shaker with iice.

Shake, strain, S hak akee, ak e, sst train, serve.

www.barbizmag.com www barbizmag com

M March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

13

Liquid Assets SKINNY RITA 1 oz Senior Rio Tequila 1 oz ice 1/4 oz lime juice 1/4 oz Fresca 2 oz diet lemonade Garnish with one fresh red pepper. *Only 80 Calories.

“What’s really happening is the whole country is recognizing that tequila is an incredible spirit,” says Austin. “It’s very tasty in a cocktail, and we’re seeing a trend of people who are vodka drinkers that are migrating to tequila like Avión—the good tequila versus the stereotype of tequila.

People in their 30s and 40s had a lot of bad tequila experiences growing up because there weren’t a lot of good ones out there, and as brands like Avión come to the market, there are people who are not as focused on production cost and cutting corners. People have realized that you can actually sip tequila, it’s not just for shots and

La Calaca Feliz in Philadelphia, PA.

Santana Margarita 2 oz Espolon Reposado Tequila 1 oz fresh lime juice 1 oz Triple Sec 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1 oz simple syrup 2 oz strawberry puree Combine all into a mixing glass. Pack with ice and shake vigorously.

Strain into a glass with a salt rim.

margaritas.”

This care and love for tequila is something that is also very present in the production of Señor Rio, a tequila that comes from the family of Debbie Medina, who now owns the brand. Three generations of her family have been involved in the process of making Señor Rio, and now the work falls to her and her husband, Jonathan, as they continue to put this hidden gem of a tequila into the glasses of people across the country.

“I think people are starting to realize that tequila isn’t just for shots,” says Medina. “We still get people who remember the

“People have realized that you can actually sip tequila, it’s not just for shots and margaritas.”

14

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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MAGAZINE

Liquid Assets

cheaper tequila days that caused headaches and hangovers, but there is more to tequila than margaritas and shots.”

Like Inocente, Señor Rio also keeps their fermentation tanks open to reduce the amount of burn that is in the liquid.

Exposure to the citrus trees that surround the distillery give the tequila a naturally pleasant finish.

It isn’t difficult to find a Mexican restaurant that serves up a well-made margarita. However, it can be a little more difficult to find a restaurant that is known for their quality tequila selection, as well as quality cocktails. Brian Sirhal, co-owner of La Calaca Feliz in Philadelphia, has created an environment that provides not only a delicious experience when it comes to tequila and tequila cocktails, but an educational one as well.

With a bar stocked to the brim with more than 50 types of tequilas and several hard-to-find mezcals, Sirhal is bringing a quality tequila encounter to his patrons and helping to repeal the fear.

“We really want people to be educated and learn more about tequila,” says Sirhal. “It’s not necessarily the liquor that they had in college that they now have bad memories of.

Initially, when I first got into the business and started learning about tequilas beyond the typical brands, it opened up a whole different world.”

One of the brands that falls into the category of “nontypical” tequila is Tarantula Azul, a spirit that is not only nontypical in color (as the name gives away; azul means blue in Spanish), it is also—technically—not a tequila. According to Vic Morrison, Vice President of Marketing for Tarantula Azul, it is actually a tequila-based liqueur. But, since the base of it is tequila and it is best served on the rocks or in a margarita, it is often classified as tequila when it comes to where it sits behind the bar.

“When Tarantula was created, it was out of the idea that we could have a tequila that makes the best margaritas,” says Morrison. “It has a flavor profile that is very citrusy and limeoriented, which lends itself to many different drinks, and bartenders like Tequila is the only spirit versatile cocktails

James Moreland, Bar and Lifestyle Expert: “As tequila grows and expands as a market, you’re starting to see a lot more care and attention being paid to quality.”

and flavors.”

Tequila has truly grown up and matured over the past several years, introducing brands to the market that can really be enjoyed, rather than shot and forgot. It’s finally time to get rid of that lime wedge and saltshaker and bring in some good quality tequila that patrons will want to remember drinking.

Fear not.

that is an upper, rather than a downer.

So drink up, literally.

16

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

www.barbizmag.com

Inocente is a perfect example of a tequila that is very serious when it comes to production. As a boutique brand, the ingredients are carefully selected and monitored throughout the entire process, ensuring that each bottle of liquid is flawless. Inocente also goes through a process after distillation that is unique to the tequila category, making the liquid softer and more relaxing.

Blood Orange Margarita 1½ parts Tequila Avión ¾ part Cointreau Orange Liqueur 1 part blood orange juice ½ part fresh sour mix In a cocktail shaker add all ingredients with ice.

Shake and strain; best served over fresh ice and garnish with an orange twist.

“If you’re serious about tequila, you’re talking about 100% agave, and the best agave usually comes from small boutique farms where you can control the quality.”

“Once it is finished in distillation, we let the tequila sit for a while, top open, and let it settle,” says Moreland. “Like a wine taking time to age, it gets better with the years. When tequila first comes off distillation it is still very angry, so we pass it though small micro-bulbs of oxygen that help to soften and relax the tequila and smooth it out, helping to release some of that anger.”

An unfortunate truth about many tequilas on the market is that they are advertised as “top

shelf,” and yet the minute you take a sip and that unsatisfying burn slithers down your throat, that tequila suddenly seems more suited for the bottom shelf. However, Tequila Avión, similar to Inocente, is produced in such a way that the burn is eliminated during the fermentation process, resulting in a pleasant drink rather than a roaring road trip from mouth to stomach.

Ken Austin, co-owner and founder of Tequila Avión, takes great pride in the production of his spirit for this exact reason.

During the cooking and fermenting process of the agave, the bitter parts of the plant are removed, resulting in smooth tequila that doesn’t burn. While removing this element of the agave results in a yield that is 25-30% worse than other tequilas, Austin finds this to be just another “inefficiency” that makes Tequila Avión a coveted spirit, to the point that it was used in the winning margarita in a competition judged by none other than the legendary Dale DeGroff.

“To someone who wants to create something special, inefficiency is a great thing,” says Austin. “The glass we use costs more money, the process that we’ve gone through to roast the agave and have a longer aging process takes more time, but that was the goal, and we accomplished it. The proof is in the pudding—you aren’t named the best margarita in the world for no reason.”

For anyone tuned into the world of HBO, the name Tequila Avión automatically connects to the hit show Entourage, on which Tequila Avión had a regular spot during the sixth and seventh seasons. This fortunate public boost for Avión was provided by one of Austin’s friends, who just happened to be a writer for the show. While this promotion of the brand was helpful, Austin insists that it’s the liquid itself that has earned it all the acclaim.

Tarantula Aqua Tini 1 1/2 oz Tarantula Azul 3/4 oz Cointreau 1/2 oz simple syrup

2 lime squeezes 1 lemon squeeze Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice.

Shake, strain, serve. www.barbizmag.com

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine 13

Liquid Assets SKINNY RITA 1 oz Senior Skinny RitaRio Tequila 1 oz ice 1 oz. Senor Rio tequila 1/4 oz lime juice 1 oz. Ice 1/4 oz Fresca ¼ oz. Lime juice 2 oz diet lemonade ¼ oz. Fresca 2 oz. Diet Lemonade Garnish- 1 Fresh Red Pepper

Garnish with one fresh red pepper. *Only 80 Calories.

*Only 80 Calories

“What’s really happening is the whole country is recognizing that tequila is an incredible spirit,” says Austin. “It’s very tasty in a cocktail, and we’re seeing a trend of people who are vodka drinkers that are migrating to tequila like Avión—the good tequila versus the stereotype of tequila.

People in their 30s and 40s had a lot of bad tequila experiences growing up because there weren’t a lot of good ones out there, and as brands like Avión come to the market, there are people who are not as focused on production cost and cutting corners. People have realized that you can actually sip tequila, it’s not just for shots and

La Calaca Feliz in Philadelphia, PA.

Santana Margarita 2 oz Espolon Reposado Tequila 1 oz fresh lime juice 1 oz Triple Sec 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1 oz simple syrup 2 oz strawberry puree Combine all into a mixing glass. Pack with ice and shake vigorously.

Strain into a glass with a salt rim.

For more recipes visit www.senorrio.com

margaritas.”

This care and love for tequila is something that is also very present in the production of Señor Rio, a tequila that comes from the family of Debbie Medina, who now owns the brand. Three generations of her family have been involved in the process of making Señor Rio, and now the work falls to her and her husband, Jonathan, as they continue to put this hidden gem of a tequila into the glasses of people across the country.

“I think people are starting to realize that tequila isn’t just for shots,” says Medina. “We still get people who remember the

“People have realized that you can actually sip tequila, it’s not just for shots and margaritas.”

14

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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U.S. BEVERAGE ALCOHOL FORUM at the WSWA 69TH ANNUA L CO N V E N T I O N & E X P OS I T I O N The insiders guide to the U.S. beverage alcohol market.

A partnership between the U.S. Drinks Conference and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

Thursday, April 5, 2012 12:30–5:00 p.m.

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For more information and to register visit

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FORUM ORGANIZERS

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MAGAZINE

Liquid Assets

cheaper tequila days that caused headaches and hangovers, but there is more to tequila than margaritas and shots.”

Like Inocente, Señor Rio also keeps their fermentation tanks open to reduce the amount of burn that is in the liquid.

Exposure to the citrus trees that surround the distillery give the tequila a naturally pleasant finish.

It isn’t difficult to find a Mexican restaurant that serves up a well-made margarita. However, it can be a little more difficult to find a restaurant that is known for their quality tequila selection, as well as quality cocktails. Brian Sirhal, co-owner of La Calaca Feliz in Philadelphia, has created an environment that provides not only a delicious experience when it comes to tequila and tequila cocktails, but an educational one as well.

With a bar stocked to the brim with more than 50 types of tequilas and several hard-to-find mezcals, Sirhal is bringing a quality tequila encounter to his patrons and helping to repeal the fear.

“We really want people to be educated and learn more about tequila,” says Sirhal. “It’s not necessarily the liquor that they had in college that they now have bad memories of.

Initially, when I first got into the business and started learning about tequilas beyond the typical brands, it opened up a whole different world.”

One of the brands that falls into the category of “nontypical” tequila is Tarantula Azul, a spirit that is not only nontypical in color (as the name gives away; azul means blue in Spanish), it is also—technically—not a tequila. According to Vic Morrison, Vice President of Marketing for Tarantula Azul, it is actually a tequila-based liqueur. But, since the base of it is tequila and it is best served on the rocks or in a margarita, it is often classified as tequila when it comes to where it sits behind the bar.

“When Tarantula was created, it was out of the idea that we could have a tequila that makes the best margaritas,” says Morrison. “It has a flavor profile that is very citrusy and limeoriented, which lends itself to many different drinks, and bartenders like Tequila is the only spirit versatile cocktails

James Moreland, Bar and Lifestyle Expert:

“As tequila grows and expands as a market, you’re starting to see a lot more care and attention being paid to quality.”

and flavors.”

Tequila has truly grown up and matured over the past several years, introducing brands to the market that can really be enjoyed, rather than shot and forgot. It’s finally time to get rid of that lime wedge and saltshaker and bring in some good quality tequila that patrons will want to remember drinking.

Fear not.

that is an upper, rather than a downer.

So drink up, literally.

16

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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Tuning Up

Digital Jukeboxes:

Versatility Beyond Video

By Chris Ytuarte The digital jukebox continues to evolve, and the folks at TouchTunes are moving past simple video technology to create a multifaceted on-premise experience for customers that also benefits bar owners.

E

ventually, the digital jukebox will mix a mean martini, accept payment, and deliver the cocktail to an awaiting customer on a silver platter that reaches out from its electronic innards. It will laugh at patrons who simply ask it to play ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ again.

It will want a challenge.

But for now, we should be happy with what jukebox manufacturers like TouchTunes Interactive Networks are offering instead—advanced hardware options that allow bar owners to more thoroughly entertain customers, at less cost, while generating more revenue with the jukebox. The company’s latest model, Virtuo, was built not only for performance, but to allow for continued improvement to www.barbizmag.com

services, which is exactly what they intend to do with several new products launching this month.

“From day one, strategically, that was one of the reasons we created an open platform,” explains Marc Felsen, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at TouchTunes. “One of the questions we asked is, ‘How do we create value for our operators and how do we create something they can provide to their locations that is more—and not just in that more people will play it, but how can it be used in different ways

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

17

Tuning Up

All-in for Operators

“Karaoke has always been

sort of, ‘You never know what you’re going to get,’ in terms of track quality.

Well, not any more.”

In response to our Tuning Up column in the Nov/Dec 2011 issue regarding independent ownership of jukeboxes and the role of operators being questioned in the bar industry, TouchTunes Vice President of Corporate Marketing Marc Felsen had this to say about his company’s position: “TouchTunes always has been and continues to be committed to our operator network and the operator network overall. We really believe that operators do provide a critical value both to locations, in the form of service and expertise, and back to us in the form of being our eyes and ears on the ground to help us make a better product. We work hard to partner with our operators and to make them the best they can be for their customers, and to also get the most of out of them so that we can be the best we can be for the bar owners and consumers.

“I know over the years there have been different forays into going around or not using the operator channel, and I think, at the surface, you ask, ‘What do I need them for?’ But we’ve always found them to be a critical piece of the equation, for the location’s success and for our success as well.”

18

so that it’s more valuable overall in different circumstances.’”

Truly living up to the latter half of its name, TouchTunes Interactive Networks continues to strive to make the jukebox experience about more than just music and video. Launching this month are its two newest services, both likely to bring the consumer deeper into the entertainment experience on-premise: PhotoBooth and Karaoke, each available exclusively on TouchTunes’ Virtuo jukebox.

“These services of Karaoke and PhotoBooth, and other services that will come down the line, are definitely strong incentive to upgrade to Virtuo, for a number of reasons,” says Felsen.

Smile! It’s

The new karaoke service available exclusively on touchtunes’ virtuo jukebox allows bar owners to host an event at the drop of a hat.

“One is that it creates a more versatile device. Take PhotoBooth: Let’s say a big game is on and a location is going to turn off the music during the game.

With Virtuo and PhotoBooth, your jukebox doesn’t have to become completely idle, as the normal jukebox would. People can use PhotoBooth while the game is happening. It’s designed that way, and it makes your hardware more versatile. The same thing is true with Karaoke. While normally karaoke is a time to turn the jukebox off, with Virtuo it’s a reason to keep it on. It gives the location many more options on how it can use the same device.”

The PhotoBooth service is essentially simple: Your jukebox now functions as a PhotoBooth for customers. While standing in front of the Virtuo (now available as both a the TouchTunes floor and wall unit), patrons can pay to PhotoBooth. have their picture taken. Once viewed

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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on-screen, users can then choose to print out a hardcopy, email digital copies to friends, or upload the photos directly to social networking sites.

“This essentially creates new revenue sources for the operator,” says Felsen.

“And there is incentive for the bar owner to upgrade to Virtuo, because it’s not just a wonderful music device (which it is); it’s also now a device that can bring in new revenue streams via services like PhotoBooth, which they didn’t have before. So there’s no doubt—and it’s been our strategy all along—that as we add more services to Virtuo, it becomes a more attractive device to have, for any operator or any location.”

Another new service, sure to become popular with consumers and bar owners alike, is TouchTunes Karaoke. Also exclusive to Virtuo, Karaoke is a fullfeatured, fully licensed program that offers bar owners exceptional flexibility and cost-savings when running a karaoke night (or nights).

“This service includes all kinds of features that make it easy for consumers and locations to run their karaoke nights and promote them,” says Felsen. “For instance, we’ll have a mobile app component that will allow people to browse the songbooks and get themselves in the queue without having to come up to the jukebox itself.

“It’s also something owners can now schedule way in advance, or they can decide that the party that just walked in was overheard saying they wished there was karaoke here, and your bartender says, ‘You know what, we are having karaoke tonight, I’m turning it on.’ So they don’t have to worry about the third party video jockey and scheduling them and having a very specific, reserved time posted way in advance. There’s a lot of flexibility there.”

Likewise, the expense of hiring video jockeys (VJs) in addition to scheduling them is something TouchTunes karaoke can reduce greatly. “The KJ can be expensive,” Felsen suggests. “So we’re modeling karaoke in such a way that, for the location, it should be no more expensive—and in most cases less www.barbizmag.com

expensive—for them to hold karaoke nights. And we’ll encourage them to do it more frequently, because after all, the reason places bring in karaoke is to build a crowd and create fun and bring people in. And we want to make that more accessible and not have the price be as much of a barrier as it might be today in some places.”

TouchTunes Karaoke also strays from the traditional set-up by providing consumers opportunities to bring social gaming and networking into the mix—“a new dynamic,” as Felsen calls it. “Besides the fact that it’s fun to search for and pick your songs using your mobile app, we’re also introducing social gaming that karaoke traditionally doesn’t have.

“So, while someone is singing you can ‘like’ them on Facebook or post an update on your page that you’re going to sing or that you just sang a certain song. There will also be games within the bar, where you can dare someone in your network of friends to sing a song you picked for them.”

For karaoke enthusiasts and the bar owners who want to court them, TouchTunes fully licensed song catalogue is a key selling point. No longer will customers wonder what version of a song is available, or how the quality of the backing track will be. The TouchTunes songbook is authentic, and the quality will reflect that.

“Karaoke has always been sort of, ‘You never know what you’re going to get,’ in terms of the quality of the backing tracks,” says Felsen. “We’re going to have thousands and thousands of songs.

More importantly, it will be the vast majority of all the popular karaoke songs.

Will we have 100,000 songs like some unlicensed karaoke venues have? No, we won’t, and certainly not at launch. But we’ll have a very rich catalogue of all the popular music and a lot of the more genre-specific types of music. And it will all be fully licensed.”

Companies like TouchTunes are working hard to keep your customers happy by creating interactive experiences on-premise, making your job a little bit easier. Cheers to that.

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

19

How To:

Navigate

Your

Guarded Card Fees Keeping an eye on your credit and debit transaction statements and being aware of relative legislation may seem tedious and at times confusing, but today more than ever, crunching the numbers and making sure you’re getting every cent you deserve can save you many dollars in the end. We spoke with one processing company that stands up for bar owners who are fighting for their “fee-dom.” By Chris Ytuarte

T

here is a prickly, three-pronged battle being fought over the fractions of dollars and cents surrounding debit card transactions these days, and it will be tough for each side to come out a winner. Amongst the banks, businesses, and consumers who shuffle money back and forth every day via little plastic debit cards, someone is going to be displeased with their percentage of the pie once the transaction fees are divvied up. Of course, for our purposes, it’s bar owners who should be battling for their share. And that’s just what you need to do.

20

es

tion Fe Debit Transac

The days of glancing over your debit transaction statements and patiently accepting whatever fees are applied by both the bank and the processing company went out the door with the recession of 2008. While it may at first seem daunting, there are answers to be found in these numbers that can lead to more money in your pocket every month.

“Most bar owners—most people, for that matter— find credit card processing statements are complicated,” says Tony Ventre, Senior Restaurant Expert at Heartland Payment Systems. “Well guess what? They’re complicated on purpose.”

That is a frightening reality in and of itself. Banks and processing companies have been relying on your complacency in order to charge what they want. And for a long time, that was the accepted norm.

“The complex statement is complex on purpose,” continues Ventre. “If you can’t figure out what you’re paying to whom, then you just think, ‘They told me my rate is 1.59% plus ten cents a transaction. Yet I’m paying 4% of my volume to these guys. How is that possible?’

“As a recovering restaurateur myself, I went through that phase of complaining about it and then pulling out a statement and trying to figure out why I was paying more than the representative had told me I would pay.

And I usually would just throw up my arms in disgust

Bar Business Magazine March 2012 www.barbizmag.com

and kind of suck it up: ‘Well, I’m paying $700 a month, but I don’t exactly know why.’

“The funny thing is, if you asked me how many ounces of steak was on your plate, or how much the olives in your martini cost, how much the vodka costs per ounce, I could tell you to the penny. But the credit transaction statement was the one element of my business where I couldn’t be precise, and it was one of the biggest expenses that I couldn’t really put my finger on and explain why I was paying that much money.

And that’s what a lot of people in this business rely on.”

On the contrary, says Ventre, Heartland Payment Systems (www. heartlandpaymentsystems.com) was founded some 14 years ago by Chairman and CEO Bob Carr to take a more ethical approach to the transaction process. Now the number five processor in the U.S., Heartland has always aimed to install change in the industry. “The card processing industry was pretty broken,” recalls Ventre. “The ethics of it, essentially, were not regulated in any way, shape, or form. So folks in the industry could basically charge anything they wanted for card processing—pretty

the rising use of debit cards on-premise was suddenly aided by legislation that capped “swipe” fees.

“The net result is that the Federal Reserve changed debit card rates to $0.21, plus 0.05 percent per transaction,” says Ventre. “In a nutshell, this means they basically halved the cost of the average debit transaction, which used to be between 1.5 and 2.5%.

“In the bar business, typically, you’re going to have a pretty high check average. And what that means is, if you’re capped cost is $0.21 and five basis points, when customers use a debit card, you should be saving lots of money. So what I would tell bar owners is, if you’re taking debit and credit cards and you haven’t seen your processing costs go down this year with the same amount of volume, something is wrong.”

Michael LaCosta, Director of Public Relations at Heartland, noted that while Congress’ efforts were stellar, there still remains a difference in service amongst processors that can affect just how much savings a business sees, harkening back to Heartland’s origins and its mission.

“I think the differentiator, from our standpoint versus the competition, is that the ‘Durbin Dollars,’ as they’re called, are being saved by that legislation, and we pass them right back to the merchants,” says LaCosta. “So any bar that’s working with Heartland Payment Systems to do their processing, they’re seeing that money come back to them since it went into effect on October 1st of last year.

And in terms of looking at the paperwork from your processor, if you’re not seeing that savings or that

“If you’re not seeing a savings on your debit transactions since October 1, 2011 on similar volume, then something is wrong.” much whatever the market would bear.”

Fast forward to October 2011, when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) took effect, and

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Dodd-Frank: The Federal Reserve Board’s final rule affecting debit card transactions, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), took effect on October 1, 2011. The new rule sets a cap for debit card interchange—or “swipe”—fees and prohibits network exclusivity arrangements and routing restrictions.

Dodd-Frank also prohibits payment card networks from denying merchants the ability to offer consumers discounts for paying in specific ways—using a debit card rather than a credit card, for example—or setting minimum dollar amounts for credit card purchases.

The Durbin Amendment: The Durbin Amendment was proposed by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to place a cap on interchange or transaction fees.

The average fee of 44 cents per debit card transaction charged to merchants by the card brands was considered excessive by supporters of the legislation. Those in opposition worked to stall or defeat the bill, but after much debate and a failed bill to delay interchange regulation, the final rule was handed down in late June. It went into effect on October 1, 2011.

Originally proposed at a cap of 7 to 12 cents per transaction, the final cap approved was 21 cents plus 0.05%, and an additional discretionary 1 cent for institutions employing effective fraud prevention initiatives. Though the final number was more favorable to the banks than the initially proposed cap, the Durbin Amendment represents a significant win for merchants like you.

The legislation was put into place to ensure the savings, your ‘Durbin Dollars,’ will stay where they belong—in your bank account—so you can invest them how you see fit in your business.

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

21

How To: money coming back to you, then you’re working with the wrong processor.”

According to Ventre, by May of 2012, Heartland projects it will have delivered over $50 million to restaurants and bars in the U.S. since Dodd-Frank was enacted.

“Congress said, ‘Lower the debit fees to a capped rate,’ and their intent was that that money would go back into the small businesses for these hard working people who start bars and restaurants,” says Ventre. “The problem is, nowhere in the With the increasing use of debit cards by consumers, law did it say that the processor can’t bar owners should see more money from those keep that money. So the difference between us and most of the competition transactions thanks to Dodd-Frank and Durbin. is that we said, ‘Hey, it’s not our money.

It was intended to go back to the merchant,’ as that’s what it’s doing now.”

Remember, even what seems like miniscule math on your monthly debit transaction averages, and you might have a high volume, which a statements can add up over the months and years. So lot of bars do. So that return can be much more. make sure you get what’s coming to you.

“The point is, look at those statements and say, “You’re talking about an average of $1,000 per year, ‘What was I paying last year on debit and what am I per client,” says Ventre. “But that’s the overall average. paying now?’ And if nothing else, ask that question of In bars specifically, you might have $100 or $50 check your processor. Or just come to us.”

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Bar Business Magazine March 2012 www.barbizmag.com

How To:

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Is Wine By the Glass an Outdated Notion On-premise?

Photo courtesy of Snooth.com

O

ffering by-the-glass options in your wine selection may be an unnecessary notion in this modern age of preservation and single-serve products.

Although low-cost house wines by the glass have been in restaurants and bars for hundreds of years, in the late 1980s, Opus One, then the most expensive bottle of wine on the U.S. market, had to come up with a clever way to get consumers to buy their wine. And the fine-wine-by-the-glass was born.

Today, many venues have discovered that an upscale wine-by-the-glass program can attract savvy diners and help differentiate them from their competition. But the concept of offering pricey wines by the glass has been hampered by the fragile nature of wine in general. Once a bottle is opened, it begins to deteriorate rapidly. If it doesn’t sell the same day, the wine quality begins to diminish immediately, rendering

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some of it below serving quality. Most wine exposed to air for more than a day is seriously compromised, necessitating disposal. These losses can quickly add up.

The way that restaurants and bars have often dealt with wines by the glass is to offer a limited selection of what they know will sell rapidly. But what would a patron’s experience be like if they could order any wine they wanted, in multiple serving portions? Most likely, it would be positive, and that customer would generate repeat business.

THE THEORY Armando Luis, a New Jersey restaurant owner and president and inventor of Vinfinity Systems' FlashVacuum process (www.vinfinitysystem.com), argues that there is no need for bars and service establishments to offer wines by the glass at all these days.

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

23

How To: “An open bottle of wine is a perishable product and it needs proper storage, or the waste from oxidized wine can significantly damage not only your P&L but also your establishment’s reputation,” says Luis.

In fact, Luis believes that wines by the glass should be more of the rule rather than the exception. The specialty list should be wines that are not offered by the glass, not the other way around. Wine should be available in the half or third of a bottle. The wine-by-the-glass list should just be the generic wine list, and those not offered by the glass should be featured on a “by the bottle only” list. By turning the process upside down, he argues that restaurants and bars will strengthen their ability to deliver value and variety to educated wine drinkers, and by doing so, significantly increase profit.

“With the advanced wine preservation technology available on the market today, you can open any bottle of wine for a taste, a glass, or staff training and not measurably degrade the product,” says Luis. “Compromise and loss should be a thing of the past.”

Wine industry consultant Marian Jansen op de Haar, president of Vines 57, feels the same. “A restaurant-grade wine preservation system not only preserves the quality of wines poured by the glass but also significantly lowers pour cost by eliminating waste,” she says. “Every bottle on the wine list can be poured by the glass without compromising quality.”

THE METHOD Consumers are also putting more pressure on dining and drinking establishments to have a wide variety of wines by the glass to choose from, further complicating an already challenging issue. Orange County, California wine connoisseur Carol McIntyre, who has a 1,500+ bottle wine collection, is a frequent guest at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Fleming’s was the first national account to employ preservation with Vinfinity Systems in all of its locations in time for the release of their new Fleming’s 100

The Fleming’s 100 The Fleming’s 100 each year showcases 80 wines available by the glass at all of Fleming’s national locations. The other 20 are chosen by local Wine Managers to reflect personal guest preferences, regional tastes and special wine-buying opportunities.

All 100 have met the demanding standards set by Director of Wine Maeve Pesquera during a highly competitive 12-month tasting process.

Fleming’s lists their wines with a “user-friendly” approach, in order of intensity: first whites, then reds, from lightest to fullest, sweetest to driest for the whites, and least to most tannic for the reds.

list, featuring one hundred recommended wines by the glass.

“I love ordering different wines by the glass to pair with each course, and I prefer not to go to a restaurant unless I can be assured of the quality,” McIntyre notes.

She encapsulates what many restaurateurs and bar owners have discovered about their educated wine consumers: They are willing to pay top dollar for a glass of cult cabernet with their prime steak, but not willing to take the risk that the wine might not be absolutely pristine.

And the consequences can be dire.

Open any bottle, any time, without worrying about loss.

“If a restaurant or bar serves me an oxidized glass of wine, or refuses to let me sample an unknown varietal before I buy it, I may not say anything, but I’ll never return,” says McIntyre Gabriel Valle, Managing Partner at The Capital Grill, Miami, who agrees with Luis when it comes to his by-the-glass philosophies. “A preservation system allows me to open any bottle of wine for any reason and not worry about loss,” he says. “If a customer doesn’t like the bottle, we can take it back with out any hassle and repurpose it without waste. Not only does preservation help the relationship between the venue and the consumer, but also between the winery and the consumer. If a consumer gets an oxidized glass of wine, they might just think that they don’t like the wine.”

24

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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THE MATH On the typical wine list, the highest by-the-glass wine price, on a per ounce basis, is lower than the average bottle price.

For many fine-dining venues, the average bottle price is more than $100. With four 6-ounce glasses per bottle, the average glass price, if purchased by the bottle, is more than $25.

"These days, you can open any bottle of wine for a taste or a glass and not measurably degrade the product."

Luis. “By giving guests the option of a taste, glass, or half bottle, your reduce the risk of them ordering an expensive bottle of wine and can improve the establishments overall profitability.”

What would your venue’s wine program look like if spoilage wasn’t a factor?

Photo courtesy of Snooth.com

However, many bars and restaurants are concerned that consumers may not pay above a certain amount for a wine by the glass. The most expensive wine by the glass is typically cheaper than the average bottle on a per ounce basis.

But a recent survey by Napa Technology, makers of the enterprise-level WineStation preservation system (www. napatechnology.com), indicates that consumers are more willing to splurge on an expensive glass of wine that would otherwise be cost prohibitive to order by the bottle.

“Providing you have some kind of effective wine preservation system, you can offer your entire list and allow guests to decide how they want to consume the wine,” says

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March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

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How To:

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'Nuff Said

By Sara Kay

"If I wasn't at the door I was walking around, being a presence. I made sure people knew there was someone around keeping an eye on things."

T

he front door of your bar or club is exactly where the night starts, before patrons even get inside and get their hands on a drink. Bouncers, whether they are checking IDs, scanning the interior for problems, or just holding down the fort in general, are the backbone of a safe operation. Chris Fekos, a seasoned bar owner, bouncer, and bartender talked to Bar Business Magazine about what he knows and what he's learned when it comes to being the enforcer.

Bar Business Magazine: How long have you been in the nightlife industry?

Chris Fekos: I’m 30, but I’ve been working in bars since I was 18, bartending since I was 18, and bouncing since then too. I’ve been involved in the business for about 12 years.

BB: What kind of venues have you worked?

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Bar Business Magazine March 2012

CF: I’ve worked at a variety of places, from fine dining to divey bars. I’ve worked a couple of clubs and college bars also. Right now I work at a preppy barbeque sports bar in Manhattan called The Mason Jar. BB: When you were bouncing, how did the protocol differ at each venue?

CF: Places will vary. When I was in college, it was a small town, so that protocol was very different: When it came to problems, if people were fighting, it was basically 'take them outside and kick the crap out of them.' If people were asleep at the bar, we just woke them up and asked them to leave.

Whereas at other places, like dance clubs or The Mason Jar, if there’s a situation, I can just go talk to them. I ask, 'What’s the problem? Can we figure this out? Do we need to separate you two or just ask you to leave?' It’s a little less hands-on compared to some of the rougher places I’ve worked.

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BB: You didn’t go through any formal training; how did you learn to be a good bouncer, and what did you pick up along the way?

CF: When I first started at some of these places, I would bounce if the bartender needed some extra help watching the door. I would check IDs and keep an eye on everyone.

Every place had the same protocol: If you see something happen or if you see the potential for it, try to nip it in the bud. Eventually, you get to know people at other places, and you get a little more experience, and a lot of places don’t even ask if you’ve been trained. For the most part it was, ‘You’re a big guy, you need extra money, here you go.’

BB: What are some typical duties that you preformed as a bouncer?

CF: For the most part it was checking IDs. If I wasn’t at the door I was walking around, being a presence. I made sure people knew there was someone around keeping an eye on things. If the owner or the bartender said that some guy has had too much, he has to go, I would deal with it. Sometimes they went willingly and sometimes they didn’t.

If a patron gets in a rowdy fight at your bar, they can sue you if their injuries are proven to be caused by the alcohol they were drinking.

Break up the fight before it gets out of control with a trustworthy bouncer.

BB: Is there any specific occasion you can think of where you had to go out of your way to be the 'enforcer' to make sure patrons could continue having a good time?

CF: There was one night when I was out for a friend’s birthday, and a group of slightly older guys from out of town, late 30s early 40s, rough looking guys, walked in.

You could tell they were looking for trouble. The place was busy and all of a sudden I saw two guys arguing at the top of the stairs, and I tried to cut through the crowd to get up there, but by the time I got there they had stumbled down

BB: Did you use any devices to enforce safety?

CF: A lot of places had a clicker to count how many covers came in, just so we had an idea of how many people we saw a night. I would use a flashlight to check IDs better, and one place I worked at had an ID scanner that we used for every ID. BB: How were those tools beneficial for you, and which was the most useful?

On a typical night at the Mason Jar, the crowd can get pretty huge. Thankfully, Fekos always has someone at the door making sure the party is running smoothly.

CF: The flashlight, definitely. If something was happening you can walk over to an area and point the flashlight right in a person’s face, or if you spot something you can click the flashlight on to see a little better, and people would take notice—'Oh, there’s a bright light, I wonder what’s happening?' People knew that if something was going to happen we would catch it, and we could definitely see it.

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the stairs. I thought, 'Okay, these guys are just drunk, no big deal.' But by the time I got to them, all hell had broken loose. There was a crazy amount of people fighting all together. At that point, there were about ten or 12 people, and that was more than I could handle by myself, so one of the bartenders came jumping over the bar, the other bartender shut the register and closed the bar. I’m getting punched in the face, ripping guys off the floor, now we have 30 people fighting, bottles and furniture flying. We’re March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

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How To: "[Bouncers] want to make it so patrons don't want to do anything bad, because they would feel bad that the nice bouncer has to do something about it." doing things we normally wouldn’t do to people. We’re getting hit with beer bottles and beating the hell out of these people, chucking them outside, coming back in; it was non-stop for about half an hour. We got everyone out and locked the doors. I really try not to fight people inside.

In a situation like that, the go-to is to get everybody out and close it all up.

BB: For a bar owner looking to hire bouncers to work the door, what tips would you give them for finding the right people and training them properly?

CF: A lot of it has to do with their demeanor. You want someone with experience with security, who has worked a

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door before and is familiar with IDs. That you can teach, but you need someone who has a cool demeanor, who can talk to people easily, and resort to physical ways of dealing with a situation last. Because it’s better if you can come in and be comfortable and deal with those situations in a calm way. If it has to go the physical route, you want someone that can handle themselves; someone who is big and has that presence, but who is easy to talk to, who can talk to customers and build a good report with people. You want to make it so your patrons don’t want to do anything bad because they’d feel bad that the nice bouncer has to do something about it.

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Recipe for

Success?

I t’s on t h e M e n u

By Sara Kay

Your bar is made up of a multitude of things; décor, lighting, sound, furniture, and above all else, drinks. Without an exciting cocktail menu, patrons may lose interest in an establishment faster than you think. Take some tips from the experts on how to create new and exciting drink menus for your bar—you’ll be happy you did, and your customers will be too.

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A

t The Wayland, a recently opened cocktail bar in the Alphabet City section of New York City, the drink menu is the glue that holds the venue together. Yes, the décor is homey and cozy, there is occasionally live music, and the food goes above and beyond for such a small kitchen. However, it’s the drinks that keep people coming back on a nightly basis. Jason Mendenhall, co-owner of The Wayland, puts great effort into his cocktail menu, to the point where any given Monday may see one list of drinks, and by Wednesday it may be completely different.

In keeping a few staples while also switching in some new ones every few days, the menu remains vibrant and exciting.

Therein lies the key: If you create an exciting drink menu, they will come.

An innovative cocktail menu doesn’t just come out of thin air. Attention and consideration goes into designing one from the ground up, and after talking to a few of the experts in the field, it’s clear that it takes more than just mixing and matching to come up with a stellar cocktail list.

The first step starts with identifying your concept as well as your audience. Pamela Wiznitzer, resident Mixologist at the recently opened KING Restaurant in the West Village section of New York City, made sure to do just that before putting together a cocktail menu for her customers.

By being sure of your location and type of clientele, the ingredients and types of cocktails are much easier concepts to approach, she explains.

“Some people are simple drinkers and they just want more vodka sodas, gin and tonics, and whiskey sours, and that’s wonderful; but some people want a more upscale experience,” says Wiznitzer. “You have to evaluate the cash flow in that area and what people are expecting, as well as what you are surrounded by.”

Designing cocktails for a specific customer base is an important part of putting together a concrete cocktail program, and Charlotte Voisey, Portfolio Ambassador for

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William Grant & Sons, has made a career of helping bars and restaurants across the country come up with different concepts to appeal to their patrons. By establishing what kind of venue you want to create and to whom you want to appeal, bar owners can begin designing their menu with a little more ease.

“Do they want to have the most exciting cocktail menu in the country, or do they want to take their existing menu and just refresh it?” asks Voisey. “Do they want to go seasonal, do they want to be known for one signature item, like champagne cocktails or martinis or gin cocktails or tequila cocktails?

Once you’ve answered this, you have to look at what kind of customers come in to make sure the drinks you choose are relevant to them, that they would pay for them, and then be excited by them and come back for more. That will define what kind of crowd you’re going after.”

A key part of that initial evaluation is looking at what kind of cocktails the bar wants to specialize in, and a very popular concept these days is going seasonal. By using strictly periodic ingredients for a cocktail menu, the drinks not only become fresher for the patron, but the menu will change every few months, providing a diverse selection of spirits,

The Wayland keeps customers hooked because the cocktail menu is never the evensame for more than a day or so.

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Wiznitzer offers up a beer flight as well as a rotating list of seasonal cocktails to keep drinkers constantly intrigued.

every few months, providing a diverse selection of spirits, even for those patrons who make a particular cocktail bar their regular spot.

“If you’re in a bar in Miami, you probably want to stick to fruits that are tropical and refreshing,” says Voisey.

“Identify some kind of go-to flavors that everyone loves and then research new flavors.

Go to a local farmers market, or a great restaurant that does fresh food, and see what kind of ingredients they use. You may be able to get a couple of ideas for new ingredients that still fit within the style of flavors you’re in.”

Linnea Johansson, a celebrity event planner and recipe developer, leans on seasonality when it comes to choosing ingredients for cocktail menus as well as food

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menus. By keeping things seasonal and fresh, Johansson has not only seen a more creative approach from bartenders and bar owners, but more of a willingness to coordinate with the ingredients that are also used in the kitchen.

“Cocktails are becoming so much more creative and are borrowing from the kitchen in using seasonal ingredients,” says Johansson. “It’s important to go that extra step and use that bar chef approach. Stay on top of trends like this; they will make you stand out to customers and create a buzz.”

Before printing up that final cocktail menu, the experts all agree that taking a look at the trends is a huge help when it comes to making sure that the proverbial juice has been worth the squeeze. For Voisey, it is seasonality and progression in spirit selection that are huge trends right now, and both should be taken into consideration when designing a

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“It’s important to go that extra step and use that bar chef approach. Stay on top of trends; they will make you stand out to customers and create a buzz.” cocktail concept and the menu that explains it.

“It’s not just vodka cocktails anymore,” says Voisey. “People are interested in different spirits. So when I do a cocktail menu, I would pick five or six spirits and make two cocktails per spirit.

That isn’t going to work for everyone, but it’s a message to say that you have to represent gin, whiskey, tequila, cognac, champagne, as well as vodka on a menu. It can’t just be all about one spirit, because then you aren’t able to keep up with the trends.”

While it seems like such a simple task, designing a cocktail menu to be exciting and innovative can be harder than it looks.

As with most parts of the bar industry, there are mistakes that need to be avoided to ensure a successful cocktail menu. For Voisey, it is crucial to test out any cocktail that is introduced to a menu to make sure that it not only works well on its own, but to also ensure that each is different from the other. There may be 16 cocktails on the list, but if they are all one color or one flavor, you may as well throw them all out and start from scratch.

“It’s not just about liking every drink, it’s about how the collection of cocktails fits with one another,” says Voisey. “It’s

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simple things, like you don’t want them all to turn out orange.

It’s something you don’t think of individually, but then you see them all out next to each other on the bar. It’s a strange thing, but attention has to be paid to how they look, how they taste, and the diversity of style.”

Wiznitzer finds it important to not overstep boundaries or limits with your menu. If the bar staff is not full of high-end, proficient mixologists or bar chefs, then including cocktails with 20 different ingredients and a series of procedures before the drink even reaches its final destination is probably not the best course of action. Rather, Wiznitzer recommends keeping it simple and classic.

“You can make very basic cocktails at a high level,” says Wiznitzer. “All the amazing cocktails from the pre-Prohibition age had three or four ingredients and were amazing and delicious and savory.

“Also, keep it tight. You don’t want a 10-page Bible in front of somebody. Give them one page of something to choose from.

If they’re a whiskey drinker, make sure they have that whiskey drink. Don’t just work with one spirit.”

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e k a M n Ca

a i : t u e n c i n M e r e

f f i D Little Tips a

for Around the Bar

By Bob Johnson, CBM

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The bar business isn’t always about running down your checklist of to-do items. Sometimes you need to act scattered and examine some of the minutia that makes a difference. Remember, all the little things can add up!

GLASSWARE: The most popular type of drink in bars continues to be the basic highball—a single shot of liquor with ice and mix in a seven- to nine-ounce highball glass. Glassware for the basic highball has changed at many bars, from the basic upright, thinner glass to the old fashioned bucket glass or double rocks glass. If you use the nineounce double rocks glass for a highball, then you need to get the five-ounce double rocks glass for rocks drinks, shots, and liquor drinks with mix that you shake or strain into an empty rocks glass (e.g., Washington Apple, Kamikazi, etc.).

SPRING WATER ICE CUBES: Consider

freezing a few trays of spring water ice cubes for your high end or VIP customers. Charge them an extra buck for the spring water ice cubes.

They will be amazed at the difference in the quality and taste of their drink using spring water ice cubes.

THE BUMP: If your house pour is 1¼ oz per shot, then make any single shot of liquor on the rocks 1½ oz or 1¾ oz and charge them an extra $0.75 for the “bump.” This is a popular policy in neighborhood bars and taverns for straight liquor drinkers where there is no mix involved. Another form of the bump is to serve a 6 oz glass of draft beer with a complimentary shot. Shot drinkers like the chase of the draft beer. This is very popular in the Midwest.

ANY DRINK MADE WITH WATER OR WITH A SPLASH: Don’t use tap water,

ever! You should have bottled spring water on hand in the large bottle size.

Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks with a splash will taste much better with Evian, for example, than with chlorinated tap water. Bars should never give out water for free unless it’s a splash, chaser, for a designated driver, or a spacer between drinks. Even then, it should be spring water instead of tap water. In other words, bars should not use tap water for anything.

Serve bottled spring water.

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March 2012 Bar Business Magazine 35

SLOW DOWN SERVICE:

Sometimes you have to. Don’t automatically run over to a customer when their glass is empty and inquire about a refill. The best policy is to give quick, good service for the first three drinks. Then, slow down service. Sometimes it helps the bar and the customer to slow down after the third drink, particularly if he or she is driving and is going to be with you a while. There’s nothing wrong with slipping in a glass of water between drinks three and four. Or, how about some food?

The rate of alcohol absorption into the bloodstream is slowed tremendously if you can get food into the stomach around drinks two to three.

REFILLS: For highball glass and rocks glass refills, always ask customers if they want the ice dumped, or the new drink built on top of the other one, using fresh ice on top of the old ice.

Some customers are very particular about their old ice having been nurtured by a good Scotch or bourbon, particularly in on the rocks drinks.

NOTHING CARBONATED: Do not offer soda or anything carbonated to slow down liquor consumption. Carbon dioxide is a gas and forces the alcohol into the bloodstream through the stomach wall, or forces the pyloric valve to open sooner than it should. The pyloric valve is the little trap door that stays shut when food is digesting. It is located between the base of the stomach and the small intestine. Approximately 75% to 80% of the alcohol in a drink is absorbed into the bloodstream through the small intestine; only 20% to 25% is absorbed through the stomach. Keep the pyloric valve shut for as long as you can so that the alcohol stays with the food in the stomach.

CHECKING ID: Card everyone who

appears to be under 30 years of age. Always ask for TWO pieces of identification. Underage drinkers who attempt entry into a bar usually only have one piece of identification—the altered or falsified kind.

They won’t have two pieces altered or falsified. Here are more tips for detecting underage drinkers:

a) Look the potential underage person directly in

the eyes. If they are lying to you about their age, they won’t be able to keep eye contact with you. It’s a physiological by-product of being nervous—they know they’re doing something wrong.

b) If two young looking women come in together

and head straight for the restroom, or to the front of the room away from the bar, ask for additional ID.

c) Underage drinkers won’t sit at the bar. Most of them are afraid of the bar. d) Underage drinkers in a bar usually don’t tip.

They don’t know how to play the game.

e) Underage drinkers in a bar usually don’t know

what to order. They drink Screwdrivers, 7&7’s, piña coladas, strawberry daiquiris—anything “fru fru.”

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Hint: Underage drinkers in a bar usually don’t know what to order . . .

3 WAYS TO CHILL A SHOT: The easiest way is to keep the liquor or liqueur in the refrigerated cooler or beer cooler, like Goldschläger, Jägermeister or Patrón.

Simply pour a shot into the shot glass or empty rocks glass. Secondly, put 1/3 ice into a small metal shaker can, then add the shot of liquor or liqueur. Put the strainer on top of the shaker can (hand swirl a few times) then strain into an empty, chilled rocks glass. A third way is to use a large shaker can, filled halfway with ice. Put a mixing glass or tumbler over the shaker can and shake like crazy for a good minute, or until the shaker can becomes frosted on the outside. Younger customers—30 and under—prefer their shots to be shaken. Older folks prefer the straight shot into a shot glass, or the conservative hand swirl technique, and then poured into an empty rocks glass. This method increases the size of the shot—ice melted in the small shaker can diluted the shot and made it come up higher in the rocks glass.

NO FREE POUR: Consistency is assured in highball, rocks and Collins glass drinks if bartenders use a metal jigger, shot glass, Posi Pour, or electronic pour to measure liquor. You want to serve the same drink to your customer every time. Also, by measuring shots, you know exactly how much alcohol a customer has consumed in a certain time frame. If your bartenders have participated in a server-training program such as TAM (Techniques of Alcohol Management®), TIPS (Training for Intervention Procedures), or others, they know the importance of the measured pour. It is easier to pace your customers when you know the exact amount of liquor they’re consuming. Remember, the customer does not care how you pour liquor, as long as the pour is fair and the price is fair. It’s the bartenders who insist on the free pour. It’s easier, and it allows them to play games with the customers (short pouring, over pouring, etc.). The amount of liquor that goes in a drink, and the manner in which it gets there, is an owner/management decision—not the bartender’s!

Bob Johnson, CBM, is a nationally recognized Beverage Management consultant who specializes in multiunit management of nightclubs/bars and bartending. A 50-year veteran of the bar business, Bob is best known for creating America’s first certification program for bar managers, “CBM” (Certified Bar Manager). Contact Bob at (800) 4474384 or www. bobthebarguy.com.

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March 2012 Bar Business Magazine 37

Big

6

Los Angeles Boston CHICAGO Las Vegas

MIami new york

Intimate Magnificence If it’s possible to imagine the grandiosity of bombastic electronic music spun by a top-flight DJ inside the contradictory confines of a cozy, intimate nightclub with just 300 likeminded enthusiasts in tow, then you can comprehend an evening at AGENCY.

By Chris Ytuarte

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As a boutique nightclub, AGENCY has all the "bells and whistles" of a large club, just built into a smaller, more intimate space, with just 17 tables in total.

T

he jaded residents of the Los Angeles nightlife scene can be as tough to impress as any in the world. Perhaps the best approach one could take would be a non-specific promise of pleasure: Expect the best, and trust us to deliver. And while fulfilling such a vow can be challenging, doing so can create a loyal following of fans and patrons.

Such is the case with AGENCY, one of the newest and most exclusive nightclubs currently operating in L.A. Open just two nights a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays, with Fridays starting in March), the tight capacity restrictions (300 people) make for an even tighter guest list. But it’s the club’s approach to promotion and presentation of talent that makes it one of the most unique venues in the country. We spoke with owner Alan Nathan about AGENCY’s name, its nuances, and its big-name DJs who regularly appear unannounced.

BB: What was the basis for creating AGENCY and its unusual approach to the nightlife business?

Nathan: AGENCY, as a concept and a name, came to fruition because we wanted to put a boutique nightclub together with the best events, best talents, and best audience. And that’s

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where the concept of AGENCY comes from, in that we’re dealing with a lot of the modeling agencies and artist agencies to recruit talent in Los Angeles and throughout the world. And at the same time, we’re representing the best of house music in the United States as well. So that’s the idea behind the name.

The concept is a boutique nightclub. It’s basically an intimate space that has all the bells and whistles that a large nightclub would have: There’s an LED wall, confetti machines, light shows, killer sound system—all the things you’d see in a huge club in Ibiza. But it’s a very intimate space and it really shows off the DJs. And that’s what seems to be happening around the world with the big talent; it’s the focal point.

And despite it being so vital how you market the talent, we mostly go with unannounced shows. It creates a little mystique, where you’re not sure who is going to be there, and everyone is talking about who might be playing tonight. We’ve had Swedish House Mafia, Deadmau5, Manufactured Superstars, etc. But no one knows who is going to be there. We could have Vice one night, Sandra Cronenberg one night, who knows. And it’s become a little March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

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Los Angeles Boston CHICAGO Las Vegas

Photo courtesy of Remix-Nation.com

Big

Deadmau5 spins at AGENCY during an unannounced show on February 7. bit of a haven where DJs can come and hang out and don't always play. Mau5 has been there a few times, Vice has been there a few times. They come to hang, because it really is an intimate space, but its still got the energy and the sound system and dynamics of a super-energy place, but it’s a lot more boutique-y.

MIami new york

BB: In rarely announcing ahead of time the big-name talent that spins at AGENCY, is there a risk you might diminish your audience on a given night and over time?

Nathan: It’s very risky. At the same time it’s also helping us build what the brand is. And what we want to create as a brand is a place you can come to enjoy the best of house and electronic music, not even knowing who is going to be there.

We also want to have what we believe is the best in new, local talent who are coming up, and have them playing there too. But it is risky. I mean, Swedish House Mafia sold out Madison Square Garden in eight minutes, but we’re not going to tell people they’re playing AGENCY the week before. It seems crazy! But for us, it’s more about word-of-mouth, to say at the end of the day, ‘Hey, we’re going to AGENCY, we might see Mau5 for free, or we could see Swedish House.’ So it’s risky, but I think building the brand is important. The idea is we don’t want to build around who is going to be there. We want to build AGENCY as a name. The mystique is connected to the risk, but at the same time it’s also our vantage that we’re creating a base promotion that people respect—that we’re going to have great talent, no matter who it is.

BB: Last month we spoke to ownership at Hyde Las Vegas, who described how they wanted the venue to build its reputation based more on the clientele and the brand than on talent. Is your approach somewhat similar, in that you greatly undersell the talent you do bring in?

The rich, dark aesthetic inside AGENCY is meant to evoke the feel and ambience of an old opium den, while the layout focuses on the DJ booth, which is viewable from 90% of the tables in the venue.

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"Our business is about 90% bottle service, so when it comes to that, we're following the model of a Las Vegas nightclub more so than any other venue in Los Angeles."

Nathan: We’re a little different in that our place holds 300 people. So we don’t need to fill what other people need to fill.

But we do want to have a great crowd on-hand for the talent.

That’s why the talent is coming to play, because the crowd that’s in front of them is beautiful, highly energetic, and very into house. We’re creating talent for the talent. We’re giving them an audience they want to be in front of.

I think that’s been our vantage—that we’re a boutique nightclub and small, and we have the leeway of saying we can only put so many people in the place. So it’s a very different show watching Deadmau5 in Madison Square Garden or Mau5 in a place where you have 90% visibility from every spot in the club and you’re, at the most, maybe 30 or 40 feet away.

BB: With such a focus on the DJ, how did you approach the design and aesthetic of AGENCY to incorporate the talent and still maintain a social and comfortable atmosphere?

Nathan: The aesthetic is very rich in color. The design was meant to create a party within a party. The club itself has 17 different tables, each of them self-sustaining, with room to dance. There are different levels and different tiers. I wouldn’t call it stadium seating, but everywhere you can sit, there is a place to stand and dance behind, and there are a lot of different elevations of people, which we think helps create the energy of the room. It’s not just people standing around on one level.

But the approach is this: The DJ is center-stage and there is 90% visibility from everywhere in the club. There are only two tables that don’t have visibility of the DJ booth. Of course there are better seats right in front and to the side, but our idea was to create something almost with the feel of an old opium den. It’s very rich, very intimate and dark, with accented lighting.

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The name AGENCY indicates that we’re representing the finest audience and the best talent. And best talent is something you can look at and say, ‘Are they the best because they’re the most popular in the world, or the best because they’re up-and coming?’ And that’s the element we want to play with, and so far, every week, no matter who we’ve had in, we have great energy because we’re condensing the crowds. It’s people who really love the music and they are there for the music. But at the same time, we’re putting them in a boutique nightclub that is very comfortable and very sexy and has all the elements and the joyous souls and energy, but you’re not getting lost in a place with 3,000 people.

BB: Again, with so much emphasis on the talent, is it important to not lose sight of other nightlife components, like service and cocktails?

Nathan: That is all part of the evolution of what we’ve created. We’re following the model of a Las Vegas nightclub in the sense of service more so than any other venue in Los Angeles. Our business is about 90% bottle service. We have brought in a Vegas-style bottle service process, with internal hosts, etc. We overstaff, in the sense of hosting, to make sure that our service is unbelievable.

We have a bottle host for each table, an assistant for each table, VIP hosts running the floor, etc. We’re very specific about the type of service we offer and the bottle service you get and making sure you’re taken care of. Again, we’re not changing the business; we’re in a service industry.

And if we don’t service the client well, they’re not going to come back. We might have great talent, but if you have a bad experience, you’re not going to come back. So it’s very important to us that if we have that great talent, we have to give great service.

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4

Bar BarScenes Scenesfrom fromSome Someof ofAmerica’s America’ssmaller smallercities cities

Corners

A Capital Night Out

New York City might be the capital of the world, but the capital of New York state—Albany— offers its own nightlife centered around the city’s local colleges. By Sara Kay

W

hen I made my big move from Maryland to New York in the summer of 2006, I wasn’t properly versed on the layout of my new state. After befriending several New York natives, I came to the conclusion that New York was made up of three parts: New York City, Long Island, and Upstate. Turns out to be pretty accurate. So when I had the opportunity to travel two-and-a-half hours north to the state capital of Albany, I saw it as a chance to truly exercise my skills as an investigative journalist. Bars that I’d never been to, let alone heard of? What a capital adventure.

The city of Albany is quite beautiful, and with New York experiencing an unusually warm winter, I was lucky enough to 42

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City Beer Hall has an impressive beer list with many local brews, as well as a mechanical bull on the second floor.

r Hall e e B y t i C

enjoy my visit in a very comfortable environment. The Membership Associate of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce provided us with a lovely tour of the city, and while seeing the architecture and important government buildings was great, it was the boozy establishments that I was more interested in. With an itinerary provided by an Albany native, we made our way to Lark Street in the Uptown section of the city to start the night and sample the local fare.

Our first stop was at Bombers, a Mexican joint serving up decent food, but extraordinary margaritas. While my burrito served a purpose in soaking up alcohol I would be ingesting, I was much more impressed by the margarita. Also enjoying these cocktails was a crowd of early and mid-20s co-eds, filling up on the well-priced margaritas before preparing to spend the rest of their money on cover charges at almost every bar downtown.

The margarita list was pretty standard at Bombers, but my eyes immediately darted toward the Blood Orange Margarita, not only because I’ve never had one, but because this hole-inthe-wall Mexican spot had the cajones to actually use seasonal ingredients in a margarita. Instead of being incredibly sweet to the point of “lemon face,” it was slightly bitter with only a hint of sweet. My Albany-native friend had suggested Bombers as a great place to start the night; a burrito and a margarita (or three) are a great way to pre-game. I couldn’t agree more. But it was time to wash down those margaritas with some local New York beers at The City Beer Hall.

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The City Beer Hall is a great place to go if one is not quite sure about what the pace of the night will be. Beers and board games (and a free pizza with each drink) is one way to go, but throw in a mechanical bull on the second floor and things could turn in another direction. Either way, this place works.

The most appealing part of The City Beer Hall, however, is the impressive beer list. Not to say that the mechanical bull isn’t intriguing, but a place that has an extensive and well thought-out beer list, made up of tap, bottles, cans and growlers to go, always strikes me as top notch. A few beers and a ride or two on the bull, and it was time to move from relaxed beer hall to high-energy downtown Albany, starting with the Pearl Street Pub. The first nice thing about Pearl Street Pub is the lack of a cover charge at the door. And while the front of Pearl Street Pub is a great time, it’s the back of the bar that is truly interesting, as the aesthetic goes from bar stools and rock music to long leather couches, flashing lights and Top 40 tracks inside what is called The Dirty Martini Lounge. To respect the namesake, dirty martinis were ordered, and dancing ensued. Pearl Street Pub offers the best of both worlds: a fun, pub-like atmosphere for those

Pearl Street Pub is a twofer— pub in the front and martini lounge in back.

Pear

l Str eet P ub

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

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4

Bar Scenes from Some of America’s smaller cities

Corners

looking for one kind of experience, and an equally-fun, clubby dance environment for those seeking the complete opposite.

Our next stop was Jillian’s, a five-floor hybrid of bar, club, arcade, and seemingly any other place that is possible to visit on a Saturday night for a good time. We paid our five-dollar cover and rocked out to a local Albany band before heading down to the game room, which is 5,000 square feet of every possible arcade game, plus a few more. Jillian’s is another spot that is great for any endeavor you seek: a relaxed beer and a game of pool, a live band, or a full night of dancing. Whichever is preferred, Jillian’s is able to provide. Even with all of these things going on throughout the bar, Jillian’s still has the space to accommodate a hefty amount of people, with room to spare. There is nothing worse than a bar that boasts a number of gimmicks, yet can only comfortably house 100 people. Thankfully, Jillian’s is able to have a killer band, hundreds of arcade games, and a huge dance floor without all of it feeling like a mosh pit.

To conclude the night, we went from Albany to New Orleans just by walking to Bayou Café. This lively venue hit the mark when it came to the perfect combination of cheap drinks, incredibly friendly bar staff,

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Jillian's has dancing, drinking, music, and even arcade games.

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and a great live band that had the crowd going crazy for what seemed like hours.

Upon walking in, I noticed that a lot of the faces were those I had seen out at other bars earlier in the night. Clearly, we weren’t the only ones who sought out Bayou Café as a closer.

The real Bourbon Street is a place that many bars in other parts of the country strive to be like. While most people equate New Orleans with a particular festival period consisting of heavy drinking and little clothing, I think of New Orleans as a cultural mecca of food, drinks, and music, and any bar that strives to be like that without all the extra messiness is doing their hometown a favor. Kudos to Bayou Café.

Because the nightlife in New York doesn’t shut down until 4:00am (even “Upstate”), we were able to enjoy a full night out without feeling rushed to squeeze everything in. We even got shots on the house from the bartender at Bayou Cafe after he learned that we were visiting from The Big Apple. As we dragged our tired yet satisfied selves home, I found myself planning another Albany bar crawl for the future, to see the rest of the bars we didn’t have time to visit this trip.

So many bars, so little time. What a capital conundrum.

afé Bayou C

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Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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Inventory Concannon Vineyard Launches Irish Whiskey

Stern Pinball Launches AC/DC Pinball Machine

Livermore Valley-based Concannon Vineyard has teamed up with Ireland’s Cooley Distillery to launch Concannon Irish Whiskey. Distilled and blended at Ireland’s Cooley Distillery with American consumers in mind, this special project is a unique expression of Concannon’s American and Irish roots. The first cases of Concannon reached American consumers in January and initially will only be available to the U.S. market. A refined blend of malted barley and corn, Concannon is craft distilled for proper balance of character and purity, then matured in bourbon barrels for a minimum of four years. Concannon Petite Sirah wine barrels are transported from California to Ireland, where a portion of the whiskey is then finished for four months before blending. Known as ‘the Concannon Effect’ this gives Concannon Irish Whiskey a uniquely fruity character. For more information, visit www.concannonvineyard.com.

Stern Pinball, Inc., the world’s only maker of real pinball games, announced the availability of the AC/DC pinball machine. The newest addition to the iconic Stern collection honors one of the most legendary rock and roll bands the world has ever seen. The AC/ DC pinball machine allows players to experience the power of rock and roll with their own two hands. Players will be able to rock out to twelve classic AC/DC hits including “Back in Black,” “Highway to Hell” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Other exciting game features include two separate ramps, a lower play field, ball shooting cannon, eight drop targets, a mechanized Hell’s Bell and animations of the AC/DC band. Players can also join the party with a TNT detonator and the Devil’s Jukebox. This tribute to one of rock and roll’s most memorable bands pushes the auditory limits with its sound, style and infectious riffs. Stern has released images of the “Back In Black” and “Let There Be Rock” limited edition backglasses. Both are mirrored and are only available with the specific games. The AC/DC machine is designed to rock. To learn more about The AC/DC pinball machine and Stern Pinball, visit www.sternpinball.com.

LoSo Can Increase Business to Bars Through SMART Marketing Software

Dutch’s Spirits Produces Sugar Wash Moonshine

With over 40 clients since its launch, LoSo has helped clients increase their repeat business on average from 45%-65% all from their unique mobile appbased QR code loyalty rewards.

LoSo is an all-in-one marketing software and marketing program for restaurants and bars. LoSo wants to reduce your marketing costs by replacing at least three or four services you are already paying for. The beauty behind LoSo is in their integrated approach to increase your loyal customer visits while automatically adding members to you VIP email and mobile text marketing lists. LoSo offers its subscription-based SMART Panel for about $150 per month which includes email marketing while introducing many to real-time mobile/ SMS marketing for the first time. In addition, LoSo enable’s bars to run loyalty rewards and makes social media simple with a suite of tools that can make even a novice look like a pro. LoSo adds each customer from their mobile app to their client’s email and mobile lists which can then marketed to through their SMART Panel’s email or SMS messaging systems. Visit www.loso.net.

Dutch’s Spirits Sugar Wash Moonshine is a nod to that bottled lightning made in Dutch’s cavernous distillery, its stills burning beneath the fields of Harvest Homestead Farm in Hudson Valley, New York. This handcrafted, 100% Cane Neutral Spirit was produced in small batches from pure Demerara sugar using artisan copper pot stills. The result: A clean, exceptionally smooth spirit. The nose bears aromas of cut grass and rich butterscotch. Succulent vanilla and grapefruit notes envelop the mouth and a medley of tropical fruit and maple flavors linger in a pleasantly long and smooth finish.

A truly versatile spirit, Dutch’s Spirits Sugar Wash Moonshine can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, and in a wide range of mixed cocktails. See our recipe section for inspired drinking. Visit www.dutchsspirits.com.

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Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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World’s Hottest Vodka

Got Cash?

Naga Chilli Vodka rates 100,000 on the Scoville scale—the international method of measuring the heat in a chilli—making it the most potent chilli vodka ever to be sold. The chilli used in the vodka is the Naga Jolokia, which is known to be one of the hottest chillis it is possible to grow—hotter than most law-enforcement-grade pepper sprays. The drink is made by fermenting litres of vodka with 18kg of the fiery peppers. The resulting concoction is left for several weeks to infuse. Once the vodka has turned a dark caramel colour, the infusion is complete and the vodka can be bottled. The resulting spirit measures 100,000 on the Scoville scale—twice as hot as Tabasco, and almost on a par with the level of heat from a Habanero or Scotch bonnet chilli. For sale at www. masterofmalt.com.

Need $10,000, $50,000, or even $100,000 of immediate cash flow for your business? Need advertising dollars? Need inventory? Seasonal fluctuations? Expanding? If you have been in business for at least 1 year and process at least $10,000 of Visa/MasterCard transactions, you qualify for a Cash Advance! THE BEST PART?!?… You don’t need to switch your credit card processing. No application fee. No financials or tax returns required! No maturity dates! Apply today! 1-800-260-7506. At 2012 Nightclub & Bar Show, Booth #468, ask about our show special and a chance to win an iPad 2. www.bizcashpronto.com

Courvoisier Introduces C by Courvoisier®

Book a Tour of Gin Jints

Courvoisier, the cognac house of Beam Inc., has announced the addition of C by Courvoisier® to its award-winning portfolio. A bold, revolutionary cognac, C by Courvoisier is full of attitude, boasting a daring, intense flavor profile that stands out from the crowd and showcases a new side of cognac.

C by Courvoisier offers consumers an innovative, new option in the cognac category. An intense blend of smallbatch-produced cognac specially selected from 50 winegrowers in the Fin Bois Cru, C by Courvoisier is carefully crafted by the house’s master blender and goes through a doublebarrel aging process to produce a smooth, full-bodied taste experience.

C by Courvoisier has a flavor profile boasting a rich, intense character with a good balance between floral, fruity aromas and wood, with notes of carnation, orange peel, clove, toast and crusty bread for a bold drinking experience. For more information, visit www.Courvoisier.com. www.barbizmag.com

Some things only happen in the movies. But the bar scene in Casablanca was a lot like the real world in the 1940s. While bartenders mixed gin and champagne into elegant French 75s at fictional Rick’s Café, real life bartenders were crafting intoxicating potions in urban nightclubs and civilized cocktail lounges all around the globe. Times change, yet gin remains our most versatile of spirits.

All the Gin Joints is the guide to a journey around the upper echelon of the bartending profession in one-hundred-and-one recipes – exploratory gin-based concoctions developed with almost appalling care in the progressive cocktail laboratories of American “gin joints,” often bringing methods and flourishes of the kitchen to the glass with fresh juices, muddled fruit, infused syrups, earthy spices, and leafy herbs. As a new breed of artisan drinksmiths zeroes in on gin’s amazing mixing powers, they raise the art of mixology to new heights. There’s a ceremony, a theater to what they do, and the resulting pleasures are considerable. With this remarkable book as trusted companion, you’ll be able to re-create the formulas with precision and authenticity. May each raised glass provide the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Now available on Amazon.com.

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

47

Inventory Free Cell Phone Charger for Bar Tops

Unique Taste of Peanut Flavored Vodka

According to recent studies, over 83% of American adults own a cell phone (94% between adults ages 18-29).

According to Nielsen reports, the average smartphone user is consuming 89% more data each month than a year ago. Cell phone battery technology has lagged behind other advancements, and charging a phone more than once a day has become the norm for many users. Low battery? No problem. ChargeAll is placing free universal cell phone charging stations in hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes around the country. ChargeAll is a universal cell phone and device charger that works with everything from the Apple iPhone and Blackberry to the Amazon Kindle and Nintendo DS; it literally charges thousands of devices! ChargeAll features 10-in-1 tip technology, fast charge capability, and fully customized designs for business owners. Free cell phone charging stations should be everywhere. For more information, visit www.buychargeall.com or www.mycellphonedied.com.

Pandora Spirits, based in Cleveland, Ohio, produces NutLiquor peanut butter vodka, a 69-proof flavored vodka that tastes like the center of a peanut butter cup. NutLiquor is blended to be very smooth, suffused with flavor but without the harsh alcohol aftertaste found in most flavored vodkas. It has near infinite mixing possibilities or can simply be enjoyed neat. Containing no peanut allergens, NutLiquor is also safe for those with peanut allergies. NutLiquor also recently won the Platinum Award/Best of Class in 2011 SIP Awards in San Diego. Visit www.nutliquor. me.

Beer and Pizza Together!

Two New Smirnoff Flavors

"Pizza Beer" was developed in 2006 by Tom and Athena Seefurth in their home brewery in Campton Township, Illinois. It all started with a surplus of tomatoes, a bag of garlic and an idea that started early in the spring when they planted garden herbs.

The goal was to create a beer that would pair with a wide variety of foods, especially their favorite, pizza! In the end, they were pleasantly surprised that this "mess" turned out to be the best thing since the guy with chocolate that bumped into Ralph Mouth and mixed up the chocolate with the peanut butter!

Indeed, the world will love "Pizza Beer." Visit www. mammamiapizzabeer.com.

Yes, we’re in the thick of winter, but summer is right around the corner. And why wait to shed the coat? It’s time to light up the grill, break out the food and invite your friends over as Smirnoff introduces its newest malt beverages: Smirnoff Signature Screwdriver and Smirnoff ICE ¡Tropical Fruit!. Though poolside days are a ways off, these refreshing citrus and exotic flavors are sure to give you the taste of summertime that seems so far off.

Visit www. smirnoff.com.

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Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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Holiday Happenings

APRIL 2012

2

5

6

10

11

April 2: National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Serve up specials on Peanut Butter and Jelly shooters: 3/4 oz Frangelico liqueur 3/4 oz Chambord liqueur Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

Shake well.

Strain into a shot glass.

April 5: National Deep Dish Pizza Day. If you can’t cook up a pie on-premise, try serving up bottles of Mamma Mia Pizza Beer, the ale brewed with oregano, basil, tomato, and garlic.

April 6: Sorry Charlie Day. This day honors those poor souls who have been rejected and live to tell the tale. And nowhere on this Earth does rejection occur more often and in more glorious form than on a nightly basis in the bar. On this night, offer a free drink to any guy who gets shot down.

Soldier on, boys.

Soldier on.

April 10: National ASPCA Day. Put a few jars on the bar and collect donations for your local ASPCA. And anyone who ever even suggests they treat their pet cruelly, 86 from your bar forever. Simple as that.

April 11: National “Louie Louie” Day. Two-tiered promotional opportunity on this day: Play this 1963 hit

by The Kingsmen on repeat, non-stop. Drinks remain $2 until the first person complains.

Or, offer a free tab to anyone who can correctly cite the lyrics to “Louie Louie” without using a smartphone.

12

17

19

23

24

April 12: Day of Silence.

April 17: National Cheeseball Day. Yes, the 2012 U.S. presidential election season officially kicks off!

April 19: High Five Day. Why is everyone so down on the high five these days? Drink up, slap hands, get rowdy.

Life is short—high five!

April 23: Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Have your bartenders and staff work with only Old English on this day: “Have thou a query on which ale to quaff this night, good sir?”

“To beer, or not to beer, that is the question!”

April 24: National Pigs in a Blanket Day. Just when you think you can’t look at another P.I.B. following your awe-inspiring Super Bowl display of platter-clearing consumption, we bring you a national holiday celebrating these little piggies. Nothing keeps a guy at the bar like a pile of P.I.B.s, so serve ‘em up!

www.barbizmag.com

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

49

Marketplace Solid Copper Moscow Mule Mug - 10oz Personalized with your Bar Logo

The Original lighted Folding Bar Made of Aircraft Aluminum Bars Fold to 5 inches Wide Interchangeable Bar Tops and Configurations All Panels Interchangeable and Brandable PRICE 12 Mugs - $21.00 each 48 Mugs - $14.00 each 24 Mugs - $16.00 each 96 Mugs - $12.00 each

Rechargeable Battery Operated LED Lighting

Price includes shipping to North America We accept Visa, MC and Amex Made in Canada since 1952

Payne Manufacturing Canada Limited 1725 Matheson Blvd East Unit 10 Mississauga, Ontario Canada L4W 1Z1 www.paynemfg.com 800-385-1120-Telephone 905-282-9810-Toronto Area 905-282-9814-Fax Email-sales@paynemfg.com

(714) 849-1340 www.UltimateBars.com

THE BARJUKEBOX The last jukebox you will ever need!

Keep all the cash on all coin operated items.

Discount code: BBM to save hundreds on any purchase. *Music videos coming soon! *No middle man needed! *Nationwide service! *Direct distributors of pool tables, video poker, darts, boxers, Golden Tee, touchscreens, and more.

Order by phone 877.386.2731 or online at www.barjukebox.com 50

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

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Index of Advertisers

Company

web site address

page #

ADT

www.ADTpulse.com/smallbiz

10,11

BarJukeBox, The

www.barjukebox.com

50

Barzz.net

www.barzz.net

1

Beer Tubes

www.beertubes.com

37

Cardcom Technology

www.cardcom.com

50

Coast to Coast Insurance

www.ctocinsurance.com

50

Excel Dryer

www.exceldryer.com

22,50

G&G Closed Circuit

www.ggsportstv.com

28

Global Special Effects

www.globalspecialeffects.com

50

ID Scan

www.IDScan.net

50

Manhattan Cocktail Classic

www.manhattancocktailclassic.com

7

McCormick Distilling Company

www.mccormickdistilling.com

C4

Modern Line Furniture

www.modernlinefurniture.com

C2

National Satellite Center

www.natsat.tv

36A-B

Payne Manufacturing

www.paynemfg.com

50

Roaring Lion Energy Drink

www.roaringlionenergydrink.com

5

Rush Flyers

www.rushflyers.com

16A-B

Sheff Imports

www.wirconusa.com

25

TextBoom

www.textboom.com

3

Ultimate Bars

www.ultimatebars.com

50

U.S. Beverage Alcohol Forum

www.wswaconvention.org

15

Vacation Adventures

www.vacationadventures.biz

44

Wood Seating, Inc.

33

WorldCast Inc

www.worldcastinc.com

19

Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America

www.wswa.org

29

Inventory Companies All The Gin Joints BizCashPronto ChargeAll Concannon Vineyard Courvoisier C Dutch's Spirits LoSo Mamma Mia Pizza Beer Naga Chili Vodka NutLiquor Smirnoff Stern Pinball, Inc.

www.amazon.com www.bizcashpronto.com www.buychargeall.com www.concannonvineyard.com www.courvoisier.com www.dutchsspirits.com www.loso.net wwww.mammamiapizzabeer.com www.masterofmalt.com www.nutliquor.com www.smirnoff.com www.sternpinball.com

To advertise in Bar Business Magazine contact, Art Sutley, Ph: 212-620-7247, e-mail: asutley@sbpub.com or Darlene Balzano, Ph: 440-263-2595, email: dbalzano@sbpub.com www.barbizmag.com

March 2012 Bar Business Magazine

51

Owning Up

Keeping Control While Letting Go For Tom Elliott and his partners, growing a western Florida bar empire into 15 successful venues (with number 16 in the works) has meant keeping a tight rein over operations at each location.

Today they are contemplating their Linksters Taproom and Paddywagon Irish Pub brands for franchising opportunities, which involves surrendering some of that control. Is it worth it?

BB: What was the inspiration behind all of these new locations?

Elliott: Myself and a friend I’ve known since I was 14 had always said that we were going to own a bar. I was in the sports marketing business, and we saw a property become available, and we opened our first place—called Mr. Big’s 19th Hole—as a golf-themed sports bar. That went pretty well. Then we decided to open another one, and that went extremely well.

And after that, we decided that the juice for us was in opening new places, so we kept cranking them out. And over the last ten years we’ve had a great time.

BB: From location one to two—the big leap—what was the biggest fear and how did you overcome it?

Elliott: We were actually a lot more confident about the second venue than we were the first. We went into a location where there wasn’t a lot of competition, but there was a whole lot of rooftops and a lot of activity. We were really excited about the opportunity, and at that point it was more about the construction process. At this point, we pretty much GC [general contract] our own jobs. We hire someone to pull permits for us, but we’re pretty active in every element of the construction side, and that has grown over time. So from location one to two, there really wasn’t much apprehension. We were really more confident that we could do this.

BB: What is something that is common through all 15 venues, whether a managerial approach, business philosophy, etc.?

Elliott: Our concept is that of a neighborhood bar. We don’t do any food at all. We try to have a significant 'wow factor' when the customer comes in our place. We’re very adamant that our staff greet our customers and memorize people’s drinks and really give them that feeling of being home. And that’s something that is constant through all of our locations.

It’s pounded into the staff that we’re very customer oriented.

We’re not a nightclub, we’re not a restaurant; we’re a neighborhood bar. So we want people to feel welcome.

BB: Is there a running theme between all the locations?

Elliott: We have ten locations under the Linksters Taproom 52

Bar Business Magazine March 2012

family, which is a golfthemed sports bar. And with the last two locations we opened, we went with a new name of Paddywagon Irish Pub. And we’ve franchised these two concepts to give potential franchisees the opportunity to decide which way they want to go. Linksters is a pretty regionally recognized brand, and we hope Paddywagon will be too, so it’s a great opportunity for the right people.

BB: Have there been takers on the franchise opportunity?

Elliott: Yes, we have a couple in negotiations right now. When we started this, banks were kind of sitting on the sidelines and growth was stagnant. But after we got the franchise documents done and did all of them homework to be ready for it, we realized that we wanted to be really selective about this. At first we thought it would be strictly a numbers game, where some would work and some wouldn’t. But what we realized is that, ultimately, that’s our name out there. Whoever comes on board with us is going to be a partner. And that’s a challenge.

We have five guys who run this office and we get along really well. To have an interruption of that, inconsistent with what we do, would be tough. So, right or wrong, we decided to put the breaks on the franchising side to continue doing what we do, and when the opportunity presents itself and we know it’s right, we’ll go forward with it. And we’re in negotiations now with a few people who fit that description, and those deals have the potential to get executed.

BB: So franchising is a whole different ballgame?.

Elliott: Oh yeah. So, there’s no sense of urgency there. We’re doing just fine doing what we’re doing, and in our minds, if we have the success that we think we can have if we really went out and tried to sell all the franchises we could, how much would our lives change? And do we really want to go there?

BB: How much of the franchising process involves maintaining control of your original product and its offerings?

Elliott: There has to be a lot of that. If you’re truly going to be a franchise, you have to offer the same thing, consistently, to your customers at each location. And we bring a lot to the table from a construction standpoint in making sure that happens. But in the end, it has to be the right fit.

www.barbizmag.com

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