June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

Number 06

Doubling Up:

Casio goes wild providing its LampFree ™ Dual Projection System to Buffalo Wild Wings ®

The How-To Publication

BAR BUSINE$$ June 2013

M A G A Z I N E

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Bar Business Magazine

Ready for the Big Time

It’s the summer of cider as Strongbow hits the U.S. market

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BAR BUSINE$$

On Tap JUNE 2013

CONTENTS

SUmmeR of CiDeR

HOW TO

30 26

18

21

26

Give US Some CReDiT

Think PoS-iTive

Don’T DRink anD SeRve

Maintaining and improving your business credit can play a vital role in the success and survival of your bar. Here’s how!

Powerful POS systems and pocket-sized payment options can work together to make for a better customer experience on-premise.

While some view drinking on the job as a timeless tradition for bartenders, we examine some of the ways it can go bad.

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June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

1

On Tap

BAR BUSINE$$

CONTENTS

Features

40 Departments 40 Big six

6 BOOze News

Follwing the horrific marathon bombings, a little bar in Boston makes a big gesture to raise money for the victims and their families.

10 liqUid asseTs The history of rum is as interesting and adventurous as the spirit itself.

Learn it, know it, live it.

14 TUNiNg Up The Buffalo Wild Wings® A/V experience: Living life LampFree™.

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American drinkers are ready for a new option on-premise, and it arrives in full force in the U.S. in the form of cider as Strongbow hits the market.

34 eUrO Beer

4 Bar rOOm drawl Wine tasting venue expands by demand; Female vintners unite to promote fine wines; The Greene Turtle arrives in New York; The Speed Rack challenge finds top female bartenders.

30 Cider Time!

44 iNveNTOry 46 hOliday happeNiNgs

Beer wasn’t invented in this country, and neither was the service and marekting of suds.

We take a look at some European beer trends and what we can learn from them.

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48 OwNiNg Up NYC nightlife veteran Matt Shendell talks about taking a realistic real estate approach when opening new venues.

ON The COver:

Charles van Es, Sr. Director of the Portfolio Team at Heinken USA, enjoys some crisp Strongbow Cider.

“Bar Business Magazine” (ISSN 1944-7531 [print], ISSN 2161-5071 [digital]) (USPS# 000-342) is published February, April, June, August, October, & December for $45.00 per year and January, March, May, July, September, & November will only be offered in a digital format at no charge by Simmons-Boardman, 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2013 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.

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

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OUR NEW BOTTLE IS HERE. WE BROUGHT HEINEKEN TO CELEBRATE. PRESENTING THE STAR BOTTLE.

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Bar Room Drawl

By Chris Ytuarte editor-in-Chief

The Era of Accountability?

The bar and nightclub industry has long been one that hinges upon a certain level of self-policing and accountability. As a business that is based around intoxicating spirits, the notion of responsibility is paramount, and essential to the sustainable model upon which we all currently operate.

Several news-making events the last few weeks have put that focus back on our industry.

In May, we saw a proposition put forth by the National Transportation Safety Board that recommends lowering the legal threshold for blood-alcohol concentration levels by more than a third, from 0.08 to 0.05 percent. This is a big deal for the nightlife industry, and could conceivably lead to owners across the country readdressing their service policies.

According to a report in The New York Times, Sarah Longwell, managing director at the restaurant trade association American Beverage Institute, called the idea “ludicrous.” But is it?

As operators, are we willing to enforce responsible consumption that could possibly lead to reduced sales numbers? Consider this: The average 180-pound male could have four beers in 90 minutes without reaching the current limit of 0.08 percent. With a 0.05 percent limit, that drops to three beers in 90 minutes. A 130-pound woman who can have three drinks in 90 minutes under the current policy would be limited to only two 4

Bar Business Magazine June 2013

before hitting 0.05 percent. Over the course of a night, adhering to such new limits, that is a lot less alcohol sold on-premise. Tough choices may lie ahead. Keep an eye on this issue, as it may affect your business as well as your level of self-introspection.

BAR BUSINE$$ MAGAZINE

June 2013, Vol. 6, No. 6 Bar Business Magazine (ISSN 1944-7531) is published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004 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

"Drink moderately, for drunkenness neither keeps a secret, nor observes a promise."

— Miguel de Cervantes Of course, the kind of ethical approach we’d all prefer in this business is not relegated to just keeping your customers safe, it’s also about being honest with them. Another headline in late May came from news outlets reporting that some 29 bars in New Jersey—including a dozen TGI Fridays—were caught filling premium brand liquor bottles with non-premium spirits. According to officials, customers were paying premium prices and being served lesser product, all in the name of profit.

Not much explanation needed there.

Just greedy owners preying on the very people they should be serving.

Unfortunately, it probably happens more than we’d like to think, and I wouldn’t count on these particular owners to jump onboard with a safetyfirst approach to over-serving should a 0.05 percent BAC law get passed. But maybe that’s where it needs to start in this Era of Accountability. Think first of serving your customer properly, then safely, and have that carry over beyond your bar to the world outside.

Let’s start making headlines for the right reasons.

Editor-in-Chief Chris Ytuarte 212-620-7223; fax: 212-633-1863 cytuarte@sbpub.com Contributing Editor Beer, Wine, and Spirits Adam Levy art

Creative Director Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com Art Director Sarah Vogwill svogwill@sbpub.com production

Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com

circulation

Circulation Director Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com

advertising sales

Art Sutley 212-620-7247; fax: 212-633-1863 asutley@sbpub.com circulation department

800-895-4389

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Booze News

Wine TasTes expand, TasTing Room expanded

S

cott Harvey Wines celebrated the grand opening of their expanded Tasting Room on June 1st, as the culmination of a mission to create a new wine tasting destination. Exactly how did winemaker Scott Harvey help transform an historical California Gold Rush town known as the “Jewel of the Mother Lode” to a charming wine center?

Six years ago, Harvey and his wife Jana envisioned a tasting venue where people could both dine and lodge within walking distance of the tasting room. Sutter Creek, the most picturesque town in Gold Country, would be the ideal showcase for Amador County wine and provide just the place for responsible wine tasting—where people enjoy a flight of wine and stroll to dinner and back to the hotel. Scott and Jana took the leap in early 2007, joining just one other tasting room in town—Sutter Creek Wine Tasting.

Later in the year, Pat Crosby, former City Councilman of Sutter Creek, a registered California landmark, approached winemaker Harvey with a proposition. “Can you help develop Sutter Creek into a wine lover’s destination?” Scott approached the city with a tasting room prospectus at Pat’s behest.

Harvey had already built his reputation as a winemaker, creating Amador Wines for Santino Winery, which he later developed into Renwood, and had a strong affiliation with Amador County wines. “What better place for people to

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appreciate the Barbera, Zinfandel, and Syrah that make the mountain region of Amador County so unique than right near the vineyards of the Shenandoah Valley?”

Harvey was instrumental in contacting other wineries to open a satellite in the town Sunset Magazine calls “The Jewel of the Sierra.” By 2013, additional wineries on Main St. include Cinque, Bella Grace, Andis, Yorba with Baiocchi and Sutter Ridge opening this summer. The group of tasting rooms is now known as Wine on Main.

Today, the Scott Harvey Wines Tasting Room is ranked the #1 attraction in Sutter Creek by Trip Advisor, lauded by reviewers for the friendly and knowledgeable tasting room staff, and wide variety of celebrated wines, from Amador County Zinfandel to Napa Valley Cabernet, to a favorite among visitors, Scott Harvey’s port-style wine, Forte.

Scott and Jana have now enhanced their Sutter Creek Tasting room experience. A newly expanded and welcoming back patio features comfortable tables and chairs.

“Because of Scott’s Old World style of winemaking, visitors are always telling us that they like all the wines they’ve tasted on our menu,” said Tasting Room Manager Muffin Simpson. “Scott makes our job easy. All we have to do is open the bottles and pour. His award-winning varietals speak for themselves. Next thing you know, they join our Wine Club and become regulars.” www.barbizmag.com

THE GREENE TURTLE

Opens to Strong Sales in New York The Greene Turtle made its New York premiere yesterday with a new restaurant in Franklin Square on Long Island that was met with great enthusiasm by the local community. With the parking lot full, lines waiting outside as the casual dining restaurant/sports bar opened its doors, and a high and diverse volume of businesspeople, families, couples, sports fans and other locals streaming in throughout the day, the new restaurant recorded very strong opening-day revenues to welcome the popular Maryland-based brand to the Northeast.

Operated by sibling franchisees John and Jeff Froccaro, who also more than three dozen Burger King quick-service restaurants throughout both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and a third partner, Harry Braunstein, managing partner of Long Island-based Sunset Capital Fund, the 7,100-square-foot building brings a bright, fresh look to a property formerly occupied by a long-defunct casual dining brand. Many guests arriving at the new restaurant throughout the day earnestly expressed their appreciation to the owners and staff for bringing a relaxed neighborhood gathering place back to the

community, while others who know The Greene Turtle from its locations in key destination and high-traffic venues such as Ocean City, Md., Rehoboth Beach, Del., Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center and Baltimore’s BWI airport were thrilled to see that the brand had opened in New York.

The new restaurant is the first of 10 locations the franchisees have committed to develop on Long Island, and becomes the foundation of a Northeast expansion effort in which The Greene Turtle hopes to develop in all five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut and further north into New England. The company also is seeking franchisees in Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. Interested investors should contact Vice President of Franchising Tom Finn at 855.TGT.INFO (855.848.4636) or tfinn@thegreeneturtle.com.

“We are thrilled to be bringing The Greene Turtle to Long Island, and very excited to have secured the Franklin Square property for our first site,” said Bob Barry, President/CEO of The Greene Turtle. “We are greatly encouraged by how strong the restaurant’s opening-day sales were, and look forward to welcoming many more guests and becoming increasingly involved in the community in the days ahead.”

The Greene Turtle has 37 locations across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Delaware and New York. www.barbizmag.com

WOMEN VINTNERS JOIN GROUP TO PROMOTE FINE WINES TO WOMEN A Woman’s Palate is excited to announce their association with some of Napa’s and Sonoma’s finest women vintners/vineyard owners to promote fine wine to women. A Woman’s Palate offers multiple touch points through which women can experience these vintners and their wines: an online magazine, www.awpmag.com; an educational seminar, Don’t Give Up The Wine List (DGUTWL); a custom wine club; and AWP Napa Valley BootCamp. A Woman’s Palate wants to introduce women vintners and their stories; share these fine wines made by women with a larger audience of women; and educate women about wine.

A Woman’s Palate grew out of a trade group of Napa/ Sonoma Valley women vineyard owners/vintners with a goal to empower, connect and support professional women with wine.

“We believe in supporting women vintners dedicated to the making and marketing of fine wines and to highlight the women in our trade: women sommeliers, retailers and chefs.

We also feature executive women in business, focusing on how important wine is to them both in business, and at home.

These are the ways we can promote the success of women both in and outside our business” says co-founder and vintner Sharon Harris. Well-known vintners like Molly Chappellet (Chappellet Winery), Beth Milliken (Spottswoode Winery), Joy Sterling (Iron Horse Vineyards) and Eileen Crane (CEO, Domaine Carneros) are all part of A Woman’s Palate.

Awpmag.com, the online magazine, highlights women vintners and recipes from women chef contributors like Cindy Pawlcyn. DGUTWL is a seminar that helps women learn about and become more comfortable ordering and purchasing wine.

AWP Bootcamp is the ultimate wine country immersion experience bringing small groups of women into Napa Valley to meet and experience life with women vintners. AWP Wine Club offers a handpicked selection of fine wines, taking the guesswork out of choosing wines for the woman consumer.

According to Sharon Harris, “60% of all wines are bought by women; and women buy 85% of wines under $18. But ask any fine wine producer in Napa or Sonoma how many women are on their mailing list and the answer is less than 5%.” A Woman’s Palate is trying to bring these smaller finer wines to a larger audience, starting with executive women.

Started in 2012 by vintner Sharon Harris and former ad sales exec and cookbook author Susan Citron, A Woman’s Palate wants to introduce women vintners and their stories; share these fine wines made by women with a larger audience of women; and educate women about wine. To do this they signed on some of the most well-known and respected women winemakers in Napa and Sonoma Counties. They continue to strive to improve peoples’ lives over a glass of fine wine.

June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

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Booze News neW YoRK’s eRYn ReeCe CRoWned

miss speed RaCK Usa 2013

O

n Thursday, May 16, a collection of 16 of the country’s top female bartenders went shaker-to-shaker at the finals of the Speed Rack National Tour, competing for industry glory and breast cancer research. The competition was fierce in the spectator-sport-meets-the-best-inbartending event, but Eryn Reece of New York’s Mayahuel and Death & Co. rose to the top, beating out her competitors in the shaking and stirring showdown, earning the title of Miss Speed Rack USA 2013.

More than 200 female bartenders across the country poured their hearts, souls and favorite spirits into the Speed Rack regional heats that were held in 10 of the top cocktail cities nationwide. Ten finalists rose to the top and took the stage along with six wild card winners at the Speed Rack National Finals held at Element Night Club in New York City.

The master mixtresses competed in heats to make rounds of cocktails culled from a list of 50 accepted industry-standard classic recipes, in front of a panel of judges and a crowd of excited viewers. The judging panel, which featured cocktail world luminaries Julie Reiner of Clover Club and Flatiron Lounge, King Cocktail himself Dale DeGroff, Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club, and celebrity pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini rated each drink based on prep time and accuracy.

More than 200 guests cheered on the contenders while Pernod-Ricard’s Chris Patino emceed the event and San Francisco DJ/bar owner Ryan Fitzgerald had the house rocking and the audience amped. Top-name male bartenders served as barbacks to keep the show running smoothly and prep the finalists for each round.

Miss Speed Rack USA receives an all-inclusive trip for two to France, where she will enjoy the beauty of the Anjou region and take a tour of the Cointreau distillery while attending the Cointreau Bartender Academie, an educational and intricate program designed to enlighten the trade on the secrets and subtleties of Cointreau.

The first nationwide competition designed to highlight up-and-coming women in the cocktail industry, and give back to those impacted by breast cancer, Speed Rack taps top female bartenders in leading cocktail markets and puts

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

them head to head in timed challenges—all for the purpose of raising funds for breast cancer charities and other charities supporting breast cancer research. To date, Speed Rack has raised more than $150,000. Speed Rack, Inc. was created by produced by nationally acclaimed bartenders and industry ambassadors, Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix in conjunction with event coordination by Claire Bertin-Lang of CBLLC and videos by Le Jit Productions.

He’s a RegUlaR According to The New York Post, a 100-year-old British man last month went down to his local pub to toast his 80th year of patronage there.

Norman Rushworth estimates he has downed 20,000 pints at the Golden Cross in Shrewsbury since his first visit in 1933.

When he first started hoisting pints of beer, they cost about 8 cents. Now they’re about $6.

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Liquid Assets

a SwaShbuckling SP iR i T The hisTory of rum is as rich as The molasses from which iT originaTes, and knowing where rum comes from mighT help you beTTer undersTand how To use iT.

By AdAm Levy, ContriButing editor Beer, Wine & SpiritS

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

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i

t begins with a stalk of sugarcane. Cane, the foundation of all rum production, has ancient roots in Asia’s indus valley and honorable mentions in early history. even Alexander the great marveled at this “grass that gives honey without bees.” in the 8th century, sugar cane migrated west into Spain via the moors and to the Caribbean. By the 15th century, thanks to a certain Cristoforo Colombo and other explorers and settlers, cane—and with it, sugar production—was widespread throughout the islands.

But what to do with all the “waste” generated by the sugaring process? At some point, someone discovered that much of it could be boiled down into a syrup, which could then be cooled and cured. However, to avoid re-crystallization, the cured syrup had to be stored in a special vessel with holes in the bottom that allowed the substance to separate from the crystals and ooze out into a separate container. the result: molasses.

and from molasses: rum. there has been no definitive claim as to the origins of the distillation of this yeast-friendly, sugary substance. yet Wayne Curtis, in his book, And a Bottle of rum, suggests there is a substantive argument for Barbado. A 1652 document mentions “rumbullion,” a.k.a., ‘Kill-divil,’ made from sugar canes...” He goes on to say, “A 1658 deed for the sale of three Houses plantation [on Barbados] included in the sale ‘four large mastrick cisterns for liquor for rum,’ which is the first known official appearance of the word rum on any of the islands.”

By the late 1700s, rum distillation from molasses was a common way of handling the excess waste of sugaring. it was easy enough to make a mixture of the molasses, the dregs from a previous batch of rum, and the water that was used to rinse out the sugar

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boiling pots (a.k.a. “wash”) and left to bubble out in the elements, sometimes adding additional ingredients such as, according to Curtis “lemons, tamarinds or tartar if the wash was not acidic enough.” the whole lot would then be passed through a pot still.

Some distillers were happy with just one pass through the still, though others preferred a double- or even triple-distilled rum, and the number of times the rum was distilled was often associated with its nationality. But all of these examples were still rather harsh, compared to what is available today. it’s this fiery, over-proof cane spirit that played an important role in British naval history. in 1730, conditions onboard ships during long voyages had become so harsh, it was standard issue for all officers to be rationed something to ease their troubles.

At first it was beer, but to keep enough on-hand for all the men became too costly. However, overproof island rum was easy to come by and affordable. An exact measure of 288 ml of rum (known as a “tot”) was administered per day (that’s right—per day!) to ease their stress.

Keep in mind, these rums had very high alcohol percentages, 100 proof and up, and drinking probably started very early. this is why over-proof rums are often referred to as “navy” strength, and certainly aren’t for the weak of heart or mind. this practice actually lasted until July 31, 1970, known as “Black tot day.”

Alas, no more free rum for you, British Sailors.

Although Captain morgan rum (incidentally, this was once a light rum blend that morphed into the

January June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

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Liquid Assets

Way better than your high school history text book.

sugarcane spirit, while others swear by the molasses versions. Much like whiskey drinkers have their favorites, people feel all rum is beautiful, and should be celebrated in its diversity.

dark spiced version later) is named for a real 18th century pirate of the seven seas who was active primarily near Spain, the man himself would have had more access to wine than rum. The real rum association with pirates should be attributed to Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard. He and his men were known to “acquire” mass quantities of it in their travels, and used it as liquid courage to prepare for battle, and others joined the fray. Stories of “buccaneers and buried gold” fueled the mind of Robert Louis Stevenson, who eventually had the world “yo-ho-ho-ing” forever at almost any mention of rum thanks to his classic tome, Treasure Island.

Through the centuries, the rough, molasses spirit became a more refined sipping drink, and the islands became known for their signature styles and methods. Rhum agricole is the classification of rum produced directly from sugarcane rather than molasses, which is known as “vin de canne” or “sugarcane wine.” These are mostly produced in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean islands, with the majority found on Martinique, but also Guadalupe, St. Barth’s, Haiti and Mauritius to name a few. Some camps believe this is the purest form of

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

Though rum emerged as a more elegant spirit, its reputation has also suffered more than any other, losing almost all of its prestige by the mid20th century. Rum played a large role in the resulting prefab cocktail trend that accompanied the rise in convenience products like TV dinners, canned meals and box mixes. Mixers

Privateer Palmetto 2 oz Privater Amber Rum 1 oz high quality sweet vermouth 2 dashes orange bitters Fill a glass with ice. Add the rum, vermouth and bitters and stir to chill. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange slice and/or cherry.

and frozen concentrates transformed elegant cocktails such as Mai Tais, Coladas and Daiquiris, to syrupy sludge, often in radioactive colors.

Luckily, that tide is turning back to use of fresh ingredients that showcase rum’s true flavors.

In the 21st century, the public is much more savvy about what it drinks.

Many restaurants and bars will carry at least one or two rums in the premium or ultra premium category, meant for sipping as one would a fine Cognac or whiskey. Rum is not limited to tropical island producers anymore. It’s also becoming a popular

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category in the craft spirits market in the u.S., with an increasing number of producers creating local versions. the rise in craft cocktails has also done wonders for the rum category.

Bartenders all over the world are mixing high quality rums in inventive cocktails, both boozy and fruity with fresh ingredients. the word “tiki” is no longer an association with prefab sludge with an umbrella in it, but instead calls for an array of fresh juices, premium spirits and a whole flavor spectrum of bitters from independent producers. Who says an old Fashioned has to be whiskey?

Why not stirred with rum?

a few to try: rhum clément—A producer of rhum agricole that dates back to the late 19th century. one of the finest examples of the category, Clément is available in a range of styles from blanc to tres vieux X.o. For an exceptional value, try the Clément v.S.o.p. Sippable neat, this gold rum is also a versatile cocktail base. rhum Clement won rum distillery of the year at the 2012 new york international Spirits Competition. privateer rum—your patriotic duty is to sip this! Hailing from essex County, massachusetts, privateer is available in a white expression

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that’s surprisingly fruity and in a gold that has rich finish of citrus and sandalwood. their true American Amber rum won a Silver medal in the 2012 new york international Spirits Competition. rock Town distillery riverboat rum—And now for something south of the mason dixon Line, this rum hails from Little rock, Arkansas. it’s distilled from dark brown sugar and aged in former whiskey casks, yet with the color filtered out for a silver finish. Loads of vanilla flavor with a smooth, spicy finish. mix with cola and lime for a rock town Libre. bacardi oakheart—if bourbon sailed the seven seas! A spiced rum that’s finished in charred oak barrels. Has a hint of smoke to put a new spin on spiced. it won the only double gold in rum at the 2012 new york international Spirits Competition and is a great value for any bar to stock and serve. cruzan single barrel—A St. Croix blend of rums aged 5 to 12 years, then given a finish in new oak casks. great toasty flavors. goslings old rum—a.k.a. the goslings Family reserve rum from Bermuda. it takes the popular Black Seal dark rum one step further with longer aging. truly one of the most decadent dark rums around.

SPiced baT 3 cherries, pitted (plus one for garnish) 1/2 part lime juice 1/2 part agave nectar 11/2 parts Bacardi Oakheart Rum 1/2 part Cherry Heering 1 part pineapple juice Muddle two cherries in a mixing glass, then add all ingredients. Shake and serve.

“despite its past, rum is quite an elegant spirit.”

June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

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Tuning Up

Things Are Getting Wild In the world of A/V experiences on-premise, bigger and brighter is always better. By installing Casio LampFree™ Projectors, Buffalo Wild Wings® is able to achieve both—at a cost savings.

Wild sTuff.

By Chris Ytuarte

A

s a nationwide franchise, Buffalo Wild Wings® has built an impressive reputation as the place to go to watch the big game on a big screen over a beer or two. Inherent to that is the audio-visual experience they provide their patrons, specifically for televised sporting events, so many Buffalo Wild Wings

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

locations embrace projector technology, which allows for a larger image than any flat panel television. However, brightness, maintenance, and lifespan are always concerns.

After all, most Buffalo Wild Wings venues estimate they run their projectors 16 hours a day for 364 days a year. The solution? Casio LampFree™ Projectors. www.barbizmag.com

Casio’s solution, in fact, was something that even they had “We came at it from a technology side, explaining that not yet tried out in full production. “When we did the going LampFree would allow them to run the projector 16 Rockaway and Eatontown locations, they had a lot of hours a day, all year long, without having to replace a lamp every three months,” says John Tracy, Eastern Zone Manager, ambient light in both,” explains Tracy. “So we knew they would need a brighter projector because they had limited Business Products Division, Casio America, Inc. “We were solving a business problem for them, but what impressed me control over the light coming through the windows. At that about the organization was they wanted to give their time, we were in the pre-production phase of our doublestack or Dual Projection System, as we call it, and I promised customer the best experience possible.”

Tracy and his team recently began working with Buffalo them that we would revisit that as soon as it was viable.”

Casio’s Dual Projection System, now installed in Corde’s Wild Wings to install Casio’s LampFree Projectors at the franchise locations in Rockaway and Watchung, New Jersey, Buffalo Wild Wings locations, combines two LampFree Pro as well as Eatontown, New Jersey, at the Monmouth Mall. Series Projectors and projects overlapping images onto a single screen with 6,500-lumen brightness— This fall, a Parsippany branch will be outfitted with approximately twice the brightness of a single the Casio LampFree technology as well. projector. “Buffalo Wild Wings went to the What started out as a cost-savings double-stack, which was really a bold endeavor, wherein Buffalo Wild Wings move on their part,” says Tracy. “At the would reduce expenditures on lamp time, there was only one other such replacement and maintenance, unit installed in the country, and that eventually became a testament to was basically a pre-production test. the overall quality of the Casio So for them to adopt it and invest LampFree projectors’ image and the money means they obviously saw brightness, especially when a benefit.” double-stacked.

The Geometric Correction “We had two build-outs done ™ amp ree wouLd aLLow them System built into the Casio Dual with regular lamp projector technology,” says Robert Corde, to run the projector hours a Projection System aligns both images, providing a sharper and Director of Operations at AMPAL day aLL year Long without brighter projection, good for large Group, which owns and operates screens in venues that can’t easily the Rockaway, Watchung, and having to repLace a Lamp regulate ambient light. “It takes one Eatontown Buffalo Wild Wings projector and overlays the pixels every three months from the additional projector in the same enclosure and aligns those pixels through the processor, creating a very well focused image,” says Tracy.

“This set-up more accurately simulates a flat panel TV because of the brightness hitting the screen from two units. The colors are more saturated and text is even easier to read.”

The Geometric Correction System,

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locations. “We struggled with projectors going down, usually at the wrong time—Saturday nights, Friday nights, or big game nights—when a bulb would blow out or the projector wouldn’t turn on because the temperature was running too hot. And any time we did change a bulb out, we only got 30 quality days out of them.

That cost was a massive issue. When you talk about $300 or $400 for new bulbs, it’s expensive. So we decided to look at some other options, and that’s when we came across Casio.” www.barbizmag.com

“Buffalo Wild Wings wanted their screens as big as they could possibly get them and wanted them to look as bright as possible in standard lighting conditions.”

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Tuning Up YA-S10, is also available as a separate system for unique projection applications including curved surfaces, allowing for the projection on a curved pillar or wall inside a bar or club.

While the Dual Projection System eased concerns over brightness and image quality, Buffalo Wild Wings was initially interested in cost savings.

“Their main goal was being able to operate with a lower cost of ownership,” Tracy explains. “And it wasn’t necessarily about low heat, or low electricity consumption. The biggest selling point was that they don’t have to go up 16 feet on a ladder to change a lamp out every three months.”

“The low cost of the Casio install was a major factor for multiple reasons,” says Corde. “The units were fairly inexpensive; no bulb replacement; and low maintenance. But the biggest thing was there’s really no massive drop-off with the brightness of the units.”

With a light engine rated at 20,000 hours to about half brightness, the light degradation on Casio LampFree projectors is much slower than a traditional lamp projector. “It’s a very slow, even degradation of light,” says Tracy. “Most places replace a unit

At Buffalo Wild Wings, the bigger, the better. when the brightness dims to about 75% of its original strength, so three year is a good rule of thumb in terms of replacing our projectors.”

Casio’s LampFree technology, particularly when double-stacked, offers a bar like Buffalo Wild Wings the chance to project a sharp, bright image in oversized capacity (the Eatontown screen is 14 x 17 feet) with reduced maintenance. And while it says a lot that a franchise based on televised sports would

invest in Casio LampFree Projector technology, even more so, these advancements could play a role in keeping projectors on-premise going forward.

“The trend had been going the other way at Buffalo Wild Wings, and they were putting in more flat panels and fewer projectors, due to the lamp cost,” says Tracy. “So we’re really reversing that trend in the sports bar arena.”

That is some wild stuff.

Scan this QR Code with your Smartphone app to see the Casio LampFree Projector in action at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Robert Corde (right) installed Casio’s LampFree Dual Projection System at his New Jersey Buffalo Wild Wings locations.

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

www.barbizmag.com

Order by End of July to get an

How To:

Keep Your Credit Healthy

Grab Your chance You need to establish and protect your business credit in order to maintain a healthy profit margin and benefit from perks afforded smart bar owners from vendors and suppliers.

Here are a few tips for doing just that.

By William J. Lynott

I

n the beverage industry, credit used wisely can be a profitable friend; used carelessly, it can be a destructive enemy. When your bar business has an excellent credit score, you are likely to be offered the most favorable interest rates if you need a loan, suppliers and vendors will be inclined to extend their most attractive terms, and your operation is likely to be well regarded by the business community, making it more attractive to potential buyers or investors when it comes time to raise capital or sell. On the other hand, a poor credit score can seriously damage your

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reputation and hamper your business in a number of ways.

Here are some important things you need to know about business credit.

Personal vs. Business Credit In order to build a good business credit score, it’s important to understand the difference between personal credit and business credit.

As soon as we, as individuals, receive a Social Security number and apply for our first job, the three major credit

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reporting agencies start tracking our lives and building our personal credit profile. Any firm that issues credit will usually report their experience with us to the credit reporting agencies. The eventual result is a report that ranks us personally as credit risks.

While business credit works the same in many ways, it differs in others. Information about business credit transactions is gathered by the business credit agencies to create a business credit report. Identification includes business name and address, and federal tax identification number (FIN), also known as an employer identification number (EIN), issued by the IRS. The business credit bureaus use this information to generate a report about a company’s business credit transactions. In many cases, companies that issue business credit will rely on the business credit report to determine whether they will grant the applicant credit and how much credit they are willing to give.

Keep in mind, too, that if your personal credit reports are mixed with your business reports, any problems with your personal credit may make it difficult if not impossible to obtain credit for your business.

An important difference between business and personal credit is that business credit information is sent to the business credit bureaus on a strictly voluntary basis. Because of this, the credit bureaus may receive little or no information about your credit worthiness no matter how long you’ve been in business and no matter how well you have handled your business credit. That’s why it’s to your advantage to take steps to establish a positive business credit rating.

How a Good Business Credit sCore Can HelP Your Business Once you have established a positive credit score with the business agencies, it will be easier for you to acquire future lines of credit and get favorable terms on leases and loans.

Equally important, a favorable credit history will give your business a reputation for financial stability.

It is easiest and safest to establish a business credit report if your business is structured as a corporation or LLC with an FIN or EIN issued by the IRS. If your business is a sole proprietorship or partnership, your business credit information could be mixed in with personal credit data and vice versa, muddying up the credit waters. Also, sole proprietors and partners are personally responsible for the debts of the business, putting all personal assets at risk.

Keep in mind that credit scoring models used by the credit bureaus are complex and not revealed to the public.

Therefore, it’s impossible to know exactly which factors affect credit and to what degree. However, the steps outlined here will help you to build a positive credit score.

First, register your business with the business credit bureaus, such as Dun & Bradstreet (www.dandb.com).

Registration with Dun & Bradstreet, using your legal

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"A favorable credit history will give your business a reputation for financial stability for acquiring future credit." business name, is free and will provide you with a DUNS number. The DUNS number is a unique nine-digit sequence recognized as a universal standard for identifying and keeping track of the over 100 million businesses in the D&B database. Once you register, you will probably be solicited to purchase a full credit profile (current list price, $549). It isn’t really necessary to this. Simply registering at no cost will enhance the credibility of your business with potential creditors and enable suppliers and lenders to learn about your business.

You should also register with the other two major business credit bureaus, Experian Business (www.experian.com/smallbusiness/business-credit.jsp) and Equifax Business (www.equifax. com/small-business/business-credit/en_sb). Once your business is registered with these three major business credit bureaus, you can take steps to build a positive business credit report.

Almost every business will need to ask for credit at some point. By starting to build your business credit score early, you can avoid having to use your personal credit history or a personal guarantee in order to get the best possible terms when you apply for credit or a loan.

Here are seven ways to help you put credit to work for you and your business (and not have it work against you): 1) Be certain to ask any company with which you have a favorable credit history to report their experiences to the business credit bureaus to help you build your credit reputation. Remember, there is no requirement for them to do this. Unless you ask, it probably won’t happen.

2) Make sure that your business meets all state, federal, and industry requirements for conducting business.

It’s important to build your business credit under a Tax Identification Number, not your personal Social Security number.

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How To: 3) Make sure that your business has a current business plan. While a business plan isn’t always required in credit situations, having one—along with the supporting documents—is one of the best ways to demonstrate a solid management approach. This, in turn, enhances the path to a high business credit score.

4) Make full use of business credit cards. If you decide to open more than one business credit card, avoid applying for them all at once. It’s best to build up a history with one card before applying for another. Careful use of business credit cards will add to your credit history, make purchases quick and easy, and help to simplify and monitor your bill payment procedures.

5) Avoid large credit card balances. Outstanding balances larger than about 25% of your credit limit are a red flag to financial institutions.

6) Eliminate pre-approved credit card offers from your mailbox. These packages offer a temptation to identity thieves who might try to open new credit accounts in your name or the name of your business. Once they get their hands on such a piece of mail, they can complete the offer by listing a different address. Then they will have an account opened in your name without your knowledge. Fortunately, there is a d-LX-prt-BarBiz-June2013-halfpgAd-v1.pdf way for you to opt-out of these credit offers.

Just 2:34 1 5/8/13 visit the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry

website at www.optoutprescreen.com, or call 888-567-8688 to opt-out via telephone.

7) Manage your business debt carefully, especially credit card debt. Credit card issuers are unerringly diligent in reporting problems with an account. Any failure to make payments on a timely basis will almost certainly be reported to the credit bureaus, resulting in a negative effect on your credit score.

Despite the inherent risks in the use of credit, there is no practical way to for a business to avoid it. Fortunately, credit in itself is not harmful. Used skillfully, it can be one of most valuable business tools available to you.

Need Help Managing Your Credit?

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, with nearly 1,500 member agency locations across the United States and Puerto Rico, is the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization providing education and counseling services on budgeting and credit.

Many NFCC member agencies use the Consumer Credit Counseling Service trademark. To contact the NFCC member office nearest you, call (202) 677-4300 PM or visit the NFCC Web site at www.nfcc.org.

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How To:

POS Technology

The Proof Is In the POS Mobile payment apps are all the rage, but they aren’t the only answer. Today’s state-ofthe-art POS systems can help restaurants stay on track and succeed. But is there a middle

By Steve Simon

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icture this: There’s an enormous crowd of thirsty customers that have formed a line that wraps around the waiting area, and winds through the front door of your establishment, all before you have officially opened your doors for the day. Sound intimidating?

If you’re a restaurant or bar owner or manager, you know how hectic a lunch rush or busy evening can be. You need to have employees in place to wait on and clear tables, seat customers, prepare food, make drinks, and tend to customer requests and needs.

As a bar or restaurant owner, you can never be too efficient or know too much about your business. Anxious to utilize recent technology trends, many food and beverage businesses have rushed into using mobile payment app solutions for their low upfront costs and overall simplicity. However, some of today’s mobile payment apps and small-scale POS systems fail to provide the scalability or sophisticated features real hospitality-related businesses need.

So we’re left to wonder: Can these two types of payment technologies work together on-premise?

Leading national POS systems and merchant services provider Harbortouch (www.iharbortouch.com) and mobile payments pioneer Tabbedout recently announced that they

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ground where the two can meet? have joined forces to deliver a uniquely integrated solution combining the benefits of Harbortouch’s touch-screen POS systems with the mobile payment, loyalty and customer management features developed by Tabbedout.

This integrated solution will be deployed to all existing Harbortouch Hospitality POS systems and will be included with all new Hospitality POS deployments going forward, a partnership that means more than 135 million U.S. consumers with smartphones have an instant and secure way to pay bar and restaurant tabs at over 10,000 Harbortouch locations nationwide. It also means merchants who use the Harbortouch POS system will now have the most advanced mobile payment, customer loyalty and marketing solution available today.

“Harbortouch has changed the landscape of the POS and payment processing industries, and Tabbedout is revolutionizing mobile payments and rewards,” says Harbortouch CEO Jared Isaacman. “It was only natural for these two innovative companies to come together in an attempt to redefine commerce for brick and mortar businesses. This partnership creates a powerful synergy that will tremendously benefit our current and future customers.”

Having a full-featured, state-of-the-art POS system can

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How To: make a difference in the efficiency of your team members as they process transactions, place orders and accept payments from customers. In addition, a good POS system can provide management with numerous helpful reporting tools that can help with realtime business decisions.

Likewise, a mobile option like Tabbedout was built for merchants that want to generate revenue growth for their business and create a more secure and customer focused guest experience. With the Tabbedout/ Harbortouch collaboration, merchants can spend more time serving food and drinks to their patrons instead of closing out checks, which means more revenue to their bottom line.

Additionally, this integrated solution provides a way for merchants to connect with their customers, increasing customer loyalty and driving more visits to their location through targeted offers and a streamlined, secure guest checkout.

Today’s POS systems have not only evolved into essential data-collection and information-dissemination devices, but they also can help an operation run more efficiently, and ultimately deliver improved customer service. All Harbortouch Hospitality POS and Tabbedout merchants will have access to the recently released merchant marketing solution, Periscope, which gives merchants unrivaled visibility into who their customers are, how often they come in, and their purchase history. This marketing solution is seamlessly integrated into the merchant’s Harbortouch POS system and complements the advanced reporting functionality offered by the POS system itself. Moreover, Periscope gives merchants an ability to instantly respond to customers’ feedback realtime, while they are still in venue.

Lastly, Periscope enables Harbortouch merchants to create unparalleled marketing campaigns delivered to their customers’ mobile phones.

“Integrating with a POS leader like Harbortouch allows thousands of

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"Integrating Tabbedout with a POS leader like Harbortouch allows more merchants to leverage their existing Harbortouch POS system to offer mobile payment and it enables us to expand to a wider network of bars."

merchants to leverage their existing Harbortouch POS system to offer mobile payment and enables us to expand our solution to a wider network of restaurants, bars and hotels nationwide,” said Alex Broeker, CEO of Tabbedout. “Our goal is to make mobile payment an everyday simple and secure process for the consumer that generates additional revenue for Tabbedout merchants. This partnership brings together two innovative technologies, creating a merchant solution that we are confident has the power to truly revolutionize the POS and payment experience.”

Isaacman continues, “Through this unique initiative, we expect to add nearly 50,000 hospitality locations to the program over the next 18 months while collaborating on additional technology development.”

Many of the high-quality, touch screen POS systems available now can

enable the automation of the entire POS process, making them easier to use, and more efficient overall. In addition to speeding up payment transactions with integrated credit, debit and cash options, POS systems also automate many aspects of day-today business, including employee management, thus streamlining a merchant’s overall operations and allowing them to focus on keeping their customers satisfied and spending.

Traditionally, some hospitality managers may have steered away from setting up POS software within their business, as it was considered to be a costly, time-consuming and intimidating task. However, in recent years, many POS providers have simplified the process to make it affordable and easy for even the most technology-adverse business owners.

For example, Harbortouch offers its touch-screen POS systems through an unprecedented “free” program, which

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allows qualifying retail and hospitality merchants to obtain the company’s fullfeatured, all-in-one Elite POS system, high speed printer and numerous other POS accessories with no up-front costs.

The only requirements to the merchant are a payment processing agreement and low cost service agreement. Each package also comes with custom programmed software, professional installation and on-site training.

Additionally, award winning customer service and technical support are available to all Harbortouch merchants 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Many of today’s POS systems boast user-friendly, touch screen monitors that come complete with robust, industry-specific software, built for purpose. They are reliable, durable and secure. In addition, they offer advanced reporting capabilities, inventory management, as well as countless time and money saving features. POS systems also provide key support to customer-focused initiatives, such as popular rewards and loyalty programs.

For restaurants and bars, POS systems provide an interactive channel between customers and retailers. They not only display items and prices, calculate taxes, process returns and voids, and produce sales reports but they also can quickly and accurately collect sales and customer information to help business managers make better, more well-informed, realtime decisions.

For instance, by obtaining data that reflects gross sales during a shift, management can determine if staffing is adequate to support it. If sales are tending to be slow, it may not make sense to have a full staff working every day. By utilizing reporting tools built right into POS equipment, management can make those real-time decisions in a matter of minutes.

Another advantage: POS systems work hand-in-hand with enterprise resource procurement (ERP) systems, supply chain management (SCM) systems, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to keep

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accurate inventory in stock.

Mobile payment app and POS software solutions have been evolving at a rapid pace in recent years. While a fully featured POS system can truly help business owners streamline their sales process as a whole, from reporting to customer facing transactions, mobile

options remain a viable channel as well.

Most establishments are constantly trying to tighten processes to do things in a more efficient and cost effective way. It’s important for restaurant and bar owners and managers to realize that the right POS system can be advantageous to their venue overall.

Looking for summer hiring?

Post jobs for FREE on Shiftgig, the service industry job community.

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June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

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C o n g r at u l at i o n s t o t h e New York International Beer Competition

winners

Special Sake Awards

Woodchuck

English Cider Producer of the Year

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2013 Beer Winners – Silver

Castanon Cider

La Trappe Quadrupel Unibroue Trois Pistoles $8.99

Spanish Cider Producer of the Year

Nimbus Brown Ale

Belgian Style Trippel

Nishimoto Trading Company

Unibroue La Fin du Monde $8.99 Samuel Adams New World Triple $9.99

Belgian Style Sour

Petrus Aged Pale Ale $4.99

Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery

Other Belgian Style

2013 beer, cider, and sake winners

La Trappe Isid’or $5.00 Samuel Adams 13th Hour Stot $9.99

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Thwaites Big Ben

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2013 Beer Winners – DOUBLE GOLD

Scotch Ale

German-Style Heller Bock Full Sail LTD Pale Bock

German-Style Kolsch/Koln

TIONAL BE NA E

Alltech Kentucky Light Boréale Blonde

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Sake Brewery of the Year

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New York – Union Beer

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American Style Brown Ale

Canada Cider Producer of the Year

Global Beer Network

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Sake Importer of the Year

Belgian – Van Steenberge Canada – Boréale Brewery Czech – Interpivo England – Thwaites Brewery France – Brasserie Duyck Germany – Wurzburger Hofbrau AG Italy – Peroni Mauritus – Phoenix Brewery Mexican – Bohemia Spain – Estrella Galicia

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Vermont Cider Producer of the Year

Wisconsin – Hinterland Brewery

St Killian Importing

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Importer of the Year

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Arizona – Nimbus Brewery Colorado – Oskar Blues Deleware – 16 Mile Brewery Kentucky – Alltech Kentucky Ale Long Island – Blue Point Brewery New York City – The Bronx Brewery Massachusetts – Samuel Adams Michigan – New Holland Brewing Montana – Madison River Brewery Ohio – Listermann Brewing Company Oregon – Full Sail Brewery

Beer Distributor of the Year

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German Style Marzen Samuel Adams Octoberfest

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Jules Echter Hefe Weizen $3.00

Indigenous Beer

2013 Beer Winners – Gold

Crabbies Alcohol Ginger Beer $4.00

Piraat Ale $11.99

Samuel Adams Holiday Porter $7.99

Belgian Style Pale Strong Ale

Robust Porter

Adve rti se m e n t

Rye Beer

American Style Lager

Blue Point Rasta Rye

Saranac Utica Club

German Style Pilsner Bohemia

Session Beer

American Style Sour Ale

Herb and Spice Beer

16 Mile Brewery Responders Ale 9.99

New Holland Brewing Company Blue Sunday Sour

Sam Adams Merry Mischief 5.99

Boréale Doree

Old World Brewery Arizona Honey Wheat 8.99

Phoenix Beer Peroni Peroncino

Speciality Honey Beer Vienna-Style Lager Peroni Red

American Style Wheat Beer With Yeast Barley Wine-Style Ale Bruton Dieci

International Style Lager Irish Style Red Ale

Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer

Belgian Style Dubbel

Old World Brewery 4leaf Irish Red Ale

Samuel Adams Utopia 2011 Samuel Adams Utopia 2012

Corsendonk Dubbel $10.00 Stumblefoot Tommeknook Belgian Style Dubbel $8.00

Orkney Brewing Skull Splitter $4.50

2013 CIDER WINNERS – SIlvER

Anima Dante Gulden Draak Ale $12.99

English Cider

Aspall Dry $7 Angry Orchard Strawman $19.99

Fruit Cider

Ace Perry Cider

Belgian Style Dark Strong Ale Belgian Style Trippel

Weyerbacher Merry Monks $12.99

Belgian Style Witbier Boreale Blanche Marten Witte $2.00

Specialty Cider Castanon Natural Cider

Other Belgian Style

Old Ale or Strong Ale Rye Beer

Madison River Salmon Fly Honey Rye

Session Beer

Samuel Adams Belgian Session 7.99

Smoke Beer

Listermann Friar Bacon Smoked Bock $5.25 Samuel Adams Cinder Bock $6.99

Sweet Stout

Samuel Adams Cream Stout $7.99

Bockor Omer $5.00

2013 SAKE WINNERS – SIlvER

Bohemian Style Pilsner

Traditional German Style Bock Wood and Barrel Aged Beer

Kagatobi Junmai Ginjo

Malastrana Original Pils Bohemia

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Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Stout

New Holland Artisan Spirits Dragon Milk

Saranac Pale Ale

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2013 CIDER WINNERS – BRoNzE

Hinterland Brewery Luna Coffee Stout

Common Cider

English Style Brown Ale

American Style Black Ale

European Style Low Alcohol Lager

16 Mile Brewery Harvest Ale

Luk Cider and Spirits (Rose) $9.99 Woodchuck Hard Cider Granny Smith $8.99

Bronx Brewery Black Pale Ale

American Style Brown Ale

Estrella Galicia 1906 Reserva Spain

French & French and Belgian Style Saison

Harvest Moon Four Screw Hard Cider $6.99

Pit Caribou Etoile Du Brasseur American Brown Ale $4.99

Brassiere Jenlain Ambree Biere de Garde $12.00

Angry Orchard IceMan $7.99

Oskar Blues Brewery Deviant Dale’s IPA

Listermann Brewing Company Gravitator $8.99

2013 SAKE WINNERS – BRoNzE

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout $15.99

Societa Agricola Anima Cleopatra

Naraman Junmai Muroka Bin Hiire

2013 BEER WINNERS – BRoNzE

American Style IPA

American Style Imperial Stout

German-Style Doppelbock

German-Style Kolsch/Koln

English Cider French Cider

Sake Junmai

Upcoming competitions

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I N T E R N A T I O N A L

S P I R I T S C O M P E T I T I O N

www.nyibeercompetition.com

www.nyiwinecompetition.com

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How To:

r Reduce You Venue Liability

Drinking On the Job?

There are many mixed opinions on this matter, but most high-level, successful venues frown heavily upon their bartenders and staff drinking while on duty. Our resident bar expert tells us he agrees.

By Bob Johnson, aka “BobTheBarGuy.com”

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f you are an owner or manager who allows your staff to consume beverage alcohol during the scope of their employment, a.k.a., “drinking on the job,” you ought to be taken out back and taught a lesson.

Okay, that may be an exaggeration. But when you carefully examine this issue, allowing your staff to drink on the job is the ultimate act of irresponsibility and disrespect for the welfare of your employees and your business.

Owners and managers must protect their business from

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potential lawsuits, and allowing your employees to drink while they work leaves you wide open. You’re taking a chance at losing it all. So why would anyone put themselves in this position?

Often times I hear this: “It’s good for sales.” But should the fate of your business really come down to how much the employees can slug away?

Ethyl alcohol affects judgment and impairs one’s ability to rationalize or perform a function that requires effective

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interpretation or quick reaction. Misreading a situation is commonplace for anyone consuming beverage alcohol, regardless of the amount. Counting money, making a judgment call, responding to a pressure situation or settling a disturbance can only be done with a clear mind. Beverage alcohol is not a “performance enhancer.”

Legally, if there are damages or injury to a third party, and you were involved in the situation in any way, and it was known that you were under the influence of alcohol at the time, your company and you have no reasonable defense.

You just lost the case, and you may not have enough money to defend yourself in this kind of situation.

Medically, if there is injury to you while on the clock and you have consumed beverage alcohol in any quantity, worker’s compensation will not pay for your medical treatment. You’re on your own.

Because you work in a heavily scrutinized industry, management and staff must never be under the influence of beverage alcohol when confronted by a representative of local law enforcement or a governmental agency performing a routine assignment that wants to ask questions.

If there are damages or injury to a third When you, the owner, hired a bartender or manager, did party on-premise and your staff was known you include the consumption of beverage alcohol as part of to be drinking, your business is in trouble. the job? Of course you didn’t. So why would you allow it? If a bartender or manager chooses to consume a beverage teams don’t drink alcohol while working—so why do alcohol product for their personal consumption while bartenders and managers feel they’re entitled to consume working, they’re stealing from you. That is grounds for alcohol while they’re working? It’s unprofessional, it’s selfimmediate termination. It’s no different than working at serving, and in many states, it’s illegal.

Wal-Mart and helping yourself to a few DVD’s or a pack of Charley is on my mind everyday. He was a bartender gum without paying for it. It’s called shoplifting, and people who worked at a place where I was a regular customer. go to jail for stealing company property.

Charley was allowed, and encouraged, to drink with the I have too many bartender friends who got into the habit customers. He was my friend and I did everything I could of having a couple of drinks while working. Then the to get him to stop drinking at work. “It doesn’t matter customer buys the bartender a drink, and the bartender what they allow you to do, Charley,” I would say. gladly accepts, because he’s allowed to. Now the bartender “Professional bartenders don’t drink while working.” is having quite a few every day, then finds him or herself (Professional managers don’t drink having a few on their days off, and they have to have several drinks a When it comes to drinking while working either, but if the managers are drinking, don’t you think day just to “balance out.” This is on duty, professional every staff member is drinking? Of called addiction, and they’ve got a course they are. Managers set the tone. problem they’re going to battle the managers set the tone.

Managers lead by example.) rest of their lives. Do you really want Managers lead by example.

Charley had quite a bit of tequila to be a part of that? one night, and then mixed it with a few Alcohol is for the customer to too many shots. He didn’t make it consume, not the bartender or other home, nor did the family of four he crashed into while on staff members. Bartenders simply prepare it and serve it— their way to an early morning mass. Charley fell asleep at that’s it! Why can’t bartenders or servers simply accept a the wheel and crossed over the center line. The case is non-alcoholic beverage, like a Roaring Lion, Frappucino, pending, but a massive lawsuit has been brought against cup of coffee, bottle of water, Coke, etc.? Why does it have Charley, the bar owner, and investors and managers of the to be a drink containing alcohol? Police don’t drink alcohol bar where Charley worked. You see, the owner and managers while working, bankers don’t drink alcohol while working, encouraged their people to drink while working. “It’s good retail clerks don’t drink alcohol while working, emergency for business,” they rationalized. room personnel don’t drink alcohol while working, sports

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How To: And Charley? He survived the crash (the drinker usually does). But his life is over. He has to be sedated everyday. He can’t eat. He can’t do anything. He was once a really good guy, but today he can’t live with himself for what he did to those innocent people on their way to church.

So go ahead bartenders, managers, servers, security persons—keep drinking at your place of business. It’s not your investment or your liability. Somebody else owns the club, what do you care? Party down! Continue to show the ultimate disrespect to your owner. Do something that could possibly bankrupt his entire investment and land him in jail. Go get yourself another shot of tequila, Mr. Manager. Do a shot with your bartender. Follow it up with a cocktail or two. You’re the life of the party.

Then let me introduce you to my friend Charley. You and he might have something in common one day.

Bob Johnson, Bar Management expert, is a multi-unit beverage director who specializes in inventory control, bar management and bartending. His book, “Manage Your Bar My Way!” is a compilation of 50 years of making mistakes and finally getting it right. Contact Bob at 800-447-4384 or check out his website at www.BobTheBarGuy.com.

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More etiquette: the iMportance of the initial GreetinG Is the first impression the most lasting?

Maybe not always, but in the bartending profession, the impression you make on your customer at the initial point of contact, the greeting, is crucial— crucial for the image you wish to convey as a professional bartender, crucial for the feeling you need to create for a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, and crucial for repeat business.

It starts with the automatic smile, followed by a brief statement, such as “Nice to have you with us,” or, “Hello, how are you?” or, “Hi, what can I get for you?” You just can’t walk up to a customer and take their order, with no effort to communicate, regardless of how busy it is.

The initial greeting/smile is an opportune time to introduce yourself. It is the “classy, money-making” bartenders who have this ability to extend their hand and say to a newcomer, “I haven’t seen you in here before. My name is Bob, and yours?”

Bartenders are hosts, or social directors, not just order takers. We strive to make all our customers feel at ease and comfortable being in a bar, just as though they were guests in our own home. People go to bars for recognition, attention, involvement, social contact, entertainment, fraternization, and numerous other reasons. A knowledgeable bartender knows that the vast majority of his customers are not there just to drink. Bar patrons want to feel as though they “belong” to something. Familiarity breeds security and comfort. That’s why they stopped in. It’s up to the bartender to give the customer that feeling.

If done correctly, the customer will return time and again because you, the bartender, gave him what he came in for. If you don’t give him that comfortable, recognizable experience, he’ll drift from bar to bar until he does find the bartender who will give him what he, and every other customer, is looking for— attention and recognition.

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The Summer of

Cider With warm weather canvassing the country, it’s the perfect time to give American consumers a crisp, enticing new option in the alcoholic beverage category. This summer, cider makes a strong push into the U.S. marketplace after decades of success in Europe, with Strongbow leading the charge.

By Chris Ytuarte

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I

n 1664, John Evelyn, an English writer and gardener, wrote: “Generally, all strong and pleasant cider excites and cleanses the stomach, strengthens digestion, and infallibly frees the kidneys and bladder from breeding the gravel stone.” As amazing as that sounds, we can’t absolutely confirm the soundness of old Johnny boy’s medical theories. But we do know a cider lover when we see one.

Fast-forward a few hundred years to summer 2013. While cider lovers like Evelyn have remained consistent for decades in the UK and throughout Europe, the time has finally come for the American consumer to embrace this crisp and emerging category.

“There is genuine consumer interest in cider,” says Charles van Es, Sr. Director of the Portfolio Team at HEINEKEN USA. “The growth we’re seeing in the category is driven by consumer demand. The millennial, the consumer of age that all of us are often targeting, is very much interested in finding new variety. They are ‘discovery people,’ constantly looking for new things. And in doing so, they bump into cider from time to time. And if you ask cider and non-cider drinkers what would make them drink it more, the top answer is ‘availability in bars in restaurants,’ with 26 percent of the people saying so in a recent survey. The fact that so many people are interested is great. ‘A tryer is a buyer,’ is what we always say, and that is what our research has shown us.”

For nearly a decade, Heineken N.V. partnered with the Vermont Hard Cider Co. to distribute Strongbow in the U.S cider market (which, as van Es mentioned, is a segment that grew some 20 percent in 2011, according to The Beer Institute). As of January 1 of this year, HEINEKEN USA is now the sole importer of Strongbow, and the approaching summer season has afforded the company its best opportunity to bring the cider category to the forefront of the American market.

“We’re extremely excited to bring cider into our overall portfolio to complement our other brands,” says Scott Blazek, Senior Vice President of Sales at HEINEKEN USA. “It’s still a small segment. It’s about half a share of the entire big beer category, but it’s growing by leaps and bounds. Heineken N.V. is the worldwide leader in market share of cider, and in the U.S., Strongbow is the No. 1 import cider. We’re well positioned in terms of understanding the type of consumer for this category globally, so we’re bringing that expertise domestically with an existing position of strength and a readiness to take it to the next level.”

Strongbow, produced by H.P. Bulmer in England, is the world’s #1 cider brand with more than 15% volume share. “In terms of flavor, it’s very crisp with a refreshing taste, and on the dryer side within the category,” says van Es. “There is 125 years of cider-making experience behind Strongbow. The cider plants where it comes from in the UK are the same that started the modern production techniques for cider. So within our organization we have an enormous amount of knowledge about this product and about the category.”

Here is some of that knowledge: Cider is a fermented alcohol beverage made from fruit juice, most commonly and traditionally apple juice, but also can be made from the juice of peaches or other fruit. Most ciders vary in alcohol content

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Growth in the cider category is driven by consumer demand.

“We’re extremely excited to bring cider into our overall portfolio to complement our other brands.”

Scott Blazek, Senior Vice President of Sales, Heineken USA

from 2 percent to 8.5 percent ABV or more in some traditional English ciders, and the flavor profiles range from dry to sweet. Both its makeup and its taste offer important benefits to smart bar owners in the U.S. “Strongbow hard cider is completely natural and glutenfree, and these attributes are consumer trends you see growing in a lot of other categories,” says van Es. “And because of its flavor profile, we see a lot of women coming to the category, and that is ultimately one of the biggest benefits of this addition to our beer portfolio.”

While the UK boasts the highest per capita consumption of cider, as well as the largest cider-producing companies in the world, including H. P. Bulmer (the largest), there is a precedent for the manufacturing and consumption of cider in the U.S. During colonial times, alcoholic apple cider was consumed as the main beverage with meals because water was often considered unsafe for drinking. Ciderkin, a slightly alcoholic beverage made from cider pomace, could also be found on colonial tables. It’s therefore not a tremendous stretch to see why the American consumer is ready for the return of this crisp beverage. However, HEINEKEN USA is interested in pursuing a slightly more June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

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Charles van Es Sr. Director Portfolio Team HEINEKEN USA

“The key objective for us in the first year, and even next year, is education. We need to explain to consumers what this category is all about.” sophisticated environment than 18th century taverns.

“A lot of your alcohol consumption will happen in a pub, but for us, the real opportunity is to own the space that is upscale refreshment,” explains van Es. “If you look at HEINEKEN USA and what we do well as a company, we build lifestyle brands that people want to be seen drinking, that people feel good about holding in a bar or on a roofdeck.

That’s our core strength as a company, and that’s what we want to do with Strongbow.”

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Focusing on “occasions” and embracing upscale urban marketplaces like New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Strongbow is targeting venues that feature rooftop bars, poolside service, and high-end lounges to introduce the brand as the ideal way to start out a great night. And the anticipated growth of the cider category on whole, according to van Es, will likely mirror that of another segment that started out in similar nightlife environments.

“I think we’re going to see growth like the energy drinks saw ten years ago,” he says. “That’s the scale we see this happening on, and that’s supported by the current growth trend figures. With this understanding, what we think is really important is that we’re going to see differentiation within that category. Right now, it’s a lot of the same players experimenting, doing a lot of things with flavors and different ways of producing. It’s very much about the craftsmanship and about the way the different ingredients are used. Where we think the big opportunity is for us is on the lifestyle side of the segment. That’s where we’re going to place our big bets to get people talking about this brand.”

And people are talking. The recent rise in the popularity of cider in the U.S. has guided event producer Starfish Junction to launch a hard cider festival called Pour the Core (www.pourthecore.com). This year’s events take place October 5th on Long Island, New York, and the inaugural Pour the Core Philadelphia happens a few weeks earlier, on September 28th. And while this kind of consumer sampling is a great start, Strongbow’s emergence this year will focus strongly on educating drinkers (as well as bar owners) on the ways of cider.

“The key objective for us in this first year, and even next year, is education,” says van Es. “We need to introduce this category to consumers and explain what it’s all about. In terms of serving rituals and the way to consume it in bars, our sales teams are working with key retailers and our distributor partners on two pieces of education. Strongbow is best served over ice, so we are training on-premise retailers on how to serve consumers the product. In most cases, a glass filled with ice presented with the bottle is ideal. When it comes to draught, we’re running a program later in the year with these beautiful sidecar glasses, so you can pour the right amount of cider in a pint and then have the ice on the side.”

“Secondly, with the right accounts, we’ll be talking cocktails. We’ve created materials for our sales teams to go out and educate people on cider cocktails, and we’re working with influential bar people like Rob Kruger to develop more.

The cocktails can range from fancy punches and such, or it can be something simple like the Snakebite, which is beer and cider perfectly mixed together. We’ll be pushing a Newcastle and Strongbow Snakebite combination later in the year, which will be great because they’re both iconic British brands and we think they can both benefit from this.”

The aforementioned Rob Kruger is bar director at Extra Fancy, a beautiful low-key bar in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. Since opening the venue just over a year ago, Kruger’s team has been concocting some serious cocktails using Strongbow Cider (on tap) as a key www.barbizmag.com

Cider and Me My last name, Ytuarte, is Basque, my father’s family having come from that particular region of Spain.

My mother is of pure Irish decent. This leaves me with an even split of nationality heritage rich in food and drink, not to mention the occasional flare-up of nationalistic uprising. As such, I thought it would be interesting to see how both of these cultures embrace cider back in the old country, perhaps to gauge my own response to its emergence in the U.S.

By Chris Ytuarte

For a long time, cider was so popular in Ireland, it turns out, that its production was officially encouraged and supported by a preferential tax treatment from the government. A single cider, Bulmers, dominates sales in Ireland, and it is very common to drink cider over ice (as suggested by Strongbow’s Charles van Es). Cidona, essentially a non-alcoholic version of Bulmers, is even a popular soft drink in Ireland.

In Spain, cider can be found widely in the Basque Country, where it has been popular for centuries. Since the 1980s, government and gastronomic associations have worked to revive this culture in all Basque regions. Known there as sagardoa, cider is enjoyed either in bottles or on tap in a cider house, called a sagardotegi, where it’s poured directly from barrels. Cider tasting events remain popular in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, where stalls are set up on the street selling the sweet beverage from several producers at cheap prices, served until stock runs out.

Yup, that’s how my people drink cider — til it runs out.

That’s all I need to know.

. . . AND A BOOM BOOM component. “The great thing about using cider in cocktails is that it makes it approachable for people and also makes it appropriate for all seasons,” says Kruger. “The natural apple flavors work really well with fall-season spices, and then the crisp and refreshing flavor profile works perfectly in light summer drinks. It also works well as a substitute for some of the traditional apple-based spirits we normally use, while providing some kick and some carbonation.”

Indeed, Calvados and Applejack, two brandies found in many cocktails, are actually distilled from cider. But Kruger’s true joy is using Strongbow as a perfectly sweet accent to his unique cocktails at Extra Fancy, such as the ‘Super Good Spritz,’ and the popular, ‘… And a Boom Boom.’ He can be seen, on the right, concocting both.

“It’s nice to see cider making a comeback, because it really is part of the American drinking tradition,” says Kruger. “I think Prohibition probably knocked it out of the picture for a while as we became a beer-centric nation, but cider has its place here, without a doubt.”

And therein lies the ambition of the Strongbow initiative this summer and beyond—the return of cider to the American conscious, courtesy of one its strongest players.

“Strongbow, we know from our on-premise performance, has the highest loyalty of all cider brands out there,” says van Es. “We have people coming back to this brand. So whenever we see an opportunity for them to try it, we see a strong connection, because the product is that good.”

You know the old saying: An apple a day… www.barbizmag.com

1 oz Tito’s Vodka 1 oz Averell Damson Liqueur 1/2 oz fresh lemon 1/2 oz Allspice syrup* 2oz Strongbow Cider Orange peel Brandied cherry Build over ice, tumble, top with the cider. Garnish with brandied cherry and orange peel “star” flag. *Allspice syrup: 1 part St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram to 3 parts simple syrup.

Super GOOD Spritz 1 1/4 oz Aperol 1/2 oz Aveze Gentiane Liqueur 1/2 oz lemon juice Strongbow Cider Lime wheel Shake with ice and pour into a wine glass or goblet. Top with Strongbow Cider.

Garnish with lime wheel.

June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

33

Hops, skip and

a Jump

By Elyse Glickman

While brewpubs are enjoying unprecedented popularity in America, visiting a variety of beer-related premises in Germany and Holland provide fascinating insights into what sells a beer, whether it is corporate or craft.

N

o matter what their ethnic backgrounds, generations of beer drinkers have flocked to European-inspired pubs all over the U.S. to enjoy a cold brew, a good game, and a bite. It is also important to acknowledge that old beer drinking traditions from central Europe have been in the U.S. as long as the Irish and British themed bars. After all, who doesn’t remember going to an Oktoberfest fair as a kid, where you witnessed your dad and uncles falling into a state of bliss as they sipped something apparently more sublime than their usual Bud or Miller.

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

While neighborhood pubs are not going anywhere, and Oktoberfests are as much an American tradition as a German one in many U.S. cities, a more sophisticated generation of beer drinkers are not only seeking brews with more personality and history, but also environments in which to enjoy them. It’s also a fact that on both continents, the appeal of a well-crafted beer with the right ambiance and foods are literally doubling beer’s audience by making the experience not just approachable but very enticing to a wider audience.

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Roots and seeds, Wheat and Hops

Even if apfelwein is the drink of choice in Frankfurt, Restaurant and beer industry insiders point to London as small bars and restaurants featuring ethnic and contemporary cuisine recognize versatile pilseners, the birthplace of the modern gastro-pub movement. In altbier and hefeweizen-style beers from established 1991, the term “gastropub” was coined when nationwide German brands such as Radeberger, restaurateurs David Eyre and Mike Belben took over The Bitburger and Oettinger are pair well with a variety of Eagle Pub, merging the seemingly dissimilar concepts of gloabl flavor profiles. Many better hotels, meanwhile, informal neighborhood pub and high-end gastronomy acknowledge locals and foreign visitors actively seek out destination. The trend percolated stateside in cities like quality beer, no matter what local custom may dictate.

New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The movement “The interesting thing is that beer is our top selling has succeeded in not only elevating the pub’s status in spirit, even if beer culture is not as expressed here as it the culinary world, but also bringing up the cache of is in Düsseldorf, Munich or Berlin,” explains Markus domestic and imported craft brews.

Ludewig, Food & Beverage Manager at Steigenberger Some people, however, can make the argument that Frankfurter Hof, a historic five-star property that is also good food, great beer and convivial settings existed long before Eyre and Belben set out to bring youthful excitement to Britain’s dining scene. With various beers from Europe (Germany, Holland, Austria and Belgium in particular) finding their way to America, and many American craft beer producers emulating those styles, it can be just as inspiring to explore how beverage buyers, restaurateurs and bar owners on the European continent use beer to literally bring people—and profits—together.

It is also useful to examine how large global brands like Heineken The Düsseldorf inn Zum Schiffen (which and some of Germany’s larger translates to “small boat”) embodies importing brewers (Radeberger, some 380 years of german beer history.

Bitburger) not only succeed through on-premise marketing but a popular destination for well-traveled businessmen also generate an appetite for the smaller production beers and convention groups. “The international crowd from the same geographic spots. embraces beer over fancy cocktails because of the social Life Beyond oktoberfest: Germany’s way our hotel bar is set up. We carry Bitburger, Radeberger and König Pilsener, because they are surprisingly Complex Beer Culture recognized by Americans who have traveled the world In Los Angeles, the impact of the gastro pub movement and know their beers.” has spread to everything from fast casual restaurants to A few hours’ drive or train ride northwest of Frankfurt fine and hotel dining, with high-concept comfort food and will transport you to Cologne (Köln) and Düsseldorf, which craft beer finding their way on menus. On its heels, have as rich a beer culture as Munich’s. One beer style casual “currywurst” restaurants spots and other quickly gaining momentum outside of Germany is Kölsch, brauhaus-style pubs are opening their doors and a light-bodied beer that can only legally be brewed generating a buzz of their own.

Cologne. With Air Berlin Airlines expanding travel options U.S. entrepreneurs who embrace Germany’s historic for Americans traveling to Germany, Düsseldorf (its beer legacy are showing their guests there are many second hub after Berlin) is not only emerging as a travel ways to explore Germany’s brewing traditions beyond gateway into Europe, but also a new road into German Bavaria and Munich—the region that most has shaped food and beer culture. the American definition of German beer culture. However, This is clearly reflected at the Hotel Maritim each region of Germany has their own beer or pub Düsseldorf Airport, with an ambiance and restaurant culture—or in some cases—lack of it. In Frankfurt, for options that set an example for how to put the emphasis example, family-owned “apfelweins” (or apple wines, a dryer cousin of cider) pubs are a generations-old regional on “hotel” rather than “airport.” Over lunch at its beerfocused Rheinische Stov, Roy Franke, the hotel’s director tradition not only strongly promoted among tourists, but of sales, notes the property takes on a responsibility to embraced by locals.

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June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

35

brands and are geared more for the tourists, with telltale Düsseldorf in terms of encouraging business travelers Bavarian iconography, innovative restaurateurs and and tourists “passing through” to take the easy chefs actively seek out small independent producers who 20-minute train ride into Düsseldorf. are looking to put the craft back into craft beer.

“Guests from outside expect local food and beer, so “Berlin used to be more of a beer town, but popular while it is important for us to do our local food well, we demand is embracing small batch products rather than also want to stock beers that will work with those foods,” large products,” observes Sina Abrecht, general manager says Franke. “Doing this kind of thing right will get our of foodie destination Volt, housed in a former power plant guests interested in going into town and exploring our that is a protected historic building. Abrecht grew up in culinary and beer traditions a little more deeply, and southern Germany, where she describes every town experiencing ingredients specific to this area.” having their own “gastro-pub”-like breweries with foods Given Düsseldorf’s proximity to Cologne, Franke adds that paired specifically with their beers. that the food and beer offerings include representations “It is important to us that the beer we serve is of dishes native to Cologne and Düsseldorf. The beer produced by people and not menu highlights Radeberger Pilsner machines. The beer needs to be as well as local favorite Schlösser ripened for several weeks rather Alt, Cologne’s Dom Kölsch, local than days, resulting in a more Dunkel (dark) brews, Schöfferhofer complex beer that will pair better Hefeweizen and alcohol-free brew with the food. To go with an Vitamalz. Franke and his staff, industrially produced beer, even one however, are well versed on how produced in Germany, would breweries provided a foundation contradict our own culinary of Düsseldorf’s growth. mission. It’s all about supporting “It dates back to the Middle local businesses that operate along Ages, where the municipalities the same independent lines we do. sold licenses to innkeepers and The beer we serve is produced in monasteries to brew their own beer to raise income for the cities,” details Franke. “Everybody small batches for restaurants, and you can only get it at Volt and other restaurants the brewers directly work had their own little brewery in the back yard. This with. This draws people to Volt, and in turn, and existed for hundreds of years, and it lives on today. encourages repeat visits.”

Trendier restaurants in Düsseldorf have started using beer to draw the young adult and female market. It started with basic cocktails combining beer with Coke, Flying dutch: energy drinks or lemonade, and from there, getting more The Heineken Experience complex with fruit juices.”

While it goes without saying that craft beers have taken The ideal place for a brew pub owner or beverage buyer flight on both sides of the Atlantic, big European brands to do research is Altstadt, the “old town” section of like Heineken served as a bridge that helped consumers Düsseldorf which by night, 12 months out of the year, cross from mass produced corporate brands to imports becomes one of Europe’s ultimate beer gardens, with over and artisanal brews. While Heineken is itself a 300 bars to choose from. juggernaut at home and in 178 countries, they have long Outside of Düsseldorf’s tourist quarter, it is managed to bring a certain intimacy to some of their interesting to observe how beer finds its way into advertising and on-premise promotion appealing to the everything from informal craft beer crowd. currywurst joints to glossy The ultimate textbook the message behind the heineken Experience is a hotels and restaurants in the lesson in how to bridge textbook lesson in how to bridge generations of Media Harbor area. While generations of beer drinkers beer drinkers with carefully targeted marketing.

Felix Petrucco, executive chef with carefully targeted at the Hyatt Regency marketing is encapsulated Düsseldorf, is himself not a fan in the Heineken Experience, of beer or beer/food pairings, one of Amsterdam’s top he did find a creative way to tourist attractions. And what integrate a local beer syrup an experience it is, bringing into the mojito-esque 735, a Universal Studios which commemorates the city’s (interactive and special anniversary and symbolically effects gadgetry)-meetsunites the old and the new, the Disneyland (live horses and city’s brewing legacy with iconic merchandising) gee contemporary mixology. whiz factor to the familiar While many brew pubs in old-world brewery tour. A Berlin feature familiar German certain quaintness is

“Berlin used to be more of a beer town, but popular demand is embracing small batch products rather than large products.”

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

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preserved in the actual brewery space, and historic archival photos and artifacts are integral to telling the story. However, the tour also features a 3-D ride where visitors “become” a bottle of beer as well as an arcade where they can create their own digital postcards and videos.

Some beverage buyers or bar owners may experience sensory overload. However, the tour is an exemplary representation of on-premise promotion at its most dynamic. If a beverage professional goes about exploring the tour room by room, he or she is bound to find inspiration in the way Heineken’s branding is adapted for different cultures, age groups and demographics. One room is even focused on the way Heineken is updating its production and distribution practices to be more “green,” showing it has its finger on the pulse of the modern environmental movement.

Tasting, an integral part of on-premise promotion, is also worked in to the tour. While Heineken is at home in pubs of all descriptions around the world, the timing of the tastes and the way the guides instruct visitors to sip the beer somehow brings an aspect of newness to a tried favorite.

Another way Heineken maintains a presence in its native Amsterdam is through liaisons and continued promotions with up-and-coming bars and clubs. Boom Chicago, a comedy theater with a bar that just re-opened on quieter Rozengract after outgrowing the space on tourist heavy Leidseplein Square it occupied since 1998, has an arrangement with Heineken that does more than keep its audience quenched during the two-hour Second City-style comedy shows.

“One issue we faced with the re-opening was that we want people to drink during the show, but we don’t want waitresses moving around during the show, which was a problem we had in our old space” said co-founder Jon “Pep” Rosenfeld (who is, along with partner Andrew Moskos, a former neighbor and classmate of mine from Evanston, IL).

“We sell people a bucket of Heinekens on ice for their group, provides them fresh, cold beers to enjoy during the show as well as a social way to make new friends. It is an update on the pitcher of beer concept.”

Though it is always a challenge, even with a successful 20 year-old enterprise like Boom Chicago, to keep cash flowing in a bar-heavy town like Amsterdam, Rosenfeld explains that large brands like Heineken helps small business owners build your bar as long as you loyally serve their beer. Though they are personally fans of craft beer, they are grateful to Heineken, which has the budget to help subsidize and build word-of-mouth about Boom Chicago to locals and visitors.

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Bar Business Magazine June 2013

The Heineken Experience, a popular attraction in Amsterdam, is an interactive tour of old-world brewery techniques.

The other amsterdam While beer bars offering dozens or hundreds of local and international craft beers are a mainstay among young adult visitors and locals in Amsterdam, bars and restaurants in better hotels are specifically targeting older customers through carefully curated bar menus incorporating small-batch brews, cocktails and the occasional integration into food recipes.

“Although Heineken spends a lot of time and money promoting their products and brand, we have as many local breweries in Holland as we have villages,” says Jasper van den Hoogen, the Chef Sommelier of Bridges Restaurant at The Grand Amsterdam Sofitel Legend. “We have a rich brewing history we should be proud of, and a clientele that seeks out new beer experiences. We are more than happy to provide them with the things they are looking for as well as things to surprise them with.

The breweries we feature include (Brand, Oranjeboom, Budels, Dommelsch, Gulpener, Hertog Jan and La Trappe).”

Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht’s Bluespoon restaurant and bar focuses primarily on gin, artisanal spirits and cocktails. However, in line with Amsterdam’s innovative culinary movement, Bluespoon’s signature cocktail, the Dutch Bramble, is made with the reduction of a local stout that provides the right amount of natural sweetness. This, in turn, allows the mixologist to create a smooth and balanced cocktail without the use of additional sugar or syrup, according to Bluespoon beverage supervisor Daniel Reece.

For many years, there has been the argument that for better or worse, the world has shrunken into a global village thanks to technological and transportation advances. On another score, the many ways in which an American bar business person can create “authentic” beer drinking experiences is limitless, along with an ability to straddle comforting older traditions and innovative presentation. www.barbizmag.com

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In BoSTon, A TIkI HeALIng In the aftermath of an American tragedy, a small tiki bar located just blocks from the site of the Boston Marathon bombing decided to give back to the city that it regularly serves by raising money for the victims the best way it knows—by making great drinks.

By CHRIS YTUARTe

You may not know The Tiki Hideaway.

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“We have a capacity of 45, we serve Chinese food, and we make good drinks. Some might call us a dive bar. But we offer ‘the greatest deal at Fenway,’ which is $2.50 PBR’s, and our most expensive drink is Patrón, which would be around $8.00. So we beat most prices in the area.”

Located on Boylston Street and adjacent to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, The Tiki Hideaway is exactly that—a hideaway. “We’re not necessarily a destination spot,” says Muroff, whose grandfather owns the Howard Johnson Hotel in which the bar is located. “We don’t have giant TVs or even HD TVs. We’re just a little Tiki Hideway by Fenway. We’re a small place. Right now there are three employees. There’s Benny, who has been working there for years and years;

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fmua / ShutterStock.com

Boston is a big city with a lot of bars. Sometimes little places like this—tucked inside a Howard Johnson Hotel in the shadow of and overshadowed by legendary Fenway Park—don’t garner the kind of attention other bigger, fancier venues might. It relies on regulars and ballpark employees and everyday Boston folk to keep the doors open. So it’s not surprising to find a venue like The Tiki Hideaway giving back to those very same people following the horrors of the April 15th marathon bombing by raising money for the victims and their families.

You may not know The Tiki Hideaway. But you should.

“It’s an old style room,” says bar manager Brandon Muroff.

there’s Casey, who has been there for three or four years; and myself.”

Muroff, an attorney by day, has worked at his grandfather’s hotel since he was 16 years old. Just like the customers who frequent The Tiki Hideaway, he is a regular, someone who has known this space most of his adult life.

That is what shapes his view of the bar’s purpose, and also his notion of giving back to the community following the deadly marathon bombing.

“Before and after Red Sox games we see big crowds,” Muroff explains. “The crowd that comes to our bar is made up of regulars. You don’t just stumble in here. They’re all regulars. Fenway workers are always here.

They get off around the 7th inning and they’ll come through after their shift. one of my other regulars, though, is one of the top surgeons in the country. He drives by the bar every day on his way home from work, and whenever he’s not on call he’ll come in for a drink. So really, the crowd that comes to our bar is made up of hotel guests, restaurant people, Fenway folks, and the comedy and jazz crowds, plus a world-class surgeon. It’s really an eclectic collection.”

The comedy and jazz crowd Muroff mentions are loyalists of The Tiki Hideaway’s two regular event nights: the Tuesday night jazz jam and grandma’s Basement Comedy night. “We have jazz bands with local musicians who have been playing there for the last four or five years,” says Muroff. “But it’s a jam. Anybody can come. We get kids from Berklee and all walks of life. It could be a 23-year-old kid from Berklee playing with an 80-yearold singer. But our bread and butter is our comedy night.” of course, at its core and in its name, The Tiki Hideway is a tiki bar, right? Well, kind Plantation Rum donated of. “We have certain things product to The Tiki like the Mai Tai or Blue Hideaway benefit event. Hawaiian, but we don’t get too

Guest bartenders crazy,” says Muroff. “We used to do more mixed drinks, but we don’t do it Natalie Jacob, much because, when it’s busy, we’re Ted Kilpatrick, and really a one- or two-person show in Will Thompson. that room. So when it gets really busy you don’t have the time to focus on crazy mixed drinks.”

In reality, the bar and its affiliated businesses are as eclectic as its crowd. The Tiki Hideaway, explains Muroff, is owned by the Howard Johnson Hotel, while the adjoining Chinese restaurant, The Hong king Café, rents space from the hotel and readily serves patrons and guests food. Howard Johnson, tiki, and Chinese: obvious bedfellows they are not. But once again, this odd convergence of styles is a microcosm of Boston itself, and Muroff makes sure to appease the people who adore it, even when scheduling something like a special fundraising event.

“We have our own event nights, which I don’t like to cancel for other things,” says Muroff. “We work off of a regular crowd, and you don’t want to offend your regulars. I like to keep our scheduled events in place, because when it’s the dead of winter and there are no Red Sox games, those are the folks who show up.” nevertheless, Muroff teamed up with Will Thompson, a bartender at Boston’s world-renowned mixology den, Drink, to host a small but meaningful fundraiser at

“Boston is a proud city, and right now that pride is at its peak.”

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“After the bombing, we stayed open because we are a hotel bar and people didn’t have a place to go.”

The Tiki Hideaway on May 13th, just shy of a month after the bombing. “will has always loved the room and he wanted to do something here, even before the marathon bombing happened,” says Muroff. “But I lost his number, he lost my number. Finally he came back one night and I kind of threw it out there that I had these two Mondays available, and asked if he wanted to do something. so he put it all together, in less than a week.” with rum donated by Plantation rum, a trio of guest bartenders treated The Tiki Hideaway regulars—as well as some new customers and industry folk—to an evening of delicious cocktails for a good cause. natalie Jacob, from Painkiller new york (a spectacular tiki bar in its own right) and Ted kilpatrick, bar director at no. 9 Park in Boston,

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joined Thompson behind the bar to create the evening’s spirited concoctions. “not to take anything away from our own bartenders, but they made some great rum drinks,” says Muroff of his guest staff. The event raised $1,496, to be donated to The one Fund Boston. “we are a mile down from where the bombs went off, and I was working in the hotel and the bar that day, because marathon day is one of the biggest of the year,” Muroff explains. “After the bombing, we stayed open.

People didn’t have a place to go. I didn’t know what to do at the time, whether we should close down like a lot of other places. But in the end, we are a hotel bar and I needed to stay open. Too many people were stranded. Public transportation wasn’t working. so we stayed open, and I think a lot of people in the area were really supportive of that, and everyone who came in on the day of the benefit was very generous in showing their support as well.”

It’s long been the nature of the bar business to give back.

In new york, following the recent Hurricane sandy devastation, venues throughout the tri-state area hosted

With a legal capacity of 45 people, The Tiki Hideaway is exactly that—a one-room bar where loyal customers from all walks of life love to hide for a few hours over drinks.

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The Tiki Hideaway, without pushing things too far, does serve some great classic tiki cocktails, like this Scorpion Bowl for 2, made with light, dark, and coconut rums, orange curacao, peach and apricot Schnapps, a blend of juices, and Bacardi 151 in the center. fundraisers and became shelters for displaced citizens. As natural gathering places, it just makes sense. And now, in Boston, this great industry of ours has stepped up once again. no matter how well known the tavern, or how much the donation sum amounts to, the fact is, the bar business has always been there to help the people it already serves.

“To be honest with you, I think everyone is doing what we’re doing right now, in terms of nightlife operators raising money,” says Muroff. “even Fenway Park had an event the other day that involved drinking and eating food. The city has raised so much money. People have been overly generous. I think support for The one Fund shows the pride

The eclectic décor symbolizes the crowd at The Tiki Hideaway, where Fenway Park employees mingle with world-class surgeons and Berklee jazz students.

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of the city—because Boston is a proud city—and I think right now that pride is at its peak.”

There may have been bigger fundraisers in fancier bars with more famous names across Boston following the marathon bombing, but what took place at The Tiki Hideaway truly personifies what this city is all about—everyday people doing whatever they can for their fellow Bostonians.

Wicked awesome.

The Victim Relief Fund of The One Fund Boston will be used to assist those families of the victims who were killed and the victims who were most seriously affected as a result of the tragic events during the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 and related events on April 18th and April 19th. Total donations raised as of print time were $31,445,292. To add to that, please visit: https://secure.onefundboston.org/donate

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Inventory ABSOLUT® Vodka Celebrates The Spirit of Mexico Continuing its longstanding tradition of rich and creative collaborations, ABSOLUT® VODKA today announces its highly anticipated limited edition bottle design, ABSOLUT MEXICO, available in the U.S. for the first time after its debut in Mexico last year. The release of ABSOLUT MEXICO is the latest limited edition offering from the world’s most iconic vodka brand and pays homage to Mexican culture and multicultural heritage.

ABSOLUT has a long history of creative collaborations, and this limited edition was created in partnership with Dr. Lakra, one of Mexico’s most renowned contemporary artists and tattooists from Oaxaca, Mexico.

The work of Dr. Lakra, also known as Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez, has been featured in exhibitions and museums around the world.

Visit www.ABSOLUT.com.

Capton Introduces New All-Digital Pour Spout Capton has announced the general availability of its new alldigital pour spout, the most advanced beverage data collection device in the industry. Capton’s new, all-digital beverage data collector is the most advanced in the industry—housed within a classic-looking package that features 73% smaller electronics, compared to the previous model, wrapped around an industrystandard tapered metal pour spout, so bar staff won’t need to modify their pour methods or counts. A digital engage switch overcomes the number one reason for spout data collection failure. And a digital tilt sensor provides accurate measurement regardless of pour angle. The spout is totally modular, and designed to disassemble in seconds for easy cleaning and replacement of nozzles and corks. Using proprietary power management technology, the spout sips power, for the longest battery life in the industry. The new spout is backed with a twoyear warranty. If a spout fails for any reason within two years of purchase, Capton will replace it for free. For more information about Capton, visit www.captoninc.com

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Take a Shot on The ShotTender The ShotTender is a fully automated shot dispensing machine. Each shot tender comes with five liquor dispensing arms and a shot cup dispenser. It is also very easy to use. You simply swipe your card, grab a shot cup & place it under any liquor you want. the shot tender automatically dispenses your liquor at the perfect amount and your ready to enjoy. there is also a built in cooler so the shots are always dispensed at the perfect temperature & when the liquor starts running low a siren goes off to alert the bar tender to change the bottle. Find out more at www. theshottender.com.

From Barrels to Bottles: Bourbon Beer Expanding its first line of worldclass bourbon-barrel aged craft beers, Anderson Valley Brewing Company and Wild Turkey® Bourbon announced today that Anderson Valley Brewery has begun bottled production of its Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout.

This once draft-only product was released in the fall 2012 as part of an exclusive partnership between Anderson Valley Brewing Company and Wild Turkey® Bourbon. As part of the partnership, Anderson Valley Brewing Company has been using repurposed American oak barrels from the famed bourbon brand’s Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, to age the award-winning Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. More information on Anderson Valley Brewing Company can be found at www.avbc.com.

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Introducing Bols Yogurt Liqueur Lucas Bols, one of the world’s leading cocktail liqueur and spirit producers, today announced the launch of Bols Yogurt Liqueur in the United States. The product is made from natural ingredients, with no added colorants, with an ABV of 15%. It can be served neat or on the rocks and mixes perfectly with fresh fruits, fruit juices, soft drinks, spirits and other Bols liqueurs. Made from the highest quality fresh yogurt, Bols Yogurt Liqueur has a unique sweet and sour taste profile, and a natural, smooth flavor making it a perfect, versatile ingredient for mixability. It’s unique in the sense that it doesn’t curd when used with sodas or fresh juices in contrast to other well known cream based liqueurs. It has a very low fat percentage which makes it the perfect addition to current food and drink trends. The timing couldn’t be better with the Yogurt category currently exploding. The bottle has been designed with a special coating to ensure that the product remains in optimum condition as well as giving it real standout on the back bar. Find out more at www.lucasbols.com.

PREFUNC: A New Herbal Liquid Shot Supplement Bars, nightclubs, restaurants and wholesalers/retailers can now offer their customers a new proprietary blend of herbs in a two ounce liquid “shot” that prepares the body for a night out partying.

PREFUNC provides retailers with 100 percent profit margin, and unlike other hangover remedies, it is not a fake mix of synthetic vitamins. PREFUNC is a natural liquid combination of roots, fruits, plants and seeds which have been recognized for centuries for their health benefits. PREFUNC is the bitter shot for a better morning. Smarter Generation, Inc. today announced they are actively seeking wholesale opportunities with bars, nightclubs, restaurants, retailers and distributors for their new natural herbal liquid shot. The company has several creative and fun marketing programs in place to support bars, nightclubs, restaurants, liquor stores and other retail outlets which carry PREFUNC. These programs have been designed to increase customer traffic to the business location offering their customers PREFUNC. Visit www.iprefunc.com for more information.

Glass Gator Helps Bars Reduce Waste Volume

Tanqueray Malacca Gin: Back By Popular Demand

The Glass Gator from CEMCO, Inc. offers businesses in the food and beverage serviceindustry an economical, powerful glass-crushing tool that reduces glass-related injuries and wastehandling costs. It also quickly and efficiently turns waste into recyclable cullet or softedged sand that can be repurposed into new glass containers. The Glass Gator quickly transforms bottles into rounded sand that is safe to touch. In addition, the unit is completely enclosed and the hoppers features strategically placed safety doors to eliminate flying glass debris that can be a problem with tossing bottles into receptacles. The machine also operates with limited dust or exhaust. The Glass Gator can have an immediate, positive impact on a significant safety issue in the food and beverage industries. Visit the website at www.cemcoturbo.com.

Tanqueray announces the return of Tanqueray Malacca, a unique extension to the celebrated range of Tanqueray gins.

Only 100,000 limited edition bottles will be produced worldwide and each bottle will be individually numbered. Tanqueray Malacca is a distilled gin made with a secret spice mix based off a recipe from the 1830’s, crafted by Charles Tanqueray.

It was inspired by his travels on the Southeast Asian spice route, where he gained inspiration from the vast array of exotic ingredients available. It was sold briefly in the United States in the early 2000’s. Since production ceased, many bartenders have called for its return and the re-launch is a direct response to these requests. Tanqueray Malacca Gin will be available for sale in the United States, Spain, Germany, UK, Benelux, the Nordics and Western Europe from February 2013. The Tanqueray brand family would like to remind everyone who sips Tanqueray, to do so responsibly. More information is available at www.tanqueray.com.

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Holiday Happenings

July 2013

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July 1: Canada Day. In addition to cultural contributions like Molson Golden, let’s honor Canada’s greatest export by running a John Candy movie marathon in the bar all day. Cheers to you, Uncle Buck.

July 4: National Country Music Day. Oddly enough, this may be the only uniquely American, nonderivative form of music we have in this country, which would make Taylor Swift our Mozart. Ugh. Anyway, load up on TouchTunes country music playlists and get your boots stomping today.

July 5: Work-a-holics Day. Enjoy one of the top five comedies on television today by setting up a Workaholics viewing marathon on-premise to honor this holiday.

If not, that’s a chop!

July 8: International Town Criers Day. There is always one in every bar—that person who shows up every week, has a few too many, and starts weeping uncontrollably while telling tales of his miserable existence.

Wait, what? That’s not what a town crier is?

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July 15: National Get Out of the Doghouse Day. Why would bar owners ever celebrate this holiday? The vast majority of your customers are sitting at the bar knocking back beers because they’re IN the doghouse. And that’s exactly where we like them.

Bar Business Magazine June 2013

July 24: Amelia Earhart Day. On this day, encourage your customers to honor the adventurous spirit of Amelia Earhart by making a few spirits of their own disappear.

27 July 27: National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. We’re pretty sure Dennis Rodman is responsible for this holiday. In his honor, pour shots of tequila— with the worm.

July 10: Piña Colada Day. Rupert Holmes created one of the sappiest, songs of all time, albeit one you will never get out of your head once you hear it. On this day, program your jukebox to play his “Escape (Piña Colada Song)” at least once an hour until a customer threatens to burn the place down. Then play it twice an hour.

30 July 30: Paperback Book Day. If anyone bellies up to your bar on this day reading a paperback book depicting a current film version (say, with Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover) rather than the classic (see above), they get 86’ed immediately.

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John KropewnicKi / ShutterStocK.com

July 14: Bastille Day. Break out the pétanque boulés and get the games started to celebrate this French holiday by playing one of the great drinking games around in your bar today.

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index of advertisers

Company

web site address

page #

Barzz.net

www.barzz.net

5

Diageo North America-Tanqueray

www.diageo.com

C4

HARBORTOUCH

www.iharbortouch.com

17

Heineken USA

www.heinekenusa.com

3,37

McCormick Distilling Co Inc.

www.mccormickdistilling.com

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Modern Line Furniture

www.modernlinefurniture.com

C2

Moving Targets

www.MovingTargets.com

9

New York International Beer Awards

www.nyibeercompetition.com

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Shiftgig.com

www.shiftgig.com

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Vacation Adventures

www.vacationadventures.biz

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Western Spirits

www.LEXINGTON-BOURBON.com

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inventory Companies absoLUt mexico

www.absolut.com

anderson Valley brewing

www.avbc.com

the balvenie

www.thebalvenie.com

Capton

www.captoninc.com

CemCo

www.cemcoturbo.com

Lucas bols

www.lucasbols.com

preFUnC

www.iprefunc.com

tanqueray malacca

www.tanquerary.com

To advertise in Bar Business Magazine contact, Art Sutley, Ph: 212-620-7247, e-mail: asutley@sbpub.com

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June 2013 Bar Business Magazine

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Owning Up

Street SmartS Whether you’re opening your first or your fifth venue, knowing your target neighborhoods and prospecting potential growth areas takes a lot of research, patience, and insight. We spoke to Paige Hospitality Group President Matt Shendell, whose current roster of gastropub venues include The Ainsworth, Ainsworth Park, Ainsworth Las Vegas, and now 121 Fulton Street, on how his real estate background helps him approach each new deal.

By Chris Ytuarte BB: How do real estate trends and neighborhood demographics factor into your decisions to open venues?

Shendell: You don’t want to be somewhere that is oversaturated. You need to have a plan as to what you want the venue to be. With 121 Fulton, we were going into a neighborhood that was very construction-heavy and didn’t have anything high-end or any gastropub type of venues, which is what we do. We knew that we would be by ourselves for a little while until the neighborhood picked up. But we also envision the next two to five years there being super busy once the Freedom Tower and even the new subway station open up. We think the block is going to be one of the busier blocks in Manhattan. So it was more of a long-term play. And we’ve done great—better than we thought we would—in the meantime. But it was a specific plan to camp out down there until the neighborhood turns around.

As far as other locations, I think we try to strategically place venues far enough away from our other brands so we don’t cannibalize ourselves. When we opened Ainsworth Park on 18th Street and Park Avenue, it wasn’t that far from our venue on 26th Street and 6th Avenue, but we try to be more of a brunch and dinner venue on Park, so we did change the product a little bit.

When you’re opening multiple venues, you have to have a plan, not just open them up without figuring out how you’re going to balance the traffic. You don’t want to have one venue suffer because you opened up others.

BB: How does a bar’s targeted demographic factor into location decisions?

Shendell: We look at the competing venues in an area and look to see if there are any voids—what does the neighborhood need? With 121 Fulton, we realized there was nothing like what we do downtown. You have bars and pubs but nothing upscale, so we wanted to bring our food and our brand down there. You have to look at what is missing in a neighborhood. If there are 50 brunch places, you don’t want to be number 51. Is there heavy street traffic?

If you’re in a busy area with a lot of F&B, you want to position yourself near other venues that have a lot of street traffic. At 26th Street, we knew there were going to be three hotels opening up on the block. So maybe you look around to see what new construction is coming up. We also look for highrise residential buildings. We just try to be smart about it. Some people open a venue and don’t realize they kind of screwed themselves on location.

BB: Is it ever worth changing a bar’s style or approach to appeal to a specific locale or demographic?

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Shendell: I think you should go with what you know, but you have to be able to call a couple of audibles as well. At Ainsworth Park, we’re really food-heavy and brunch-heavy because that area near Union Square is really super brunchy. On 26th Street, we don’t really have that focus because it’s not big in that neighborhood, so we don’t have to rely on it.

BB: How involved do you get in looking at the details of a property and the real estate specifics?

Shendell: I personally am super hands-on with it, because I have a real estate background. I think getting comps on the rent next door or getting an idea where the rent is going or getting an idea of what deal you should be getting is super important in this business. It also depends on what’s going on with the area. The building at 121 Fulton was old and there was so much construction that we ended up getting an old bar that was vacant for a long time. And if you know things like how many people have looked at the space, how many offers are in, I think you can get a better rent if you know all of that. Every landlord pitches you that it’s 'hot' and 'fresh on the market,' but sometimes a space is there for five years and you can get a better deal if you know that. Or maybe you pay a little more because you know a great place is opening up next door. It depends on what kind of information you can get when you do your due diligence on an area. We do a lot research going into any deal, but I think a lot of people open a venue with a concept that’s not right for where they put it. We try to do just the opposite.

BB: How far out do you look at neighborhoods? Three years? Five?

Shendell: I think two years out is a good gauge. There aren’t a lot of emerging areas in Manhattan anymore; there isn’t another Meatpacking District that’s going to pop up anytime soon. But we’re always looking at what highrises are going up, what hotels are being built, which area used to be crappy but now has new housing going up. We were talking about Long Island City this afternoon. One of my friends just moved there and says there is literally no place to eat and drink. So maybe it’s not the busiest area yet, but there are probably 100,000 people who live there who have to eat and drink somewhere. That's what we look for. www.barbizmag.com