June 2016 Bar Business

Striking Design:

1933 Group completes another rescue project with LA’s newest bowling bar.

The How-To Publication

BAR BUSINE$$ June 2016

M A G A Z I N E

An Eye on the Classics

Famous cherry liqueur brings a modern twist to cocktails globally

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NEW TOUCHTUNES APP

Featuring an all new design and a personalized user experience, the new TouchTunes mobile app is more fun and engaging than ever, allowing patrons to search for music, import playlists, earn rewards, and play their favorite songs like never before.

BAR BUSINE$$

On Tap JUNE 2016

CONTENTS

Open-air ideas

24

HOW TO

15

15

20

24

on-premise prevention

Speak Easy, sell hard

The great outdoors

Your door staff can be the first line of defense in preventing terrorists from roaming free and targeting nightlife destinations for attacks. www.barbizmag.com

Despite the secretive nature of the speakeasy bar format, one Long Island owner and his team have grown their business and expanded.

A new bar in Austin, Texas with great outdoor space acts as a case study in ways to maximize open-air revenue opportunities.

June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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On Tap

BAR BUSINE$$

CONTENTS

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Features 32 Now HEER THIS As one of the oldest and most iconic liquor brands in the marketplace, Cherry Heering is taking a natural step towards tweaking the classic cocktails to create something truly great.

36 on strike

Departments 4 Bar room drawl

40 Big six

6 Booze News

In Las Vegas, the Modern Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim is bringing back comfort cocktails for Sin City’s newest bar, Libertine.

The 2016 NRA Show boosts its BAR program in Chicago; Art in the form of a liquor bottle; AudioFetch is all ears; New green initiatives on-premise; Sailor Jerry gives back.

10 liquid Assets The summer season brings fresh juices as mixers to the forefront of the bar business, so we take a look at the best ways to bring a little sunny citrus into your life with tips on getting the best out of oranges, limes, and other exotic options.

44 Inventory 46 holiday happenings

The always innovative eyes at 1933 Group spotted a gem in waiting when they took on a renovation project at one of LA’s oldest bowling alleys to turn it into a classy cocktail and beer bar.

On the Cover:

The Modern Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim channels the golden days of Cherry Heering ads. (And yes, his eye is fine.)

Ray Alamo Photography www.rayalamo.com

48 Owning Up Taking a calculated risk by opening a known franchise in a fledgling neighborhood, the owner of a new Serafina location lets us inside.

10 “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 © 2016 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 1172, Skokie, IL 60076-8172. 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 of the how-to activities published in the magazine. Further, the publisher and authors assume no liability for damages or injuries resulting from projects contained herein. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 1172, Skokie, IL 60076-8172.

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Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

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Bar Room Drawl

By Chris Ytuarte Editor

You Don't Know Everything "You are always a student, never a master.

You have to keep moving forward.” — Conrad Hall

I would hope the above headline is not news to you; it’s something my mother said to me often growing up (and still does to this day), and I think it’s one of the most important concepts a bar owner can embrace. The fact is, you don’t know everything. And that is a great place to start.

This notion (and my mother’s voice projecting it) was ringing in my head last month as I spent three days on the floor of the amazing 2016 National Restaurant Association Show. Amongst the more than 60,000 other industry professionals who strolled the 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center, I was stunned by not only the sheer number of companies showing off their products and services, but also by how many of which I had previously been unaware. Turns out, my mother was right.

But again, this is a good thing.

Learning is great, and learning more about the industry in which you work 4

Bar Business Magazine June 2016

and aim to thrive is even better. And that is what events like the NRA Show are for; that is what next month’s Tales of the Cocktails in New Orleans is all about; that is what next year’s Nightclub & Bar Show aims to provide— knowledge for bar owners who want it and, more so, those who need it. Believe me, we all do.

Those bar owners who think they know everything are the bane of Jon Taffer’s existence. His SpikeTV hit show Bar Rescue is all about making operators understand this very notion—you don’t know everything— and sometimes he struggles to get that message across, even when dealing with owners who are failing and on the verge of losing their business. At the 2016 NRA Show, Taffer took the stage with fellow TV show host Chef Robert Irvine, whose Restaurant: Impossible handles similar on-premise issues and troubled owners, and the two titans of transformation shared their knowledge with hundreds of show attendees. (Read more about this on page 6 of Booze News.) And the base message was this: You don’t know everything.

Admittedly, neither do they. But Taffer and Chef Irvine and the staff at the NRA Show took over the floor(s) of McCormick Place to help everyone get a little bit closer to that omni-awareness of all things bar business. So take their lead; hit every trade show, read every magazine, watch every TV show, do whatever it takes to be the best bar owner you can be. Remember: You don’t know everything. Yet.

BAR BUSINE$$ MAGAZINE

June 2016 Vol. 9, 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 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Publisher Arthur J. Sutley 212-620-7247; fax: 212-633-1863 asutley@sbpub.com editorial

Editor Chris Ytuarte 212-620-7223; fax: 212-633-1863 cytuarte@sbpub.com art

Creative Director Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com Associate Graphic Designer Nicole Cassano ncassano@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 Bar Business Magazine is published monthly.

All rights reserved. Nothing herein may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher.

To Purchase PDF files of covers, layouts or hard copy reprints, please call Art Sutley at 212-620-7247 or email asutley@sbpub.com.

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Booze News

2016 NRA Show Shines in Chicago

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nce again, the Windy City saw the ser vice industr y’s best and brightest blow through town in large numbers last month to exhibit at or attend the annual National Restaurant Association (NR A) show in Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center. And this time, Jon Taffer came along.

An estimated 63,000 industry insiders, venue owners, and service executives convened in downtown Chicago for the 2016 NR A Show, held May 21–24. The newly revamped Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants (BAR) program, a two-day event, co-located within the NR A Show with its own show floor. BAR is the only beverage alcohol forum that focuses exclusively on the foodservice industry and all attendees are vetted to ensure that they have purchase influence for beverage alcohol at a foodservice establishment.

And while technology and eco-friendly equipment were a focus of the main show floors, it was two industry

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giants who stole the show on Monday morning when Bar Rescue host Jon Taffer and Restaurant: Impossible host Chef Robert Irvine took the stage together to talk about when “Reality Gets Real.”

History was made at NR A Show with its first-ever 100% crowd-sourced session featuring Irvine and Taffer, as hundreds gathered to hear these two titans discuss their respective careers (in the service industry and on television) as well as current trends and topics affecting the on-premise professional today.

Presented by Sysco and moderated by NR A Chief Innovation & Member Advancement Officer Phil Kafarakis, the event also featured Taffer and Irvine answering audience questions that had been previously submitted via Twitter. And in closing, both television hosts hinted at a forthcoming on-air project featuring the two mean teaming up to tackle on-premise problems together; a formidable duo, for sure. Stay tuned.

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

Art-Glass Product “Et No 1” Stops Sraffic

A

n innovative new product from Chapters of Ampersand debuted at WSWA last month, literally stopping traffic. “Et No 1” is a unique combination of hand blown art glass and a prestige blend of Cognacs including a rare prephylloxera from 1870. “It is a work of art that bring a new level of excitement to the industry,” said David Meyers currently CEO of Iceberg Vodka, and formerly CEO of Remy Cointreau US and Moet Hennessy UK. With an MSRP of $9,000 per unit from a limited production of 300 and North American allocation of only 100 pieces, Et. No 1 offers breathtaking appeal to high end consumers—and extraordinary profitability to retailers.

“It’s available only on a special order basis through our hand-picked network of brokers,” said Johan Belin, Founder and President of Chapters of Ampersand.

Et No 1, which is the first in a series, will appeal to Cognac connoisseurs and art collectors alike. It brings something new and different to the market that is beyond the common definition of “luxury.” “Think of it as a pairing of fine art with the craftsmanship of the master distiller in a category-defining way that will appeal to the most profitable target segment of all… very affluent consumers.”

The striking example of the glass blowers’ art was painstakingly shaped by the hands of masters from the glass foundry and studio in Kosta, Småland and designed, numbered and individually signed by the world-renowned Göran Wärff. It is presented in a hand-made Swedish oak box with a signed and corresponding numbered certificate of origin from the designer, master distiller and glassmaker.

The Cognac is as unique, rare and collectible as the bottle. It is a blend of Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie from 1974 and 1943 combined with pre-phylloxera Cognac from 1870.

Sailor Jerry Honors American Soldiers

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ailor Jerry Spiced Rum, named to honor the life and legacy of Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins, is pleased to announce the creation of the Norman Collins Initiative at The Aleethia Foundation, designed to raise additional funds for Aleethia in its ongoing efforts to support wounded/injured/ill service members in their rehabilitation and healing process.

The service and servicemen were important to Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins, who served in the Navy before making his home in W WII-era Honolulu. There, he established his legendary tattoo shop on Hotel Street where he earned the title of undisputed father of old-school tattooing.

The tattoo shop quickly became a must stop destination for sailors on Shore Leave who would wait in line to receive Collins’ iconic, Americana flash art work.

“Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins lived his life according to his own principles, and Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, the brand that today bears his name, celebrates his life, his ethos, and his passions – including Americana, tattoos, and the men and women of the military,” shared Josh Hayes, Senior

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Brand Manager – Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. “We have been working with Aleethia for the past six years, and decided that we wanted to do more, and so, we established the Norman Collins Initiative at The Aleethia Foundation to inspire our friends and fans to support this organization and the important work it does.”

The Aleethia Foundation supports wounded, injured and ill service members with short-term therapeutic recreation, small financial grants, family emergency aid, assistive technology items, home improvements to assist with an injured service member’s mobility and other basic needs.

Over the past six years, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum has raised nearly $200,000 for The Aleethia Foundation, with nearly $50,000 raised in 2015 alone. This year, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is expanding efforts with a series of national and local campaigns that will support and raise funds for Aleethia.

“We are honored to grow our partnership with The Aleethia Foundation and support them in making a positive impact on service members and their families,” remarks Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum’s Senior Brand Manager, Josh Hayes. “This year, our goal is to layer fundraising for the Norman Collins Initiative into more of our brand programs and events on both a national and local level.”

Visit www.sailorjerry.com for more information.

June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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Booze News Green Glass and Clean Power

T

he Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), along with beverage leaders including Diageo and Heineken, and the glass processing and recycling industry, have convened a dynamic group of organizations to make glass recycling work in the U.S. The nearly two dozen member organizations announced they are joining forces to create the U.S. Glass Recycling Coalition. The coalition’s primary goal is to help build a foundation to make glass recycling a successful industry.

“Diageo is committed to sustainable packaging for our products, and we have significant global ambitions to increase the recycled content in our packaging,” explained Roberta Barbieri, Global Environmental Director, Diageo. “We are keen to see an increase in glass recycling in the U.S., and so we decided to come together with our beverage industry peers and representatives from across the entire glass recycling ecosystem to begin to identify solutions.”

The coalition aims to help create an efficient system for glass recycling, making it a viable option for everyone. Together, the coalition will work to develop strategies to assist municipalities with glass recycling decisions, and establish a network of glass recycling resources and champions.

In other green news, acclaimed craft distillery FEW Spirits announces today that it is now running

Go Fetch!

N

ew technology from AudioFetch allows bar owners to broadcast live T V audio to smartphones throughout their venue.

To entertain your customers by providing real-time audio from TVs, AudioFetch is available in 4-channel systems that can be easily expanded to 64 channels. Users download the AudioFetch App at iTunes® or Google Play ® stores and the phone audio and TV video sync together.

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on 100 percent pollution-free electricity thanks to a partnership with clean energy provider Arcadia Power.

"We try to reduce our environmental footprint as much as possible, doing things like utilizing only grain grown within 150 miles of the distillery and sourcing other ingredients from as close to home as we can, and this is another major step in that direction," says FEW founder and master distiller Paul Hletko. "Between running lights, pumps, filters and a bottling line, a distillery uses a lot of power, so it's all the more important for us to pay attention to where that power comes from." The distillery uses roughly 6,000 kilowatt-hours per month, meaning that the move is the equivalent of removing about seven average households from the fossil-fuel grid, or taking about 11 cars off the road.

FEW's power will now come exclusively from solarand wind-based sources instead of electricity generated from burning fossil fuels. “We’re excited to be partnering with a company that truly exemplifies the responsible practices we all want from businesses in our communities,” says Arcadia Power co-founder Kiran Bhatraju. For more info visit fewspirits.com.

AudioFetch is easy to install, with a lightweight, lowprofile box that can be rack-mounted or located near TVs, and is compatible with most WiFi networks. This plug-n-play installation, with no knobs or other settings to configure, couldn’t be easier. AudioFetch technology accepts an industry-best three audio input types (analog, optical or digital coax).

“AudioFetch is largely plug-and-play, we provide all the necessary audio and Ethernet cables,” says CEO Tim DePumpo. “Since AudioFetch interfaces to existing WiFi and is plug-and-play, an IT professional is not required to install. Anyone can install AudioFetch given our excellent service and support.”

To further enhance the AudioFetch experience on-premise, bar owners can display logos and custom ads on the app so that customers see the content delivered right to their phones. So get up and go Fetch!

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

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Liquid Assets

Squeeze Play Here are some juicy tidbits on crafting cocktails with oranges, limes, lemons, and all their sunny cousins. By Elyse Glickman

S

ummer’s here, and nothing says sunshine quite like citrus. From the standpoint of a bartender, oranges, limes and lemons are the essential superfruits. Their flavor profiles, which balance sweet, sour, bitter, and acidic, make them perfect partners for spirits categories across the board. However, factor in other citrus fruit varieties, from familiar yellow and pink grapefruit to more exotic varieties (kumquat, blood orange, red limes, pommelos), and the options are virtually endless.

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“This is kind of a bottomless question, as citrus and spirit have a long and deep relationship, especially when you consider the hundreds of modifiers you could toss in the equation,” says John Lermayer of Sweet Liberty Drinks and Supply Co., in Miami. “The DNA of good flavor has always been about the balance of sweet, bitter, acid, salt and savory. The art of making good drinks remains in the ability to balance all of this with spirit and sensation. I think it’s really up to the guests’ palettes.

What do they want?”

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

All in the (Citrus) Family “When it comes to citrus, fresh isn’t always best,” says Zachary Blair of Whiteface, Lake Placid, NY, even though he teams up with the restaurant’s executive chef to source fruits such as yuzu, passion fruit, lychee and blood oranges.

“I tend to like acidic juices, limes and lemons, to be juiced prior to service, so that they are slightly oxidized, to give the drink a sharper, less bitter taste. I also prefer to strain juices to give them a clear, pulp-less look. When using grapefruit juice, I’ll usually add a dash of salt to balance out the bitterness. That said, bitter is not bad in all instances, especially with Mezcal, which pairs nicely when mixed with pineapple juice or cider.”

Blair adds that using different salts is a great way to avoid bitterness. It allows the fruit to shine and overpowers the bitter taste buds on the tongue. Amir Nathan, beverage director and partner of Timna in New York City, meanwhile, advises that the proper way to juice citrus fruit is to remove the rind and then juice only the fruit itself, which will eliminate the bitter portion of the product, as the bitter edge comes from the pith of the rind, or the white lower layer. Once the fruit is juiced, strain the juice through a strainer, preferably a Chinois, to remove the pulp.

Nathan’s colleague, Ben Pettey, notes that if you’re looking for Japanese Yuzu, Australian Finger Limes, Key Limes and so on, a good bet is to check out local ethnic markets catering to Asian, Hispanic or Eastern European markets. “Most of the fun is searching and discovering a new place to find a variety of citrus fruits,” he says.

Brian Galligos, of Bacchus Bar at the Hotel Vintage in Portland, Oregon, believes it is always best to juice on a daily basis. Lemon and lime, however, can be prepared ahead of time.

“You can figure out how much juice you’ll need on which days of the week, depending on how busy those days usually get,” he explains. “Orange and grapefruit, as far as my bar goes, are best done to order. You’re using the citrus as zest and garnish, no sense in throwing away that fruit when you can easily cut it in half and use a beehive strainer.”

Jen Keyser, Chief of Bar Operations at Geraldine’s at Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt in Austin, TX, meanwhile, advises one start by cutting the fruit in half, width-wise.

“Hand-pressing juices is best because it doesn’t pull a lot of the pith from the fruit. Pith will make juices bitter,“ she says. “The downside to hand-squeezing is that it takes quite a bit of time. Commercially, the best way to juice is to use a Sunkist (or similar) automatic juicer, as it makes quick work of juicing several gallons. Always strain your juice before use. It will remove all of the pulp and create a smoother consistency. Never keep lime juice over a day, as the longer it sits the more tart and bitter it becomes. Other juices like lemon, orange and grapefruit that have a higher sugar content can last for two days.”

While Keyser is a big proponent of sourcing exotic produce from trusted local sources, Mariena Mercer, Chief www.barbizmag.com

“Making fresh fruit garnishes and juices done before each shift allows you to then create drinks according to spec in a timely manner.”

Mixologist at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, says those unique specimens should be treated individually.

“The Calamansi has more sour, bitter meat and a sweet peel, so the fruit should be juiced whole,” says Mercer.

“With the Makrut lime, I use it primarily for its aroma, so I use the zest and the leaves as garnishes. Yuzu can be used for both juice and aroma that comes from the oils in the rind. Buddha’s Hand has virtually no juice or pulp inside so I use it for candying (garnish) or infusion of spirits to showcase its incredible aroma.”

“In Miami, we are lucky that we have access to many types of citrus fruits, many grown right here in Florida and shipped around the country,” says Chad Love, managing partner of Ball & Chain. “My favorite spots for finding exotic fruits are the the local farmers markets around Miami and Miami Beach. They happen literally every week during most times of the year. I also like driving down to Homestead, where the farms are, and visiting local favorite places like Robert is Here.”

Love says preparation is the number-one key to success in any bar, regardless of where you source the fruit, whether you have a cocktail program or just sling drinks in plastic cups.

“Fresh fruit, garnishes and juices done before each shift will ensure you can create the drinks according to spec and in a timely manner,” Love says. I’m not interested in going to bars where they hand-squeeze everything right in front of the customer, because this severely increases the time to make each drink.”

June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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Liquid Assets

James Ives shakes up a Blood Meridian at PINE in The Hanover Inn.

Pulp Friction?

As bartending is regarded by many is a culinary art, the flavor profiles of different citrus fruits and even different fruits within the same category have to be taken into consideration when matching them up with different spirits. While it seems obvious that tequila and lime partner well and brown spirit pairings take a little more thought, experienced bartenders know there’s more to the process than mixing things together to see what happens.

“A chef once told me that if things grow together, they go together, and I’ve always used this tip when making cocktails or thinking about what juice combos will play well together,” says Joey Vargas, beverage director of American Whiskey in Manhattan. “Rum pairs well with lime and grapefruit. Bourbon and whiskey like lemon and orange. Tequila loves lime, but plays with lemon well.

Vodka is the social spirit and does well with all citrus.”

“The key to a proper cocktail, just like a proper dish of food, is balance,” adds Chad Phillips of Seattle’s Pennyroyal Bar. “If using a sweeter juice like grapefruit or orange, think about offsetting that sweetness with a 12

bitter aperitif like Aperol, Gran Classico, or Cynar. For the more acidic juices like lemon or lime, factor in something slightly sweet, like green tea, an herbal syrup (basil, mint, rosemary), or a sweeter liqueur (Kronan Swedish Punsch, Genepy des Alpes, or Cointreau). Remember: It’s much easier to add more than it is to take some out.”

Anjoleena Griffin-Holst, corporate beverage director for the Table 301 restaurants in Greenville, SC, would agree, noting that as fresh juices are naturally concentrated, it’s best to start with less and adjust accordingly. Her rule of thumb is to use a base of 1½ oz of a spirit then play with a ½ to 1 oz of citrus juice depending on the other ingredients and desired outcome of the beverage. She also warns that adding sugar to the fresh juice can create an environment of fermentation that will speed up the degradation of the juice.

“While it is great that a lot of bartenders are making their own sour mix instead of using prefabricated stuff, you want to be sure you are not adding too much sugar to the mix,” she says. “Drinks with citrus should generally be made a la minute, and get as close as you can to squeezing those juices into the glass. If you’re working in

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

a high-volume setting, while it’s good to have your fresh juices ready to go in your speed pours, they need to be dated with the time they were made, and made fresh between shifts.”

Patrick Williams, beverage manager for Punch Bowl Social’s national beverage program, cites the venue’s El Macho cocktail as an example of how fruit can be used to finish a reposado tequila cocktail rather than mask the natural flavors of other components, such as fresh muddled cucumber and spice from their cardamom syrup.

The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas has a bar program with over 150 original cocktails, so Mercer is inclined to mix the more exotic citrus fruits she has at her disposal with gin, vodka, unaged tequila or aquavit, though has discovered some aged spirits can pair beautifully as well.

As each fruit is case sensitive, she recommends playing with the proportions of spirit-to-citrus, because the brix and acidity levels vary greatly in citrus fruit.

Timna’s Nathan says his rule of thumb is to pair lemon with brown spirits, lime with clear and lighter liquors, and use orange, grapefruit or pineapple juices judiciously to add flavor to a cocktail or change its texture on top of the lime or lemon and balance drinks. Keyser has a more liberal approach to experimentation.

“I think any citrus can be used with any spirit, depending on what other modifiers are used,” she says.

“You’ll typically see the more acidic juices like lime and lemon with agave spirits and white rums. The more sweet and light juices like pineapple and orange go well with darker spirits like bourbon or dark rums. Ratios can vary widely depending on what your flavor profile wants to be.

A general rule of thumb for proportion is 1 part liquor to ½ parts citrus and ½ part sweetener or liqueur.”

A Word to The Wines Sangrias and spritzers, especially during the summer months, remind us that citrus fruits can add a happy dash of dimension to these lighter cocktails. Italian wine producer Santa Margherita has developed a promotional wine cocktail program for both trade and consumers to show how citrus expands a wine’s versatility.

Lisa Friedman, Santa Margherita’s marketing representative, offers some tips about how to use citrus properly in wine-based cocktails: • Wine cocktails differ from liquor cocktails when it comes to citrus, in that citrus can be used to soften or mask the taste of the liquor, while citrus can enhance the flavor profile of wines that make up a cocktail’s foundation.

• Prosecco doesn’t have to be “ruined” by concentrated orange juice, as fresh and seasonal fruit used to make juices and garnishes can enhance flavor and texture of the base wine.

• An alternative way to flavor cocktails with Prosecco and Pinot Grigio without adding anything to the wine itself is by rimming the glass with lemon and creating rimming sugars with grated peel and granulated sugar, so the citrus hits the nose before the palate. www.barbizmag.com

RECIPES Jupiña Paloma

By Chad Love, Ball & Chain, Miami, FL 1½ oz blanco tequila 1 oz fresh red pineapple juice ½ oz fresh lime juice 1 tsp sugar Top with Jupiña Pineapple Soda* Serve in a Collins glass with wedge of Grapefruit. Combine ingredients in glass and stir until sugar is mixed. Add ice and top with Jupiña. *Jupiña (pronounced hoo-peen-yah) is a sweet pineapple flavored carbonated bevarage. The name is from a condensed version of “Jugo de Piña (juice of pineapple). Jupiña is popular among the Cuban-American community.)

Blood Meridian

By James Ives, PINE in The Hanover Inn, Dartmouth NH 1¾ oz reposado tequila 1 oz fresh blood orange ½ oz fresh lime ¼ oz simple syrup 17 drops homemade Pine Bitters Rosemary

Crimson Hero

By Zachary Blair, Whiteface Lodge, Lake Placid, NY 3 oz Charbay Blood Orange Vodka ½ oz Barenjager ½ oz Dolin Vermouth Splash of lemon Twist of orange Garnish with torn sage leaf

Two Against One

By James Ives, PINE in The Hanover Inn, Dartmouth NH 1 oz Butter-Washed Bourbon 1 oz Linie Aquavit ½ oz Fino Sherry ½ oz house ginger cordial ½ oz fresh lemon Nori

Blood Meridian

June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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How To:

ilant g i V n i a m e R On-premise

The Nightlife Battlefield: Fighting Terrorism at Your Front Door

Shutterstock / Nazar Gonchar

Last year’s terror attack in Paris centered around a live music venue and local nightlife cafes. What does that mean for bar owners in the U.S.? By Robert C. Smith

B

OUNCER (def): Brut, a thug, an unintelligent guy whose job is to toss unruly guests to the sidewalk in-between checking IDs and looking for drunk guests. Not anymore folks!

This (stupid and incorrect) stereotype has been slowly evolving for the good over the years. I’ve even had

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some pretty heated discussions about using the name “bouncer” and what guests think of them. A few owners and managers—though not all—have the impression that guests will not come to their bar or club if they call security team employees “bouncers.” I totally understand their fear, even if I don’t

agree. One of our clients even uses the title “Beverage Ambassadors” for their security team. Ok. My solution to change any guest perception is fairly simple: Raise your standards surrounding hiring and training of your security team. This story is a direct reflection of how June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

15

How To:

necessary and important I feel the job—and training of our bar and club bouncers—is. Here’s a scary scenario for you to consider:

THE PLOT A family consisting of a 23-year-old male, his younger sister, his mother and grandmother, all live in a small foreign city. For this story, let’s call our male character Suspect. Suspect is unmarried and has no children and has hated America and all western ways since he can remember. He cares for his family, and based on the war raging in their country they’re invited to become refugees in Canada where they can live in peace and be free from all the bad elements.

Suspect and his family fly to Canada, are welcomed, interviewed, given temporary documents and allowed to start their new lives there.

Over the next year, all of them 16

embrace their refugee status and are eventually given Canadian citizenship.

Now with a legal Canadian passport, Suspect crosses our border and visits our nation’s capital.

While in Washington, D.C., he locates a suitable target, one with easy entry, plenty of people and a chance to have a high death toll—a sidewalk café/ restaurant/bar. He takes photos, video, and even talks to the nighttime door host and learns that Friday nights after 10 p.m. are the busiest. Suspect returns to Canada with his target set.

Once in Canada, Suspect ponders his task. He knows he is on the “grid” when he uses his legal Canadian passport. So he searches the Internet until he discovers one of many nearly invisible websites that sell counterfeit identification. He uses his real name, vital statistics and address for his $300 fake identification. Suspect has thought this through and knows he can cross

back into the U.S. with his Canadian passport and then use his fake identification to access his target for continued surveillance and his eventual act of terrorism.

Several weeks go by and Suspect uses his fake identification several times to visit the hospitality target. In final preparation he decides to visit the location at its busiest time and stands in line to enter around 11 p.m. on a Friday night.

As he gets to the front of the line, the bouncer, watching the guests in line, sees that Suspect appears to be under the age of 30 and, following policy, asks for identification. Suspect confidently hands the bouncer his fake identification and fully expects to have it inspected without issue.

However, this isn’t just a bouncer, he’s a trained professional with a unique set of skills. The door host examines the ID and notices a unique

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

Shutterstock / karenfoleyphotography

Our industry and all owners must view the November 2015 Paris attacks as a deadly wake-up call. We have to admit that, to terror suspects worldwide, the hospitality industry is a soft target.

“sheen” on the front. This is the first red flag that leads to several others. He then notices the light-reflective hologram is exactly what a real ID from that state would have, but it’s not as clear. He then cups the ID in his hand and lightly folds it and—BAM!—the thin, inexpensive microfilm covering the front of the ID buckles and forms a raised fold across the front.

Simultaneously, the bouncer immediately knows the ID is an Internet fake, places it in his pocket, and politely moves Suspect out of line to talk to him.

Suspect lightly protests but doesn’t make much of a scene and leaves— without his fake identification.

THE PREVENTION So, what happens next? Well, our terror suspect walks away, scared and frustrated, but he gets to walk away. He can’t gain access to the bar to complete his act of terrorism, unless he uses his real Canadian passport, which he won’t do. So, for now at least, he has to regroup and re-plan his attack.

This is a great win for the bouncer, even if he doesn’t realize what he’s done. But is there more that could have been done? I think so. The next several points surround understanding the seriousness of the problem and what we must consider once a bad, borrowed or Internet fake identification is discovered: 1) Our industry and all owners must view the November 2015 Paris attacks as a deadly wake-up call. The highest level of security at most bars or clubs is normally a guy in an XXL shirt. We have to admit that, to terror suspects worldwide, the hospitality industry is a soft target. This simply means our industry is an easy mark with plenty of potential casualties.

2) Normally, we’re not worried much about a 20-year-old with a borrowed or fake identification. We catch them, keep the ID, and turn them away. Please, reassess this issue and realize that terror suspects are our largest worry regarding the best forms of fake identification, the “China Fakes.” These ID’s are good.

When used at your door they will scan

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on any machine, they will have the correct black-light holograms and will appear so good that only by authorities actually calling-in the number on the fake ID will they realize it’s not legitimate.

3) If we agree on numbers one and two above, then the next step is to get all the stakeholders to the table to

discuss and agree upon the idea that this is a very serious issue, and that calling police when a fake ID is discovered should be the standard protocol for all bars or clubs. And when an operator does call, they should have total amnesty from trouble with the authorities for that call.

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4) Next, it is important to have staff properly trained in two areas: A) Know what to look for when they check the identification. This isn’t just for the bouncer, it’s training for the server and bartender too.

B) Understand the law surrounding legal detentions for misdemeanor crimes. This isn’t physical, hands-on force, but instead verbal commands or directions.

Detentions are legal in every state and are only scary when attempted with no training. The steps are simple; I) Employee finds the bad ID II) Employee tells their manager about the bad ID III) Manager tells the guest to sit down or, if already seated at a table, to stay seated while they call authorities IV) Manager calls authorities V) Guest stays where they are and authorities arrive to deal with them VI) If guest runs away, when authorities arrive they conduct their investigation and decide whether to involve federal authorities for this subject or not

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Now go back to our original scenario. Let’s pretend the bouncer moves Suspect from the line and says, “Stand over here while I get my manager and he calls the police.”

Suspect decides to walk or run away. Remember, he knows he’s a terrorist and also knows police are being called.

Police arrive and conduct a cursory investigation.

They talk to the bouncer, the manager, and view the ID Suspect presented. They run the numbers in their computer and discover no record. They view the available frontdoor video and see that Suspect doesn’t appear to be underage. To use police speak, “The totality of the circumstances” point to a more serious potential problem, and they decide to contact the FBI and other federal agencies. The authorities use all their resources and track Suspect to his home in Canada.

What do you think now? Isn’t this a much better and appropriate outcome? And remember, when authorities arrived, they might have done their investigation and felt the person was just a young, brash college student. Who cares? We did what was right on all fronts.

I know this is a scary topic and hard for everyone to wrap their heads around. Even the authorities have a hard time considering that bouncers may have a better chance to deal directly with a potential terror suspect than the police would. The hospitality industry must stay ahead of the curve on this and accept that terror suspects are told to act “Western” to blend in. They are here and they may be visiting your venue.

Good luck and be safe.

Robert C. Smith is the President and CEO of Nightclub Security Consultants, Inc.Visit www.nightclubsecurity.com.

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

How To:

nd Build a Bra and Then Expand

Nothing to Hide A

s the speakeasy trend continues to grow across the country bolstered by a continuing devotion to Prohibition-era cocktails and the culture surrounding them, one of the key components to any new venue attempting to open in this vein has typically been location—big cities with heavy foot traffic and word-of-

20

mouth to attract and maintain business.

Floral Park, New York, a sleepy town just beyond the border of New York City’s five boroughs, doesn’t quite qualify. With a population just over 15,000, most folks here head into Manhattan to find nightlife beyond quaint Irish pub fare. Yet Cork & Kerry, a new speakeasy well hidden behind the

façade of a coffee shop, has built enough of a loyal following to not only be profitable, but to allow for expansion.

“I was always intrigued by the ‘speakeasy’ notion of walking through a hidden door, the feeling of being in an underground club or trying to envision what it was like back in the 20s and 30s, and I always felt the gimmick of

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

photo credit here

The proprietors of New York’s Cork & Kerry not only took a calculated risk in opening the first true speakeasy on Long Island, they also leveraged its uncertain success into a second location soon after. Here’s why it worked. By Chris Ytuarte

the hidden door would bring people in—but the bar concept would be what created our clientele,” says Chris Corbett, owner of Cork & Kerry.

In addition to the initial challenge of opening an unadvertised hidden bar in a town with minimal foot traffic and few non-traditional drinkers, the speakeasy itself was an alien concept throughout Long Island. In Manhattan and Brooklyn, places like PDT and Middle Branch have thrived; but were the suburbs ready for a speakeasy?

“There really aren’t many craft cocktail bars on Long Island in general, and specifically in western Nassau County,” says Corbett. “Most Long Island bars seem to be beer-and-shot places that cater to younger crowds.”

To his credit, Corbett went in the opposite direction. Having a strong knowledge (and affinity) for whiskey, he helped assemble a spirits list for Cork & Kerry that would provide value as well as plenty of rare, hard-to-find labels; and the cocktails, he says, were purposely geared toward the clientele they hoped to host. In order to do all this, Corbett brought Doug Brickel on board as Beverage Director to steer them in the right direction while keeping that target clientele in mind.

“We try to show off our creativity in techniques and flavors throughout our cocktail menus in order to reward the people who take the chance in coming out to find us,” says Brickel of the speakeasy format. “Whether they’ve heard of us through someone they know or if they find us through our social media platforms, we want the people bold enough to come visit us to see the best we have to offer. We can also offer cocktails that we find interesting, knowing that we have a bit more adventurous clientele.”

With the odds seemingly stacked against them thanks to a challenging format and an unproven location, Corbett and Brickel opened the (hidden) door to Cork & Kerry in 2015. The Roast, a functioning coffee shop, is the only business viewable from the street, requiring those in-the-know to open a secret door at the back of the shop to enter the darkly-lit, rustic interior of Cork & Kerry. From there,

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the cocktails—and the staff—do the heavy lifting.

“Since we don’t advertise at all, every interaction we have with every guest that comes to visit us is essential,” Brickel describes. “We know that word-of-mouth is crucial for our success, and we understand that can be a double-edged sword, as bad news tends to travel even faster than good.

So we take the time to taste and to make sure every cocktail meets our standards before it crosses the bar. As important as it is to us that the cocktail quality be high, we put a massive emphasis on customer relations as well.

No matter how delicious a cocktail may be, no one will want to drink with a bartender who doesn’t value their patronage and make them feel at home.”

“I thought about the hidden bar thing a lot,” continues Corbett.

“Weekdays usually aren’t the busiest and weekends usually require us to stop letting people in. This is a common problem on Long Island, if not most of America. Trying to convince my partners of this concept and trying to use social media as our only form of advertising and communication wasn’t easy. But it works, and it keeps the speakeasy vibe from being too ‘in your face.’ It’s bad

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June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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How To: business, I know, but I get a kick out of private messages from people saying they couldn’t find us.”

But people have found Cork & Kerry, and not just those from Floral Park and its neighboring towns.

Customers are coming from all over Long Island, with the most common online review being something along the line of, “I always thought I had to

go to Manhattan to find a place this cool!” In fact, the near immediate response and success led Corbett and his team to open a second iteration of Cork & Kerry in the town of Rockville Centre, less than ten miles east of the first Long Island location.

The newer venue, situated inside a house on a rather residential stretch of road, created a different set of

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AND

"You always think about expanding, but it has to be perfect to pull the trigger." challenges. There is no secondary business behind which the bar is hidden, leaving the beverage program the sole draw to the otherwise indistinguishable location—as well as being the sole source of revenue.

“The second location was a bit tricky because we had this house that had such character, and while there was a lot of chatter about Cork & Kerry’s new location, we really didn’t know how to pull off the whole speakeasy feel with it,” Corbett admits.

“We ended up trying to make it look like and old landmarked building that doubles as a museum. But it’s neither.

And the Rockville Centre location has only one business. We toyed with the coffee idea there, but in the end we thought it was too strange to have a speakeasy bar that is also a speakeasy coffee shop but claims to be a museum and landmark. And because Rockville Centre has so much more nightlife, the bar is sustainable alone.”

Next, Corbett and Brickel needed to address how the Cork & Kerry brand would be identifiable throughout this and any possible future expansion.

While the physical locations offered contrasting looks and styles, Brickel was charged with creating a unifying beverage concept that would leave people in either venue aware of the fact that this was a Cork & Kerry cocktail without simply mimicking—and therefore minimizing—the experience.

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

“Our Floral Park location is about eleven months older than our Rockville Centre location, so we had a lot of time to consider how we wanted to work the newest menu,” says Brickel. “It’s comprised of tried-and-true signature drinks from our Floral Park menu, new house originals, and our take on other classic cocktails we hadn’t previously featured. We are able to make almost all of the menu drinks at either location, but we find that the few that are native to one bar or the other are worth traveling for.”

As with any expansion, a bar owner must also be aware of cannibalizing business from one venue to feed the other. Distance and demographics become vital.

“While the locations are 15 minutes apart, I feel like they are still close,” says Corbett. “Being that Floral Park was getting a lot of Suffolk County and eastern Long Island traffic, I was nervous one might poach the other, but it really hasn’t noticeably happened yet.

With a planned menu change, we are going to separate the two locations a little bit more as well. And it helps that employees and owners of other Rockville Centre bars and restaurants have welcomed us beyond how I would have imagined.”

As both Cork & Kerry locations continue to thrive, Corbett and Brickel have played a hand many others wouldn’t dare, bringing a speakeasy bar to a region unaccustomed to the style and unaware of its very existence, knowing full well it was a required risk for such a venue to be authentic. And it is authenticity—in the design and in the cocktails—that breeds the kind of success that allows for expansion.

“We actually signed the Rockville Centre lease before we opened Floral Park,” Corbett discloses. “I didn’t want someone seeing the Floral Park location work and then opening up that concept in a town like Rockville Centre. But the success and overwhelming response solidified moving forward with the same concept. You always think about expanding. But it has to be the perfect scenario in order to pull the trigger.”

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How To:

Best Utilize Outdoor Space

The roofdeck at Backbeat, Austin, Texas.

The Great Outdoors "W

e believe outdoor space for a bar works best if it’s an extension of the interior space,” says Jamie Chioco of Chioco Design, who this year created a brand new bar space in Austin, Texas called Backbeat. “As an extension of the interior space it also has to function for it’s operators.

There are certain acceptable levels of

24

performance given the site and other constraints, but we always try to design a highly functional space.”

In other words, when considering your outdoor space, it’s best to work from the inside, out.

Chioco’s design for Backbeat, Austin’s much anticipated cocktail bar from the husband and wife team Michael and Jessica Sanders, resulted

in a stylish, two-story venue that comes to life with two distinctive spaces including a cocktail lounge on the first level and a rooftop patio on the second level with stunning views of the downtown Austin skyline from the bar’s prime location. The two contemporary spaces, as suggested

by Chioco, are integrated with creative design elements ensuring

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

photo credit here

A new bar in Austin, Texas serves as a case study in ways to work outdoor space into your design when building new or building out on an existing space. By Elyse Glickman

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guests will always feel connected.

“Texans love patio drinking,” says Sanders. “Though summers can be oppressively hot, overall, weather here is pretty conducive to being outdoors and people here certainly look for places that allow them to do that. As we ventured into a new project, we knew it would be important to have that element for our guests."

TOOLS TO KEEP COOL Obviously, excessive temperatures can be a concern for any bar owner building an outdoor space; while the extra room can bring in more business, it can also be costprohibitive to maintain an outdoor space that is too uncomfortable for patrons to utilize. “You have to understand the context in relation to sun exposure, views, privacy, noise, etc.,” agrees Chioco.

To ensure your outdoor space is inhabitable in nearly any climate or temperature, companies like Big Ass Fans, of Lexington, Kentucky (www.

bigassfans.com), have spent years innovating outdoor elements that can keep things cool—and well lit—for patios, courtyards, and any other exposed spaces in your bar. The company’s latest line of fans, its Haiku series, are ideal for outdoor areas of any size, large or small. Spanning 52to 84-inches in diameter, the Haiku fans are made of sustainably harvested Moso bamboo, durable matrix composite or aircraft-grade aluminum.

And while they’re stature is less than some of Big Ass Fans’ truly big ass fans, the Haiku line delivers silent air circulation with award-winning style while requiring less of a footprint in your venue.

“The main difference really is a structural mount verses conjunction box mount,” explains Leah Achterberg, Custom Product Development at Big Ass Fans. “You're looking at 100 pounds with our other fans and with Haiku you're looking at around 13 to 20 pounds. So the Energy Star ratings that we have on

those fans is extremely high and energy costs are extremely low.”

While the Haiku’s size and efficiency help boost your bottom line when utility bills come in, Big Ass Fan’s Essence line can also enable bar owners to create a secondary revenue stream from their outdoor space by providing marketing space. The company is already partnering with a local artist to create hand-painted fan foils for custom aesthetics; even more interesting is the process of dye sublimation image transfers, which allow owners to apply brand-specific imagery or wording to their fan foils, opening a door to potential partnerships with liquor companies and beer manufacturers to promote products inside a venue.

“We did this for a bar and Budweiser actually sponsored the fans, so they had Budweiser on the bottom, which is a stationary hub, and it’s over their outdoor patio,” describes Rachel Sawyer at Big Ass Fans.

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June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

27

How To: Schwank outdoor heaters warm up open-air spaces.

TURN UP THE HEAT Schwank, with offices in Georgia and Ontario, Canada, is another company providing vital components for outdoor bar spaces, but in the opposite direction—radiant heat for patios.

Just as soaring temperatures can drive customers away from your

outdoor space, cooler air at night can do the same. With three lines of patio heaters ideal for bars—bistroSchwank, supremeSchwank, and comfortSchwank—this company knows how to warm things up on this brisk summer nights.

“There are two different types, one

being a high intensity heater and one being a tube heater, which is also referred to as low intensity,” explains Andrew Aceti, Marketing Manager at Schwank. “The high intensity heaters are much smaller units, but they provide more heat to the floor than a low intensity heater would. They can be hung higher. It's a great way to heat your patio, and keep your patio open, and increase your seating.”

As with fans, the style and design of your outdoor space will affect how you can install and most effectively utilize patio heaters. If your patio is entirely open with no overhead structures, your options change; likewise, if the space has lower ceiling but open walls, there are factors to consider with looking into heating components.

“If there is no structure to hang the heater, then you're not going to go with an overhead option obviously,” says Aceti. “The other limitation would be the clearance to combustibles—

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Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

from the top of the heater to a structure.

Our supremeSchwank has the lowest clearance to combustibles, which means that you can mount it closer to the ceiling. There is a minimum range to prevent any accidents, and our tube heaters also have low clearance to combustibles. If you have a low ceiling, you're probably going to use a tube heater because you can mount it closer to the floor than you would a high intensity.”

On its website, Schwank offers a patio ROI tool that bar owners can use to generate the cost-effectiveness of investing in outdoor heaters (www. patioschwank.com/calculator). “It allows you to input the size of your patio, the average check per seat per hour, and the average occupancy rate,” explains Aceti. “It's a really good tool to see what you would earn additionally each year after you've invested in a patio heater. They try the tool out and see, ‘Wow, I can pay this off in a year, or two

Too many bar owners simply throw open a back door, turn on a light, and say 'Here's our outdoor space.' years,’ depending on the venue. For restaurants that do have a really nice patio where people typically want to sit, if they can stay open longer, then they're going to pay it off even quicker.”

While its line of patio heaters directly impacts your customer base on cool nights and helps boost bar tabs, Schwank, similar to Big Ass Fans, offers a product that can also benefit your utility bill. Schwank Air Curtains are an innovative way to create a 90% seal for your doorway to save energy and create a more comfortable environment. The air curtain is mounted above any doorway to keep conditioned air in and decrease your energy bills. The air seal

created by Schwank Air Curtains also deters insects and debris when the doors are open.

“We all know air conditioning is really expensive, so it stops your air conditioning from going out of the building and the heat from coming in the building,” says Aceti. “It's basically a wall of air that prevents something

from coming in or going out. It would be perfect for any door leading out to a restaurant patio.”

MEANWHILE, BACK IN AUSTIN With your equipment in place, building and managing an outdoor space still requires some specific skills and dedication. At Backbeat in Austin,

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How To: the Sanders not only needed to manage an outdoor space, but also one that—similar to many urban bar owners—is located on a second floor roof environment.

“Managing a separate second floor space presents some challenges,” Sanders admits. “You need to ensure that you are monitoring capacity and

30

that ingress and egress up and down stairs is safe for your guests. Beyond that, there’s the hospitality aspect. We want people who are on the patio to feel as connected to their bartender and our service experience as someone who is seated directly at the bar.

Having staff that is dedicated solely to serving that second floor space is a

critical component. When you have eyes always on that roof, you’re working to ensure it’s both safe and comfortable for guests."

If you’re already investing in Big Ass Fans and patio Schwank Heaters, you’re aware of the aesthetic and you don’t want to run it. But too many bar owners simply throw open a back door, turn on a light, and say, ‘Here’s my outdoor space.’ That just won’t fly when your competition is doing something better.

“Patio spaces sometimes run the risk of being too casual, raw or messy,” agrees Sanders. “Constant exposure to the elements and high volume traffic can leave an operator vulnerable to an outdoor area that, over time, begins to look tired and unfinished. We wanted the space at Backbeat to be clean, inviting and relaxing. Jamie Chioco created a space with beautiful landscaping, simple but well-crafted handmade furniture and elegant lighting, which was all part of bringing that goal to fruition."

So you have your space, you’re accumulating your equipment, and you’re ready for the outdoor season to begin. But how can you take that first step towards building a beast of an outdoor bar space?

“Start small and think far beyond your opening months,” advises Sanders. “It can be tempting to build out a patio space that seats 100 or more people. However, I think an operator needs to ask themselves if they can realistically provide the service guests deserve—in terms of speed of service, quality of product and hospitality—at all times, to that many people, every single night.

“Are they prepared to keep a space that large clean and well maintained, not just for the first year but for the first five years? Quantity and quality are not always synonymous. We’d rather absolutely dazzle 40 people on that rooftop than ‘churn and burn’ through 400 people with a ‘just okay’ experience.”

That is some great advice. Now, get out there.

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

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www.barbizspiritscompetition.com

A Classic

Approach

By Chris Ytuarte

As part of the cocktail culture around the globe, Cherry Heering is challenging mixologists to blend the legendary liqueur into some of the world’s most Well known classic cocktails.

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hink about this: Cherry Heering, Peter F. Heering’s famous cherry liqueur, began production in 1818. That same year, the United States, under president James Monroe, admitted Illinois as the 21st state. In other words, we were less than halfway to being a complete country when Cherry Heering began being served. That, without a doubt, is classic.

Fast forward a few hundred years, and this iconic spirit is making yet another move toward a classic moment by embracing the classic cocktails of modern

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times and encouraging today’s mixologists to set them up with a twist of Cherry Heering through a new competition campaign known as The 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge.

“I think it’s perfect timing to focus on the classics,” says Adéle Robberstad, CEO of Peter F. Heering. “It’s about encouraging people to take those classic cocktails that have survived hundreds of years and play with them. They have a strong base and they’ve been around a long time because of that. But we can tweak them.”

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

Slingshot Past Throughout its nearly two-century existence, Cherry Heering has, of course, become most prominently known as the foundation of the Singapore Sling, the ingredient without which this old-world cocktail simply cannot (and should not) be made. “Dale DeGroff and Tony Abou-Ganim have said so many times, ‘If you don’t have Cherry Heering, don’t even bother making a Sling or don’t even try to make a Blood & Sand,’ and that means a lot to us,” says Robberstad.

“In 1998, I opened The Bellagio in Las Vegas, and what we wanted to do was resurrect lost and forgotten classic cocktails along with their original recipes,” explains Abou-Ganim, The Modern Mixologist. “We would serve somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 drinks a day, and once the Singapore Sling hit the menu it became very popular, so much so that we depleted the entire supply of Cherry Heering in Nevada. Our suppliers had to go out and find us Cherry Heering from all over the country.”

Following suit, The Peter F. Heering Sling Awards, a highly successful cocktail competition focused on creating offshoot Sling cocktails, originated as part of the Bar Convent Berlin international bar and beverage trade show, accentuating Heering’s European history and strength. Eventually the brand opened the competition to entries from the U.S. and saw the number of competing recipes grow to over 2,000.

“The Singapore Sling is a cocktail very much about the history and heritage of what bartending is all about,” says Andy Seymour, one of America’s top bartenders and educators. “You can’t make this drink without the Cherry Heering. It is the heart and soul, deep richness, texture and flavor.”

With the Singapore Sling firmly on the map, Cherry Heering trademarked the cocktail so that any proper concoction using the name is required to include their cherry liqueur. But the brains behind this brand knew there was more to be had in the marketplace.

“The Singapore Sling is interesting and it’s definitely one of our most recognizable cocktails, but it’s also kind of limiting at the end of the day,” explains Michelle Chernoff, Director Sales & Marketing, Peter F. Heering. “So what we wanted to do is embrace the classic cocktails, and we were able to take this paradigm and shift it to The 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge. It’s inclusive of the Singapore Sling and at the same time it also opens up the category.”

Cherry Heering has kicked off its new Classics campaign by creating multiple workshops around the globe to educate bartenders and mixologists leading up to The 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge and beyond. The workshops, which will continue even after the competition finals take place in October, are hosted by some of the Cherry Heering Legends—cocktail mavens and mixologists from around the world who have supported the brand long before the Classics and will do so long after. (To see a full lineup of the Cherry Heering Legends, visit www.barbizmag.com.) www.barbizmag.com

“I think it’s on the mind of all brands, Cherry Heering and others, to get bartenders excited and making great cocktails,” says Robberstad. ”When we’re running all these workshops around the world, with another 32 coming up this autumn, we’re having people try Cherry Heering. And these workshops mean a lot; they are eye-openers. People are surprised to learn how well Heering goes with whiskey or Scotch or brandy or mezcal or pisco or gin. It’s that ‘a-ha!’ moment for the brand.”

“We held workshops where bartenders used Cherry Heering as a modifier in classic cocktails and had people taste them, and each workshop was different depending on the base spirit,” adds Chernoff. “We had a chopping table where they could select different herbs, fruit, spices, etc., and play around with them.

We took recommendations from The Flavor Bible. We tried to make it seamless, and we tried to make it inclusive, but it wasn’t about just the Singapore Sling anymore; it was about Heering being a classic ingredient and making classic cocktails with a twist.”

“The evolution of our cocktail competition from the Heering Sling Award to the highly anticipated Heering Classic Challenge is perfectly timed to complement the recently revealed Heering Legends, which serves as the ultimate showcase of why Peter F. Heering inspires bartenders around the globe to create their ultimate modern classic cocktail,” says Robberstad.

Recipe 1 part Cherry Heering 2 parts gin 8 parts pineapple juice 1 part lime juice 1/2 part Cointreau 1/2 part Dom Benedictine 1/2 part grenadine Dash of Angostura Bitters Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a Sling glass.

Garnish with a fresh pineapple and a fresh cherry.

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An early and longtime backer of the brand, current workshop host, and preeminent cocktail connoisseur, H. Joseph Ehrmann of San Francisco’s famed Elixir bar in 2013 wrote of his passion for the Singapore Sling and Cherry Heering in an article for CocktailAmbassadors. com. Interestingly, his words back then echo the brand’s newest endeavor today: “I found myself back in Manhattan as a judge in the national finals of the Heering Cherry Sling Competition alongside my friend and mentor Dale DeGroff, amongst other esteemed judges.

“The debates over the proper ingredients include the type and usage of water, the quantity and variety of liqueurs and the difference between unsweetened (or ‘dry’) cherry eau de vie (proper brandy) and cherryflavored, brandy-based liqueur, most notably Heering.

The inclusion or exclusion of certain ingredients and quantities...are the essence of creating twists and spins on a cocktail idea or formula.”

Today, that same notion is being applied to the classic cocktail canon with The 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge, as the liqueur is added to some of the world’s most famous drinks in order to provide a new twist and to find out, as Ehrmann put it, “what works and does not work.”

The 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge asks bartenders from around the globe to pick a classic cocktail and modernize it with a twist that best defines 34

their talent, taste, personality and what most inspires them about using Cherry Heering in a modern classic cocktail. The annual competition starts with four rounds, with ten semi-finalists competing to become one of five finalists shaking up their inspired Cherry Heering cocktail during the always spectacular London Cocktail Week.

The competition, now closed to entries for 2016, will include a quarterfinal round where an international expert jury will select one winner from each

I awlays say, ‘A real brand never dies; it might sleep for a while, but then it’s back. That’s what Cherry Heering is. participating country. Out of the national winners, ten will be selected for the semi-final. The ten semifinalists will compete during London Cocktail Week at the beginning of October, and an international expert jury will then choose five finalists among the ten. The five finalists will personally present their cocktails and philosophy behind them at the final during London Cocktail Week 2016 in October.

By opening up a Cherry Heering competition to more than just the Singapore Sling and encompassing

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

Shutterstock /name

Slingshot Forward

dozens of classic cocktails, the brand anticipates a great benefit for the on-premise market. Consider this: One bottle of Cherry Heering can last a long time as it is typically a small measure in any one cocktail. You could make 50 or 60 drinks before finishing one bottle.

“The bar owner wants to use great ingredients to make amazing cocktails but it can’t cost a fortune,” says Robberstad. “It’s a little bit like what H. has said in all his workshops; from his perspective it’s all about the costs, but it’s also about being able to deliver these great cocktails. So if you’re going to make one of the classics, you can add Cherry Heering to some of these old recipes and it’s easy on your bottom line.”

Back to the Future As a classic brand with nearly 200 years under its belt, it makes nothing but good sense for Cherry Heering to be positioning itself as a valuable on-premise tool for creating enhanced classic cocktails. Through its new competition and accompanying workshops, the brand aims to inform people that combining history with forward-thinking innovation can often create greatness, while at the same time reminding the industry that, sometimes, the oldies are still goodies— and for good reason.

“To me, what’s been happening with the mixology movement is that we got into a few years where people were so out there, using so many ingredients in a cocktail, and customers are waiting ten or 20 minutes and we’re using things you can’t even pronounce,” laments Chernoff. “Let’s go back to the real classics and make them your own in some way.”

“The reason why these classic cocktails are still alive is that they are amazing,” adds Robberstad. “And I think that is also why Cherry Heering is alive. I always say, ‘A real brand never dies; it might sleep for a while, but then it’s back.’ And that’s because there is something special about them. That’s what Cherry Heering is. When we talk to the bartenders and brand ambassadors we brought on board after bringing the brand back, they all cited the quality, but also the history. And now we can add the twist of being modern.

“And we have to thank the bar community and all the Legends. Not having the marketing budget and sales force of the big brands, we could have never resurrected Cherry Heering without them. This is all due to their passion and persistence to have the correct authentic ingredients for the classic cocktails.”

So Cherry Heering moves into the realm of classic cocktails, combining two old forms to create one modern movement. “You can create good products today, but you can never add those 200 years to it,” Robberstad points out. With the 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge, we may find out where those two roads finally meet.

Find out more about The 2016 Peter F. Heering Classic Challenge and see if one of the accompanying Heering Classic workshops is coming to your area by logging on to www.heering.com. www.barbizmag.com

Recipe 2 parts Cherry Heering 2 parts gin 2 parts sweet vermouth 2 parts Campari Orange Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir max 19 turns, strain into lowball glass. Squeeze and garnish with an orange zest on top.

Recipe 1 part Cherry Heering 1 part Scotch 1 part sweet vermouth 1 part freshly squeezed orange juice Shake all ingredients and double strain into a stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

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Room To

Spare

By Chris Ytuarte

S

ometimes it’s as simple as doing what you think needs to be done. After all, The Dude abides.

In the case of Los Angeles-based 1933 Group, once again they felt a calling, drawn to a local landmark that, in their hands, could become great again. This is what needed to be done. So, the dudes abide.

The dudes, in this case, are 1933 Group owners Bobby Green, Dimitri Komarov, and Dmitry Liberman, who in April opened the doors to their latest restoration nightlife project, Highland Park Bowl, Los Angeles’ oldest operating bowling alley that is now home to a worldclass food and beverage program

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suited to the antiquated environment of both the bar and of bowling itself.

“On the heels of iconic Idle Hour in North Hollywood, Highland Park Bowl is our second major restoration,” Green says. “Our ongoing philosophy is to embrace the nostalgia of the city and tell its story, and this project is no exception. Highland Park’s rich arts history and this bowling alley are impactful pieces to that story.”

INSPIRATION STRIKES Following the success of its Idle Hour project last year (see Bar Business, April 2015: Former Glory ), 1933 Group sought to rediscover close to 90 years of history

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

The always unconventional 1933 Group has rescued, renovated and revived another Los Angeles area landmark with the opening of Highland Park Bowl, a striking new venue of strikes, gutterballs, grub and great drinks. by dusting off Highland Park Bowl. Established in 1927, the building has housed a pharmacy, music store, and recreation space, along with various doctors’ offices on the second floor. It became a neighborhood favorite, and in the 1930s, the music store acquired a live music permit and fulfilled yet another spirited layer of culture into the destination. In 1966, Joseph “Mr. T” Teresa, an Italian immigrant, purchased the building and renamed it Mr. T’s Bowl. With a complete overhaul, he concealed the original design. The 1933 Group, however, was able to uncover it, and the final result is both grand and grandfathered, in spectacular fashion.

“It’s like that perfect storm, a combination of what I www.barbizmag.com

do as a designer meeting the incredible bones of a structure,” explains Green. “Usually what I’m doing is trying to make something really amazing and beautiful in a generic box, but in this instance, everything about the space, once the layers and layers of remodels were stripped away, was just priceless.”

Similar to the Idle Hour project, Green and the 1933 Group had their eye on Highland Park Bowl, waiting for their chance to secure the property and restore its former glory. When a friend purchased the venue and inquired if 1933 Group was interested, they did not hesitate, and immediately began stripping away the interior façade to find design gold underneath.

“The ceiling was priceless, the walls were priceless, all these little elements about the place, priceless,” says Green. “Most of my generation frequented this place as a punk rock venue and never knew that what you can see now even existed. I think that’s the fascination. It’s like going to your old family home that you grew up in, and suddenly it’s a mansion, and all you had to do was tear out the top ceiling and scrape off the wallpaper. I think that combination is really what’s blowing everybody away.”

Paying homage to the building’s antiquity, 1933 Group restored its design and introduced an amalgamation of happenings spanning the location’s history—from a dedicated live music area located in the original music store space and aptly named Mr. T’s Room, to a refurbished eight-lane bowling alley, an in-house microbrewery (slated to open in 2017), openair kitchen, dueling horseshoe-shaped bars, and a catwalk overlooking the lanes.

“This restoration is a retrospective of the venue, commemorating the various characteristics and characters that were beloved over the years, while also ushering it into a new era,” Komarov says. “This is something we think today’s Angelenos are looking for, a truly authentic experience you won’t get anywhere else.”

As a testament to 1933 Group’s ongoing conservancy efforts, they peeled away years of redesign to bare the original Spanish Revival aesthetic of Highland Park Bowl’s façade and structure, and with it an expansive mural painted during the 1930s Arts & Crafts Movement, as well as refreshed bow truss architecture and voluminous sky lights. Décor elements, such as the alley’s vintage pinsetters repurposed into chandeliers and bar shelves, embrace the alley’s inherent roots and give it a raw, industrial feel. Additionally, antique pins are illuminated as lamps, salvaged bowling alley trinkets and league pennants are displayed throughout, and Brunswick pinsetters are exposed, offering bowlers and onlookers a look inside the workings of the machines.

“It’s funny how many people we’ve met who say, ‘My grandfather used to go to this bowling alley when there were pinsetters,’” explains Komarov. “We even met a 60-year-old guy that was a pinsetter in this place as a kid back in the day.”

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Everything has a meaning and a reason, and it’s usually paying homage to those that came before us.

SPLIT BUSINESS Of course, there is more to Highland Park Bowl than just pins and alleys, as 1933 Group has created a food and beverage program that plays off of the bowling theme while being stellar and sophisticated.

The beverage program, a creative collaboration of the bar team, offers a rotating selection of craft suds and a medley of cocktails handcrafted with the quality of standards for which 1933 Group is known.

Drinks celebrate various eras of Highland Park Bowl’s timeline and are inspired by cult classics, including The Dude Abides, which tips a hat to The Big Lebowski by reinventing the White Russian with Tito’s Vodka, 38

housemade Civil Coffee liqueur, horchata cream (made with rice milk), and cinnamon tincture. The Modern Washout, a bowling term for a setup of pins, combines Sino Reposado Tequila, Ancho Reyes, pineapple gomme, raspberry puree, and lemon juice, garnished with raspberry and Tajin-dusted pineapple.

“There’s one cocktail called Warren Loves His Mama, and that’s because there was a bowling scene in the movie Throw Momma From the Train that was actually filmed at Mr. T’s Bowl,” describes Green. “The thing with this concept is we tried to put a maximum amount of thought and meaning into everything that gets put on the menu, and this one was fun because obviously we’re going to take inspiration from the

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

history of bowling and pop culture and throw it back into our cocktail program.”

Overseen by Executive Chef Richie Lopez, Master Pizzaiolo Chef Marco Aromatario and Chef Cristian Lupo designed the food service by utilizing a woodfired oven to craft Neapolitan-style pizzas.

Ingredients are carefully sourced with authenticity and quality in mind, and are used in rossa and bianca varieties, such as Crudo e Arugula topped with San Marzano tomato sauce, Di Stefano mozzarella, arugula, prosciutto crudo, and parmesan and Burrata layered with confit heirloom tomatoes, burrata cheese, and rustic pesto. Also available are gourmet sandwiches and salads, along with playful nods to the past including one of Mr. T’s favorite dishes, Italian Sausage, which has been retooled to become the Signor T with Salsiccia sausage, white beans, Swiss chard, and chimichurri.

“Our food program was originally inspired by wanting to give a nod to Mr. T, who owned the place from 1966 until he passed away in the 2000s,” says Green. “He was an Italian immigrant and he always used to make Italian food for his customers.”

As usual, authenticity and reverence for design of the past play a large role in the work done by 1933 Group, whether developing a physical space or the service elements within. “The only thing modern

about any of this is that we were able to add a modern scoring system with a little camera that stays with the pins, knows how many pins got knocked down, then tells the computer that information so people can get their score on a T V,” says Green.

“We figured nobody knows how to keep bowling scores anymore,” Komarov adds. “It’s been a long time since anybody used a hand system, so we tried to make the experience as seamless as possible for the customers.”

“Yeah,” agrees Green, “you have to choose your battles. This place was built in 1927 and pinsetting machines weren’t invented until right after World War II, so for 20 years they had humans or monkeys or kids setting up the pins. And as much as we would love to bring that back, the cost of labor and of course the outlawing of child labor just will not allow it.”

Even authenticity has its limits, but once again, 1933 Group has found that sweet spot. Which lane it’s in, you’ll have to bowl on your own to find out.

Highland Park Bowl is 1933 Group’s ninth concept in Los Angeles and is located at 5621 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90042.

Highland Park Bowl is open seven days a week, Monday-Friday from 5 p.m. -2 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., and welcomes private events and birthday parties for all ages. For more information, please visit www.HighlandParkBowl.com.

The restoration is truly a retrospective of the venue and its beloved characteristics. www.barbizmag.com

June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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Being Social in sin city With Tony Abou-Ganim onboard to create a an inventive cocktail program and James Beard Award-winning chef Shawn McClain in the kitchen, the dynamic, interactive environment at Libertine Social will bring a classy experience to Las Vegas this summer. By Chris Ytuarte

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Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

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new venue opening this summer will challenge diners to free their minds from preconceived notions about bar/restaurants and get ready to eat, drink and socialize in a different way at Mandalay Bay’s soon-to-be hotspot, Libertine Social, opening this summer in Las Vegas.

The next-generation gastropub will stimulate the senses with New American bar food by renowned chef Shawn McClain, a pioneering cocktail program by Modern Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim, and a range of compelling atmospheres to fit diners’ motivations.

“With Libertine Social, we wanted to create a dynamic experience that celebrates the connections and memories made while sharing in the pleasure of delicious food and excellent drinks,” says MClain. “It’s our vision to excite our guests by being both familiar and bold, comfortable and cutting edge with this concept. Libertine Social invites guests to define their experiences on their own terms, whether it’s stopping in for a quick drink solo or coming in for a special occasion with a large group, and everything in between.”

The freethinking masses wishing to eat, drink and liberate on their own terms will be able choose from a number of unique, interactive experiences: • Communal tables and modular mixed-use seating in Voyeur’s Lounge, the main lounge near the restaurant entrance, will host large groups of friends or solo diners looking to make new ones; a signature juke box curated

by McClain will make for great late night dance-offs and an ultra-cool vibe.

• Foodies will be in for a rare treat, sitting kitchen-side at the Chef’s Table overlooking the restaurant’s focal point – its wood-fired ovens and cooking line in which they can watch the skilled chef team in action; • An outdoor patio will provide sun-seekers the optimal place to bask in the warm Vegas weather; ideal for happy hours and private events • Scratch Bar, a secondary bar designed for intimate socializing and specialized cocktailing, will also be available for private events.

• Those looking for a more traditional dining experience can sit at a number of tables throughout the Main Dining Room to take in the sights, sounds and smells.

Hung throughout the warm space designed by luxury interior design firm Studio Munge, murals from Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz will add intrigue and encourage conversation. Diaz is known for his technique of using thousands of linear brushstrokes atop bursts of color to create images of animals with human-like qualities.

As with any bar, however, it all starts with the drinks. We spoke with industry icon and leading global mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim about his plans for creating an innovative yet accessible cocktail program for Libertine Social. www.barbizmag.com

BB: What were some of your initial inspirations for the cocktails here?

A-G: The inspiration was what I have always thought the inspiration for any great bar was—a place that you want to be. A place that you want to bring your friends and family. A place where you feel at home and welcome that is not in any way pretentious or arrogant. What any great bar is about is the art of hospitality. We wanted everything about Libertine to reflect that and to be approachable and fun and be a great social experience where our guests become friends.

The inspiration here was what I have always thought the inspiration for any great bar was—a place that you want to be, where you want to bring your friends and family, where you feel at home and welcome.

In Las Vegas, it is a little different than other cities, in that a lot of your regular guests are people you see three or four times a year, not three or four times a week. We want to create an environment where, when people are in Las Vegas, whether or not they are staying at Mandalay Bay, they think, ‘We have to go see the gang over at Libertine Social!’

Working with Mandalay Bay and working with Sean and Sarah and Richard, everyone shares that vision and the cocktails will reflect that. They will be fun. They are meant to be shared—pitcher drinks, swizzles, punch bowls—things that are fun and approachable and easy to understand. I love vodka. I know the community is softening its snobbery around vodka. One in four people are going to order a vodka drink, so let’s celebrate that. I am a product of the 70s. Some of those crazy drinks that were popular in the 70s, like the Harvey Wallbanger, when made with fresh-squeezed orange juice and great ice in a great glass is a great, fun drink.

Things like that will make appearances.

Especially at the main bar it will be kind of a mix of fun, shareable classics. A lot of my original stuff. I think approachable and fun are the two words that I would define the cocktail program at the main bar.

BB: Does actual physical design of the venue and the aesthetic affect your approach to creating the cocktail menu?

A-G: Absolutely. Rarely do I refer to it as a drink. I refer to it as an experience. From the glassware to the napkin we serve the drink on to looking into vintage glassware for the Scratch Bar to the ice program we are going to be implementing to a rolling cocktail cart we are fooling June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

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Libertine Social opens this summer in Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Hotel.

around with that does table-side cocktails—all of these things, to me, bring the experience to life. And the food will represent that. Sean is just a magician with the food.

Sean and I first met doing an episode of Iron Chef America that incorporated pairing cocktails and food. That is part of the vision here, to bring these shareable plates together with cocktails and a celebration of both food and drink on the same table. Chefs are definitely embracing how important cocktails are today, but a collaboration of this sort, I am not aware of, at least not in Las Vegas. We are sharing the stage or the table and making the players all work together for that overall experience.

BB: Is it a challenge for you to create a cocktail program that, while exceptional and fantastic, still remains accessible to the everyday consumer?

A-G: Probably first and foremost is making it approachable. If you want to drink a Cosmopolitan, I want to make you the best Cosmopolitan you’ve ever had. Once I win you as a customer and as a friend and as someone who 42

trusts me and who loves to come see me, it is easy for me to take you on a journey. I can take you from a Cosmopolitan to a White Lady to something original by me. It all just builds up your cocktail knowledge as a guest in a way that is fun and approachable and doesn’t seem pretentious. The last thing I ever want to do is offend one of my guests and think, ‘Come on, dude. Cosmopolitan? Really?’ The Cosmopolitan is a fabulous drink when it is made well. We will be celebrating those drinks.

Like I said earlier, I was a product of the 70s and I started bartending in 1980. So a Sex on the Beach, when made with great ingredients, is a strikingly, fetchingly balanced drink that people like to drink. Last January I was in Paris for the cocktail week there and I went to this great little craft cocktail bar. I am sitting at the bar and looking at the menu and I am intimidated by the menu. I am thinking, ‘What is the average consumer going to be like looking at a menu that is so esoteric and out there?’ I watched the bartender. One of the drinks on the menu was

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

Sex on the Beach, when made with great ingredients, is a fetchingly balanced drink. The Cosmopolitan is a fabulous drink when made well.

We will be celebrating those kinds of cocktails at Libertine Social. actually a Moscow Mule. I would say four out of ten drinks that he made during the time that I was there were Moscow Mules, which told me it’s recognizable, it is something they are not intimidated by. Like I said, once I win you over as a friend and as an ally, I can say, ‘Hey, have you ever tried a Corpse Survivor Number Two? Let me make one.’ Now they can’t wait to come back and see what is next on their cocktail journey.

BB: Does a Las Vegas venue require a different approach than, say, a Chicago bar or a Miami bar when you are creating a cocktail program?

A-G: Absolutely. A regular guest in Vegas is maybe someone we see four or five times a year as opposed to four or five times a month or even more. So we obviously want to celebrate being in Las Vegas. Las Vegas, if nothing else, is about having fun and not having to be ... how do I say this delicately ... super hip. You don’t want to feel like, ‘I’m in the cool new cocktail bar and I probably should like this Mezcal stuff that everyone seems to be raving about.’ That is not my taste. We want to have something for everyone. For the drinker coming from somewhere around the world, say, Italy, we need to have a great Negroni for you or a great barrelaged Boulevardier.

We really will address making it fun and approachable but also very culturally approachable and interesting. Even myself, I know if I am in St. Louis or if I am in Detroit or if I www.barbizmag.com

am in New York, it is probably going to be a slightly different experience. When I am in Minnesota, my Old-Fashioned is going to be made with brandy instead of rye whiskey.

BB: Tell us about the tableside cocktail service you’re implementing.

A-G: We are looking at designing our own carts. It is something I did with Levy Restaurants for the new T-Mobile Arena as well, almost as a specific drink. When the cart comes around, it is not necessarily that you have a choice of eight drinks that could be prepared tableside. It could be incorporated into a cart where it comes to your table and the pitcher of swizzles are swizzled at your table and poured out and garnished and left. At T-Mobile, we have a Mojito cart. It is strictly when the cart comes by, ‘The Mojitos are here.’ You know it is a specific drink that will be made.

It would be kind of interactive. It will be an opportunity to have a presentation, table-side, and kind of give that table a little something special. It also is a great way for us to market part of the program as the cart comes through and people see it. Then, it creates a little excitement and generates questions. It is something, again, that makes us unique. That is something I am working on exactly how we will move forward with that part of the program. Especially with the new patio they are building, we can roll the cart out on the patio. It would be fantastic.

And it would be very Vegas.

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Inventory Make a Wish (For Added Revenue) Wish Clips are the first and only candle holders for drinks bringing the celebration back to birthdays and other occasions like weddings, bachelorette parties and corporate events. The patent pending product fits onto most drinkware including but not limited to pint, wine, shot and champagne glasses.

The Wish Clip allows the candle to be positioned vertically on drinkware regardless of angle. It is great for all ages and gives restaurants and bars a unique product to offer their customers. Whether it’s an extravagant birthday party or a smaller event, customers can now experience the iconic birthday cake celebration without the cake. Integrating Wish Clips into your operations by implementing drink specials and educating staff will work to boost sales.

Watch your customers’ eyes light up with excitement when your establishment adds a Wish Clip to their drinks to create an experience they’ll never forget. For more information visit www.WishClips.com

RumChata Recipe Book “101 Uses For RumChata” includes delicious recipes created, discovered and compiled by RumChata mixologist, Nicholas Maas. It is available to those aged 21 years and older for only $5.00 in the RumChata Island Store at www.rumchata.com.

All proceeds from the sale of RumChata’s recipe book will be donated to a hunger relief organization. RumChata is bottled from a made-from scratch cream liqueur recipe that uses five times distilled Caribbean rum and the freshest real dairy cream with a touch of natural cinnamon, vanilla, sugar and other secret flavors. For more information visit www.rumchata.com.

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Perlick Low-height 29” Bar Cabinets Perlick, a leader in total package bar equipment and beverage dispensing systems, introduces 29” low-height refrigeration and dry storage cabinets for the back bar and underbar to put valuable storage within easy reach of bartenders. Low-height cabinets are below the 34 ” standard height and can house products that expand menu offerings, eliminate countertop clutter, or enhance bar operations in other ways. The 29” cabinets are available in self-contained and remote models and with and without refrigeration. Arranged in a horizontal configuration, cabinets can have up to four door compartments. The low-height cabinets are part of Perlick’s Back Bar line of refrigerated cabinets. With precision design and stock equipment, Perlick helps to create efficient beverage environments that meet the needs of individual users. The line is affordable and enables beverage and foodservice professionals to build unique set-ups with solid, finely crafted equipment. To learn more about Perlick’s Back Bar line, visit www.perlick.com or call 800-558-5592.

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

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Holiday Happenings

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July 1: Zip Code Day.

July 6: Fried Chicken Day.

July 10: Clerihew Day.

July 11: National Ranier Cherries Day.

July 15: Saint Swithin Day.

At the midpoint of this night, the customer who can prove with a valid driver’s license that they have traveled from the farthest zip code to patronize your establishment gets their tab comped for the night.

Few things go better with beer (or bourbon, for that matter) than some well prepared fried chicken. So fire-up the deep fat fryer and throw some wings and thighs and breasts in there and celebrate this fowl occasion.

A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem in which the first line is the name of the poem’s subject, usually a famous person put in an absurd light. (What rhymes with Trump?)

Have a Clerihew contest tonight and bring back the barpoet of Cocktail fame.

Celebrate this Washington state gem by creating a cocktail menu around Ranier cherries, whether as a flavor ingredient, a garnish, or both. If you can find them, it’s well worth the effort.

According to tradition, the weather on Saint Swithin’s feast day will continue for forty days after. So let’s toast to this guy tonight for some warm weather and heavy bar sales! I hereby rename thee: Saint Swiggin.

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July 16: World Snake Day.

July 18: National Caviar Day.

July 23: National Day of the Cowboy.

July 24: Tell an Old Joke Day.

July 29: Lasagna Day.

These slimy, disgusting, evil, slithering creatures don’t deserve a day.

Let’s get classy tonight. Whether you run the diviest of dives or the fanciest of...fancy bars, throw a jar of caviar on the bar tonight and suggest pairing it with some Champagne (or Champagne cocktails).

Grey Poupon, anyone?

Throw some Lonestar beer in the cooler, load up the jukebox with Hank Williams (Sr.) and hand out some cheap plastic tengallon hats tonight.

And if you really feel like going for it, we have two words for you: mechanical bull.

“Guy walks into a bar…”

Who eats lasagna in the middle of the summer?

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Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

July 1: Shutterstock/IgorGolovniov, July 6: Shutterstock/jannoon028, July 10: Shutterstock/Fotoatelie, July 11: Shutterstock/Colloidial, July 15: Shutterstock/Kues, July 16: Shutterstock/Aleksey Stemmer, July 18: Shutterstock/Artem Shadrin, July 23: Shutterstock/Michelle Marsan, July 24: Shutterstock/pikselstock, July 29: Shutterstock/Bernd Juergens

JULY 2016

Index of Advertisers Company

web site address

page #

AudioFetch

www.AudioFetch.com

C4

Banco Payment Services

www.BancoPayment.com

23

Big Ass Fans

www.BigAssFans.com/scbb616

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ChairDeals.com

www.ChairDeals.com

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G&G Closed Circuit Events LLC

www.GGBoxing.com

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Harbourtouch CA

www.iHarbortouch.com

C3

Heineken USA

www.Heineken.com

9

Innova Products US LLC

www.StrahlBeverageware.com

17

Jenga® Giant™

www.JengaGiant.com

29

Jevo

wwe.JevoMaker.com

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Newell Rubbermaid

www.NewellRubbermaid.com

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Paris Gourmet

www.ParisGourmet.com

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Perlick Corp.

www.Perlick.com

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Texas Bar & Nightclub

www.TBNAconvention.com

19

TouchTunes

www.TouchTunes.com

C2

Inventory Companies

Dry Line Cape Cod Gin

www.SouthHollowSpirits.com

RumChata

www.RumChata.com

Time & Oak

www.TimeandOak.com

Wish Clips

www.WishClips.com

To advertise in Bar Business Magazine contact Art Sutley Phone: 212-620-7247 Email: asutley@sbpub.com

www.barbizmag.com

June 2016 Bar Business Magazine

47

Owning Up are a few cool restaurants that have popped up within a four-block radius of us. You also have the whole Harlem renaissance happening on Frederick Douglass Blvd a few blocks away from us. The neighborhood loves us.”

Located in the heart of Harlem and the beautiful sprawling University of Columbia Hillside at 1260 Amsterdam (at 122nd Street), this intimate 35seat Italian eatery is blocks from the Apollo Theatre and boasts epic street art works on the exposed brick that highlight the charm and namesake of this Harlem foodie destination.

“Though we do have to stay true to the brand, there’s certain flexibility in terms of art, which can sometimes reflect the neighborhood we’re in,” explains Richardson. “In our private backroom we’ve written the word 'Love’ in about ten different languages because the Columbia University faculty and students are a big part of our clientele and they have a pretty wide international base.”

While Italian eateries are not typically known for their cocktail program, in addition to the usual red and white wine pairings for food, Serafina Harlem recognizes that younger customers coming in will be expecting something special from the bar.

Feeding the Frontier With two decades and seventeen locations under its belt, Serafina Restaurant Group opens its newest restaurant in the emerging marketplace of Harlem. By Chris Ytuarte New York City’s Harlem neighborhood has always had a place in history, from hosting the American jazz renaissance to the famed Apollo Theater.

But these days, the culinary and cocktail scene is making waves in this upper Manhattan enclave, from the always-elusive reservations at Rao’s to new venues like Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster, Ginny’s Super Club, and Streetbird Rotisserie. The trend of frontiering franchises opening here continues this spring with the arrival of legendary eatery Serafina, which brings its iconic New York brand of Northern Italian food to Harlem along with a new focus on cocktails and craft beverages.

“We have a pretty cool cocktail list, and we stay up on the trends,” says Richardson. “For example, we have a strawberry basil martini, in which we incorporated the basil as an Italian element, along with muddled strawberry, premium Grey Goose vodka, and just a little elderflower to give it some floral note. And we are bringing in a mixologist soon to expand the menu a little more this summer.”

Chef Marcus Samuelsson stops by Serafina Harlem.

“Serafina Harlem represents the ongoing commitment to making Harlem once again the trendsetting destination for people to live, love, laugh and eat, and no better place than Serafina Harlem, as we head into spring with our live jazz brunches and soulful evening atmospheres surrounded by the aroma of our authentic wood fire pizza oven,” says Joshua Richardson, General Manager, Serafina Harlem.

As Harlem’s bar and restaurant scene continues to grow, there is, says Richardson, a sense of camaraderie amongst those who are opening new spaces and providing services. In fact, the aforementioned Chef Samuelsson stopped into Serafina recently to wish the team luck.

“Personally, that was a really cool thing for me because I’ve followed him for a while, and when I saw him sitting at a table I just went straight up to him, introduced myself and he was a super nice guy,” says Richardson. "We chatted for about a half-hour, I gave him a little tour of the space. There 48

Bar Business Magazine June 2016 www.barbizmag.com

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