Let the liquid do the work, not the bartender.
These are tough times for the industry. The words unprecedented and pivoting are thrown around with reckless abandon but here we are. So we have new restrictions in place. Will this make service tougher? On the surface, yes but it is once again an opportunity to showcase hospitalities ability to adapt like it always has. The bartender has enough to worry about, now more than ever. Let’s cut them a break.
It’s an approach we have used in the past designing menus for NWTC. The more sites you have and the more staff you have, the more difficult it is to change a menu over or open new venues. However, if you have a system of rules in place for the menu that the bartender knows, the stress of getting them to learn new drinks is decreased. The more there are, the simpler things are. It also allows you to have larger menus without decreasing the consistency of the offering.
It might be as simple as ‘The sour ingredient with Gin is always Lemon’, ‘The juice measure is always 50ml’ or ‘the total booze in this category is 60ml’
We also facilitate the path for those with learning difficulties such as dyslexia to learn menus.
Then we can tweak the ingredients as required, So if a drink needs to be sweet, adjust the sweetness of the sugar syrup instead of the amount.
Consider that if you could have the best menu in the world, if it stresses everyone out to the point that it breaks people, then it can’t be the best menu in the world as it is unsustainable.