Frontline staff plays key role in building a great bar

In last 20 years, the area that bars cover inside a restaurant venue has slowly increased from being less than 10 per cent to now 20-30 per cent of the floor area as new age restaurateurs have understood the potential of a good beverage program to generate better revenues and become a point of pride. In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz Arijit Bose, co-founder, CounterTop - a consultancy that focuses on creating enduring bar concepts, exceptional experiences, and drinks with recall, elaborates on how to build a great bar

What is the state of the hospitality industry post Covid?

It's not pretty for sure but slowly stabilizing. The general mood among entrepreneurs and restauranteurs is positive. Local tourism is growing and with places like Thailand and Singapore opening up, Indians are travelling in huge numbers to these places for vacation and work thereby pushing the industry forward step by step.

We have also seen a huge rise in the quality proposition for restaurants and bars in places like Goa and Delhi. This in itself is a positive upswing. However, the last two years took a heavy toll on talent and the hospitality work force with many leaving the industry and even more coming into it without adequate training and on-ground experience so, restaurant and bar owners do find it difficult to bolster their ranks with fully trained quality staff which effects business and we foresee a couple of years before this improves. Rest assured with the quality of placers coming up this will handle itself. There is a lot of innovation that's coming into play as well with non alcoholic products, new spirits and quality imports are creating exciting environment for the new professional to work in. Hygiene and sustainability are finding their way into the industry which is super positive.

How important is a bar to a restaurant?

In the last 20 years the area that bars cover inside a restaurant venue has slowly increased from being less than 10 per cent to now these venues give bars a substantial amount of space going up to 20/30 per cent of the floor area as new age restaurateurs have understood the potential of a good beverage program to generate better revenues and become a point of pride. This in itself should answer the question of the rising importance of a good bar in a restaurant. A good bar is also essential as it helps to relieve pressure on reservations when tables are not available.

What makes a good bar a great bar?

Hospitality and attention to detail! Great bars also stick to their program and make sure that they do simple things well rather than trying to make everyone happy they focus on their specialty. Having great drinks or a competition-winning drink is a very small part of running a great bar. The right kind of lighting, music well informed, and courteous staff plus the feeling of safety for consumers especially women play a huge part in creating a good bar vibe a good bar vibe is what can be the difference between a good bar and a great bar. Of course, product must be good to sustain loyalty, but the bar should be adept at making a solo guest feel the same level of warmth and hospitality as a larger group. Drinks and food experience should also be at the right price to garner loyalty and attract the local population who greatly build the vibe we spoke about but all that is only possible with great frontline staff and professionals who are the first point of contact. In our experience guests talk and comment far more on how amazing the bartender was or the host was while talking about drinks at the bar.

What are the various stages required to create a bar?

Stage 1: Make a business plan and start figuring out the money, find partners, lawyer up.

Stage 2: Find a place where the rent won't kill your business plan yet the location is accessible. It's a lot of fun to get the key and open the door for the first time. Everything from there is downhill.

Stage 3: Find more money

Stage 4: Spend that money and look for more money.

Stage 5: Get a concept on paper and hire the right crew to execute the build and start building the service team. Alternatively, work with consultants.

Stage 6: Build up the kitchen and the bar area and kit out the front of the house

Stage 7: Spend even more money on figuring out excise, permissions, over the table under the table, agents.

Stage 8: Work on menu designs, POS systems, cutlery, security systems, crockery and glassware.

Stage 9: After delays, disappearing contractors, and more delays bar will eventually open. But due to weird rules and regulations, you won't get the license. Refer back to' over and under tables.' Use this time that you are still paying rent but can't make any business as time for training and small test dinners and drink events. PR team announces coming soon with an opening date and hope against hope that licence will come in by that time.

Stage 10: Licence actually comes in. Organize the booze to be served. Get the place open and ready for service.

Stage 11: Make sure that standards are maintained and service is good.

Stage 12: Conduct frequent audit to make sure the ship is running well.

Stage 13: Handle reviews on various social media channels. Create and run a social media plan.

Stage 14: Pray to whatever powers may be that the pandemic situation does not come back.

Stage 15: Make sure HR is running properly, tips and service charge being dispersed properly.

Stage 16: Keep running the place to the best standards possible. These stages don't end.

How has working with leading bars, hotels, and restaurants helped in developing a global networking platform?

It has been eye-opening and developed me into a more complete professional. My stints in Singapore in various capacities greatly increased my network a lot of who I am still working with. Those networks also sustained me during the two years when the whole world was shut down so, it's very important to build on those platforms so more people can benefit from it.

Working outside also expanded my knowledge and capability a lot of which, I have been able to get down to India and helped me better the systems.

What are the three key aspects of India's mixology scene now?

The bar and mixology scene finally comes to a standard where they are making their presence felt in the Asia market and India is opening up to more international bars and bartenders visiting our shores and sharing knowledge and expertise. Big brands are a major part of this change. We see a lot more businesses supporting their staffs with better ingredients equipment and exposure which is pushing the mixology industry forward. Ice is playing a major role. Our friends at SpeedX tell us the number of bars and restaurants that are opting for better-designed stainless counters so bartenders can work faster and more efficiently has increased substantially.

The new age bartenders are learning quickly due to the wealth of info and videos available online and a whole new range of ingredients and techniques have come into play evolving the drinks on the table by leaps and bounds. Clear clean flavours, the use of quality spirits, and the advent of the local Indian craft industry has played a major role in improving the mixology scene.

What are head bartenders cocktail recommendations for a fun night out with friends?

Changes from bar to bar and situation to situation, speaking for ourselves we love a pickle back to start a great night. A shot of bourbon, tequila or whiskey of choice followed by a homemade pickle juice is a good start to a fun night.

Can you throw some light on building focus on developing concepts, menu design, bar design, training, and programming?

The concept plus menu design and bar design goes hand in hand and is collectively called bar programming.

Having a concept puts the bar on track to achieve a set objective in terms of the décor, the vibe, the beverage and food offerings. The concept also decides on a drink program which is required at the bar for an efficient operation and staying true to the idea. The beverage program often dictates how the bar workstation should be designed. If the concept calls for a robust cocktail program then the workstation should be designed in a way that it can be used efficiently to execute these drinks. This has to be topped with training. Training is not one-time programming but ever-evolving. It's important that the team is speaking the same language, sticking to the concept, celebrating the beverage and food menu, and also empowered.

Every bar has to go through a cycle of minimum 12 months to convey the concept to the consumers and live it day in and day out. Often time the concept gets diluted by the owners/management itself to extract additional revenues etc. That often becomes the downfall of any bar/restaurant.