JulianZoetmulder

This still makes handle fruit deliveries very, very gingerly. Beautiful summers day, started the day by having a long lunch with friends and arrive at work to do some easy prep before opening for an amazing bar shift in the sun. Too bad I opened a fresh case of limes to find a very alive, very upset, very deadly spider. Also finding a human tooth during refurbishment under the some wall skirting from a bar fight that apparently happened 20 years prior made me a touch queasy.

Communicating with the restaurant is very important. A competent manager will be massively concerned as will the chef. Although a complaint so severe isn't what they want to hear at a good place they will go hell and high water to make sure it doesn't happen again. No one wants to be the chef who made the paella that killed 20 people. I've had a similar experience with a supermarket. It was a neighbourhood outlet of a national chain and the quality of everything was pretty decent, made it very easy to shop for great cooking later. One day after breaking open a pack of lamb chops I found that one of them was rock hard and reeked. (2-3 hours after getting back from the market.) I chucked it in the bin and didn't think much of it. (a 2 dollar lamb chop destined for 9 hours in a dutch oven is minor) My housemate was however adamant that I let them know, he said to me "You don't know what was wrong with it but you noticed something was. What if someone didn't notice and is eating one the same as that right now?". I popped back down there and had a chat to the manager he offered to comp me my groceries (which I declined) and assured me he'd do all he could to find out what was up. 3 days later, picking up some fresh bread I saw signs at the entrance and checkout detailing that anyone who'd consumed lamb bought at any local out let of the chain for the past week see a doctor at the first sign of any stomach pains or illness. The same manager later told me that some contamination had occured at the chain's butchery and that it had been rectified. I still shop there and I don't avoid the lamb because I know the same issue won't happen again.

That brings me back to one of the most perfect diners I've ever had. This was in Vanuatu. All our time there we'd been told about the quality of seafood on an island named Tanna. Once we made it there we were completely lost. We stumbled across a shack on a quiet section of beach with a grill, a bar and at least 50 people sat at tables on the side seemingly having the time of their lives. As soon as one of the 2 waiters who welcomed us realised our french was as bad as his english he had the owner of the restaurant who could manage a bit more serve us. Sitting watching the sunset with a cold beer in a very clean glass was enough to make us happy but after the owner told us that they didn't have a menu but we'd be taken care of we knew we were in for something interesting. The chef was spoken to, he called out to his team and two guys ran from the back to collect shellfish and seafood they were raising in the ocean not 20m from where we were sat. The same was done for every table. The cooking quality exceeded anything else I've ever had also. One word, epic.

Cross-contamination via negligence gives me nightmares. I'm lucky enough not be allergic to anything and being a guy don't have to worry about getting pregnant and avoiding seafood. I once saw a chef in an open kitchen (idiot) simply wipe the board he'd sliced raw chicken on with a dirty towel before carving a cooked lamb rack for presentation on the same board. If you can't get your prep done in time, wake up earlier.

I'm fully on board the luddite boat here. There are 4 factors which will affect the venue massively. - Frontage. People walking by on the street need to see a busy restaurant, regerdless of if you're 20% or 90% occupied; clever bottle necks and section placement will see to this. - Ambience. A decent sound system placed properly has a very low cost price, what it will cost you from a professional is something different. If you know ANYONE with A/V, sound engineering, etc experience, pick their brains before going anywhere. The same applies for lighting. - Service. If you've got to poach people from other venues, offer high salaries or offer stupid benefits make sure you attract the correct employees. Hire as many industry professionals as you can. If you treat them right they will make you stupid amounts of money, this applies to all employees, down to the kitchen hands (dish boys). - Menu. Overthink it, overthink it twice more, cut it down to confetti and repeat at least twice. Relevance is a big factor. The locavore and slow food movements are gaining more popularity than ever through consumers who don't give a second thought. Seasonal menus and specials are great as are the consistent use of fresh ingredients (It's easy to get fresh onions, line caught seafood from 8 hours prior and bread baked in-house or up the road make a difference, get a good chef; not a cook, a chef.) In conclusion, money goes only so far. I've seen enough venues fail spectacularly despite millions (literally) in investment. The best investments are esoteric. Make sure that this is the kind of place you'd take your mother to meet a new significant other along with an old friend for a birthday dinner. If the kitchen doesn't meet your highest standards, it isn't good enough. The second a waiter gets arrogant or flustered nix them, despite an chocker-block resumee there's a reason they're applying at a new venue; find it. I'm a very discerning eater and drinker, a new restaurant/cafe/bar is an immediate attraction for me and despite the amount I cook at home I continue to support exceptional venues. Regular trade will be the best tool you can use, without it, you are dead in the water. Impress the pants off the first 500 covers, find out why, do it consistently. 200 of those 500 will be back in 24 months; 100 in 12, those 100 will get you 50 more of you do it right. those 50 will bring you another 20 in 12 months in addition to your existing repeats. Cover numbers will rise exponetionally if you refuse to get complacent and genuinely care. Golden rule: You've been cooking for X decades. That doesn't mean you can chef for any for than X seconds. Good luck with your new place, I hope it does well. Once it opens shoot us all a website and some photos.

As a Bartender(Not to talk myself up, but a very good one in the upper end of the industry): - Loud, rude customers who disrupt our carefully planned vibe and piss of our regulars. - Messy co-workers, I want to be able to put a drink together for someone in as little time as possible, not spend 5 minutes cleaning a station before I can start. - Arrogance, we're servers, not servants. People who treat hospitality crew like dirt are not people as far as I'm concerned. - Creepy dudes. I like to run a safe comfortable bar for all demogrphics, mate I don't care if you just spent $400 on that bottle of wine, the lady politely said no....twice. - Backseat bartenders/waiters....I've been bartending for 8 years, I'll go hell and high water to get you what you want (I and my co-workers have been known to borrow product from other bars as they do from us. When we have the time to do it people are blown away and appreciate it enough not to request it when we're busy) but for the love of god don't tell me that your pint of belgian lager has too much head. I know what I'm doing and in case I don't the manufacturers print on the glass makes it idiot proof. - Farters. Don't share your gas with a room full of people. - Annoying children. Parents, waiters aren't babysitters, and neither am I. Control them or leave the little rats at home.

The yeast on the berries is an interesting problem that happens depending on the source of your berries. Just how colder clime citrus fruits exhibit a thicker yet less dense pith than those from tropical areas, (really upset my fruit supplier by asking him to find me tahitian limes from indonesia.) My 4th attempt at raspberry liqueur was the only one I deemed saleable. I've got the same issue with active yeast and as I use whole berries with 80proof vodka and a touch of white rum I wound up with bubbly red soup the first time. Whatever vessel you use, leave as little air in there as possible. I also like to chuck the infusing mixture into the freezer for a few days after about 2 days of infusing. I initially did this trying to see if cointreau infused blackberries then frozen would yield anything interesting. The alcohol of course won't freeze but once the berries defrost they seem to impart a little more colour and acid into the mix. I don't know why but lacking the chemical engineering degree most distillers have I'm happy to be ignorant.

40ml Tanqueray 10ml Maraschino (luxardo) 10ml Apricot brandy 10ml Grapefruit juice 10ml Simple syrup 2 dashes Dandelion & burdock bitters (optional) 12 mint leaves Build as a over crushed ice, garnish with mint and a grapefruit twist. Another bartender and I put this together trying to escape a the heat with some friends.

I've written a few cocktail lists for various venues and they've all been massively different. The key is to look at your venue very critically and get as many people on board as possible. The kitchen crew for example will be invaluable in helping you match drinks to food and showing you some interesting non-alcoholic ingredients. The wait staff will also have great input on what customers want. If your place is massively busy I reccomend putting together a few crowd pleasers that can be made by any of your bartenders in under 45 seconds. Your list will also reflect your patronage, the food seems to be widely accesible to all and your beer list has the pleasers but is interesting. Try and avoid long winded explanations about each drink, it's a bar/restaurant not a library. And think very hard about who will drink what. The item with red bull on your list for me is a big no no. Red Bull plus alcohol may or may not result in binge drinking, alcohol fuelled violence and all the things your mother warned you about but that's arbitrary. It attracts a clientele who aren't there for skill. Sweet and sour is another one. Fresh lemon juice, good simple syrup and fresh egg white do so much more. I like to follow this rythym, I make my list to encompass every drink I think wil suit the venue, about 20% Classics, 20% crowd pleasing speed drinks, 40% middle ground (Complexity wise) drinks and 20% artisan, kooky, whatever drinks. This usually gets me about 30-40 drinks. This needs to be cut down to a maximum of 18. People don't want to read an essay. A shorter drinks list also means every staff member can sell them that much more easily. Classics on the list are also a weird subject. Margerita's and old fashioned's are the staple of any bartender's experience. Don't waste space on them, people assume the bartender knows them. Change your list seasonally to reflect the weather and what fresh fruits are going for the next 3 months. Specials without being shoved down peoples throat's are great also. I hope this helps, cheers.

At my bar I see a lot of groups coming in with a member or two who don't drink alcohol. At most cocktail bars this can present an issue. My bar along with some others tries to avoid the issue. Fresh fruit an veg is of course a massive source of flavour, get yourself a decent juicer and go nuts. Cucumber juice, mint, lime, elderflower & soda? great for summer. Homemade syrups are great and pretty simple to make. Firstly just make a basic sugar syrup. I like to use 1:1 sugar and water. To flavour this use anything you like. Say for the aforementioned orange syrup, take 700ml (standard liquor bottle size) of the syrup add the peel of 5 decent sized navel oranges (with as little of the with pith as possible) and keep that covered on a low heat for an hour checking for evaporation occasionally. Strain it into a sterile bottle with a good lid and it will keep in the fridge for ages. If you don't want to bother with making your on syrups, most localities have producers with a small range, as your local bartender. If the range doesn't satisfy you a safe bet is to get your hands on some Monin syrups. These guys ship pretty much all over the world and have a great reputation for quality. On another note, pop down to any foreign grocery store and see what sparks your interest, good middle eastern groceries will stock floral waters which are always a hit along with some other cool stuff and the last time I went impulse shopping at a Taiwanese grocery near my bar I picked up a bottle of mulberry vinegar for a fiver. That stuff is awesome in drinks, alcoholic one or not. Hope this helps. Cheers.