Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/33721
Spirit Guides An inside guide to making the best use of wholesaler and supplier’s consulting mixologist services. By Monica Kass Rogers can to stay au courant on their own and many—especially those new to bar ownership—are not fully cognizant of the signifi cant “free” resources that exist to aid and abet cocktail creativity, support in staff training and deepen spirit knowledge. Many importers, wholesalers and suppliers have full-time and/ I or consulting mixologists on staff to off er training, do recipe development and support. So just how do operators tap into this? How do they maximize the benefi ts? And is there a catch? Tim Dahl, a former pastry chef for Chicago’s Blackbird restaurant, knew that he had the know-how to mastermind menus for Nostrano, the Mediterranean restaurant he opened in Madison, Wisconsin. Dahl knew he had the wine program covered. But not so cocktails. Aware that he wanted his cocktails to fi t the locally sourced credo he’d set for his food, Dahl reached out to John Kinder, director of sales and marketing, Central U.S., for Death’s Door Spiri ts in Madison, Wisconsin. “It just fi t us—we’re raising our pigs and growing our Death’s Door Peter Vestinos created a Jalapeño Strawberry Caiporoska made with Finlandia Grapefruit vodka for Elate, a bar at the Hotel Felix in Chicago. 36 | JUNE 2011 vegetables. It just makes sense that we’d want to know these local distillers and brands,” says Dahl. Responding to Dahl’s request, Kinder worked with the Nostrano team to train them and to shape cocktails that would work well with the restaurant’s menu. Two of the cocktails—the Our Word, $9—a play on the classic Last Word cocktail, made with gin, lemon and yellow chartreuse; and the Nostrano Tipple, $9, made vodka, pear, vanilla, lemon and lavender, feature Death’s Door products. In Dahl’s opinion, the entire process has been a win-win. “From John’s perspective, Death’s Door is now on the rail and in two of our cocktails. And from my perspective, my staff ’s received in-depth training from a top-level mixologist who understands all of the history and technique, and has a fi nger on the pulse of what’s happening.” Kinder has continued to monitor the program and provide training. www.cheersonline.com n the fast-paced spirit world, bar operators must practically run to keep up with latest best ingredients, changing guest demands and ever-evolving taste trends. Most do what they