By Lance Mayhew
“I think bar carts are a mode of service that the bar wants to express with their guests,” says Jordan Felix, bar manager at Portland’s Multnomah Whiskey Library. Reminiscent of a London gentleman’s club, the Multnomah Whiskey Library is both refined and approachable. At the Whiskey Library, bartenders push a cart filled with the ingredients for the current cocktails on the menu, along with a curated selection of spirits to the guest table. “The Library uses carts to execute an intimate service for the guest. We bring the bar to you is really the best way to explain it. The bar carts are equipped to make a stirred or built cocktail, pour neat spirits and/or act as a landing area to showcase flights of spirits. The advantage is allowing the guest to relax, to give education tableside and showcase technique or talent up close. The disadvantages are not shaking the cocktail for the guest or having every single bar tool or amenity in arm’s distance.”
At Taverna Opa Orlando everything is made fresh in-house. Katerina Coumbaros explains that her family recipes and traditions, passed down through the generations, are expressed in the traditional Greek restaurant and are meant to capture all the senses of each guest. Their tableside cocktails and hummus are created alongside nightly tabletop belly dancing. Ultimately, this European style of service has been adapted to American tastes, from elegant to playful to relaxing. According to Felix, tableside service is here to stay. “I think bar carts and tableside service is an art. The London bars make it seamless. I truly believe that tableside service provides a tailored experience that can wow even the most steadfast critics.” With the variety of styles being adopted for tableside drinks, this trend offers something for everyone. Photo courtesy of Taverna Opa
One of the most interactive styles of cocktail service is tableside preparation. At the elegant DUKES hotel in London, England, the bartender brings out a bar cart stocked with the ingredients he needs and prepares the drinks at the table. While tableside preparations may be more evocative of the European-style of service (Connaught Bar and the Beaufort Bar), America is also getting into the game. Here, tableside preparations are gaining ground, from elegant bar carts to whimsical cotton candy cocktails that dissolve right in front of the guests’ eyes to DIY Bloody Mary service. The results are intriguing, providing patrons with a unique cocktail service that can enhance the guest experience.
A more playful and theatrical style of service is provided at Los Angeles’ Barton G LA, where the bar offers a “Below Zero Nitro Bar” using liquid nitrogen in addition to more classic style cocktails. The whimsical Cotton Candy Martini is presented tableside, with a martini glass filled with bubblegum flavored spun sugar. The server then pours over it a mixture of citrus vodka, ruby red grapefruit juice, orange juice and Cointreau, dissolving the cotton candy and creating a puff of smoke for a final flourish. Casinos are getting into the trend as well, with Red Rock Casino’s Hearthstone Kitchen and Cellar offering up a Bloody Mary Tableside Cart. Featuring 50 Bleu vodka, house-made Bloody Mary mix and a variety of additions and garnishes ranging from HP Sauce to hot sauces, cornichons and asparagus, this cart lets guests customize their cocktail to their preference. If Bloody Marys aren’t of interest, Hearthstone also offers a unique tableside Bubbles for Breakfast with one bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne, a dozen freshly shucked oysters, juices and fruit. Taking the breakfast bubbles concept a bit further, Pearl’s Rooftop above the Sunset Strip offers a DIY Mimosa kit with any purchase of sparkling wine. Fresh squeezed orange juice, white peach and strawberry purees and fresh berries are delivered tableside for guests to mix their own cocktail while enjoying the beautiful view and perhaps spotting a celebrity in this Hollywood hotspot.
Taverna Opa Orlando offers tableside Mojitos CHILLEDMAGAZINE.COM
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