Remember Sam Malone, the consummate bartender who owned TV's
most famous pub, Cheers, "where everybody knows your name"? His
patrons were treated like family, and he created an environment where locals
made his bar their "local".
A successful bartender is no mere mixer of drinks or
inventor of the next big cocktail. Whether in a hotel bar, restaurant (chain or
independent), or pub/tavern, the bartender is an important focus of foodservice
operations.
"It's very one-on-one," says Bill Leger, who runs
the Frigate & Firkin, part of the North American Firkin Group chain, and
who started in the hospitality industry when he was 13 and became a bartender
at 21. "You have to put on your game face as soon as you get to work. All the
customers at your bar don't care about your day. You have to be happy and
cheerful, make them feel welcome and at ease, so they become regulars."
According to go2, a tourism industry human resources
association, bartenders have the following key responsibilities:
- Provide
customer service
- Prepare
beverages using proper bartending technique
- Prepare
common drinks, may also prepare drinks suggested by the patron
- Practice
responsible alcohol service
- Clean
and maintain bar area and wash glassware
- Maintain/control
inventory of bar stock and supplies
Whether working in a restaurant or hotel, bartenders
dispense drinks directly from their bars, but also supply the serving staff
with orders for individual tables. Bartenders receive tips directly from
drinkers at the bar and share gratuities (the arrangement differs according to
establishment) with servers (and sometimes other staff).
What it takes to be a bartender
You can learn the basics of bartending - mixing drinks, the
ins and outs of local legislation, setting up and maintaining a bar, being part
of a restaurant or hotel team - through courses offered at bartending schools
and hospitality institutions. But, as chef consultant Gary E. Miller points
out, these are the technicalities. More importantly, good bartenders must
possess a special personality.
"A bartender with any experience believes he or she can
invent drinks," says Miller. "To a degree, they're creative and
there's a flair to their job. It's not just knowing how to mix a drink, but a
good bartender has to have the moves -- ballet behind a bar. They need to be
able to mix the drinks while also carrying on a conversation with customers,
and that part is imperative. I've been to bars where the bartender is good at
mixing drinks and is good-looking, but doesn't know how to engage with the
customers. Quite often customers are sitting at the bar and they're alone. They
want some interaction."
Restaurant and hotel bars - the differences
"My assumption going into a hotel bar is that it is
more professional, stricter, more outfitted and has more international
knowledge as well as local information than a private bar in a restaurant or
pub," says Michelle Hunt, partner in The Martini Club International,
professional mixologists and caterers. "A hotel bar is a much more formal
experience."
She notes other differences: in a hotel bar, often someone
sets up your bar for you, while in a restaurant, you are responsible for your
bar area. Most private bars open only in the evening; hotel bars open as early
as 11 a.m. Hotel bars require a dress code, as do many restaurant chains, but
dress code in many bars, especially in independent restaurants, can be
"anything goes." And a very important difference is that a restaurant
bartender bears much more responsibility for the sobriety of the patrons than a
hotel bartender, many of whose customers are simply returning to their rooms
after a few drinks during business trips.
Adds Bill Leger of the Frigate & Firkin, "A hotel
bar is very different. In my experience (working at both restaurant and hotel
bars), it's important to have restaurants and bars in a hotel to get your
rating as a hotel vs. a motel. Without these or banquet rooms, you're not
really a hotel. The restaurant is very important, but it's not a main concern.
A lot of money is made through the hotel, but 80+% or more is made through the
rooms."
In a restaurant, staff, including the bartender, are
expected to upsell both food and drinks. The hotel experience is more relaxed,
and staff are less focused on the "upsell."
How to decide which is for you
While bartending tends to be a young person's career, age is
not as much a factor in hotel bartending because hotel bartenders tend to be
less involved in running the bar. But bartending for both restaurants and
hotels can be a rigorous job requiring lifting and reaching the bottles behind
the bar.
A key factor to help you decide where you'd like to bartend
is whether you enjoy the idea of developing a long-term, first-name
relationship with the clientele. While some regulars do patronize hotel bars,
the majority of guests are just passing through, so you don't get that
"Cheers" experience, where "everybody knows your name."