Team Bartending

            To be honest, I had to work hard to offset these deficiencies once I became a bartender. For example, there were several character types that immediately made my blood boil. Oh, come on, you know the guys I'm talking about, the kind of folk whose personalities don't necessarily improve with each ensuing drink. Anyway, I much preferred making drinks, or washing a sink full of glasses than wait on the pretentious and self-involved.

            So, how did I last 20 years behind the stick? Yeah, who knows? But by the time I became a working manager I had learned a valuable lesson about operating a successful bar, namely, the importance of scheduling bartenders as teams of two, matching each persons' attributes to create a balanced, effective bartending duo.

            For example, my longtime buddy Jeff and I bartended together for several years. He's a full-blooded Italian with a quick sense of humor and a well-honed public persona. The more challenging the guest, the better he performed. He was strong on wine, adept at food service and knew how to deal with the chef. His strengths matched up well with my shortcomings, and vice versa. Jeff disliked washing glasses and saw drink making as a means to an end. I live for those things. Our attributes combined to form a complete bartending duo.

            Working together we developed a following, a sick, demented following, but a following nonetheless. People like consistency and from Wednesday through Saturday nights, you could count on catching Jeff and Robert doing their shtick at Jerome's Restaurant. We knew how to work a crowd. I'll say that much for us.

            The fact is that bartenders who can do it all are somewhat rare. I couldn't have been the only deficient unleashed behind the bar. Some bartenders have an obvious penchant for interacting with people; others are more the technician type. What's worse than bellying up to the bar where both bartenders are socially inept? The answer is the same as frequenting a place where the bartenders are attentive, but the drinks are horrible and the glasses filthy.

            Scheduling bartenders as functioning teams better ensures a smoother operating bar with higher productivity, less drama and happier guests.