The trolleys are back: how is this renewal different?

During the brunch in Denver's Safta, a cart full of colorful bottles turns heads. The bright orange slices on the chopping board, the fresh green scented mint and the dark purple mulberry puree shine like a red fire of ingredients for drinks. Or, more specifically, a sign to follow: order another drink and sit down for a show when the bartender brings the restaurant trolley to the table to prepare drinks in front of guests.

It's been a few years since the bar bar – the art of preparing badtails at the edge of the table – has made a comeback, filling the space in glossy glossy magazines. But today's renaissance has lost the dull-colored drink bars that hang around the restaurant – the amaro or port carts, rolled after dinner. Places like Safta, Ben Paris in Seattle and the Multnomah Whiskey Library in Portland, Oregon, seek to enliven the dining room: sometimes with colors, but especially with action, mixing tables around drinks according to each customer's specifications and bringing the interactivity of craft badtails from behind the bar.

It's like having a bartender at your table, says Kyle Sanders, managing director of Multnomah Whiskey Library. When its owner, Alan Davis, created the acclaimed Brown-Spirits restaurant, he looked at the seats (with coffee tables) and designed the trolleys as the best way to offer customers badtails focused on bartenders. "It's a more personal experience," says Sanders. "The person who takes your drink orders is also your bartender."

This leads to more people asking questions and interacting with staff. Multnomah offers just about any shaking badtail from its menu via one of four floor carts. But the bestseller is the Old Fashioned (usually consisting of confused sugar, bitters, whiskey or brandy and an orange peel) which he says represents between 15,000 and 20,000 orders per year. year. But with the cart, they are not all the same: "People ask questions about bitters, simple syrups and vermouth that we offer," he says, adding that they can discuss the contents of their drink. "It's more fun for customers to see everything that's going on."

For Safta, these dining issues are also a significant benefit of the cart service. "It's the sense of the show that inspires not only the tables, but everyone in the room," says Chris Rogers, the restaurant's Beverage Manager. Safta, specializing in foods inspired by the Israeli culinary landscape, comes from Aron Shaya's restorer from Saba, New Orleans. He only manages the spritz during the weekend brunch so far, but he has really taken off and he hopes to expand it. . "It's more interactive, more accessible," says Rogers. Previously, he had used a grappa cart for other work, but he claims that the action makes a difference. "With the other types of golf carts, you have great food, but it's so laid-back," he says, adding that guests would feel comfortable asking questions, asking questions and asking questions. make changes and customize drinks: "It's their experience."

While Rogers draws inspiration from its previous jobs and Sanders says that Multnomah draws on British service styles at the old school, Abigail Gallo has evolved his cart concept much closer to home. The beverage manager at Ben Paris in Seattle remembers the bar cart her grandparents had when she was growing up. "I learned that I loved my Manhattan different from my grandfather," she says, laughing at the lessons she had learned from her personal bar trolley – and explaining how much just having there allowed everyone to enjoy his own style of drink. Gallo incorporated images of his grandparents' lives – in Seattle and elsewhere – to create a mid-twentieth-century atmosphere in his badtails. She designed the Three Martini Lunch – three shot glbades filled with mini martinis – as an old-fashioned game and ice martini service from Eleven Madison Park. Gallo describes it as "an everyday fantasy, a tribute to the upscale".

Ben Paris deploys various trolleys at different times, provided that a minimum of four people order a badtail. (If you want something specific, like the punch cart that usually works at brunch, Gallo recommends that you mention it in your reservation.) The most common order at the Pacific Northwest restaurant is the Gin Griffey Juniper, a gin and tonic. Spanish style. . The basket comes with gin options, a selection of tonics and various toppings, mixed to order at the table.

And it is this table service, this special emphasis on dinner, that makes the success of the carts. "It makes them really special, like the center of attention in the room," says Gallo – something, she jokes, which is new to Seattle. But more than anything, Gallo sees it as part of the next wave of craft badtails, in which people want to be involved: "It's a badtail culture where people are free to learn."

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