Mixologists and chefs are increasingly sharing ingredients, techniques and inspiration for creating cocktails, nonalcoholic drinks and food dishes. The need to manage inventory, reduce waste and control costs calls for collaboration between bar and kitchen. Cross-utilizing versatile ingredients is the key to spurring creativity that benefits your entire operation.
Connect Your Bar with Your Kitchen to Build Your Bridge to Success
With modern restaurant diners increasingly searching menus for new and unique flavors, Affinity Group is here to help you set your operation up for success with tips and trends that will inspire your bar and your kitchen to work together to expand your customer’s flavor horizons.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
From Bar to Kitchen and Back
Spirits, syrups and purees from the bar make for perfect ingredients to upsell desserts and savory dishes coming out of your kitchen. Imagine vanilla ice cream splashed with amaro liqueur and cold brew coffee for a delicious dessert team up. On the savory side, try handing off fresh ginger juice from the bar to the kitchen to create a fresh clam broth with a kick. Another great idea is to mix surplus rosemary shrub from the bar with olive oil and vinegar to make house vinaigrette that has a sophisticate style.
Recipe:
Wasting Not Means Customers that Want More
Cross-utilization also promotes cost savings. There are many things that your bar might throw away that the kitchen can use, and vice versa. For instance, if you sell a lot of Old Fashioned(s), you probably make a lot of orange garnishes. It can be hard for the bar to go through all that orange juice, but the kitchen may be able to use it to give a citrus zing to any number of dishes.
Conversely, unused kitchen produce like bell peppers, tomatillos, carrots, ginger and horseradish can be used to craft unique syrups and cordials for cocktails and other drinks.
Appeal to Maturing Tastes
Today’s consumers want flavors that are authentic, not watered down. As tastes have matured, more and more cocktail drinkers are increasingly moving away from the cloyingly sweet, mass produced concoctions of yesteryear and toward fresh drinks that are more balanced and nuanced. One of the current trends we’ve seen gaining momentum is spiciness. Take, for example, the Spicy Mary is served with versatile ingredients between bar and kitchen.
As you create your plan for bar and kitchen cross-utilization success, keep in mind that Affinity Group is always here to help inspire ideas and innovations that will lead you to forward thinking flavors that are sure to become your customer’s new favorite.