Service with a twist
Jeffery Lindenmuth
Posted: November 1, 2011
New York City—Guests of The Surrey, an historic hotel reopened on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in fall 2009, not only have the option of meeting for a cocktail in the bar, but having the hotel bar come to meet them, with in-room cocktail service. For prices ranging from $45 to $68, an in-room server will arrive, wheeling a bar cart with all the ingredients and accoutrements required to craft four to five perfect drinks. While concocting the first round, the mobile mixologist explains how to mix the drink, then leaves a silver tray, with the requisite ingredients, tools, and drink recipe, for the guests to replicate the next round on their own. Or, they can call for an encore performance.
The program represents a natural evolution of bar service at The Surrey, a convergence of trends that taps into at-home mixology, the locavore minibar, and bottle service, according to Sims Foster, vice president of restaurants and bars for The Surrey’s parent Denihan Hospitality Group. “Ordering a cocktail in-room used to be a risky proposition, with a real chance of getting an unsatisfactory drink. And even if it was correct, it came delivered with plastic wrap, not an attractive way to serve a Martini,” says Foster. The first step was to stock the minibar with 375 ml top-shelf and local spirits, as well as quality mixers, like Fever-Tree tonic water. The in-room cocktail service, promoted with collateral in the minibar, now utilizes these spirits to offer sophisticated cocktails.
While merely cracking open the 375 ml bottle of Grey Goose vodka costs $42, an in-room cocktail service that transforms that vodka into a few rounds of basil/lime Gimlets (vodka with basil leaves, fresh lime juice, simple syrup) or Moscow Mules (vodka with fresh mint, lime juice, ginger beer) commands only a small premium: a total cost of $55. There are similarly tasty classic and contemporary choices for imbibing your half-bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin, Patrón Silver Tequila, Tuthilltown Hudson Baby Bourbon, or Gosling’s Black Seal Rum. “The challenge was to make excellent cocktails, using just four to five ingredients, and also to use many ingredients in multiple cocktails, because the servers have only a tiny pantry and refrigerator to work from,” explains Foster.
To achieve the hotel’s goal of creating “considered moments” for guests, the in-room servers underwent intensive training in modern mixology, repeatedly crafting each cocktail using the vintage bar gear and mobile drinks cart acquired by Foster specifically for the task. “A ‘considered moment’ can become an embarrassing moment, unless you are very well-rehearsed,” says Foster. At the same time, the servers are obliged to do some fact-finding as they banter with the guests: Will they be looking for a spa appointment, or a wake-up call and suggested route for a morning run? The cart itself was inspired by the Martini service that Foster experienced at Dukes Bar in Dukes hotel, London. “They have this squeaky old cart used to retrieve the spirits from the freezer and deliver them to your table,” says Foster. “I fell in love with that cart. Ours doesn’t have a squeak yet, but maybe with time…”
