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Evidence exists that pomegranates were cultivated in Asia, Southern Europe, Africa and North America as far back as 1000 BC. One can only presume that even the ancients found the fruit delicious, but an absolute pain to work with. Fortunately for those of us in the 21st century, all we need do to enjoy its altogether delectable flavor is to pop open a bottle of La Pinta Pomegranate Infused Tequila.
This award-winning spirit is crafted at Productos Fino de Agave — NOM 1416 — in Jalisco, Mexico, which in addition to being the birthplace of tequila is also one of the country’s premier growing regions for pomegranates. After the hand-picked fruit arrives at the distillery, they’re washed and placed in wooden vats where their fresh juice is slowly extracted. The pomegranate juice is blended with with Clase Azul Blanco Tequila in roughly equal proportions and then well aged for the infusion to become fully integrated. La Pinta is bottled at 38-proof.
Similar to how limoncello originated in Europe, the product is fashioned after a traditional, often homemade drink popular throughout Mexico and points south called ponche de granada. La Pinta has pristine clarity, a satiny lightweight body, a deep crimson color and an enticing array of fruit and agave aromas. It completely fills the mouth with glorious, true-to-fruit flavor and light agave notes before gradually subsiding into a tangy, marvelously refreshing finish.
La Pinta has virtually unlimited applications behind the bar. It makes a luscious addition to a wide range of drinks from Palomas and Margaritas to Sangrias and Mojitos. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself wondering where it’s been all of your life.
START A CONVERSATION about bar design with a group of beverage practitioners and see what happens. It’s a contentious topic that often can only be settled through fisticuffs.
“I kid you not, I’ve seen people get red hot angry about where a glass-washer should go or how many bartender stations are needed behind a bar that I thought it would come to blows,” says David Commer of Commer Beverage Consulting and former T.G.I.Friday’s beverage director. “It’s a passionate subject because so much is riding on every little detail. Bar design affects people’s livelihoods and the viability of a business. Listen, it’s not a subject for the faint at heart.”
While there’s no such thing as the perfect bar, some are much easier to work than others. Every misplaced step the bartender takes costs the business money in lost productivity. Operational folks are passionate about the logistics of drink production—how the workstations are configured, where equipment is placed relative to the workstation and how the inventory is merchandised. They’re the ones responsible for ensuring that the facility is designed to operate at peak efficiency; anything less negatively impacts revenue and service.
Once the design team enters the fray things can easily go combustible. Since the bar is the focal point of the front 
of the house they contend that its design falls within their purview. They’re responsible for creating ambience and visually delivering on the promise of the concept. Where the bar is placed, the shape of the structure and traffic flow around the bar are crucial design considerations.
With the design team frequently championing one point of view and the operations staff the opposite, every decision is a potential flashpoint. That’s when upper management needs to intervene and negotiate a viable compromise.
“The management point of view really is the prioritized melding of both the operational and interior design perspective,” says Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray, vice-president of food and beverage for Intercontinental Hotels. “Adding a few curves to a bar for visual impact and you could adversely impact drink production, delay service, increase labor costs, snarl traffic flow and potentially undermining the concept.”
Etcheberrigaray contends that all decisions pale in significance to choosing the physical shape of the bar. “Nothing one does can overcome a poor choice in terms of design. The physical layout of the bar largely determines the placement of equipment, liquor displays and workstations, which in turn, dictates the speed at which bartenders can make drinks and provide hospitable service. A difference of 3 feet one way or another may not seem like much when you’re deciding where to position a glass-washer, but it can add up to hundreds or even thousands of extra steps for bartenders a week. That’s a lot of wasted time.”
What’s the most operationally friendly bar design? Which best allows bartenders to quickly make drinks and service the guests? Which layout is most visually appealing and the most efficient use of space? Tackling the debate head on, we polled beverage veterans for their take on these questions.
SCOTT YOUNG IS a highly celebrated bartending trainer in North America. Having spent the majority of his life behind bars, the Vancouver native — owner of ExtremeBartending.com — knows a workable bar design when he sees it. “I think most bartenders would rather work a linear bar, one with a workstation positioned every 10-15 feet or so. It’s a configuration that affords unrestricted views of the guests and permits bartenders to move freely behind the bar without obstruction.”
Young thinks the most effective bar design is one that guides guests to where you want them, instead of forcing bartenders to run back and forth wasting steps and precious time. He points out that efficiency of movement is crucial even behind slower bars. The time wasted on drink production is always better spent on service.
ILL-DEVISED LAYOUTS AND poorly placed equipment can make bartenders struggle to perform their jobs in a timely and efficient manner. Poor bar design can result in delayed service and may also increase labor cost if one bartender isn’t able to effectively work the bar alone. The ramifications may end up costing lost sales for the life of the business.
Here then is a scouting report from our experts on the operational advantages and disadvantages of the popular bar designs. —RP
LINEAR BARS:
L-SHAPED BARS:
OVAL AND HORSESHOE BARS:
David Sarner is a successful operator of numerous popular New York haunts, including Cain Luxe. “As a bartender I preferred working linear bars. So-called straight bars are easier to work quickly and maintain tabs on what’s going on. They have little impact on traffic flow and cost significantly less per square foot to build. Plus you can comfortably seat more guests per square foot at a linear bar than you can incorporating curves into the design.”
Another proponent of the linear bar is Mark Grossich, CEO of New York-based Hospitality Holdings, whose portfolio of contemporary cocktail lounges include The World Bar in Trump Tower, Carnegie Club in CitySpire Centre and the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Terminal. “In addition to being faster to work, linear bars afford bartenders with optimal face-to-face time with guests. From my point of view, there’s nothing more important than that.”
David Commer believes oval bars are faster for bartenders to work. “It’s easier to survey what’s going on at an oval bar and provide outstanding service to the guests. The close proximity of workstations, equipment and inventory at an oval bar facilitates drink production and speed of service.”
Wayne Morris, director of operations for Associated Club Management, which operates eleven Midnight Rodeo and Wild West concepts throughout Texas and the Virgin Islands, concurs. “We believe oval bars are the most efficient use of space. In fact, in our high-volume, 25,000 square foot clubs we have five oval bars surrounding a ‘race track’ style dance floor with another oval bar in the middle of that.”
Several experts cast their lot with horseshoe bars, which includes all variations of the “U” shape. Among them is Brian Jaymont, beverage manager at the JW Marriott Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson. An experienced operator, Jaymont’s depth of hands-on experience was heavily relied upon when designing the new property, which features a horseshoe-shape for the showcase bar.
“We went with that design because it creates more working room behind the bar, which allows us to run more bartenders on busy nights. The arc in the bar top also provides additional overhang for equipment. With linear or l-shape bars, a wide bar top makes it more difficult for bartenders to reach in front of guests, or reduces the working room behind the bar. From an aesthetic perspective, the curving lines of a horseshoe bar are far more interesting to look at.”
ETCHEBERRIGARAY FINDS IT interesting that until about 60 years ago, the classic linear or “L” shape bars in America and Europe all incorporated large mirrors behind the bar. He believes that the mirror is crucial to the design. Without it guests seated at the bar can only watch what’s happening behind them by turning around on their stools. That puts their backs to the bartenders and that’s bad for business.
“In addition, bartenders rely on that mirror to extend their field of vision and catch reorder cues without turning around,” says restaurant consultant Bill Main. “From the patron’s perspective, the best bar shape is the oval or horseshoe. They both create a sense of privacy, while still allowing guests to scan the room easily. People watching is a great American pastime. Horseshoe bars have a high ‘see and be seen’ quotient.”
On a more pragmatic level, Main thinks that curved counters tend to engage people, while straight edges tend to repel. “Customers gravitate toward curved kiosks in airports 20% more frequently.”
David Sarner outfits all of his venues with oval bars. He believes that they allow the clientele to move about more freely and check out the other patrons. When there’s free flow of movement, people feel more comfortable in the space, which Sarner contends is one of the foundations of building a regular clientele.
Mark Grossich has built and operated cocktail lounges that featured all of the various bar designs mentioned. “In the final analysis, I think this discussion renders down to form following function, or more specifically, form following the optimal floor/furniture plan for the space.”
So go ahead and advocate putting an oval bar in a square space, or a linear bar in a round space. You’ll catch an earful either way.