FSR December 2022

Stove & Co. isn’t especially loud in cross-promoting its con cepts, but each respective website does have an option to view other restaurants in the same family; Good Bad & Ugly also points out its location as right below Stove & Tap. Weathers estimates less than half of Good Bad & Ugly patrons are coming directly from Stove & Tap above. That’s no small amount, but he says it’s important that the bar be a destination unto itself. The two concepts’ operations, how ever, have far more overlap, both in terms of kitchen prep and workforce. “There’s a lot of synergy that goes along with our philos ophy behind the bar. We make our own mixes, syrups, and sours and fresh-press everything, so it is nice to have kitchen space,” Weathers says. “It also makes it better for efficiency of employee staffing.” He adds that employees can earnmore by picking up shifts from both establishments, which also helps Stove & Co. opti mize its workforce amid labor challenges. Training can be more intensive to work behind the bar, but the group has come up with clever ways to cross-utilize staff. “Because it does go until 2 in the morning at the bar, it’s necessary to interchange employees,” Weathers says. “The bar does require a higher skill set of bartending—that’s kind of required—but we just recently installed a food truck–style snack bar in there, so we need employees to work that. And some of our other employees who serve at night will transi tion into being bouncers and security at night.” The success of Good Bad & Ugly has led Weathers and his partners to look at properties with potential for the addition of a separate bar. This strategy may soon prove especially pre scient; as inflation threatens a chilling effect on restaurant sales, bar concepts might be more insulated. “I always say the threshold for a restaurant’s price point is the burger on its menu. People say, ‘Oh, they have a $16 burger there; they’ve got a $22 burger there. It’s a we-can’t-go-there kind of spot.’ Whereas a lot of times, people don’t even look at the drink prices; they just order,” Weathers says. Cole is also keen to expand Bar Vegan, though only into big cities, where it can attract locals and tourists alike. She’s already exploring locations in D.C. and New York while also developing another alcohol-forward restaurant, which is slated to debut next year. “I’m going to do a mimosa bar,” she says. “People can get excited about coming to the space outside of just the food.” “I think they're now starting to go hand in hand, even if it's not a full-on bar. I’m seeing restaurants that have a bar aesthetic to them."

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