NPP Bar Blog

Manager Communication: Happy Leap DAY! Slow day gave way to a decent night.  With so much kids programming, drink rushes were light, and food definitely starred tonight. Was able to keep cuts close to the vest throughout and get lots of batching done. Down to 1.75 bottles lime juice, which should be fine, as Pink Panther and maybe hibiscus lime are the only things that need to be batched.   May need to borrow 1 bottle from kitchen tomorrow. Towards the end of the night, a guest came in from outside to tell Vanessa that the Municipal Trash Can at the corner of 14th St. and Prospect Park West was on fire.  I grabbed 2 quarts of water and put it out, as there was not much in it.  Someone walking by had already called the fire department, and when they got here I told them what had happened.  They looked in the can to make sure it wasn't still smoldering, and told me "Good Job."  I assume we won't be part of their report, as it was a municipal c...

Manager Communication: Steady night, but nothing out of the ordinary. drink service and running was good all night. Susan got us all prepped up for the weekend. BAR Staff Observations: Great crew tonight. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Now that we are dating wines, we should come up with a standard timeline for how long we want to keep them open. Maintenance: The elevator was acting funny. W cleaned all the tracks and it seems to be OK now, we should get that on a regular cleaning schedule,

Manager Communication:  Dylan mentioned to me today that the given amount of prep time on Wednesdays is not long enough to clean the frozen machines while also taking care of any syrups/infusions that may need to get made. Is it possible to extend the prep time on Wednesdays by 30 minutes? Customer Comments: Mainly staff at the bar for Ash's going away party. Everyone handled themselves very well. No one drank too much, and some staff didn't drink at all. BAR Staff Observations: Dylan did a great job balancing his prep shift while also doing a thorough opening of the bar. He was pressed for time, but I was impressed by his efficiency. Special Events? Ash's event tonight went really well. There was a decent turnout, but nothing got too crazy. There were lots of hugs and lots of tears and everyone was very happy. She will be missed!! Prep List: Bloody Concentrate will need to be made by this weekend. Piscean Dreams syrup may need to be made before the wee...

Manager Communication: A very slow day overall. The Teeling event was great and gave us a nice push of business to both bars surrounding the event. Cat Video Fest was far and away our busiest screening, with decent drink rush attached to when it sat but not much re-ordering. Otherwise, very slow. Customer Comments:  We had a lot of bar folks in today very positive about the Teelings event today, many here for the first time and will be back. BAR Staff Observations:  Ryan got some batching done and helped with the Teeling event, then held it down upstairs with Hex. Cut to one up, one down by 7:30 pm. Special Events?  Teeling Irish Whiskey event was great, easy service in the theatres, very well received and a nice push to both bars before and after. Prep List:  Pink Panther needed at some point tomorrow, but all good to open and work through most of the day. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Chef's Warehouse Thursday

Manager Communication:  A very slow day through the beginning and mid rounds. The Hunger gave us a decent theatre rush but truly not much to do outside of that. Industry night was a great, great success. We had a great mix of Susan's former bar/karaoke crowd, some Nitehawk friends and family and a bunch of guests that got out of movies and came down. It added incredible bar energy, and got people in for drinks on a historically bare bones night at the bar. Drew in nearly $1,000 in bar sales with guests begging for more regular karaoke nights. Seems like something that, with a bit of a neighborhood push and social media push, we could draw big crowds for every two weeks. Something to consider when planning out industry Mondays going forward. Customer Comments:  More positivity from guests about karaoke night. We had at least a dozen guests come out of dinner round movies and actually do karaoke, they were by far the most positive people about the event. BAR Staff Observat...

Manager Communication:  A steady, significantly slower than usual mid dinner round paved the way for a very slow late round. Vanessa called out and we swung some staff around and handled the business volume without issue given our staffing. Went down to 2 up, 1 down right after the dinner round finished its moderate drink pushes. Decent bar business tonight with most of the action before and after Parasite. BAR Staff Observations:  Very appreciative of Susan for batching a lot today, and Ian for swinging between bars at high times to handle guest flow. Prep List: Very strong batch volume going in to the week. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Small Baldor order tomorrow, Chef's Warehouse Tuesday

Manager Communication:  A steady day from start to end, with a few well sold but not sold out shows. We had consistent bar business all day, with the parties adding some volume but also strong crowds before and after movies tonight staying for several drinks. All tables and bar seats occupied through 10:30 pm, really great to see and kept us all busy. Vanessa called out but I kept Susan a bit later in lobby and swung Malka down to support during the staggered rushes and Tevon down to close to avoid spread of hours. No issues handling service even down a bartender. BAR Staff Observations: Ryan and Susan alternated going to the back and batching and held down service and anchored both bars really well tonight. FOH Staff Observations:  Had to call for a runner reminder heading in to the Th1 dinner round, but got Jesse up promptly to support. Special Events?  Both birthdays were easy events, minimal work load for the bar with just some periodic check ins and bussing. ...

Manager Communication: Slow for a Friday night.  Was aggressive with cuts.  Ryan got us batched up well for the weekend.  Sent out a recap of the bar meeting. Dylan left everything nice and full for Brunch opener tomorrow.  Should be a smooth opening. See you all next Saturday and have a lovely event filled week! Customer Comments: For the last round in theater 2, Connor had 2 guests who showed up late.  One was not looking good, and they ordered 2 beers.  He told us immediately, and I went in and spoke to them.  I said I didn't feel comfortable serving them alcohol, but they were welcome to stay and have food and non-alcoholic beverages.  I had Connor bring them waters.  About 10 minutes later I found them on the staff side, and escorted them through the bar.  They decided to leave on their own.   The two women Rachel mentioned who sat through part of Parasite, I showed them for the future where on their email it says ...

Manager Communication: We had our bar meeting this afternoon. Covered some general topics and then rolled it in to some deep cleaning. It was a good meeting, spirits seem high. The shift went well. It was pretty quiet all night. No service issues. Prep List: We were short on a lot of things due to not having prep shifts this week, but Ian put in some batching time and we seem to be all caught up for the weekend. Maintenance: the drainpipe on one of the sinks in the hi-res service well came off at the end of the shift. I was able to get it back on, but I think the gasket has deteriorated, so it will likely happen again. I will have Juan take a look at it. It is added to the maintenance doc.

Manager Communication: Rebecca texted me that she had food poisoning this morning.  I told her to stay home and that I could work through the dinner round, and checked in with Gil to make sure he was okay with closing the doors and doing the last couple things.  He said it was fine. Dylan texted me around 10 to say that he injured his neck, and I reached out to everyone to get the shift covered.  Malka came through!   I let Dylan know that if he is still hurting, to seek coverage for tomorrow ASAP. There was no prep shift today, but Ryan got through a bit.  He couldn't get through more because Malka started feeling sick around 5:30, so me and Ryan got through the important prep, and he got behind the bar so we could send her home.  It shouldn't be too bad tomorrow. BAR Staff Observations: Everyone is getting ailments, but they are all great. Sick Leave/ Call outs: Rebecca and Dylan have both been added to the Sick Leave calendar. Prep Li...

Manager Communication:  Good day with strong pick up for the dinner round last minute, that gave us a nice drink push to HiRes as the bar was starting to get hit with trivia business. Bartenders upstairs handled a VERY high volume trivia and the dinner round well, with only brief needs for support. BAR Staff Observations: Ryan, Jeremy and Susan were unflappable on service and trivia. Strong work. Adrianna held it down in lobby.    FOH Staff Observations: Great, prompt drink running tonight with dedicated drink running. Prep List:  Need Pink Panther once we get in Montelobos, Silent Era once Rittenhouse arrives. We have requisite syrups, Ryan batched everything else that we could. Pay Outs:  Pay in $81 from video game machines. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Geyser tomorrow, Coke Thursday, Chef's Warehouse Thursday

Manager Communication: Busy for the kids first round, steady through the day, good night time sales.  Nothing late night.  I was able to cut to 1 up 1 down for the last round, and Susan had plenty of time to clean (see maintenance notes), and was closed very quickly after film bot was done.  The staffing was good for today.   I put notes in the holiday doc. I looked back at some previous Holiday Mondays, and it looks like the 4 rounds starting at 11 might be more efficient scheduling.  I would love to talk about this tomorrow. Customer Comments: Right when I got here, we had a gentleman in the stall in the downstairs stall apparently changing.  He was also talking loudly on his phone and swearing.  As soon as he was out of the stall, Nick asked him to leave, and he left.  He then came back and was digging through the trash in the bathroom.  I told him he had to leave, and he said he thinks he threw out some cash and his metro ca...

Manager Communication: A very busy day overall. We had steady daytime sales with noticeably great and persistent drink rushes for non-Sonic shows. Dinner round was a killer, with sold out shows across the board and the 8:30 pm Parasite capped off a 2 hour drink rush with some great sales. All were very well handled, and the bar team on both floors handled high volume at the bars and strong service rushes with little need for support or issue. Really great day. Customer Comments: Had very few issues to handle in theatres or guest complaints on our side. Lots of highly positive bar guests tonight and we had a flow of guests to HiRes through midnight. BAR Staff Observations:  Rebecca and Hex did a great job on the tail end of their shifts stocking the bars and cleaning bubblers, and Susan got lots of batching done. Honestly top notch work from everyone today. FOH Staff Observations:  Servers were prompt about drink running tonight, we had a brief lapse in communication fo...

Manager Communication: Very solid Saturday.  Back to needing everyone throughout the day, no early cuts made. Really high traffic at the bar before, during and after dinner rounds, with some good business after the late rounds as well. Dylan was an hour late today, as he slept through his alarm. He texted Jesse, and took a car over, Jesse set up the bar.  After his shift he was written up and understands.  He also signed his new Rate of Pay form as a lead. The 2nd floor woman's room smell, I think, is because the air refresher was empty, (I replaced it) so lots of pee smell in a very hot room.  Can we turn the space heater on the wall off in there?  It was a very cold day, and that room was sweltering, which added to the smell.  Customer Comments: I had an old man say he ordered tickets to the 8 PM Photograph.  I spent time trying to find his tickets, and could not.  He then said he had the confirmation through Fandango.  I informe...

Manager Communication: One of our busiest 3 round days ever.  I checked some of the busy Fridays, didn't go through all, but it may have been the best with only 3 rounds.  People were eating and drinking continuously.  Kept 4 up til 10:30 with sporadic breaks for the fourth to batch and stock.  Very smooth from bar and kitchen with great F&B sales. Moved to 2 up after the theater 2 rush, and routed just after 11.  Nice to see a really busy day again, and kept the bar busy the whole time. The new banquette looks great!  People were utilizing it despite the crazy cross breeze in the lobby (which stayed above 65 degrees on one of the coldest days we have had). Customer Comments: I had some guests early that ordered very strangely.  They were not used to eating at bars.  Ian tried to guide them, but there were a few miscommunications.  Everything got worked out in the end, but there were some food comps and rushes I needed to do. ...

Manager Communication: Pretty decent day today. Portrait of a lady did well and Casablanca basically sold out. It was a good drinking crowd for Casablanca as well. They kept the bar busy before during and after the show. We did have an issue with the screening. On the film page online there was a special cocktail from when we showed it a couple years ago. Several customers tried to order the special from seeing it online. We were not prepared to make it, and didn't even have ingredients to throw it together on the fly. Can we make sure when we are copying past film pages that we aren't including any specials. Customer Comments: There was a birthday party in the mezz for most of the night tonight. It was good to have some people up there, but the birthday girl had to be cut off towards the end of the night, and they had to be spoken to about outside food. BAR Staff Observations: Ian's cat was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I cut him first and William volunteered to s...

Manager Communication: Other Half delivered today, so the D IPA is back on.  The driver came in right behind the Interboro guys, so the kitchen thought he was with them.  He just left the beer downstairs and no one signed for them.  I was radioed a bit later that it had been left there. Customer Comments: A bit of a full moon tonight regarding customer interactions... A very frightened woman came in tonight off the street saying that her boyfriend had thrown her to the ground in the subway station right outside of the theatre. She had a brief interaction with Benjamin and Ian in the lobby and then ran upstairs to Hi Res where she spoke to Ryan W. He immediately called for a manager. I came up, and she asked to borrow my phone so that she could call her friend to pick her up because she was very frightened about her safety.  She said she absolutely did not want to call the cops because this was "very unlike him". I took her to the Mezz so she could call her ...

Manager Communication: Slow day overall. Cut Jeremy as soon as we got through some batching, lots of cleaning behind both bars. Parasite did really well in Th2, but not much else on the radar tonight. Customer Comments:  Had a few guests come in just for the bar tonight and sit for a few hours and eat/drink. BAR Staff Observations:  Jeremy opened well and batched us up, then Hex and Ryan cleaned and kept things tight for quick closes. No issues. Prep List:  Grapefruit syrup needed and Firewalk tomorrow, otherwise good to go. Pay Outs: Hardware and cash prize for ballots. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Baldor tomorrow.

Manager Communication: Parasite did decent sales after winning the Oscars! Special for Portrait of a Lady on Fire is in the menu doc, and recipe spec sheet is created. Titled "C'est Moi?".  We will need to discuss what specials we are doing this coming week. BAR Staff Observations:  Used upstairs crossover to batch.  Dylan did a great job on his upstairs closing shift.  I went over the few things that as a lead he does. Special Events: Ace in the Hole, barely any sales, but the people here for it were real nice and very excited. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Empire and maybe skurnik tomorrow

Manager Communication:  Oscars! A sold out, high energy theatre for the Oscars was the focal point of the day, but we had steady sales during the afternoon and early evening as well. We were able to keep staffing tight after brunch/leading up to the Oscars. Had a call out from William, but Nick tailored Rebecca's in time and we rolled with 3 up for the Oscars with no problem. The drink push came highly staggered and evenly spread, but also did not let up for 3 hours. Amazing sales and energy in the theatre and to a group of about 20-25 people at the bar for the awards, as well. Little action to the bar afterwards, as people drank and ate a ton in the theatre and grabbed at most a single drink on their way out. Cut Rebecca and Hex before midnight. Customer Comments:  No issues with service tonight, I'd just like to say that our guests (and myself) were freaking out about Parasite sweeping! BAR Staff Observations:  Nothing but praise for the crew tonight, exceptionall...

Manager Communication:  Earliest round was a bit of a dud, but the rounds picked up with the smaller theaters all selling well all day, and the big ones selling well for dinner and late night.  Good bar crowd from afternoon into evening.  The Spirit Awards kept people interested to hang around a bit after their films let out.   Decent crowd after the last movies let out as well. Openers were cut early, but everyone else got a good full shift. We are out of Cocolero, but are batched up on BOP Margarita. We batched the last of the Tin Cup for Bloody Tin.  May need 1 more batch to get us through, can use 4 roses maybe. Customer Comments: There was a homeless man in the Lobby who smelled of booze.  Ryan refused him service, and he made a little stink.  He hung around a bit, and Cedric talked to him and he left. Rebecca and Jenn had a gentleman at the bar at 12:30 AM order a beer, and they felt like it should be the last one they served him....

Manager Communication: A solid Friday, much better than last Friday.  Still able to be aggressive with cuts, cause the schedule lined up well.  Cut lobby opener after the dinner rush and restock, and because theater 7 was a half hour before the push on the other side, we were able to close with just one bartender for 3 mostly sold theaters. Customer Comments: I got a call from Susan to come to lobby towards the end of the late round.  There was a woman in the bathroom who had vomited in the sink.  The gentleman with her said she had just had a glass of wine, and when she had finished in the bathroom, she was not drunk at all.  I gave them passes so they could come back on a weekday and finish their movie.  She apologized, and I said I was just concerned about her.  They were very nice.  Raymond cleaned it up immediately, and I gave him 2 tokens and thanked him profusely. BAR Staff Observations: Solid.  Good prep and service. FOH Sta...

Manager Communication: Outside of spoons it was pretty quiet tonight. No issues. I love the diamond plate on the walls. Special Events? Spoons tonight. The new drink menu went over really well. The pre-party had a nice crowd too. I did not set up a line, there were 112 tickets sold but it was very smooth seating everyone. I don't think a line is necessary unless we are close to sold out for these.

Manager Communication: There was a bird in theater 2 today.  He had a bit of popcorn and wanted to see a movie, but he didn't have a ticket or any money, so we got him out of here. Special Events? Very slow for the Akiko event tonight; however, the bar got a decent pop afterwards. They mostly ordered tea, but it was quite nice to see people hanging out! Lost & Found?: Hex left her glasses and lighter behind lobby bar tonight. I have put them in one of those "fresh popcorn" boxes and put it on the shelves in MOD. There's a post-it with her name on it. She'll pick them when she comes in on Sunday. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Baldor came today, as did 12 %, coke, and Interboro. Maintenance: Jenn mentioned that there's a strange odor coming from the liquor room. She said that it smells a bit like mold. Honestly, I have a terrible sense of smell, so I didn't notice anything. Just wanted to put it out there in case anyone smells something ...

Manager Communication:  A busy night for both bars due to the event and trivia. Theatres were on the slow side, dying pretty hard for the late round but we kept high energy going at both bars. The CBS event drew a big crowd to lobby bar and trivia filled the upstairs bar tables and the bar itself. A very good night. Once the party was done and trivia slowed, went to 2 up and 1 down. No issues. Customer Comments:  Lots of first timers both at the event and for trivia, very positive! BAR Staff Observations:  Dylan did a really good job serving trivia, he keeps the tables really clear and had good drink sales. Ryan swung down for the heavy push of drinks from the event. FOH Staff Observations: Big thanks and kudos to Dale tonight for running the majority of the heavy trivia push and being a big help to the bar (bussing, running glassware). Special Events?  CBS event hit lobby bar, primarily, because we already had a crowd at HiRes and they had their theatre an...

Manager Communication: I posted the Ice Machine to Babar today.  I wanted to wait til after the weekend so there would be more eyes on it when it went out.  1 person has already expressed interest and will be by tomorrow to look at it.  Also got a few questions I answered, so we shall see. I got some samples of N/A spirits today, can taste tomorrow as group. Customer Comments: A gentleman in the first show of Theater 7 told Eliel that the theater was too cold.  I went in and adjusted it from 68 to 70, as it was ok, but not warm.  He then complained to Jenna in the theater, and again came out to talk to a manager.  I spoke to him and he yelled at me "how many people do I have to ask before the heat is adjusted."  I calmly explained that I had adjusted it, and as I was trying to explain that I did not want to make it uncomfortable for other guests, he interrupted me and snapped that it had not been adjusted one iota and that he was "not stupid."...

Manager Communication:  A pretty slow day for theatre service. Steady day time ticket sales and a decent dinner round considering it coincided with the Super Bowl being on. The game itself drove in a small but really fun crowd to the theatre and also to the bar. It was a good, easy shift with tight labor cuts. Customer Comments:  Had a couple come in pretty heavily intoxicated to HiRes. I told them we wouldn't be serving them alcohol and they seemed confused but took it well enough. I went downstairs because I knew they had theatre tickets to tell the server to not serve them. They also tried to order at lobby bar and Antonio told them again we wouldn't be serving them. This time they got offended and upset and I spoke to them again. The man left the woman here, who got very upset and just asked to watch the movie they bought tickets for and apologized. I explained we wouldn't server her any drinks but she could, of course, go. She decided not to and took a refund inste...

Manager Communication: Decent business, but a bit slow for a Saturday.  Bar business didn't really hit until dinner rounds, and then continued with the party and Karaoke generating good business until close. I attached a keg of TE Lawrence that had been sitting a few days, and it poured thickly.  It still tasted good, the color was just off.  I shook it, and it poured fine afterwards.  Let's make sure to shake the kegs that sit for a before attaching them. Vanessa is the only one who hit spread of hours. Customer Comments: I had one customer come in angry cause his girlfriend got an error message when trying to purchase tickets last night.  He said their tickets (n93gws) weren't emailed until after they went to another theater.  They emailed this morning and hadn't heard back.  He did not have her card, so I could not do a refund to a card.  I informed him I could give him a gift card for the cost of the tickets, and he asked nicely if i...