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Showing posts from October, 2021

Jesse/Jenn 10/31

Manager Communication: Slower than usual for brunch and the early rounds today. Very easily handled by the staff on hand, and I was able to pull Dylan for liquor room organization and to show Natasha how to batch some drinks. Had some cleaning and organization done on the lowboys and then cut openers after we pulled brunch and had a nice gap in seatings - JM Dinner round wasn’t too wild, bar had plenty of time between seatings to keep drinks coming out consistently. We did have two Secret Service agents accompany a guest in Theater 7 during the third round, but Floor Managers took the lead on that. As the show wasn’t very sold, I printed the agents two passes so they could be seated throughout the film. JH BAR Staff Observations: Very nice to have Dylan in house today, he did a very nice job training Natasha and handling the batching and tasks. Ivan was reliable as always, and Natasha Perez is really coming along; rarely needs help multi tasking, a skill that seems to be helping her a ...

Eliel 10/30 PM

Manager Communication: Pretty good busy evening. Jenn definitely set us up for success. A few very busy rounds but they went pretty smoothly without a hitch. Customer Comments: A group at Trees lounge was charged someone else's tab by mistake. I voided the payment, and saw that the group only had one round of beers. I informed them of the mistake, apologized and told them that we comped their check. They thanked me, re-opened their tab and stayed for more. BAR Staff Observations: Tevon Ian and Ryan rocked Trees lounge. Gabrielle and Naj held down the Lobby. Gabrielle showed Naj a bit more that he had to learn.  There's still quite a bit for him to learn but repetition is the best educator.  It was also his first and only lobby close. Emily told me that his wine pours were inconsistent. I spoke to him and he said that people kept telling him that he needed to add more and some people said he filled it too much. Without a prompt he took a rocks glass and filled it with f...

Jenn/Eliel 10.30

Manager Communication : Certainly not a sleepy Saturday brunch, but there weren’t any big service hits until after brunch had been called. I spent the majority of the morning batching cocktails that kicked last night and unloading a Baldor order. As I’m writing this (just about 6:00pm), service has really picked up and the initial dinner round appears to be going smoothly. (JH) Customer Comments : A guest from an early round Th2 showing believes they left their phone behind. Both staff and the guest checked the theater, but it was not found. He said he will check back in over the week to see if it has been found.  Another guest was really upset they could not use their gift cards to buy tickets in person, only online, as they would be charged a ‘service fee’ on the purchase. While explaining the gift cards could be used to purchase food and beverages in person, they stormed off to hang by the benches in the Lobby, and they seemed placates as I didn’t not hear from them again. (JH) ...

Nick Friday 10/29

Manager Communication: A very busy Friday. Service went very well Customer Comments: We had an older woman faint today while getting up from the dinner round of French Dispatch in 2. EMS was called. She stayed in the theater until EMS was able to check all her vitals and take her out. We were able to keep the crowd for the next show in the bar, and finally seated the theater about 50 minutes late. It was the last round in there so we were able to push it back without affecting any other shows. I only had to do 2 refunds and 2 ecredits. Everyone  else was very understanding and seemed very happy when they were finally able to go in. The woman seemed OK when she left with EMS.  BAR Staff Observations : I cut Jenn after the dinner round since Naaj was training and there were two other bartenders. They got through the rushes fine but you could really feel the difference not having a lead running service tickets. It was Tevon, Gabrielle and Naaj for the rest of the night. I think...

Jesse/Jenn 10/28

Manager Communication:  Every day is a Friday now once we hit the dinner and late rounds. Same as yesterday; a very slow and steady opening round and then sold out 1s and 2s for the dinner shows. Morricone Event drew a big sell out as did the two Dune showings, and French Dispatch and Bond filled out the bottom floors and 4&6. I'm sure this will be covered extensively in the FOH blog, but theater 6 had No Time to Die cut out right as the feature started and it did not turn back on. We had some Food and Drink comps, I know kitchen was able to salvage some of the food but drinks had to be comped away. Luckily, it was very early on but we lost sales on 12 drinks.  Customer Comments: No direct complaints fielded by me with regards to the Th6 issue.  I did have two women come down for Theater 4 in the late round very irate that the screen was small and the theater was "packed". They did not know we were not distancing and were adamant they would not be returning despite me...

Eliel 10/27

Manager Communication: Pretty Good Day.  Good start and business picked up gradually throughout the Evening.  Trees Lounge is getting a consistent crowd throughout the evening.  Customer Comments:  Talkative crowd at the last Bond in theater 7. Otherwise we had a great crowd today.   BAR Staff Observations: Chelsea Ryan and Ian are so dependable. Feels great to work with them.  FOH Staff Observations:  Servers were very diligent today. They were really excited to be busy during the middle of the week. I saw a pep in their collective step. Hiring/Training: Natasha Kundrat training day 1.  She was pretty good today. I walked her around the building, then at Trees bar we rotated her from Beer, to Front facing, to Expo when it was a little slower after the dinner round. She's been a good listener and good executer.  Special Events? Amazon's crowd were pretty happy. After the theater they mainly stayed at the Mezz and came down for drinks....

Jesse/Jenn 10/26

Manager Communication: Steady opening round, very manageable with one at each bar. Dinner round was very busy for a weekday once again, but the real surprise tonight was how busy the late round was, specifically at Lobby Bar. Ian was able to handle the late rush, but keep bartenders from breaking down too aggressively this time of year as they will get a full drink rush before the shows are all started.  Bar crowds light during the early round as well, decent bar crowds leading in to the dinner round and after alongside a steady trivia. Did not cut openers until 10:35 due to busy trivia and solid late round sales. Openers will be looking at long shift even when there are closers.  BAR Staff Observations: Ian held it down all day at a busy lobby bar, letting focus on service be upstairs for trivia and heavy dinner round rushes. With only two bartenders at Trees for trivia, Jesse had to hop behind for the major drink rushes and start of trivia, but no issues handling the volume ...

Eliel 10/24

Manager Communication:  It was a pretty busy day, but smooth until about 8:30pm, then we got slammed hard at Trees Lounge, from all sides for almost two hours.  Customer Comments: A customer called while I was at MOD, looking for a lost credit card. I took down his info, including seat number, theater and time. I found his card and called him back within five minutes. A customer complained that he was told to buy his ticket using his phone when he was at the ticket counter and wanted his $3 service fee refunded. Ashley said she tried to explain to him that she would sell him tickets but he went and did it anyway. I gave him the $3 dollars quickly. Later I felt a little bullied by him and I think I caved too quickly. He said that we either give him his $3 or he would take it from the tip. Ultimately I thought it prudent to just appease him and have him go to his movie.  BAR Staff Observations:  I honestly thought I was going to have to help Natasha a lot more but as s...

Jesse & Eliel 10/23

Manager Communication:  Solid brunch today, we are slowly but surely building up the meal period for business. Two bartenders on worked well, even with the brunch party at Trees Lounge and the later swings gave us a high concentration of staff later in the day, hopefully will be beneficial. No issues with brunch service, nice and easy alongside the event.  We got crushed today and it felt great. Everyone kept up with the onslaught very well. At one point it was nothing but busy for a few straight hours and didn't relent. That's when Jen came up to help restock while everyone hustled.  Customer Comments: One customer somehow got in to get a ticket then left and then tried to come back in but didn't have proof of Vax.  He argued with Hilda and was quite rude to her. I gave him a refund and asked him to leave.  He went home and later came back with proof, purchased another ticket and went into his movie.  BAR Staff Observations:  Ivan did not only a great...

Jesse 10/21

Manager Communication:  A very slow opening round today, lots of time to prep for the opening of Dune/Dispatch and the NEwFest screenings, which crushed us on both floors. The way the times lined up for 1/4/6 were back to back, so we got crushed for a solid two hours straight around thre same time NewFest kept the bars busy. Grateful that we had Jenn training, the support really saved us and let me focus on tray building and drink running, with no need to hop back.  Cut Trees opener late, close to 11 pm, due the steadily busy night.  Customer Comments: Had two guests at the bar that came early because they had been here a few weeks ago and wanted to drink and eat at the bar prior to their movie. It was super busy and they commented on how great the energy was, and asked "is this how it is now?" and Gabrielle laughed and said yes, this is us getting back to normal and they said they were extremely happy to hear that and loved both of their visits. A nice, very validating c...

Nick Wednesday 10/20

Manager Communication: Good night tonight. Everyone did great. I kept the Trees opener till about 10. It was good I did, There was a good bar crowd after the dinner round. I think most of the theater 2 festival guests stayed for a drink Hiring/Training: Jenn is coming in tomorrow for a bar train. Jesse, can you have her clock in FOH training and get all her onboarding stuff taken care of? I already added her to schedulefly and mobilebytes.  Special Events? The "Film Feast" went well. It was only about 36 guests, and they arrived pretty late, but I think it was well received, and service went off without a hitch.  I moved the leftover rooftop reds wine, as well as the so gay rose to the Tree's furniture closet, they will be picking it all up at some point.  Prep List: Eliel and Chelsea spent some time prepping and batching for the weekend. I wanted to be well prepared for all of the openings, so they double batched everything they could. We have rittenhouse coming on th...

Jesse 10/19

Manager Communication: Slow start to the day and a decent dinner round. NewFest Th2 was particularly excellent tonight, nearly sold out and a great crowd that filled up the bar both before and after the show. People seem to be getting used to the venue and anticipating drinking and eating rather than coming in just to watch the films, and business has been really strong because of it.  Customer Comments:  Two guests came to Trees Lounge to close their tab, last name Armstrong, and their card was nowhere to be found. After searching receipts I found that Ashley had closed another guests' tab on their card and given that guest back the card. Her card was nowhere to be found, Ashley thinks she may have returned both in the check presenter. I am anticipating that this guest will reach out when they realize the mistake, and the guests put a hold on the card to be secure. I closed the solo guests' tab to Walk Out as she did not pay and took both cards and then closed their tab to Go...

Jesse 10/18

Manager Communication: A slow theater service today, all eyes on the NewFest screenings and after party, which generated almost all of our business. Great night for NewFest, first one that generated a bar crowd before screenings and the first substantial drink push we felt from the theaters from it. Guests for the fest are really great so far, highly appreciative Customer Comments: Had a trio at the bar before Death and Bowling say they had never been here and were glad the fest brought them in. Judging by how many first timers we are likely getting from this, these late shows really made me feel excited for this exposure  BAR Staff Observations: Ashley is very acclimated already, needed some light support during the NewFest arrival with lots of lingering guests in the lobby grabbing drinks and mingling. Bar Managers be aware that this area gets more traffic when movies load in because of check ins and rush. FOH Staff Observations: Another good night for glass rotation by the serve...

Eliel 10/17

Manager Communication:  Pretty slow open.  It built up in the evening. House of Wax had a great bar crowd. There was a consistent customer presence at Trees today.  The stanchions actually make the space feel fuller with less people. Customer Comments: Two customers came to trees lounge and said they didn't receive a drink they paid for in the theater.  I gave them two drink tokens and they were happy.  BAR Staff Observations: It was Zoey's last shift today.  Ivan had a good open. Isi was a little behind and disorientated for a bit. I helped her out and she regained composure.  She told me she closes on Saturday nights at her other job and she can't open Sundays anymore.  Ashley was pretty great with customers at Trees.  FOH Staff Observations:  We got a good team.  Special Events:  New Fest was pretty good, but not much bar business. Good people though. Like Jesse, I think their later events will be poppin'. 86ed / counts on i...

Eliel /Jesse 10/16

Manager Communication: Similar flow to last week, brunch was slow to pick up. NewFest first showing was sparsely attended and they did not drink or eat a lot, but the showing went well and their staff was really good and effective.  Mid into dinner and late rounds picked up a ton, with nearly sold out theaters everywhere in the building. Zoe had transit issues and ran late right at the rush when she was scheduled in. Next week we should reflect this when we do in time and give a bit more of a cushion just to play it safe with the relief bartenders.  Drink rushes for Bond in particular were non-stop, especially in the dinner round theater 2. Guests went 3-4 rounds and it never slows. Good bar business throughout the day; lots of tables doing drinks and food both on the patio and in Trees Lounge. A busy service but under control. BAR Staff Observations: Chelsea and Ivan came ready to slay. Great open.  Ian ended up on a very long shift again, right now business seems to dic...

Eliel 10/13

Manager Communication: Pretty good day. Slow start but it picked up during and after the dinner run. Pretty good bar business at Trees Lounge for a Wednesday.  Tales from the hood had a great crowd. I wish we can pair this type of programming with something at Trees.   We ran out of Old Fashioned around 6-6:30. I didn't check it when I got in. I went off the email last night so I thought old fashioned was good. But I should've checked. That's no excuse. I'll make sure to check the weights of the keg first thing I came in.  Ian and I batched a precise keg in about 12 minutes.  Customer Comments:   Around 8:15 -8:35 I received a call from Chelsea saying that two customers were about to get in an altercation.  I ran down from Trees immediately and by the time I got there I was told that the threat was gone. Chelsea and a customer told me that a man with a red jacket and a dog leaned against the glass with the dog, and rolled a cigarette right up on t...

Jesse 10/11

Manager Communication:  Busy day again, slow during the day but busier at night. The dinner round Bond nearly sold out, as did some of the smaller theaters and the special presentation also sold really well. Staffing was thin but manageable with the opening bartenders out before the later rounds hit, so I had to hop behind both bars during the height of their service, but that's the name of the game. No major issues and a good crowd before the dinner round and before Psycho Goreman. BAR Staff Observations:  Eliel and Tevon were solid opening and during the day today, no issues. Zoe and Ryan did an excellent job tonight, although Zoe left a lot of work for the end of her night so it required some support so she could do multiple stocking runs. Other than that, good stuff all around. Special Events?  Engagement party crew was very commanding presence in the bar but they brought some energy and business in. Special screening was great, added lots of business and cool guests ...

Eliel 10/10

Manager Communication: What a day, boy oh boy.  We started strong today. Pretty busy all the way through, then it got VERY BUSY. There was a disturbance in the lobby by a neerdowell who bypassed Kelly at the door, wouldn't wear a mask, wouldn't show proof of vaxination and wanted to wax poetic about his constitutional rights.  He was loud and threw around a few different derogatory terms. We asked him to leave, but he declined. Harry called the police. Harry and the neerdowell spoke at length until the guy left because "he didn't want his dick sucked by no man". He must've been in the lobby for 15-20 minutes. I just directed traffic around him. The cops came about 10-15 minutes after he left and I spoke to them outside. They said to call if he returned, but he didn't.  Customer Comments:  One customer complained to me about servers being in front of them too much. I tried offering them passes but she said she didn't want to come back and just walked aw...

Eliel/Jesse 10/9/21

Manager Communication:   Slow & Steady opening round which built into a swell.  While brunch still seems to be gaining steam slow and steady, dinner was another matter altogether. We hit the ground running with nearly to fully sold out shows from midday through dinner into the late round. Bar crowds generated heavily before and after the dinner round and before the late round show due to a long flip and lots of guest volume. Drink rushes were well handled by the team, only needing manager support for a few periods of heavy guest facing bar balanced with the persistent drink rushes that the long Bond movie gives us. Make sure to stay on stocking happening throughout; it's tempting to recouperate a lot once things slow down, and absolutely give the team time to catch their breath, but without stocking happening in between each rush there will be things that you run out of. No issues with that tonight, though! A thrillingly busy shift. BAR Staff Observations:  Strong op...

Jesse 10/8

Manager Communication:  Well, here we go! A full tilt increase in business on all fronts today. Early round was steady, never crazy but then once we hit the dinner round we were busy across the board. Drink rushes were heavy, and for the long Bond movie come in waves with lots of second and even third beverages. Most bar facing business came in between the dinner and late rounds, slow at the front until that point. Patio was steady all day, when we are busier it seems to also absorb a lot of one and done waiting for movie crowds.  We set up the middle and far wells at both bars and it was a huge help to alleviate traffic. BAR Staff Observations: This was an all star team. Tevon and Chelsea held it down exceptionally well downstairs, balancing the patio and the theaters. Ian and Gabrielle have a really strong synergy upstairs, only had to hop back to support once or twice when we got a lot of cocktail orders (guests love martinis during this movie). I was very, very happy with ...

Blog, Jesse Blog 10/7

Manager Communication:  Strong pickup in business with Bond, as expected. Early round was slow, probably too close to when people were finishing work, but once we hit the dinner and late rounds it was off to the races. Drink tickets picked up exponentially for the dinner and late rounds, lots of drinking and 2nd and 3rd bev sales during Bond, a very long movie. Possessor and Shang Chi/Venom splits kept the rest of the theaters at a decent clip as well. Good night.  BAR Staff Observations:  Gabrielle held it down in lobby; with a lot of the business concentrated to the upper theaters, it was a huge help to have her handle it so succinctly. Strong closes last night, very pleased with what we came in to and how the openers handled it. Eliel did expectedly well holding things down at Trees. Chelsea is adjusting to the expo style, she's very efficient but struggles with called drinks throwing her off. I think when we get busier the reasons behind it will click and the utility ...

Eliel 10/6

Manager Communication:  Pretty slow start. Then the middle round Titane.  So someone had a seizure during the movie. Gil went in and got the movie stopped and the lights turned on to find the sick customer. He walked them to Trees Lounge and and the movie was resumed. The customer was fine and the other guests were given passes. More about this in the general blog.  Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2000) had a great crowd.  They hung out a bit in Trees Lounge and we had a little pop up there.  We had some NH folks up in trees too and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Customer Comments:  Two other customers left the same showing of Titane after that happened. I spoke to them, gave them passes and they were okay.  After having watched the movie, I understand how this can happen. They thanked us for everything.  BAR Staff Observations:  Ryan's first open  at Trees Lounge today. He did a great job.  Lobby Bar had a strong open as well....

Jesse 10/5

Manager Communication:  Steady service day, ticket sales started low but we did decent walk ins for the dinner and late rounds. Trivia was bustling tonight! Really great crowd and sales. BAR Staff Observations:  Dylan, Tevon and Eliel crushed trivia. Nice bar opens on both floors as well.  Special Events?  First trivia with Shay and Kevin, our new hosts. Very busy and very successful. Prep List:  No immediate needs tomorrow Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: US Foods tomorrow Maintenance:  Dish machine needs to have the floor graded at more of an angle to drain into the drain, using the stationary fan overnight for now to mitigate the standing water

Jesse 10/4

Manager Communication: A slow day overall. Picked up from the opening sales a bit and had staggered folks at the bar/patio. Got cleaning projects done, not much else to report. BAR Staff Observations: Frozen machines were improperly reassembled and leaked due to the gaskets not being flush to the back of the unit Prep List: Nothing needed tomorrow, well batched and also ready for trivia

Eliel 10/3

Manager Communication: Decent brunch for the first weekend back.  Today's Bottle Rocket was slightly better attended than yesterdays.  There were so many ice cream eaters today. A couple of trouble makers out there too. Jovani called me down to stop a guy that kept sneaking in the exit side with an ice cream, no proof of vax and no ticket.  He tried to confront me and I just stood in front of him until he walked away.  Customer Comments: Customers in The 6:15 eyes of tammy faye complained about a leak mainly in row 4 but sprinkled onto 3 & 5.  For more info please see general blog.  BAR Staff Observations:  Tevon and Dylan were great all day.  Isi needed a little help around 7 because of a busy theater 3.  I moved Ashley down there to help.   Zoe was a bit low energy and was missing a couple of things behind the bar.  I spoke to her aside, she told me she was having a rough weekend and she'd do better. She immediately did d...

Jesse 10/2

Manager Communication:  Brunch was slow to start, seems to need a week or two and a very exciting movie to get the crowds in and the neighborhood used to the service again. That being said, it went seamlessly. The swing position was a little much early and Tevon is risking OT so I cut him for a few hours in the middle of the shift (from 12:30 to 3:30) and brought him back to continue the swing. Once we have bumping brunches, it'll be great. It requires management attention to figure out when and where to have the swing bartender, but with some diligence it seems like a great solution to staffing lean and mean for busy days. Dinner round and late round picked up a ton of last minute and in person ticket sales, so the day ended up much busier than initial numbers suggested. Seems to be the name of the game for now, so don't cut too prematurely. BAR Staff Observations: Ivan needed almost no assitance getting set up; he absorbed training like a sponge and was great downstairs. Big ...

Eliel /Jesse 10/1/21

Manager Communication: Venom had solid numbers while Shang Chi continued to be strong in theater 3.  The dinner round was nearly sold out. We had a good amount of walk-in business.  Titane did pretty well. I think it will rise in popularity as word of mouth starts spreading in NY.   Customer Comments: One customer in the dinner round of auditorium 3 asked to change their seat because they didn't want to sit next to a stranger. I changed their seat but told them that there was still a possibility someone would buy the other seat next to them.   BAR Staff Observations: Everyone did pretty well today.  Since it was my first day live as a bar manager I was interested in seeing what the staff's reaction to the slight shift in power dynamic was, and everyone seemed really comfortable, so I'm taking that as a good sign.  FOH Staff Observations: Some of the new folk aren't very cocktail tray confident. That just takes some practice.  Hiring/Training:...