NPP Bar Blog

Manager Communication:  Slow opening round today transitioning into a slightly busier dinner round, but ruled by Minions so slower drink rushes. No issues. JM Got better in the dinner round. Trees had a decent pop until about 10:30 and it dwindled down.  Customer Comments: A guest came down after the dinner round from theater 2, informed me a drink was spilled from behind on them at seat 2311 and asked if they could get tickets or something. They weren't visibly upset, I  profusely apologized and gladly gave them two passes and they laughed and said it was all good. I went to theater 2 and Jasmine told me she spilled it on them after being accidentally kicked by the person in front of her. She said she checked on the guest and they said they were fine so she kept working and forgot to let the MODs know. I asked her to please let the MODs  know when something like that happens so we can be proactive.  BAR Staff Observations: G ood open by Ian. Chelsea got caught ...

Manager Communication :  Nice, steady and not overly busy day today. Nice opens and lots of small projects getting done behind bars in down time today. Not much else to report on opening and dinner rounds; steady, easy service. JM Steady service during dinner round, and a great pop at Trees after the College Boys Live screening.  The crowd naturally tapered off around 10:30, and both bars headed into an easy close. JH BAR Staff Observations :  Good opens by Chelsea and Gabrielle. JM Was able to get Chelsea out of here around 8:30, once Natasha was settled in Lobby with a restock and the special screening had loaded in.  Gabrielle got out of here just before ten, after helping Ian restock and shelve glassware.  Both bubblers were also cleaned before openers were cut, so Ian and Natasha had relatively easy closes. JH Staff Meeting Agenda notes :  Chelsea found Bloody Mary from the weekend behind lobby bar, we need better oversight by staff and management on c...

Manager Communication: Much slower than yesterday. We got a slight push for the dinner round but nothing earth shattering. Trickle of Trees business throughout the day, with the peak coming before the Theater 6 event. Easily handled today by a good staff.  BAR Staff Observations: Nice opens by Eliel and Tevon. Once Natasha got in, I had Eliel batch a ton and then clock out. Tevon stayed through the dinner round and then covered/stocked for both bars before clocking out as well.  FOH Staff Observations: Good, prompt drink running tonight. Special Events? Press Play crowd came to Trees for a round before the theater opened, had a great time. Prep List: Eliel made Firewalk, Neon Demon and Fusion as well as Arbol Tequila Maintenance: Still dealing with a build up of water under the lobby bar ice wells, it is in the maintenance doc

Manager Communication : Incredibly busy day, with the all first round screenings being very sold for a Monday, and Theaters 1, 2, and 5 also having well-sold second rounds, too.  Hellraiser brought in a great crowd, that settled in at Trees both before and after the screening.  Both bars pretty much had nonstop tickets at service bar from 5:00 to 10:00.  Staff definitely felt stretched across the building, but everyone was on it throughout the night, and service moved at a steady clip. BAR Staff Observations : Jenna and Tevon really rocked it tonight, each one working their bar solo all evening.  Ashley had put her shift up late yesterday afternoon, and called Jesse this afternoon to say she was very tired (this would have been her sixth scheduled day in a row) and did not think she could work her Lobby shift.  Jenna agreed to work Ashley's Lobby shift instead of closing Trees, so Ashley was able to stay home. Unfortunately, being down a bartender really impacte...

Manager Communication :  Pretty easy Sunday afternoon. Land before time did great.  EL Plenty of popular screenings tonight, but never really felt too much of a crunch at service bar.  Both Trees and Patio had small crowds throughout the evening, which naturally dwindled around 10:00/10:30. JH BAR Staff Observations :  Natasha & Tevon opened Trees and lobb and were set up for good shift. When Darius arrived Tevon stocked both bars and clocked out EL Cut Natasha a little after four, and Ashley and Dylan were great up at Trees this evening.  Both bars were really proactive about restocking product and stocking glassware throughout the evening, which was great to see. I touched base with both Darius and Jenna at Lobby, to reiterate the importance of touching tables and bussing Patio, even during busier rounds, after Gil brought it to my attention that the Patio was in dire need of bussing after the dinner round had sat.  I also reminded them that if they w...

Manager Communication : Chill brunch this morning, with The Land Before Time selling very well, and other theaters slowly growing throughout the day.  Had a fairly large crowd at Patio during brunch, even with the heat, which Andrea handled without issue. JH Had a similarly chill middle round, slowly increasing ticket sales as it got later due to lots of folks being out and about. I think the weather kept people doing outdoor activities during the day, but then resulting in a large number of walk ins at night as the dinner round was much busier than the previous rounds and the late round we did a TON of walk in ticketing. Busy night at Trees as well, with a few great crowds drinking for several hours and injecting a really excellent energy. JM Customer Comments: Had a difficult guest that I eventually had to cut off tonight. He was at Trees at first, drinking the Barry Lyndon and repeatedly trying to flag myself or the busy bartenders down. When I finally approached him, he asked m...

Manager Communication: Very smooth menu change tonight. Way to go on all the setup today Jenn and Jesse. Drinks went out with no issues.  BAR Staff Observations: Great crew tonight, they handled the menu change very well.  FOH Staff Observations: Drink running was very solid tonight from the server team. It's really been much better lately.  86ed / counts on items: Ducrot Orange is 86ed until it clears customs. Neon Demon 86ed at the end of the night. Waiting on prickly pear puree tomorrow morning.  Over/Short on Banks : Lobby was $35 over, we could not figure it out why.  Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Other half and Baldor coming in the morning. 

Manager Communication: Pretty good day. Started slow but picked up for the dinner round with a few pops here and there.  Customer Comments: Helped some folks out at Box office and showed some folks to their seats.  BAR Staff Observations: Dylan did the long lobby shift, Ashley opened and Darius closed Trees. Ashley got everything ready for Darius to have a smooth close. Ashley cleaned the frozed that had paradiso at Trees before she left, and took the remaining Cinema to lobby bar.  That Paradiso didn't last long. At some point during the last round the frozen machine with the paradiso was lifted off its post by expanding ice collecting underneath it. We lost about 2.5 quarts of paradiso. Dylan said he turned around and it was pouring out from the bottom. I helped him clean it up, which is when we noticed it was iced up where it hooks in. After Dylan cleaned it out I tested it with water and there was no spillage.  I showed Darius how to clean the bubblers at the end...

Manager Communication : Really mellow in theaters, and the rain kept Patio pretty empty this evening, but Trivia brought a great crowd to Trees. Customer Comments : Dylan had a couple of guests stop by Trees leaving a movie well after midnight, and they were pretty resistant to the fact that both bar and kitchen had already done last call.  When one of the women tried to leave with a glass still in her hand, Dylan made it clear that all glassware should be left on the bar at Trees, not Lobby.  They headed out after a few back and forths, but did not seem particularly upset. BAR Staff Observations : Darius, Dylan, and Eliel absolutely crushed Trivia service tonight, which kept Trees full and busy starting around 6:30, all the way through just past eleven.  Natasha was great in Lobby, and held it down solo without issue once Eliel swung up to Trees for Tivia. 86ed / counts on items : Pet Nat, Pinot Gris, Singlecut Kim Sour, Sixpoint Resin DIPA, Three Floyd's Pale Ale, ...

Manager Communication : Very busy holiday Monday, with the first two rounds of screenings selling really well throughout the building. Third round definitely mellowed out, and gave bar a chance to catch up with stocking and batching.  BAR Staff Observations : Eliel and Ashley handled the busy service rushes during the first two rounds, with Natasha coming in right before the busiest pushes at Trees.  Eliel was able to get out of here after batching and making sure both bars were stocked. Both Ashley and Natasha had an easy wind down during the last round, and closed each bar without issue.  Staff Meeting Agenda notes : Brought a case of Old Forester down to Chef’s Office at Chef Stewart’s request. He said he had emailed Nick, for inventory purposes.  86ed / counts on items : 86'd Iced Coffee, Pet Nat, Pinot Gris, Singlecut Kim Sour, Sixpoint Resin DIPA, Three Floyd's Pale Ale, and Two Lane Blacktop.  Two Robbers is on a count.  Prep List : Eliel made Arbol ...

Manager Communication:Great day and evening. Started a little slow but built up to a steady pace.  A few good pops here and there kept us busy all day.  Customer Comments: Helped some people with Williamsburg Tickets. Helped some folks  BAR Staff Observations: Dylan and Natasha had great opens at Trees and Lobby Bar, Jenna was a great Trees Mid, and Ashley and Tevon handled the close and the cleaning of the slushie machines. Pretty good group overall. Everyone worked hard and looked out for each other.  86ed / counts on items:  Cold Brew, 3 floyds, Pet Nat, Pinot Gris, Single Cut Kim, Six Point, two lane, and Two Robbers is at a 13 count.  Prep List: I made Firewalk, Old fashioned keg, negroni keg, mr fusion, lemonade and Danger Zone.  We'll need simple syrup and a keg of espresso martini (missing cold brew) Lost & Found?: I helped people locate two credit cards, a sweater, a bicycle helmet and a water bottle.  

Manager Communication : Started the day with the Bat Mitzvah party at Trees, and then rolled right into a pretty steady day of service throughout the building.  Both Lobby Bar and Trees had a fair amount of near-sold out screenings in the later rounds, but drink service was never unnecessarily backed up at any point during the night. BAR Staff Observations :  Unfortunately, Natasha felt very poorly when she arrived this morning to open Lobby Bar.  She let Gerard know that she believed she had food poisoning, but that she was good to open the bar if she could get out early.   Once the event began at Trees at noon, I had Andrea move to Lobby to get Natasha out of here, and myself and Jenna worked the event until Darius arrived for his shift.  I kept Jenna and Darius at Trees, and Andrea really handled daytime Lobby service solo with aplomb.  Any time I went down to check in with her, before Garbielle arrived, she was easily moving from ticketing, to Pati...

Manager Communication : Decent ticket sales, with a busy service on all floors, but not too many theaters teetering on sell outs.  Trees had a small crowd that naturally dwindled by eleven, and Patio had a last minute push of people from the Philharmonic, but they had also moved on shortly after first floor was routed. BAR Staff Observations : Chelsea and Jenna did a great job opening, and both were able to get out of here around 8:00/8:30.  Darius and Gabrielle were at Trees for the rest of the evening, but I was unable to swing Darius down to cover Lobby as the flow of business kept both of them pretty busy with restocking drinks and glassware throughout the night.  Eliel held down Lobby solo after Chelsea got out of here, and was fine all evening. Darius is definitely getting into the swing of things, but needs some practice navigating Trees solo.  At the moment, he needs to work on toggling between service bar and guest-facing service, but I'm sure that will come...

Manager Communication : Pretty easy opening round EL Nice dinner round today with great ticket sales in the large theaters and some moderately busy rounds downstairs. We had a nice Trees crowd from 7 pm onwards, peaking before Bound went in and then also bringing us our busiest round of the night for service.  BAR Staff Observations:  Ian and Chelsea had strong opens.  Chelsea was able to cover the rest of the team for breaks, do stocks for both bars and then leave by 8 pm. Ian stayed through Bound and then stocked both bars as well, leaving around 10:45 pm. He was a big help during service. Andrea is coming such a long way, and was genuinely impressive at service tonight. JM Prep List:  Hazelnut syrup, pineapple ginger syrup, simple syrup, Arbol Tequila, Firewalk with me.  Pay Outs:   $10 R&D Raspberry and Pomegranate juice.  Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Manhattan (tecate & Highlife) Schilling and Cider, Chardonnay, Limes Lemons, Or...

Manager Communication : Pretty mellow evening, with Trees hosting a small evening crowd, buoyed by some BRIC concertgoers.  The temperature dropped a bit after sundown, so Patio cleared out well before nine. BAR Staff Observations : Great work all around this evening.  Chelsea was solo all evening in Lobby, and I was able to have Natasha cover the bar for her so Chelsea could grab a break.  Gabrielle and Natasha held down Trees all evening, and Gabrielle was able to get out of here shortly after the third round began. Staff Meeting Agenda notes : Only gave out two movie passes to BRIC ticketholders this evening. 86ed / counts on items : 86'd Beer & Shot Specials, Pet Nat, Pinot Gris, Michelada, Miller High Life, Tecate, and Two Lane Blacktop.   There is a count on Two Robbers. Prep List : I made Cinema Paradiso, Danger Zone, and Fire Walk With Me.  Bar With No Doors, Hazelnut and Simple Syrups, and Tea-Rex will need to be made tomorrow. Lost & Found...

Manager Communication : The dinner round screenings of Top Gun and Everything Everywhere continue to sell really well, and Gremlins 2 brought a lovely crowd to Trees both before and after the screening.  Patio and Trees were fairly populated from about seven o'clock onwards. BAR Staff Observations : Eliel and Tevon were great down at Lobby this evening, and Eliel was able to get out of here after some light batching.  Ian and Dylan did great navigating busy screenings, as well as a pre- and post-BRIC concert crowd.  Once Gremlins 2 was through its initial service push, Ian was able to get out of here shortly before ten. Staff Meeting Agenda notes : Although we had a fair amount of BRIC concertgoers at Trees this evening, we did not give out any movie passes.  People proactively asked about the promotion last time we had a BRIC crowd, so we were unclear as to why people were not interested in the passes this evening. 86ed / counts on items : We are 86'd Beer & Sho...

Manager Communication : Dinner round was great for a Monday, with Top Gun still selling really well and Everything Everywhere selling out.  Trees had a small crowd from eight to ten, and Patio played host to a fair amount of couples and trios throughout the evening. BAR Staff Observations : Great work all around today.  Ashley held down Lobby solo without issue, and was able to cover Trees so that Jenna could get a restock in before last call.  Eliel, similarly, covered Lobby for Ashley so she could do a midshift restock.  He then did a bunch of batching, and got out of here just as the third round was beginning.  Jenna was great at Trees for the rest of the evening, and has really gotten much more confident with drink building and helping guests navigate our cocktail menu. 86ed / counts on items : 86'd Danger Zone, Michelada, Pinot Gris, and Tecate. All in-house Miller High Life, Two Robbers, and cherries are stocked behind both bars. Prep List : Eliel made Cin...

Manager Communication :  Pretty busy morning and afternoon. Nice crowd at trees after about 2pm. EL Very busy dinner rounds, pretty much nonstop at Trees service bar from six to nine, along with a sizeable Trees crowd. JH Customer Comments :  Gave a couple of guests credits EL Around ten, I came to Trees and saw a guest shouting at Ashley and asking for a manager.  I approached, and asked how I could help, while Ashley returned to theater service.  The guest said that Ashley had roughly grabbed money from him when he was paying, and that he wanted to speak to a manager.  I reiterated that I was a manager, and he continued to ask, several more times, if I was actually a manager.   At this point he was shouting and asked for Ashley's name, and I told him I was not comfortable giving him that information.  He then asked for both of our names, and I repeated that his manner was making me uncomfortable and that I would not be sharing either of our name...

Manager Communication : Pretty steady opening round for a Saturday morning, and ticket sales climbed throughout the day, with several theaters selling out, or coming close to it, for the dinner rounds.  The Brunch Club brought a nice early crowd to Trees, with Eliel rocking it solo. JH Once the afternoon and dinner rounds hit, we were consistently busy all night. Especially with the dinner round, we hit a pace of drink tickets that lasted almost two hours. We also got consistent Trees business. It was a real crushing shift, but not in a bad way. The bartenders were just busy the entire time on both floors through 9:30 pm without much a respite. I was able to support here and there, but for the most part there was no need and everyone did an excellent job. JM BAR Staff Observations : Chelsea and Andrea swapped floors this morning, after Chelsea pulled a long Lobby shift last night.  Darius trained with Chelsea as she opened Lobby Bar and got through the early rounds, with Andre...

Manager Communication: Pretty smooth night tonight. It is still difficult to get the porters to come out from the kitchen without having to physically bring them places. I know I am a broken record on this, but they need FOH training ASAP.  BAR Staff Observations: Good crew tonight. Everyone did really well. Eliel was out sick, but we had Darius training so it did not feel short handed.  FOH Staff Observations : There was a server with a gluten allergy who ordered some tots. They were under the impression that they did not have to pay because they could not eat most of the family meal. I comped it as a staff perk, but can we get clarification on what the rule is for this so we can make sure we are consistent with staff? Hiring/Training: Darius had his third training shift today. He did really well. I went over all of the third day training material with him. One thing he could work on is memorizing the different pours.  Sick Leave/ Call outs: Eliel called out sick fro...

Manager Communication: Nice opening round due to school closures. Even with some short staffed theaters, drink service and running was smooth and no issues on our end. JM Busy evening with hits at service and at Trees. Felt great.  Customer Comments: A guest looked for a missing card here, we didn't have it and they said we were one of the stops retracing their steps.  BAR Staff Observations: Chelsea and Tevon opened Trees and Lobby. Andrea closed lobby and Ashley Trees. Trees was pretty busy and we were able to get Chelsea out as soon as it slowed down a bit. Tevon batched a bunch before he left.  Andrea had a pretty solid first shift. She had a couple of questions while closing and did a great job.  FOH Staff Observations:  Special Events? I’m sure there will be FOH notes as well, but today’s event was pretty out of control. The children here for the party were not watching the film and making a mess of the theater, even throwing food around to the point of hi...

Manager Communication : Second round was busy at both bars, and it was a fairly lively night for a Wednesday.  Great crowd at Trees from about seven until last call.  Appeared to be a mix of BRIC concert goers, and guests here to see Top Gun and Set It Off.    Customer Comments : Had two guests in the last round screening of Men come to Lobby asking for a refund because of excessive guest noise in the theater, and said that they had shushed them multiple times to no avail.  Chelsea gave them e-credits, and they said they would return at a later date.  I touched base with Jeannette, and we both went into the theater separately, and it just seemed like a more reactive crowd in a fairly quiet film, so no one was warned about their noise levels.  Other than the two guests that opted for e-credits, no one else in the theater had any noise complaints. BAR Staff Observations : Chelsea, Darius, and Ian had great opens, with a lot of downtime in the first round...

Manager Communication : Similar to yesterday, second round Top Gun and Everything Everywhere screenings sold really well.  Had a couple more people on Patio today, even with the rainy weather, and Trivia brought a sizeable crowd to Trees. BAR Staff Observations : Eliel held down Lobby solo all day, and did a fantastic job, which was a huge help as Trees was taken over by Trivia this evening.  Ian and Eliel both did a great job stocking and opening each bar, which set both floors up for success during service.   Tevon and Andrea (completing her last day of training!), together with Ian, navigated a very busy dinner round and Trivia crowd.  Tevon took the floor, and Ian and Andrea moved from service to guest-facing, no issue.  Andrea took the lead on second round service bar. and did two restocks, so she is now well acquainted with the liquor room and walk in. Once Trivia wrapped up, and the floor was returned to its normal table set up, Ian was able to get o...

Manager Communication : Quiet opening round, followed by a busier second round.  Patio had a fair amount of people hanging out all the way through 10:30, and Trees definitely got a boost in service from the dinner round Top Gun. BAR Staff Observations : Eliel and Gabrielle did a great job opening, with Gabrielle holding down Lobby solo all day.  Once Jenna came in, Eliel was able to get some batching done, and they both powered through the second-round Top Gun screening service push with no hiccups. Eliel provided coverage for Gabrielle in Lobby so that she was able to complete a midshift restock, as well as take a break.  After that, Eliel was able to get out of here just as the third round was beginning.  Both Jenna and Gabrielle had a pretty laidback third round, and closed without issue. Staff Meeting Agenda notes : As we now have double-stocked Fire Walk With Me at Trees, Eliel added a 'Use First' sticker to the Fire Walk machines at Trees, to help bartenders ke...

Manager Communication : Slightly slower than yesterday, with Dog Day doing alright and the Top Guns and dinner rounds picking up with some heavier business. Very minimal Trees crowd, a few patio tables, and just a couple of to go drinks. Service went great, especially given our strapped staffing due to some employee illness. JM Similar vibes during dinner, with the same three films as yesterday selling well throughout the evening, leading into a pretty mellow close.  Patio definitely had some lingerers this evening, which was nice, and Top Gun brought a small post-movie crowd to Trees pretty consistently. JH BAR Staff Observations : Big thanks to Chelsea and Dylan for opening today and staying for long shifts to help us through the overlap with the closers. They both worked long days solo behind respective bars and did an excellent job, calling for help when rarely needed. Eliel and Tevon came in at 5, jumped right in to service and stocking before their openers were done. Managed ...